New Yuefu Movement
Advocate "articles should be written in time, and songs and poems should be written for things".
Bai Juyi wrote a lot of poems all his life, with 75 volumes of poems handed down from generation to generation, totaling 3840, which was second to none in the Tang Dynasty. Bai Juyi compiled a collection of poems "Bai Collection" (formerly known as "Bai Changqing Collection") before his death, and collected more than 3,800 poems, which were later scattered. The earliest extant white poetry anthology is an engraving of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty, with more than 3,600 poems (including dozens of others). What impresses people most are his satirical poems and sentimental poems, among which the new Yuefu and Gexingqu are particularly striking. In the early 1920s, Mr. Hu Shi, a famous scholar, put forward the "New Yuefu Movement" for the first time in his History of Vernacular Literature.
China Tang Dynasty, initiated by Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen, is a poetic innovation movement with the creation of new Yuefu poems as its core.
New Yuefu refers to Yuefu poems written by the Tang people themselves. In the early Tang Yuefu poems, most of them were plagiarized from the old Yuefu poems, but a few of them were found in another way. Yuefu, a new theme, has developed greatly since Du Fu, "that is, things have a name and nothing to rely on." , Wei, Dai Shulun, Gu Kuang, etc. There are also new Yuefu works. They can be said to be pioneers of the new Yuefu movement. After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty declined. During Zhenyuan and Yuanhe years, the social crisis was further exposed, and some people of insight had a clearer understanding of reality, hoping to get rid of the disadvantages and revive the dynasty. Reflected in the literary world, there appeared the ancient prose movement advocated by Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan and the new Yuefu movement advocated by Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen.
In the fourth year of Yuanhe (809), Li Shen first wrote twenty poems (modern poems) about Yuefu for Yuan Zhen. Yuan wrote Yuefu 12, which is a new subject for proofreading books. Later, Bai Juyi wrote 50 new Yuefu poems, which officially marked the name of the new Yuefu. In this way, the massive new Yuefu movement began. As a poetry movement, the creation of new Yuefu is not limited to writing new Yuefu, but also ancient Yuefu. However, although ancient poetry is used, it can be innovative and reflect the direction of poetry innovation.
The basic purpose of the new Yuefu movement is "taking literature as a song and poetry as a thing" (Bai Juyi's Nine Books with the Same Yuan). Bai Juyi and others emphasized the social function and allegorical function of poetry, and advocated that poetry should have social content to reflect the sufferings of people's livelihood and social ills; It is required that the form and content of poetry should be unified, serve the content, express truthfully and smoothly, and be easy to accept. These theories are contrary to the escapist poetic style that gradually emerged after Dali, and carry forward the fine poetic traditions of The Book of Songs, Yuefu of Han and Wei Dynasties and Du Fu, which is of progressive significance.
The poetry creation of the New Yuefu Movement reflected the extremely broad social life in the middle Tang Dynasty, exposed the social contradictions at that time from various aspects, put forward sharp social problems, and realized his own theoretical proposition. Most of these works have strong practical significance and distinct tendencies. In art, although their achievements are different and their styles are different, most of them embody the common, real and distinctive characteristics of * * *. In the tenth year of Yuanhe, Bai Juyi was demoted and the new Yuefu movement was frustrated. However, this movement had a far-reaching impact on the later development of poetry.
By the middle Tang Dynasty, the society of the Tang Dynasty destroyed by An Shi Rebellion was relatively stable, the political power was relatively consolidated and the economy was relatively developed. Therefore, the rulers have the hope of rectifying the platform and reviving the Tang Dynasty. One way is to adopt the suggestion that officials collect poems and listen to people's words. On the other hand, in order to strive for the independence of the army, the eunuch dictatorship seized power in the vassal areas, which aggravated the rulers' plunder of the working people and the annexation of land, and the social contradictions became increasingly acute. Harsh politics and heavy taxes have made workers overwhelmed and complained. Naturally, they scolded a few words and made up a few songs to scold them, so folk songs became popular and spread like wildfire.
At this time, the emperor took Bai Juyi's countermeasures, collected poems for the people and listened to politics for the people, thus achieving "observing customs and knowing gains and losses". Please look at Bai Juyi's "Ce Cai Lin Shi":
(Emperor) Q: The sage is so because he cares about what others say, observes human feelings and then acts as a teacher. However, one person's ear can be heard all over the world. With one heart, do you know the feelings of the world? Today, I want to set up an official of poetry, open a satirical way, examine the politics of its gains and losses, and understand its feelings. What does Dr. Zi think?
The minister (Bai Juyi) heard that the holy king took care of people's words and made up for his own mistakes, so he made a point of guiding the source. We will pay attention to the selection of officials to observe the wind, build officials to collect poems, so as to arouse the voice of praise and satire, and the day will be collected from the bottom and the year will be dedicated to the top. The so-called speaker is innocent, and the listener is self-disciplined. If the feelings of great mortals are useless, they will be moved by emotions. Then it is aroused by lamentation, originated from chanting and shaped by poetry. Therefore, if you hear the poem "Xiao Guo", you will know that Ze is everywhere. When you hear the chanting of "He Shu", you will know when you are rich. When you hear the words "north wind", you know that bullying affects people. When you smell the sting of Storytelling, you know it's important to focus on the next step. As soon as I heard the rumor of "wide sleeves and high bun", I knew the luxury of customs. If you hear the phrase "Who gets the wife menstruation", you will know the waste of conscription. The rise and fall of the old country wind is also seen from Sri Lanka; The gains and losses of the king are also heard; The joys and sorrows of human feelings have been known from Sri Lanka. Then, the monarch and the minister personally looked at it and considered it: those who abolished politics repaired it, and those who lacked politics made it up; Those who worry about others enjoy it, and those who work escape it. The so-called good defense against Sichuan, decision-making guidance; Good at reasoning, published, coined words. Therefore, if there is no goodness in politics, you must know it; The loss of teaching will be known to the world. Then it is honest and clear, so why worry about not issuing it? Why don't you know what is good for you? Make peace from top to bottom, both inside and outside. If this cannot be achieved, it will not be promoted, and it has never been heard of since the opening up. Laozi said, "You know the world without leaving home." What's Si's name?
Juyi not only satirized the Oracle with poems, actively responded, advocated and promoted the New Yuefu Movement, but also spread, published and actively operated, playing the role of central leadership. In this respect, Bai Juyi left his mark in Nine Books with Yuan Dynasty.
"At the beginning of the emperor's reign, there was an upright man in the slaughterhouse, who repeatedly dropped books. The visitors (people) are very ill. On this day, the servant was in Hanlin, and he was an admonisher. In addition to offering advice paper, he can also help people (people) to make up for their illness, but it is difficult to point to the speaker, so he needs to sing it and want to hear it.
This is a rare written record about the new Yuefu movement. The emperor just acceded to the throne, ambitious, to revive the platform, the prime minister (Pei Ji) is also an official integrity, actively assist the emperor, often handed down imperial edicts, asking poets to collect poems and understand the sufferings of people's livelihood. The word "repeatedly" shows that the new Yuefu movement was not achieved overnight. As an admonisher, Bai Juyi is duty-bound. On the one hand, he wants to convey the will of the emperor and put it in place. On the other hand, he will collect the poems collected by the poets and give them to the emperor in different categories. It can be seen that poetry collection has become an important activity in court affairs and an important topic in court meetings. In the meantime, Bai Juyi is an indispensable organizer. Bai Juyi's organizational work is also really excellent. On the one hand, he wanted to "start a fight" in the imperial court, and on the other hand, he wanted Yuefu to compose music for those who could solve the sufferings of people's livelihood and eliminate social evils but were not convenient to start a fight in the imperial court, and the musicians sang it to the emperor on the spot. You can't despise your company. The word "slightly" also shows the cautious and serious attitude of Bai Juyi and the majority of Yuefu employees in this matter. Bai Juyi is an excellent leader, good at guiding and well organized.
Bai Juyi is not only an outstanding leader of the new Yuefu movement, but also a practitioner of the new Yuefu. He has rich practice and exquisite theory in the creation of the new Yuefu. He has 50 new Yuefu poems, pointing out the shortcomings of the past and satirizing the emperor from different angles. For example, the widely circulated Shang Yang White-haired Man is "resentful and open-minded"; Xinfeng Folding Arm Weng and Farewell to Sidework; "catching locusts" and "stabbing officers"; "Bind Rong people" and "reach out to the poor people"; "West Cool Envoy" and "Minister who Stabbed the Frontier"; Du Lingcuo and The Difficulties of Hurting Farmers; "Dazzling Silk" and "Reflections on Women Workers' Labor"; "Charcoal Man" and "Kumiya"; "Official cow" and "satirizing the ruling"; "Black Tan Long" and "corrupt officials"; Qin Jiliao, "Mourning for the People", etc., these poems expose the pain and disaster caused by the corruption of state affairs and the abuse of power by officials with living facts. A closer look at Bai Juyi's "New Yuefu Chapters and Sentences" gives people the impression that "the words are light, and those who want to see them are easy to describe; His words are straightforward, and those who want to hear them are deeply warned; Its words are core and solid, so that those who use them can convey information; Its body follows the rules and can be played in music and songs. In short, for the monarch, for the minister, for the people, for things, for things, not for writing. "This passage in Bai Juyi's Preface to the New Yuefu clarifies the creative purpose of the new Yuefu and its basic requirements in content and form, which can be regarded as the basic program of the new Yuefu creation and also Bai Juyi's experience. From today's perspective, Bai Juyi is an outstanding leader of the new Yuefu movement, a master of writing and a theoretical expert of the new Yuefu, and an expert who leads the "experts".
Bai Juyi's outstanding leadership of the New Yuefu Movement can also be witnessed from another aspect, that is, he was jealous and retaliated for actively advocating and practicing the New Yuefu Movement. Bai Juyi said in Jiu Shu Tong Yuan: "It is inappropriate to hear the poem Yu He written by a servant, but many people have registered it. I was very unhappy when I heard the poem "Cry out a hole". When you hear Qin Zhongyin, when you look at the people around you, you will lose color. Hearing that "Happy Garden" is full of poems, those in power will be heartbroken. When you hear the poem "Village of Perillage", you will gnash your teeth if you hold an important military official. The rate can't be higher. " After reading this passage, we can imagine the jealousy and fear of the rebels, thieves and corrupt officials to Bai Juyi, and then we can imagine the jealousy and fear of the rebels, thieves and corrupt officials to the folk songs collected by the poetry collectors from the streets.
However, with the support of the emperor and the prime minister, there is nothing anyone can do, let alone Bai Juyi. However, once given the chance, they will retaliate with a hundredfold madness. Sure enough, when Prime Minister Wu was assassinated, Bai Juyi first asked the thief to repay the national humiliation. Because he was in power, he hated him for overstepping his duty and falsely accused him of not being guilty, he was demoted to Jiangzhou Secretariat. This is not a trap to feel avenged, just like Bai Juyi took office and was then demoted as an excuse for Jiangzhou Sima. Because now is not the time to talk, obviously this is the traitor's forced revenge, and Bai Juyi must be killed. However, the lower working people like his new Yuefu. For example, Yuan Zhen said in Preface to Collection of Bai Changqing: "There are no books on the walls of forbidden provinces, temples and post stations, and princes, concubines, horses and cattle have nothing to say", "It has not been circulated since the chapter", and even "Young people in Chang 'an in Bashu and other places have imitated it. This shows Bai Juyi's influence in the new Yuefu movement, which can also prove that the new Yuefu movement is by no means a chorus between several literati poets, but a poetic "movement" that affects the ruling and opposition parties and takes root among the people.