Contrast is a way to put contradictory things together and compare them with each other. Contrast can intercept two different things or two different aspects of the same thing. Through the comparison between the two, the beauty and ugliness of the image are more distinct, the characteristics of both sides are more obvious, the advantages and disadvantages are more profound, and the contradictions are more acute. Set-off is to use the approximate or opposite conditions between things, and use some things as a set-off to highlight what is to be expressed, so that the set-off things are more prominent and vivid. There are two types of foil: positive and negative. Using similar conditions of things to set off is positive contrast; To set off with the opposite conditions of things is to contrast.
"Contrast" in poetry refers to juxtaposing two opposite or opposing things, or two aspects of a thing, and using * * * to express a certain artistic conception or emotion. Such as a folk song in the early Southern Song Dynasty:
The moon bends Kyushu,
How many happy families are there?
Couples settle accounts with each other,
How many families are wandering outside?
The use of contrast can make the difference between the described objects more obvious. This folk song, through strong contrast, describes the painful background of people leaving their homes.
Another example is (Tang)' s Wild Old Songs.
The old man's family is poor and lives in the mountains.
Cultivate three or four acres of mountain fields.
Miao and Shu taxes are not allowed,
The input official warehouse is turned into soil.
At the end of the year, the plow leaned against the empty room.
Hu er climbed up the mountain to collect acorns.
Xijiang Jiazhuke White Lake,
Dogs on board eat meat.
The last two sentences highlight the contradiction between rich businessmen and poor peasants, that is, the contradiction between cities and rural areas, through the sharp contrast between two completely different lives.
The Modern Chinese Dictionary explains the word "set off" as: "In order to make things stand out, put other things together to set off or contrast." In other words, "foil" refers to the method of highlighting the main things with similar or opposite conditions between things and something. "Set-off" is divided into positive contrast and negative contrast, and its purpose is to highlight the characteristics of the things being set off, so as to finally highlight the theme of the characters or poems.
Setting off is a common expression in the creation of ancient poems. Du Fu's famous phrase "The stars fall from the clearing, and the moon rushes to the river" ("Expressing my thoughts at night"), only its "star drooping" can show the vastness of vilen; Only its "moon surge" can reflect the flow of rivers: this is a wonderful use of contrast. And Wang Wei's Five Musts "Sitting alone in a secluded bamboo forest, I am playing the piano and humming a song. It's too light for anyone to hear, except my comrade Mingyue "(In the Bamboo Pavilion), playing the piano and whistling, highlighting the silence of the moonlit night; The bright moon sets each other off, especially the darkness in the deep forest: a wonderful use of contrast. As long as we carefully ponder over the reading and appreciation of ancient poetry, we will certainly be able to deeply understand its profound intention and wonderful expression.
Positive contrast refers to the use of approximate conditions between things to underline the main things, such as Li Bai's "Tianmu Mountain Dreams Ascend to Heaven": "Straight into the sky, its peak into the sky, the top of the five holy peaks, cast a shadow through China. The roof is 18000 feet high, and at this point, it begins to turn to the southeast. " Here, the poet did not directly say how high Tianmu Mountain is, but used the famous five mountains and roofs to set off Tianmu Mountain, thus making Tianmu Mountain stand tall and majestic. Contrast refers to the use of the opposite conditions of things to set off the main things, such as Wang Wei (Shi Fo's "Bird Sound Flow":
People are idle, osmanthus flowers fall, and the night is quiet and empty.
When the moon comes out, the birds are startled, and the sound enters the spring stream.
One of them is the inversion of "osmanthus falling into the world", in order to set off the static; Three or four sentences are silent and audible: the whole poem depicts a fresh and quiet situation by setting off.
Another example is Du Fu's "People Change Songs": "Jiangyue only goes a few feet, and the lamp shines at night. The heron in the sand head said nothing, and the fish jumped to the stern and screamed. " Among them, the phrase "fish jumping around the stern and screaming" is used as a comparison. The first three sentences of the poem focus on depicting a static word, but this sentence seems to break the realm of silence, but it gives readers the opposite practical feeling. The quieter, the quieter. This is the meaning of the poem "cicada restless forest, sound palace quiet"
Some poems use both contrast and contrast, which requires us to distinguish carefully and taste slowly when reading and appreciating. For example:
The autumn in Luyou was very dry, and it suddenly rained on the night of July 28th. I was very happy and had something to do.
Oracle bones are like burning barnyard grass,
I'm worried. I want to forget my life.
Jun Tian-jiu played Xiao Shao music,
The sound of pouring rain did not reach the virtual eaves.
"A grain is burnt out" and "barnyard grass is green" set each other off, highlighting the seriousness of autumn drought; Three or four sentences are set off by "Jun Tian Jiu plays Xiao Shaole", which highlights the poet's pleasant mood of listening to "the sound of rain on the empty eaves". Another example is:
Bai Mei/Wang Mian
In the snow forest,
Different peaches and plums are mixed with fragrant dust.
Suddenly, it smells good all night,
Scattered like withered Kun Wan Li Spring.
In order to shape the image of plum blossom, the author uses contrast and contrast. Against the ice and snow, against the tenacity and cold resistance of plum blossoms; Contrast with peaches and plums to show the nobility and dedication of plums. So as to express the thoughts and feelings of adhering to ideal ethics and not colluding with the secular.
To sum up, the difference between "contrast" and "foil" is that contrast is the contrast between two opposing or similar things, and they are interdependent rather than subordinate. * * * with the expression of a certain idea or artistic conception, comparing the two sides regardless of primary and secondary; And foil is to use secondary things as foil to highlight a major thing, one is the tool and the other is the purpose, and the two are clearly distinguished. So don't confuse these two kinds of rhetoric.
Wang Xinliang, a Chinese teacher, now lives in Taizhou, Jiangsu. This article is edited by Hong Ming.