Qu Yuan, whose given name was Ping, also named Zhengze, and whose courtesy name was Lingjun, was a native of Chu during the Warring States Period. The first great poet in the history of Chinese literature. His outstanding poems such as "Li Sao", "Nine Songs", "Nine Chapters", "Calling the Soul" and "Heavenly Questions" occupy an extremely important position in the history of Chinese literature.
Qu Yuan and the King of Chu were from the same clan. However, when Qu Yuan was young, his family had fallen into decline, and his kinship relationship with the King of Chu was already relatively estranged. Therefore, at first Qu Yuan only served as a cultural minister of King Huai of Chu.
Because Qu Yuan was talented and eloquent, and more importantly, he had ideals and foresight, and was very concerned about world affairs. Therefore, about 318 BC - the eleventh year of King Huai of Chu At the age of 22, Qu Yuan was promoted from a literary minister to Zuo Situ, rising from an ordinary official to the senior leadership of Chu State.
Qu Yuan advocated in diplomacy that Chu State should adopt a "joint vertical" policy, that is, first form a military alliance with Qi State, and then unite the four countries of Yan, Han, Zhao, and Wei to fight together Strengthen Qin.
King Huai of Chu initially adopted Qu Yuan's suggestion. Although the Six Kingdoms Alliance did not defeat Qin militarily, it gave Qin a great deterrent and improved the status of Chu.
In terms of domestic affairs, Qu Yuan advocated clarifying laws, promoting talents and empowering, and carrying out reforms. Qu Yuan's reforms met with strong opposition from the old nobility because they offended their interests.
These old nobles, headed by Ling Yin Zijiao and Shangguan official Jin Shang, united to exclude and attack Qu Yuan, and behind them was Zheng Xiu, the Queen of the South.
These people advocated being pro-Qin in diplomacy and had long been dissatisfied with Qu Yuan's policy of cooperating with Qin to resist Qin. At the same time, they saw that Qu Yuan was trying to amend the law and were afraid of damaging their own glory and wealth, so they turned to Chu Huai one after another. The king spoke ill of Qu Yuan. King Huai of Chu, who had always been self-righteous, listened to the slander and quickly ignored Qu Yuan. In 313 BC, he demoted Qu Yuan to the rank of Sanlu doctor.
After Qu Yuan was alienated by King Huai of Chu, the pro-Qin faction gained the upper hand in Chu. In 304 BC, Chu and Qin entered into the Huangthorn Alliance, and later even married each other. Obviously, Chu State had completely fallen into the arms of Qin State.
During this process, Qu Yuan tried his best to oppose the policy of abandoning Qi and uniting Qin, but his remonstrance only made King Chu Huai hate and alienate him even more. Under such circumstances, Qu Yuan was exiled and left Ying, the capital of Chu, and was forced to go to Hanbei (today's Yun County and Xiangfan area of ??Hubei Province).
In northern Han Dynasty, Qu Yuan completed one of his masterpieces, "Li Sao". "Li Sao" is a long lyric poem with 373 sentences and nearly 2,500 words. The poem uses a large number of metaphors and myths to show the positive romanticism spirit, which has a profound impact on later generations.
About 297 BC, Qu Yuan returned to Yingdu.
Since King Huai of Chu was placed under house arrest by the State of Qin, the Chu royal family established a new king as King Qingxiang. The alternation of the old and new monarchs did not change Qu Yuan's fate. For Qu Yuan, who was dedicated to serving the country, King Qingxiang not only did not reuse him, but expelled him from Yingdu again and exiled him to the south of the Yangtze River.
The Jiangnan area here includes the southern part of Hubei Province and the northern part of Hunan Province. At that time, most of it was an undeveloped wilderness. Qu Yuan lived a life of poverty and illness here, and wrote majestic and creative poems. The peculiar long poem "Heavenly Questions".
Long-term exile life caused great damage to Qu Yuan's body. What pained Qu Yuan the most was that the King of Chu was immoral, the country was in crisis, and the people were living in dire straits.
Although Qu Yuan used poetry to inspire himself and the people, he could not see the possibility of change. The land of Chu State was being invaded one by one, and he could not return to the capital. He often wandered by the Yuan River, thinking about how to end the rest of his life.
One day in the early summer of 278 BC, Qu Yuan sank into the Miluo River in the northeast of Changsha, sacrificing himself for his country and using his death to fulfill his oath.
It is said that local people rowed boats and threw rice dumplings into the water to avoid fish and shrimps invading Qu Yuan’s body. It is also said that the day when Qu Yuan threw himself into the river was the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Therefore, on this day every year, people make rice dumplings and race dragon boats to commemorate this great patriotic poet.
In 223 BC, the Chu State was finally destroyed by Qin, and what Qu Yuan was most worried about happened. However, Qu Yuan's patriotic thoughts and his immortal poems have been passed down to this day and have become cultural treasures of the Chinese nation. Qu Yuan was named one of the "Top Ten Cultural Celebrities in the World" by the United Nations.
"Li Sao": Qu Yuan's masterpiece is a long lyric poem with an autobiographical nature. The whole poem has more than 370 lines and nearly 2,500 words.
There are two interpretations of "Li Sao", one is suffering from sorrow, and the other is the sorrow of separation. The whole poem is roughly divided into two parts. The first part, from the beginning to "I can't bear to punish you", first narrates my family life and believes that I was born in a noble family and was born in a beautiful day, so I have "inner beauty".
He diligently pursued self-cultivation, hoping to assist the king, prosper the country, and realize the ideal of "beautiful government." However, due to the slander of the "party members" and the king's vacillation, he was wronged and wronged. In the sharp conflict between ideal and reality, Qu Yuan said, "Although I have understood it, I have not changed, so I have no intention of punishing it." This shows his steadfast sentiment. The latter part is extremely fantasy and strange.
After expressing his dissatisfaction to Chonghua (Shun), Qu Yuan began to "go around" and "seek women", but these actions ended in failure. In the last flight, I lingered again because of my attachment to my motherland.
"Nine Songs": It is also an important work in "Chu Ci". It is a song to worship gods, with 11 chapters. "Donghuang Taiyi" worships the Supreme Wushen, "Yunzhongjun" worships the cloud god Fenglong (also known as Pingyi), "Xiangjun" and "Mrs. Xiang" both worship the god of Xiangshui, and "Da Si Ming" worships the longevity of the Lord. "Shao Siming" worships the god of the master's children, "Dong Jun" worships the sun god, "He Bo" worships the river god, "Mountain Ghost" worships the mountain god, "National Memorial" honors the souls of fallen soldiers, and the last chapter "Rites" "Soul" is a song to send farewell to the gods. Generally speaking, "Nine Songs" mainly describes love, but it also expresses the praise of the gods and the piety of the sacrificers, and also describes the bravery and tragedy of the fallen soldiers.
"Nine Chapters": is the general name for a group of lyrical poems written by Qu Yuan, including "Cherishing", "Wading the River", "Sorrowing", "Thinking", "Huaisha", "Thinking of Beauty", "Cherishing" Nine chapters including "The Past", "Ode to Orange", "Sad Return of the Wind", etc. The content is basically similar to "Li Sao". It mainly describes his extraordinary life experience, noble and independent nature, worries about the fate of the country and his own experience of being excluded, and expresses his grief and indignation.
"Tianwen": It is a peculiar poem in "Chu Ci". The so-called "Heaven Question" refers to listing a series of incomprehensible phenomena in history and nature, asking questions to the Heaven, and exploring the reasons for the changes and development of everything in the universe. One sentence in the poem raises 172 questions. The general order is to first ask about the formation of heaven and earth, then to ask about the rise and fall of human affairs, and finally to the real politics of Chu State, showing Qu Yuan's anxiety, disappointment and anger for the country, but also his tireless efforts. Search spirit.