Marx once made the following explanation in the introduction of Critique of Political Economy: "As we all know, its certain prosperity period is by no means proportional to the general development of society, and therefore it is by no means proportional to the general development of the material foundation of social organizations." "Once artistic production appears as artistic production, they can no longer be created in the epoch-making and classic form in world history; Therefore, in the field of art itself, some significant art forms are only possible in the underdeveloped stage of art development. If the relationship between different kinds of art within art itself is like this, it is not surprising that the relationship between the whole art field and the overall development of society is also like this. The difficulty lies in making a general statement about these contradictions. Once their particularity is determined, they are explained. " ? This exposition of Marx tells us the fact that "a certain prosperous period is by no means in direct proportion to the general development of society", and also tells us that the reason for this phenomenon is the "particularity" of literature and art, that is, there is an imbalance between literature and art and material production. As an activity in the spiritual field and an ideology, literature is fundamentally determined by material production according to the viewpoint that "material determines consciousness", which embodies Marx's understanding and grasp of the universality and inevitability of things; At the same time, the development of literature is also restricted by its own unique laws and has relative independence. In some special historical stages and special fields, the prosperity of literature is out of proportion to the development of society. This is because the driving force for the development and prosperity of literature is not single, and it is not only the level of material production that determines the development and prosperity of literature. At the same time, when we talk about the development of literature, we are talking about literature as a special cultural phenomenon, so we must analyze, evaluate and judge it with its social and historical value and independent aesthetic value. When we look at literary phenomena from the scale of social material development and social progress, the performance of literature's development with social development will be very prominent. However, when we look at the literary phenomenon in the time dimension from the perspective of the unique aesthetic value of literature, we will easily find the imbalance between the prosperity and development of literature and the level of social material development, and feel that literature seems to be just an evolutionary process in its history. The relationship between the literature of China ancient Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and the production situation at that time just verified this point. This imbalance is not only manifested in the whole, but also in all parts of this period.
First of all, briefly explain the material production and social conditions in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.
The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties in China were an era of social unrest, economic decline, successive years of famine and constant wars. It was the darkest and most chaotic time in China's politics, "but it was the most free, liberated, intelligent and enthusiastic time in the spiritual history" and "the most artistic time"? . The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties in the history of literature began in the Jian 'an period of the Eastern Han Dynasty and ended in the unification of the Sui Dynasty, which lasted about 400 years. The historical situation of this period is more complicated, and some basic characteristics of this era can be seen. First, the country has been divided for a long time. From the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty to the tripartite confrontation between the three countries, and then from the Western Jin Dynasty to achieve a brief reunification, but it lasted for twenty or thirty years, followed by years of scuffle and division between the North and the South until the reunification of the Sui Dynasty. In the history of China, this is the longest division. Second, frequent regime changes. Throughout the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, except the Eastern Jin and Northern Wei Dynasties, the life span of other dynasties was not long. Song Qi Liang Chen in the south, the longest in Song Liguo is about 60 years, and the shortest in Qi is only over 20 years. The third is social unrest. During this period, due to the division of the country and the instability of the political power, various forces fought fiercely to seize the right to rule or expand the scope of rule. At the same time, it is inevitable that the coexisting regimes conquer each other, and the replacement of the old and new dynasties is mostly achieved through war. Even if there is no war, the power struggle within the ruling group is full of murderous look. In the constant social unrest, not only ordinary people suffered great disasters, but also many people in the upper class were inevitably killed. Fourth, ethnic contradictions are acute. Since the Han and Wei Dynasties, ethnic minorities in the west and north of China began to migrate to the mainland in large numbers. They are deeply oppressed by the ruling forces of the Han nationality. In the late Western Jin Dynasty, there was a "rebellion of eight kings" in which the royal family competed for imperial power. The leaders of these ethnic minorities took the opportunity to rise up in succession and drove the Han regime to the south. In the northern areas they ruled, they in turn brutally oppressed the Han people. The northern expedition of the Han regime in the south and the southern expedition of the minority regime in the north also had ups and downs.
This period can be said to be "troubled times" in the history of China. In the past 400 years, apart from the brief reunification of the Western Jin Dynasty, it has been divided and turbulent. The rebellion at the end of the Han Dynasty was replaced by the Three Kingdoms. In 265 AD, the usurper Wei established the Western Jin Dynasty, and in 280, it destroyed Wu and unified the whole country, but it was destroyed in 3 16 due to the "Eight Kings Rebellion". In 3 17, Si Marui established the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the south of the Yangtze River, and was usurped by Emperor Wu of Song in 420. Since then, the north and the south have been in a state of confrontation. Sixteen countries in the north were in chaos, and the four dynasties of Song, Qi, Liang and Chen in the south changed frequently. The struggle brought about by the change of dynasties and the mutual criticism brought about by the confrontation between the north and the south made this period of constant war and little peace. The war killed many people, but it also brought famine, plague and mass migration. All these have profoundly affected the mentality and mental outlook of the literati, and also affected the theme, theme and tone of the whole literary creation. Due to the large number of deaths caused by the war, sensitive writers and literati generally feel the fragility of human life, the unpredictability of fate, the impermanence of life, and the helplessness of individual life in the face of the changes of the times. Therefore, we have seen some concentrated literary themes in the literature of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, such as the theme of life and death, the theme of wandering immortals and the theme of seclusion. In troubled times, the literati's life style is either generous and sad, or indulgent, or carpe diem, pursuing bohemian, and the literary style is also characterized by rich outline, vague twists and turns, or gorgeous, which are related to the specific background of the times.
The troubled times in Wei and Jin Dynasties were not only a general war, but also a vendetta by the ruling class. Cao Wei replaced Han, and Liu Zongshi suffered. Sima usurped Wei, and the Cao royal family was punished; Emperor Wu of song won the gold and Sima's family fell. Originally, I was a country, a rich son of heaven, a prisoner and a ghost with a knife head. They have no security, let alone a vassal. The sinister political situation and the brutal nature of the supreme ruler have caused celebrities to be killed in batches, and internal cracks have deepened and internal divisions have intensified, resulting in such fierce opposition and even hostility from within the camp.
Then, let's take a look at the prosperous literary achievements of this period.
During this period, due to the long-term feudal regime and constant wars, the development of China culture was particularly affected. Its outstanding performance is the rise of metaphysics, the introduction of Buddhism, the prosperity of Taoism and the introduction of Persian and Greek culture. During the 360-odd years from Wei to Sui, during the alternation of more than 30 dynasties, due to the interaction and infiltration of many new cultural factors mentioned above, the development of Confucianism and the image and historical position of Confucius in this period became complicated.
The literature of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties lasted about 400 years, and its literary development roughly experienced three stages: Jian 'an, Zhengshi, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties.
Jian 'an and Zhengshi literature lasted from the first year of Jian 'an (A.D. 196) to the second year of Wei Xianxi (A.D. 265, the first year of Taishi of Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty). Among them, it can be subdivided into Jian 'an literature and Zhengshi literature. Jian 'an literature from the first year of Jian 'an to the last year of Wei Mingdi (239 years of Jing San San), the main writers in this period centered on Cao Shi and his son, namely "Three Caos", including "Seven Scholars of Jian 'an" and a group of writers such as Cai Yan, a female writer. This is a group of writers who grew up in the turmoil at the end of the Han Dynasty. They personally experienced the turbulent social reality in the late Han Dynasty and the hardships of people's livelihood in troubled times. Therefore, most of them have lofty political ideals and ambitions, as well as pragmatic spirit and open and free style and attitude. Most of their works show the characteristics of lofty ideals, worrying about the country and the people, full of personality and tragic colors, and are called "Jian 'an style" by later generations. Liu Xie once concluded: "Looking at time is elegant and generous. There are many good things, and they are separated from the chaos by the world. The wind is light and vulgar, and the ambition is deep and long, so the outline is rich and full of vitality. " Zhengshi literature lasted from the first year of Zhengshi (240) to the end of Wei Dynasty (264) of Cao Fang, the king of Qi. "Zhengshi" was the title of Cao Fang, king of Qi from 240 to 248, but Zhengshi literature in the history of literature generally includes the period from Zhengshi to the end of Wei Dynasty. This is the time of the Wei and Jin Dynasties. After Sima's coming to power, the political terror for usurping Wei caused the change of literary appearance. Scholars in this period are represented by "Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest" (seven sages refer to Ruan Ji, Ji Kang, Ruan Xian, Dan Tao, Xiang Embroidery, Liu Ling and Wang Rong), and literati are represented by Ruan Ji and Ji Kang. Faced with the political pressure and darkness, they were extremely depressed, so they used the "sex" of Laozi and Zhuangzi as a weapon to fight against the famous religion advocated by the Sima family. Most of their works show the hypocrisy of moral standards and protest against dark politics. As far as the overall style is concerned, their works have lost the generous and sad singing voice of Jian 'an literature, and have been replaced by seclusion and worrying about life. But in terms of spiritual essence, Zhengshi literature still truly reflects the reality and has something in common with Jian 'an literature.
The literature of the two Jin Dynasties can be divided into two stages: the Western Jin Dynasty and the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The literature of the Western Jin Dynasty was dominated by the Taikang period, showing a brief and prosperous situation. Taikang is the title of Emperor Wu (280-289). During this period, the economy showed an upward trend, and there appeared a group of writers represented by "Three Zhang, Two Lu, Two Pan and One Left" in literature. Taikang literature presents the pursuit of formal beauty such as complexity and antithesis, and gradually loses the style of Jian 'an literature. However, there are also some new explorations in the use of language, especially Zuo Si's protest against the door valve system and his poems expressing the resentment of poor scholars, which have become the brilliant highlights of literature in this period.
The literature of the Eastern Jin Dynasty began in the southern crossing of the Jin Dynasty (3 17), and finally Liu Yu usurped the Jin Dynasty (420). Metaphysics, which rose in the field of philosophy since Wei and Jin Dynasties, reached its peak in the Western Jin Dynasty. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Xuanfeng still flourished, and with the popularity of Buddhism and the confluence of metaphysics and Buddhism, the whole literary world was shrouded in Xuanfeng. This ethos has influenced the literary style, making metaphysical poems occupy the literary world for a hundred years. Therefore, the Eastern Jin Dynasty was full of praise except for metaphysical poems. Only the appearance of Tao Yuanming at the end of the Jin Dynasty brought a new breath to the literary world of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and became the splendor of the literary world of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
From Liu Song Dynasty to the end of Chen Dynasty, it was the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The dynasties changed frequently, and the political confrontation between the north and the south was the main feature of social politics in this period. However, the literature of the Southern Dynasties can be noticed. First, the evolution from metaphysical words to landscape themes During the Liu and Song Dynasties, the so-called "Zhuang Lao retired, but the landscape was graceful". In these changes, Xie Lingyun played an important role. His expression of the natural beauty of mountains and rivers and his pursuit of exquisite art made the ancient poetry of Han and Wei dynasties move towards a more mature position and brought another new change to China's poetry. At the same time, Bao Zhao, who mainly composed Yuefu poems, sang his protest and dissatisfaction with the gate valve system and became another outstanding poet in this period.
Although Xiao Qi's regime didn't last long, there was a new development in poetry. It is worth noting that Shen Yue, Zhou Yong, Wang Rong, Xie Shu and others discussed the rhythm, practicality and duality of poetry, and * * * jointly established the "eternal style", which became the transition from China's classical poetry to modern rhythmic poetry. Secondly, Xie Tiao and other landscape poets changed the form of Xie Lingyun's "big thanks" and made new contributions to the development of landscape poetry. Thirdly, due to the emperor's advocacy and participation in poetry creation in this period, poetry creation tends to be flashy and frivolous.
During the period of Liang and Chen, the floating tendency in Qi's poems developed and evolved into the style of palace poems. Liang Chengong's style poems mostly express court life, write more about women's looks, body parts, postures and chanting things, and pursue floweriness, which has become a typical representative of light and gorgeous poetry style, and has also been criticized by later poetic theorists and become the object of later reform.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the development of literature between the North and the South was unbalanced. When the south was famous for its romantic literary style, the northern literary world was desolate. However, because the confrontation between the north and the south did not isolate each other's cultural exchanges, the exchange of scholars and the dissemination of documents also affected the north, and the literature in the north also developed slowly. However, many northern writers admire the literary talent of the Southern Dynasties, so there are many traces of imitating the South in the North. Such as Star Shao, Wei Shou and Wen Zisheng. What really brings improvement to the north is Yu Xin and Wang Bao who are stranded in the north. Northern literature deserves praise. First, the folk songs in the north are simple, natural and strong. Second, prose works, such as Family Instructions of Yan Family, Notes on Luoyang, Notes on Shui Jing, etc. The different literary styles of the North and the South exchanged in the confrontation, gradually merged in the exchange, and were greatly strengthened by the unification of the Sui Dynasty, and finally formed a new literary situation in which the literature of the Tang Dynasty was refined and revived.
To sum up, we can see that the material production and literary creation during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were unbalanced. This just proves Marx's theory about the imbalance between artistic creation and material production.
The development of social productive forces fundamentally determines the development and evolution of literature and art, so in a general sense, the development and change of literature and art changes with the development of productive forces, that is, with the development and change of economic materials. This relationship between economy and literature and art is only a gradual change of the former in the historical process. The influence of the change of economic base on the development of literature and art is not synchronous, but unbalanced in the morning and evening. Because the change of the whole social ideology system, including literature, is an extremely complicated process, which is fundamentally restricted by the relations of material production and influenced by various social factors. However, it is an objective law that the development and change of literature and art are ultimately determined by the economic base and restricted by the productive forces. Therefore, the imbalance between literary and artistic development and economic development is objective and realistic. Because the restriction of economic foundation on the development of literature and art is fundamental, when we make a more detailed investigation on the development of literature and art, we will find that it is not synchronized with the changes of economic development at some time.
Marx pointed out in the Preface to Critique of Political Economy: "Material life style restricts the whole process of social life, political life and spiritual life. It is not human consciousness that determines human existence, on the contrary, it is human social existence that determines human consciousness. ..... With the change of economic base, all the huge superstructures have changed slowly or quickly. When examining these changes, we must always distinguish between the following two forms: one is material, legal, political, religious, artistic or philosophical. As far as the economic conditions of production are concerned, it can be stipulated by the accuracy of natural science, in short, it is the form of ideology. " ④
Therefore, the imbalance between artistic production and material production just proves that the superstructure is determined by the economic base and reflects the economic development to some extent. Once the economic base changes, the superstructure built on it will inevitably change accordingly to adapt to the changes in the economic base. However, this change is not proportional or linear. Artistic works in economically developed societies are not necessarily high-level and high-achievement, and artistic works in societies with backward productivity are not necessarily low-level. On the contrary, the art of a certain society is bound to be restricted by this social and economic situation, and it will also reflect this social and economic development. Economic development can provide good material conditions for the development of art and influence the content and form of art.
After the ideology such as art is produced on a certain economic basis, it does not depend entirely on the economy, but has its inherent regularity and relative independence. There are some inherent laws in the form of artistic expression and the combination of form and content. The economic foundation cannot directly affect the achievements of artistic works. Engels once said: "economically backward countries can still play the first violin in philosophy: France did this to Britain in the eighteenth century, and later Germany did the same to Britain and France." On the one hand, artistic creation needs certain content (creativity, material, etc.). ), and these contents not only come from the era at that time, but also include all kinds of ideological materials passed down from generation to generation.
This is just as plekhanov once pointed out: "By no means all parts of the' superstructure' grow directly from the economic base: art and the economic base are only indirectly related. Therefore, when discussing art, we must consider the intermediate level. It is generally believed that there are social ideologies such as politics and social psychology in the intermediate link between literature and art and social and economic foundation.
Material production and spiritual production are not simple correspondence, and artistic production is different from material economic development, which cannot be accurately expressed by natural science or measured by quantitative standards. It is believed that the development of art is directly proportional to the development of material production, and even that the development speed of art production can be higher than that of material production.
As Engels said, "the development of literature and art is based on the development of economy." As a form of social consciousness, literature belongs to the superstructure. Therefore, the emergence and development of literature is always restricted by a certain economic base in the final analysis. It is embodied in two aspects: on the one hand, from the content of literature, the thoughts and feelings it expresses, the social relations it reveals and the life scenes it reproduces all depend on the economic foundation of a certain society. On the other hand, judging from the development of literature, economic foundation is the fundamental reason that determines the development and evolution of literature. Without the germination and development of capitalism, there would be no Renaissance and Enlightenment in Europe. The development and prosperity of Han culture in China can not be separated from the victory of feudalism over slavery. However, it should be noted that the restriction and influence of economic foundation on the development and evolution of literature is often indirect and slow.
refer to
[1] article 8 of the introduction to Marx's critique of political economy.
[2] Zong Baihua's "Aesthetic Walking"
[3] Zhao "On Wei and Jin demeanor" Fudan Journal (Social Science Edition) 1988, the first issue.
[4] Marx's Preface
[5] plekhanov's Selected Works of plekhanov's Philosophy, Volume 2, p. 322.
[6] Selected Works of Marx and Engels, Volume IV, p. 156.
[7] Yuan Xingpei's History of China Literature, Volume II, Part III Literature of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.