This poem named "Ode to Historical Poems" began in Ban Gu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Ban Gu's poem "Ode to History" is a book that tells historical facts directly, and Zhong Rong rated it as "the quality of wood without words" ("Preface to Poetry"). During the Cao Wei period, Wang Shen and Ruan Yu sang poems, Cao Zhi sang poems, and Zhang Xie, who was contemporary with Zuo Si, also sang poems.
Zuo Si's epic is not only influenced by predecessors, but also innovative. Hu Yinglin in the Ming Dynasty said, "Tai Chong chanted history and Jing Chun toured immortals, which are masterpieces of Jin people. The name Forever comes from Meng Jian, but it refers to one thing. Du Weizhi's Farewell uses the names of eight ancient people, and the overlapping words have not changed much. The topic of Taichong is really caused by class, and it is also a department. It has made a wonderful language and created a new style, which is complicated and turbulent. It is a swan song of ancient and modern times. " (Biography of Poems, Volume II) accurately summarizes the evolution of poetry and the value of Zuo Si's poetry. He Chao, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, thinks that Zuo Si's poem "Ode to History" is a variant: "Those who chant history are just beautiful and lament, including this biography, without any ornamentation, and so on. Too confident, but it has changed. " (Book Secretary of Yimen, Volume 46) From the perspective of the development order of poetry, it is not wrong to regard those who "include this biography" as the proper body and those who "express their thoughts" as "variants". However, the achievements of Zuo Si's "Variant" far exceed the original body.
The content of Zuo Si's Ode to an Epic is mainly the injustice of the poor and the contempt and struggle against the gentry. In the Western Jin Dynasty, when the gentry dominated the political affairs, it was difficult for the common people to enter the center of political power, and "there was no poverty in the top grade and no potential in the bottom grade" (Liu Yichuan, Book of Jin). Zuo Si was born in poverty. Although he wrote a magnificent article, he has no foothold. When Zuo Si was about 20 years old, her sister Juicy Zuo was named a beauty by Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty. Zuo Si's family moved to Luoyang, and soon he was appointed as a doctor. But after all, I was born in poverty and will not be reused. Under the pressure of the door-to-door system, his ambition was hard to be rewarded, and he wrote eight poems about history to express his feelings. Some of them expressed their dissatisfaction with the gate valve system and their contempt for Hao You. Some people affirm the value of the poor themselves; Some people lament the hardships of the poor. For example, the second:
The bottom of the gloomy ravine is loose, leaving seedlings on the mountain, one inch in diameter, one stem, and the hundred feet are overcast. The world is tall and handsome. Because of the terrain, the origin is not once. Borrowed his old job and that seven-leaf Korean mink. Feng Gong is not Wei, and Bai Shou does not move.
It is a long-standing truth that world leaders occupy high positions and the poor submit to the status quo. The seventh laments the misfortune of Zhu,,,. These people are very talented, and they all come from humble origins. The author wrote that when they didn't meet, they were worried about poverty and death. Sigh: "Heroes come forth in large numbers. There are no wizards in the world, they are left in the grass. " This is an indictment of the ancient gate valve system.
In Ode to History, the first half describes the luxurious life of princes and nobles, and the second half describes the loneliness of poet Yang Xiong and his immortal reputation after his death, in order to compare the rapid decline of nobles. The sixth cloud:
Jing Ke drinks Yan market, full of alcohol. Sigh, drifting away, indicating that there is no one nearby. Although there is no day when a strong man breaks his wrist, it is very different from this world. Arrogance is not enough in this world! Although you are expensive, you regard it as dust. Although the base is inferior, it is very important.
In the poem, Jing Ke, Gao Jianli and other lowly people are praised for their generous voices and lofty spirit, expressing their contempt for the powerful. The first cloud written before Pingwu: "If there is no Dongwu, the whistling stirs the breeze. Lead knives are expensive, and dreams are better. Jiang Xiang is on the left and Hu Qiang is on the right. " Self-confidence can contribute to the country, but its ultimate goal is to "return to the field for a long time without success." The third song, by praising Duan Ganmu and Lu Zhonglian, affirmed that the poor can solve problems for the country without striving for progress, and praised their attitude of regarding fame and fortune as clouds. The fifth song can best express the spirit of left-leaning thought:
The sky is bright and comfortable, and the spirit shines in China. In the purple palace of Zhufu, flying like Yunfu. In halls, all princes are nobles. Since you are not a dragon climber, what is swimming? When you are brown, you will follow the leader. Trembling clothes, Wan Li flow.
This poem first describes the luxury of Gong Yan and the first residence of princes, and then erases the previous rendering with "What is it if you don't climb the dragon and swim", expressing extreme contempt for fame and fortune. He said he just wanted to be an aristocratic scholar like Xu You. The last sentence of this poem, "thousands of feet Yi Yao, Wan Li Liu", is the strongest sound in this group of poems.
Zhong Rong's "Poetry" puts Zuo Si in the top grade and comments on his poems: "The literary canon is bitter, quite refined, and it is ironic." His poems quoted many historical facts, so they were called "Canon". It is called "resentment" because it is critical of real politics by satirizing the present from the past. However, it can be profound and appropriate to borrow the ancient to satirize the present, so it is called "fine cutting". His poems can play the role of irony, so they are called "irony". Zhong Rong's poems also say that Zuo Si's poems are "doing nothing", that is, Serina Liu, a poet in Jian 'an. When talking about Tao Yuanming, he said that "thinking about the wind is also helpful" and "wind power" is close to "strength of character". Zhong Rong's reference to "Zuo Si Feng Li" means that Zuo Si reproduces Jian 'an's character, which is very reasonable.
Zuo Si's Eight Poems of Ode to Epic opened up a new way of ode to Epic and became an example for later poets to follow. This is his unique contribution in the history of China's poetry, so the predecessors commented: "Creation is an organic whole, which lasts for thousands of years." (Chen Ruoming's Selected Poems of Cai Yutang, Volume 11)