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The early Song Dynasty ended the separatist regime in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, as Song Taizu and Zhao Kuangyin said in Ode to the Early Moon: "In an instant, the stars and the waning moon were all driven away." The people obtained a relatively stable living environment, the ruling class adopted a relatively moderate ruling strategy, and the society experienced a short-term prosperity. In order to whitewash peace, poetry and fu were advocated in the early Song Dynasty. In this way, the poets in the Song Dynasty inherited the ethos of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, and finally formed the Quincy style with gorgeous words and empty content represented by Yang Yi.
Just pick up an article entitled "A Book in the Generation, Thanks for Cold Food, Giving a Royal Banquet" (Yang Yi's New Collection of Wuyi 18), and you can know the magnificence and difficulty of Quincy style. Its text is as follows:
By the way, I made it today, and the imperial edict was given to me, so I gave it to the royal banquet in private. Fire is forbidden to repair, just in time; The banquet is private and the song is a gift. Hengmen pays the bill and earns all, and vegetarians are not afraid. The Emperor Gai asked why, and he got all the benefits, so when he bathed, he got the sweet benefits. Big officials put it in the first place and won the benevolence of pushing grain; Little people are disgusting, but they drink a lot of water. As far as the Netherlands is concerned, it has followed the province to increase its honor.
This is a polite way to thank the emperor for hosting a banquet at the Cold Food Festival. The full text is limited by red tape and rhetoric, which is extremely exquisite and flashy.
At the same time, anti-revivalism is also developing. Although the climax of the ancient prose movement has been very low since Liu Han, its influence has not declined. In the Five Dynasties, Niu Xiji criticized the writing style of "emphasizing sound and illness" (On Articles). In the early Song Dynasty, Liu Kai and Mu Xiu took it as their responsibility to inherit the tradition of Liu Han's ancient prose and opposed the prevailing style of writing at that time. At that time, Wang Yucheng, who was brilliant and rich in creation, also despised the grandiose style of writing since the end of the Tang Dynasty. He believes that "after the style of writing is self-contained, it is no longer elegant. Because it has gone through five generations, the pen is more brilliant. " ("Five Sorrow Poems") advocates that "every sentence is Yi Dao, and the meaning is easy to know" ("Small Livestock Collection", Volume 18, answer Zhang Fushu again).
In the mid-Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu was the leader of the ancient prose movement, and Su Shi called Wen Zhonggong "Han Yujin" in the preface to "Collection of 61 Laymen". He not only practiced political struggle, but also advocated the innovation of writing style. After the senior high school entrance examination, Ouyang Xiu, together with Athena Chu and others, opposed the fashion at that time, advocated writing plain and simple ancient prose, and supplemented and revised Han Yu's collected works for publicity. In addition, in the second year of Jiayou, when Ouyang Xiu paid tribute, he also advocated the usual style of writing through the imperial examination. Under its influence, writers such as Wang Anshi, Ceng Gong, Su Xun, Su Shi and Su Zhe appeared. Together, they promoted the vigorous development of the ancient prose movement, so that they reached the point that "scholars don't learn unless they are Korean" (Ouyang Xiu's "Korean Memorizing Old Books"). It promoted the change of writing style from obscure to plain at that time
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In feudal times, most writers were concerned about the national economy and people's livelihood. When writing articles, they emphasize "writing to convey the Tao", making it timely and emphasizing practicality. Song Dynasty literature is no exception. As Ye Shi said: "Writing is not about religion, but about what is good?" (Xu Shizeng's Stylistic Analysis, Article Program and General Introduction), Zhen once said: "Articles should be based on clear meaning and practicality" (Xu Shizeng's Stylistic Analysis, Article Program and General Introduction). At first, they didn't focus on the creation of poems and fu, but devoted themselves to practical articles, that is, writing official documents and poems and fu for recreation; Only when politics is frustrated does the rest of the poem express frustration.
Therefore, the poetic style of literary masters is a reflection of their official document style. Their discussion on stylistic writing is also a summary and sublimation of official document writing experience.
The works of writing articles and official documents in the Song Dynasty are richer than those in the previous generation, and have made great progress. Although the ancient prose movement advocated by Ouyang Xiu inherited the spirit and thought of Han Yu's ancient prose movement, it also made some progress. Influenced by Liu Kai and Shi Jie who opposed chapters and sentences in the early Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu continued to emphasize that the content of the article was more important than the form. With the help of the banner of Confucian "Tao", he opposed superficial articles and made progress. Explaining that "words without words are not far away", Wen Gong said: "What a gentleman has learned is that words are used to carry things, words are used to decorate words, and things can be seen by future generations." (Preface to the First Episode of Wang Shumi) He thinks that "it is not difficult for people to win literature by Tao" (in reply to Wu Chong's Scholars), and there is also an essay by Tao: even he once said: "It is sad to devote himself to writing all his life" (Preface to Sending Xu Wudang on a Southern Tour), which directly denies the independent value of literature. This points out the relationship between content and form more clearly and pertinently, and refutes Ni Si's article "System first, precision second;" Out of control, although the floating sound is big, the dialogue between Huang and Bai is extremely subtle and cannot be described in words. " Many scholars, such as Xu Shizeng's Analysis of Style, Outline of Articles and General Theory, hold the wrong view that form is more important than content, thus becoming a mere formality.
Ouyang Xiu served as deputy special envoy of parliament and participated in political affairs. In the process of drafting official documents, he spared no effort to carry out his own ideas. Father-in-law Wen Zhong's writings have been handed down from generation to generation, especially the imperial edicts, decrees and edicts drawn up for the emperor. In view of the shortage of people's strength in Renzong dynasty and the increasingly fierce class contradictions, Wen Gong was ordered to draft "Persuade Agriculture" (79 volumes of Ouyang Wenzhong's collected works), and put forward the idea of being generous in farming and mulberry, strict in official management and lenient in civil rights. Its text is as follows:
I have no virtue. As for the use of force, I have been entangled for a long time and I am trapped in Li Yuan. There are people who love things and people who can give things; The order that rewards must be punished must be carried out today. I speak methodically, but I listen to everything. Rich peasants are the foundation of the world, and those who serve the country have nothing to do. If you want to save it, it's easy to fill it, but you can't do it. There are many people eating today, but the losers have drowned. Advise them not to be diligent and take back their feet. Make the people more reluctant to pay, half of them are idle; Changshu, 20 years old, is still afraid of poverty, and it is more of a flood and drought disaster. If you want to adjust the collection, the unkind person who is an official will inevitably ask for it; Levy has his own laws, and people with unclear politics are in trouble. How many farmers, if the victims are here, they want to be lenient with our people, what can they get? With money and teaching, is there no skill? You cherish your body and expect you to be a good official. From then on, you can build water conservancy, open up farmland, teach farmers and mulberry, and increase household registration. Anyone who is good for agriculture and gives you trouble will be rewarded by a secretary. When discussing rewards. Ponds are not repaired, fields are not cultivated, dates are not planted, household registration is in exile, and the government is slow, but it will also decrease. If your husband doesn't believe you, the law is lenient. I've suffered for a long time, and I'll think about the disadvantages. I'd rather slow down my new book than learn the same old story. The robber is notorious and must be responsible for it. If it is a treaty, tell me clearly, reward me for not bullying, and punish me for not regretting.
The full text is parallel and scattered, with rigorous structure and no allusions. And the reason is self-evident. In official documents, such as the deaths of Binxian County in Du Xiang and thomas lee in Du Xiang (Ouyang Wenzhong and Gong Ji (volume 1 15)), it can be seen that Wen Zhonggong was content-oriented.
Under the influence of Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi also devoted himself to changing the writing style at that time. He thinks, "and the so-called writer. It's just a matter of mending the world (Collected Works of Mr. Linchuan, Volume 77, Master Shu). He emphasized that literature should serve the society, and formal beauty can only be subordinate to it; The ultimate mission of form is to promote literature to better serve the society. This is exactly what Wang Anshi did. His Records of Emperor Renzong, Answering the Minister's Words, and Nothing Happened in this Dynasty for a Hundred Years have always been praised by scholars. They have a strong practical function, rigorous structure, thorough reasoning and concise language, and have always been called the model official documents of the Song Dynasty.
Wang Anshi was once a prime minister, and most of his official documents passed down to later generations were tables and systems formulated by the emperor, as well as forms and letters used by the emperor. In Begging for the Reform of Official Management (Volume 42 of Collected Works of Mr. Linchuan), Fu Jie put forward the idea of reforming the imperial examination system in view of the situation in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, the improper administration of state affairs, especially the shortcomings in selecting talents. Date of writing:
Make the past serve the present and take the school as the foundation, so morality comes first, followed by customs, which is enough for the world to use. Since my late king's kindness, the method of education has no foundation. Although scholars have beautiful materials, they have no school teachers and friends to achieve, and the discussants also have hardships. Today, if you want to pursue the retro system to correct its shortcomings, you will suffer from no gradual progress. It is advisable to get rid of the opposition between sound and disease first, so that scholars can be specialized in meaning and the court can be established. Then, the method of selecting three generations by education should be emphasized and applied to the world, which can be restored in a few days. If we want to abolish the Ming Classics Department, we must find out the number of scholars in the Ming Classics within the quantity of each subject, and once again, we are not allowed to cast words in new subjects, so that we can gradually change to scholars. Also in JD.COM, Shaanxi, Hedong, Hebei and Jingxi Fifth Road, academic officials were first set up to teach them. There are still differences in the names of scholars who join the southern province. Take the last item, for example, JD.COM and other five universities. The government should supervise the number of Jinshi admitted by each department. If there are many qualified candidates, they can be lured to various departments to study the subject of Jinshi. As promised, begging for surrender was carried out.
In Zazi, he first put forward the reason for reforming the imperial examination system, that is, "although there are beautiful materials, the school has no teachers and friends to reach", and then put forward specific implementation methods. The full text is eloquent, to the point, and it can't be relaxed, so that the functions and advantages of official documents in raising and solving problems can be fully exerted.
Su Shi's view of articles also embodies the requirements of the ancient prose movement in Song Dynasty, that is, order and nature. Su Shi once denounced the flashy style of writing in the Song Dynasty: "Modern articles are gorgeous, and no one can compare with Yang Yi. If a billion people are still there, then people who are loyal and bright will also be there. " (History of the Song Dynasty (Volume 180)) He talked about the relationship between "Wen" and "Yan" many times, and thought: "When the meaning is exhausted, the words in the world are also the most important" (Wu Ne's On the Composition of Articles); "Always do what you should do, and always stop at what you can't stop doing", which means "be natural in arts and sciences, raise your hand and cast your feet" (Collected Works of Jin Jing Dongpo, Volume 46, Teacher Xie); In Answering the King, he also said, "As for writing, it is enough." He said that his article was "good at argument and owed it to Li Hong" (on Zhang Jie's Poems of Old Cold Hall). In fact, due to the prosperity of Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty, giving lectures and realizing Taoism became their main business. Not surprisingly, articles in the Song Dynasty have a long discussion on Li Hong.
Su Shi used to be a judge in Hangzhou, and he also knew something about Mizhou and Xuzhou. He is also a bachelor of Hanlin in Zhezong, an assistant minister and a bachelor of Longtuge. During his tenure, he also formed a large number of official documents. Qi Yonglin and Yu Cutting (volume 188 1)) is as follows:
..... I secretly call it a difficult disease, both ancient and modern. Every time the imperial court wants to manage the tax, it will get rid of thieves and do trivial things to promote the benefits and eliminate the evils, and there is often a shortage of people. The ancients said, "forgiveness favors those who have a reputation, while urgency favors those who have an intermediary." What is used is not raised, and what is raised is not used. This ancient and modern common trouble is also. I fell in love with Cheng Ichiro, the supervisor on the east coast, and Lin Yu in cloth, and I have been engaged for a long time. It's in Lianshui, screening out thieves, especially with a general plan. His bravery often means dying for his country. If you try the wrong place, you will show your sharp weapon. Wang Fu sacred porcelain and the use of measuring materials. If it's not as good as you, I'll wait for you to go to court. Inhale and stop. Dongpo has a deep understanding of history and is straightforward. In order to recommend talents, he first pointed out the disadvantages of employing people in past dynasties-"if you don't use it, you don't lift it." Then, explain the reasons for requesting the use of Lin Yu. The full text is thorough in analysis, rigorous in argumentation, mixed with reason and eloquence, and cannot be questioned.
With the deepening of the ancient prose movement, the style of official document drafting has also changed obviously. Song Dynasty Official Notes was compiled by Zhao Ruyu and his friends in the Southern Song Dynasty, which reflected the characteristics of official documents at that time. In the memorials of ministers in Song Dynasty, memorials belonging to different types of Tianmen disaster were written in different ways before and after Yuanfeng. His "Tianmen Disaster I" consists of eight essays. Tang Taizong, Zhenzong and Renzong were three generations of Tian, Zhao Pu and others. His articles are full of details, difficult to use words and flowery words, but Tian's "Emperor Taizong wrote a letter on fire" and "On Huang Zhou's fighting cocks and singing the farewell of winter thunder" are a bit dull. There are eleven articles in Eight Disasters in Tianmen, which are written in memory of Zhezong and Hui Zong. It is a chapter of the times, which is practical, short and easy to write. Of course, there are still some gorgeous articles, such as Liang Tao's Theory of Eclipse and Fan Zuyu's Theory of Fear of Heaven, but they are more improved than Yuan Feng's before.
Therefore, under the influence of the massive ancient prose movement, most literati abandoned the gorgeous ethereal spirit in the early Song Dynasty, thus forming a natural and plain style of writing in the middle and late Song Dynasty.
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Literature has never been a closed undertaking. Most literary masters have gone through the process of learning and being an official, thus becoming literary masters. Their article style represents the characteristics of their official documents, and their official document style is also an integral part of their writing style. The language style of official documents in a dynasty corresponds to the style of writing at that time, and the characteristics of official documents in the Song Dynasty are long, smooth and thorough, and accurate.
But at the same time, due to the emphasis on "understanding" in the Song Dynasty, in order to make a comprehensive and complete statement, the language of official documents in the Song Dynasty is often tedious and lengthy.
In Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, Su Dongpo and other famous writers inherited the ancient prose movement in Tang Dynasty and opposed the trend of "four or six styles", which also greatly influenced the style of official documents. Although it has not completely broken the dominant position of Si Liu Wen, even the literary giants such as Europe and Wang used Si Liu Wen, which was once popular, when writing official documents. However, being good at discussing, not emphasizing facts and using simple words became the characteristics of official documents in the Song Dynasty, which reversed the magnificence and difficulty of official documents in the previous dynasty, changed the appearance of official documents greatly, adapted to the needs of government affairs quickly and accurately, and promoted the development of official documents in health and application.