Knowledge points of common literary knowledge of Chu Ci

"Chu Ci" is a collection of "Sao style" articles, and it is also the earliest existing collection of romantic poetry in China. The word "Chu Ci" was first seen in "Historical Records". Its original meaning refers to the songs of Chu in general. Later, it specifically refers to the new poetry style represented by Qu Yuan's creation of Chu State during the Warring States Period. In the late Western Han Dynasty, Liu Xiang compiled the works of Qu Yuan and Song Yu as well as the inherited and imitated works of Huainan Xiaoshan, Dongfang Shuo, Wang Bao, Liu Xiang and others in the Han Dynasty into a collection of 16 chapters, which was named "Songs of Chu". Wang Yi of the Eastern Han Dynasty also wrote "Chu Ci Zhangju" to annotate it, and added his own "Nine Thoughts", making it 17 chapters. The whole book "Chu Ci" is mainly based on Qu Yuan's works, and the other chapters inherit the form and spirit of Qu Yuan's works. Because it uses the literary style and dialect rhymes of the Chu region to describe the customs, products and cultural world of the Chu region, it has a strong regional flavor and is a representative of the Chu culture in the south and complements the culture of the Central Plains in the north. Compared with the simple and four-character poetry form of "The Book of Songs", the sentence patterns of "Chu Ci" are more flexible and lively, and are unique in rhythm and rhyme. As the most far-reaching literary work after "The Book of Songs", "The Songs of Chu" has extraordinary significance to the entire Chinese cultural system. Especially in terms of literature, it created the tradition of Chinese romantic literature, which complemented the realist tradition of the Book of Songs and influenced the development and evolution of subsequent poetry, prose, novels, drama creations, and literary theories and literary trends. Huge impact. Not only that, "Chu Ci" also has a great influence in Japan and other countries in the Chinese character cultural circle. After being introduced to the West in modern times, it also attracted lasting and widespread attention. The annotated version of "Chu Ci" is the earliest one written by Wang Yi of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The "Complete Translation of Chu Ci" co-authored by Huang Shouqi and Mei Sheng is the most practical. "Li Sao" is a long lyric poem with an autobiographical nature and is Qu Yuan's masterpiece. "Li Sao" reflects Qu Yuan's indignation at the dark and decadent politics of the Chu State at that time and his grief for loving the country and being willing to serve it, but not being able to do so. It also expresses his sorrow for the unfair treatment he encountered. The main theme of "Li Sao" is patriotism and loyalty to the emperor. It creates two types of images: beauty and vanilla. Beauty and vanilla are generally interpreted as metaphors, either as metaphors for kings or as metaphors for themselves. "Vanilla Beauty" as a poetic symbolic technique was created by Qu Yuan, but they are closely related to the local culture of Chu State. Qu Yuan's works also have discontinuous characteristics in form, that is, they create a fresh, vivid, free and "saucy style" of different lengths.