First of all, it expands the field of quatrains from the content aspect. Du Fu also wrote quatrains on various themes, discussing politics, discussing artistic papers and describing trivial matters around him, which can be expressed in other poetic styles. Secondly, related to it, this kind of quatrains are not ethereal works in art, but are known for their charm; There is also a lack of sighs applied to orchestral strings. Its unique victory lies in its interesting touch with opportunities, full of wonderful thoughts and deep feelings, just like chatting with readers around the stove and cutting candles; Whether sighing, laughing or cursing, it can give people a kind, true and sincere feeling, so that readers can see this person and hear his voice. The unique style of simplicity and elegance is memorable.
The six quatrains (hereinafter referred to as six quatrains) is one of the specimens of Du Fu's quatrains. The most common way to discuss poetry with poetry is to discuss poetic quatrains. It, every song can talk about a problem; Connecting multiple poems into a group can also show a complete artistic view. In the theoretical heritage of China's poetry, there are many famous quatrains on poetry, among which Du Fu's Six quatrains is the earliest and most influential. The first three poems are comments on the author, and the last three poems reveal the purpose of the poem. Its spirit is interrelated and an inseparable whole.
On the first poem of Yu Xin's "Play is Six Jueju". Du Fu once said in Spring Memories of Li Bai that "opening a house is fresh and beautiful". In this poem, it is pointed out that Yu Xin's later articles (also referred to as poems and fu) are more mature in style: "Yu Xin's articles are older and more mature, and his brushwork is vertical and horizontal." Lingyun, a healthy pen, is not only good at "freshness". The "modern people" in the Tang Dynasty pointed fingers at Yu Xin, mocking and pointing out their ignorance. Therefore, "former sages are afraid of future generations" is just a kind of irony.
The second and third poems are about four outstanding figures in the early Tang Dynasty. Poetry in the early Tang Dynasty did not completely get rid of the habit of advocating rhetoric and glitz in the Six Dynasties. The "frivolous writing" in the second song was laughed at by people at that time. Shi Bing's "Du Shi Suozheng" explains this poem: "The four-character style was the fashion at that time, and those who scoffed at it have not stopped yet. I don't know that the name of the second Cao was destroyed, and the writings of the four sons were not abolished, such as rivers flowing forever. " In the third poem, "Even if" is Du Fu's tone, and "Wang Lu's calligraphy is not as coquettish as Han Wei's" is what people mocked at that time ("Lu Wang" refers to the four masters in the poem). Du Fu quoted their words to refute, so the last two sentences had such a turning point. It means that even so, Sijie can master the magnificent words like "Dragon and Tiger Ridge" with their own talents, and their works can stand the test of time.
The intention of these three poems is obvious: the first poem says that we must look at people in an all-round way and not just see one aspect and ignore the other. The second one says that the evaluation of writers cannot be divorced from the conditions of their times. The third song points out that although the writers' achievements are different, they have their own characteristics and do not hide from each other. We should evaluate it correctly and be good at learning from our predecessors from different angles. These views of Du Fu are correct. But the significance of these three poems goes far beyond this.
The fourth poem continues the poetry of the third poem, criticizes the irresponsible and wanton abuse of the sages of the predecessors, and accuses these people that their own works are nothing more than playing jade in the blue sea, not as great as whaling in the blue sea.
"Modern people love the ancients" refers to writers such as Yu Xin and Si Jie. The reason why Du Fu "loves the past" rather than "cherishes the present" is that "beautiful words and sentences must be neighbors". "Neighbor" means homophonic. In Du Fu's view, poetry is the art of language, and "clear words and beautiful sentences" cannot be abandoned. What's more, Yu Xin and Si Jie not only have "clear pronunciation and beautiful sentences", but also have the side of "Lingbi" and "Longji", so he advocates eclecticism: advocating ancient tunes and adopting new sounds, and keeping ancient and modern poems in parallel. "Today's people love the ancients, and beautiful sentences in plain language must be neighbors" should be understood in this sense.
However, it is pleasing to the eye to learn from the Six Dynasties and blindly pursue "clear words and beautiful sentences" such as "jade playing with orchids, brighter colors", but the style of writing is gentle and shallow after all; If we want to surpass our predecessors, we must give full play to our talents with great tolerance, so as to show the ingenuity of flying charm in our rigorous physique; Don't be trapped by space, don't be limited by temperament, keep calm in statutes, and keep God outside the rules. In order to achieve this artistic realm, Du Fu believes that it can only be achieved by "stealing and bending". Because of its gorgeous beauty, "Songs of the South" will become a model admired by poets in past dynasties, which can be traced back to Qu Yuan and Song Yu from the Six Dynasties. Only in this way can Xie Cai say, "If you think it's strange without losing its truth, if you play it's flashy without falling into reality, you can look forward to it, and if you cough, your writing is not refined" ("Wen Xin Diao Sao") without falling into its source. Du Fu's thought of inheriting and criticizing the literature of the Six Dynasties is mainly manifested in two aspects: "never being vain" and "turning to a teacher".
The last poem of Six Juequatrains has different views from those of the predecessors. The "former sages" here refer to the successful writers of the previous generation (including Yu Xin and the four great writers). "Making friends with ancestors" is to follow suit. "Carrying on the family line" is the fundamental reason for "failing to reach the sages". The reason why the "pseudo-body" is fake lies in replacing creation with simulation. If truth and falsehood are mixed, falsehood can be confused with truth, so it should be "cut differently" Creation and conformity are the dividing lines between Du Fu's truth and falsehood. Only when poets give full play to their creativity can they express themselves, write their own temperament and write real literary works. This is the truth of Yu Xin's "Jian Bi Ling Yun" and Si Jie's "The River is Declining". On the other hand, picking people's teeth and getting close to people will inevitably have no vitality. It is of course false to pile up rhetoric and follow in the footsteps of Qi Liang. And blindly imitating the works of the Han and Wei ancients is also a false body. In Du Fu's mind, there is only the difference between true and false, and there is no difference between ancient and modern.
"Don't cut off your fake body" and "turn to benefit from multiple teachers" are two sides of the same question. "Don't cut off your fake body" and emphasize creation; Transfer to Multi-Division focuses on inheritance. The relationship between them is dialectical. "Learning from many teachers is valuable for teachers", which means learning everything without a fixed learning object. This sentence has several meanings: only by "doing everything well" can we learn from others; There is no fixed learning object, not limited to one family. Although there is some inheritance and reference, it does not hinder the poet's own creativity. This is the first meaning. Only under the premise of "not cutting off the fake body", we can distinguish between authenticity and falsehood, and then we can determine who and what the teacher is, and truly "benefit from many teachers", which is the second meaning. To be "omniscient" and have no fixed learning object, we must be good at learning other people's achievements from different angles, and at the same time have something to carry forward and discard, which is the third meaning. Creating on the basis of both criticism and inheritance, blending the past with the present, and creating the poet's own quatrains, this is the spirit of Du Fu's "turning to benefit from many teachers" and "never ending the false style".
Although Liu Jueju mainly talks about artistic issues, it is inseparable from Du Fu's overall creative spirit. In his poems, "usurping the Song Dynasty" and "pro-elegance" are the guiding ideology of his creation and the purpose of his poems. These six short poems are essentially the summary of Du Fu's practical experience in poetry creation and the general outline of poetry theory. It involves a series of important theoretical issues related to the development of Tang poetry. It is unprecedented to make such a big comment in such a small poem. Through various examples, the poet summed up a series of key points, put the solemn brushwork in a relaxed and humorous brushwork, and explained it in a harmonious way. Li Zhonghua said that Du Fu's "Don't find another way" was here. Knowing this, it is not difficult for readers to understand why this group of poems will be labeled as "six quatrains in a play".