Keywords: female consciousness in Li Qingzhao's ci
Li Qingzhao can be said to be the only female writer in the history of China literature. With elegant, unique and magnificent poems, words and essays, she became the only female writer who can compete with many male writers. As Tan Zhengbi's "The Evolution of China Literature" said: "There are few female writers in the history of China literature. Cai Yan in the Han Dynasty and Xue Tao in the Tang Dynasty, though few, cannot occupy a first-class position. Only Li Qingzhao, a poetess, occupied the primary position among the poets in the Song Dynasty and won the honor of a great writer. " As a female writer, Li Qingzhao really has a prominent and unique position in the history of China literature. She made many reflections on women's behavior and inner activities, and successfully showed the subtle and complicated feelings in the female world. At the same time, as a proof of the progressive thought of female poets, their ci has the ideological and emotional characteristics of female self-awareness, narcissism and self-pity, as well as the requirements of self-esteem and self-improvement.
First of all, Li Qingzhao's ci first embodies the awakening of women's self-awareness.
In the history of ancient literature in China, it is not uncommon for women to be described as objects of ci. There are also descriptions of women's modality in early ci, such as Biography of Xiangguo written by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty. In the late Tang Dynasty, the five pronouns specifically refer to carving cui and cutting red. There are also many female images in the Ci of the Northern Song Dynasty, and there are even silhouettes of country girls in Su Shi's works. However, due to the shackles of feudal morality, the description of women is mostly vague, and poets often only pay attention to describing the physical beauty of women, and the characterization of characters is not clear enough. In Li Qingzhao's poems, women's self-awareness gradually awakened, breaking the limitation of men's love for women. Some works also boldly reveal the feelings that women are afraid to express easily in their hearts, which is indeed a true confession of women and an objective impact on feudal ethics.
Li Qingzhao's girlhood was spent in an official family with a strong literati atmosphere and active thoughts. So in his early works, he left us an innocent, lively and cheerful girl image. For example, "Little Crimson Lips" "Kick the swing, get up and adjust your delicate hands. Beside her, the thin Germany hung with crystal dew, and the sweat on her chest permeated with the thin silk robe. Seeing someone coming, I slipped away with my socks and walked away in shame. Looking back at the door, Wen Qingmei. " A girl who is free from the mountain is playing like a happy bird, which not only writes her graceful charm, but also writes her shy, curious and naughty expression, vividly showing a girl's true personality. Another example is her Dream. I often remember the sunset in Xiting, and I don't know where to go. I am very happy to go back to the boat at night and walk into the depths of the lotus. Fight for the ferry, fight for the ferry, and open a beach of gulls and herons. " The style of this word is extremely relaxed and cheerful. Surprisingly, a lady can go out to play until it's dark, get as drunk as a fiddler, don't know the way home, and "wander into the depths of the lotus". There is no fear of getting lost after getting lost, and there is no fear of going home because of fear of parents blaming. On the contrary, I enjoyed the beautiful scenery of seagulls after taking off with great interest. Both Li Qingzhao's two poems describe the outdoor activities of young girls leaving their boudoir, showing their innocent and lively personality and love for freedom. This is different from the female images in our common traditional themes such as Spring is always in my heart.
In feudal society, marriage between men and women was based on access or economic interests, especially for women, who could only accept it by resignation or compromise. This kind of marriage is a heavy burden for both men and women, but Li Qingzhao's marriage is an exception, which brings her real happiness. In her poem "Broken Magnolia", the heroine inserted the bright flowers she bought in bud in the clouds, and she asked her husband to judge whether they were beautiful flowers or beautiful people. "The clouds are slanting, only to teach Lang Bi to see." This is a deliberate act of coquetry in front of her husband, and she will definitely get her husband's love and praise. Obviously, she is aware of her elegant posture and has a sense of narcissism. Li Qingzhao's words about missing her husband also boldly express women's consciousness, such as her warm and sincere love for her husband in Plum. "There is no way to get rid of this feeling, only frowning, but facing my heart", from the outside to the inside, profoundly shows that the love of acacia is hard to get rid of. Li Qingzhao made no secret of her love for her husband, which reflected the awakening of female personality consciousness in the late feudal society.
In feudal society, having a like-minded partner is a great blessing, and having a satisfied partner is a great misfortune. Where will you go? Both are Li Qingzhao's personal experiences. From her works describing the love between husband and wife, we can deeply feel the full and sincere feelings condensed in them, as well as the unique and meticulous description of love by women. The word "Drunken Flowers" is an original work with deep feeling and delicacy, and its ending sentence "Don't forget the soul, the west wind blinds, people are thinner than yellow flowers" is more intriguing. Only women can relate their sad pain to the destruction of yellow flowers by wind and frost. Only female writers can feel that a young woman is not only as elegant and beautiful as a yellow flower, but also as a homesick woman, her plight is very similar to that of a yellow flower. A woman's love for her husband should be as firm and unyielding as Huang Hua, which is undoubtedly the unique thoughts and feelings of women contained in the famous sentence "People are thinner than Huang Hua". The Voice is Slow is the talk of a troubled and tortured soul. The loss of the homeland of the Central Plains, the departure of her husband, and the bleak twilight years of wandering rivers and lakes have all become wounds that are difficult to calm down. In this bleak autumn night, the late cold wind, wild geese from the south, withered yellow flowers and dribs and drabs of rain deeply touched the poet's sadness. Finally, "This time, how can I get a sad word" pushed people's worries to the peak. It is also sad, but this unbearable pain is completely different from the chic and elegant mood of drunkenness. The former is an unavoidable worry, and the latter is a sweet and happy leisure worry. This kind of delicate and vivid emotional description is difficult for male writers to capture.
Li Qingzhao vividly showed the emotional process of her life with the unique beauty of women: the joy of a boudoir girl, the leisure and sadness of a married young woman and the sadness of her wife in her later years. As a lady in feudal society, she can lift the veil of shyness, boldly pour out her inner anguish and passion, inject fresh blood into her works and give her new life.
Second, women's self-discovery eventually leads to their own value recognition and self-commitment.
When this kind of identity reaches the extreme, there is a complex of "narcissism" and "self-pity". "Narcissism" reflects women's affirmation of themselves and their pursuit of ideals, while "self-pity" reflects women's helplessness in realizing their ideals. Li Qingzhao's "narcissism" and "self-pity" complex are more distinct and prominent. "Stop shaking, get up and straighten your hands. Beside her, the thin Germany hung with crystal dew, and the sweat on her chest permeated with the thin silk robe. Seeing someone coming, I slipped away with my socks and walked away in shame. Looking back at the door, I smell Qingmei (Little Red Lip), which is the beauty of a lovely girl who is naive and lively, shy and affectionate; "Embroidered hibiscus smiles, and the oblique flying duck is lined with fragrant cheeks. Guess." ("Huanxisha"), this is the beauty and charm of a girl, and her reserve is full of charm; "Dongli put wine after dusk, and there is fragrance in the sleeve. Mo Tao is not charming, the curtain is wrapped in the west wind, and people are thinner than yellow flowers "("Drunken Flowers ") This is the beauty of elegant sadness and romantic charm of beautiful thinking women; "Now skinny, windy and foggy sideburns, afraid to go out at night. It is better to listen to people laughing under the curtain ("unexpected joy"), which is the beauty of the old woman's homesickness, patriotism, grief and anger, which makes people cry.
"In the feudal era, there was not an intellectual who did not complain about the neglect of himself by society, and the intellectual women in the feudal oppression layer naturally felt deep pain." Li Qingzhao has reason to worry constantly, with endless resentment and indignation. However, all this can't extinguish her pursuit of life. Like many women who are not sensible, she can only rely on self-pity and seek liberation and survival in self-comfort. Therefore, she often blames herself, "the more angry she is, the more she is provoked" ("Hate the Prince"); She can't realize her ideal career and life with her wisdom and talent, so she can only suppress her feelings behind closed doors. "It is better to listen to people laughing under the curtain" (Yong Yule); Facing the harsh social environment, she also learned some easy-going skills. "If you want to drink, you may not be able to afford it in the Ming Dynasty" (Lou Yuchun). These words all reflect the poet's passion for pleasure in suffering and fully show the author's tenacious pursuit of life and art.
It can be said that Li Qingzhao's ci fully shows the beauty of oriental women. Her poems show sincere and serious praise for the irreplaceable beauty of women's body and mind, and full respect and affirmation for women's emotional world and unique personality, which undoubtedly stems from the poet's true recognition of himself and women.
Third, the feudal society that men are superior to women strongly advocates that men are superior to women, and feudal morality requires women to treat themselves with inferiority. Under the influence of this cultural tradition, women gradually regard this as a natural law.
Li Qingzhao, who grew up in a relatively enlightened scholarly family, was incompatible with this feudal tradition. As a woman, she has no inferiority or shortness of breath. On the contrary, she is strong, confident, brave and even competitive, demanding herself to make a difference in her career. Therefore, the requirement of self-esteem and self-improvement is naturally reflected in her poems, which is also the most valuable part of Li Qingzhao's female consciousness.
The most prominent expression of the desire to pour out ideals and ambitions and expect to achieve something is the pride of the fisherman. The real life is long and gloomy. Li Qingzhao struggled under the huge shadow of reality, but the world was cold, bosom friends were hard to find, and loneliness arose. Stubborn Li Qingzhao didn't want to be silent in this loneliness and bitterness, but relied on the encouragement of God to fantasize that she would become a Kunzi with a "back like Mount Tai, wings like a hanging cloud and a big Wan Li" and fly to the vast sky and her ideal "three mountains"-that beautiful world. What a rich imagination and bold feelings this is. No wonder some people say that it is "not the slightest powder, but the style of the Northern Song Dynasty." The heavenly emperor in the dream is actually Li Qingzhao's self-improvement personality, which supports her never to bow to fate.
Patriotic thoughts and feelings are another manifestation of Li Qingzhao's self-esteem and self-improvement consciousness after sublimation and expansion. Li Qingzhao lived in one of the darkest periods in China's history ―― the late Northern Song Dynasty and the early Southern Song Dynasty. The poet witnessed the tragic reality of broken mountains and rivers and uncertain national survival. The combination of national hatred and domestic hatred gave her a strong patriotic thought. Besides, she is an aspiring writer. Although she came from an official family, she was not spoiled and worried about national security. Li Qingzhao twists and turns in her poems to express her ardent patriotic enthusiasm. For example, "South Song Zi" (the stars turn in the sky) concludes: "In the old days, the weather was old, the clothes were old, and only feelings existed, unlike my hometown." The word "old" expresses all the sentimentality and sadness of the poetess about current affairs. This deep patriotic feeling is particularly obvious in the word "eternal joy", and the poet's painful experience in facing national mourning and death often makes her feelings difficult to calm down. The sadness and loneliness in front of her reminded her of the happy life of that day, so people wrote this poem to remember the past when celebrating the Lantern Festival. Through the memory of the lively scene of Bianjing Lantern Festival, it shows the author's feelings of much transformed things and nostalgia for the old country. This feeling is closely related to the nostalgia of Qian Qian refugees for the Central Plains at that time. The sadness caused by the comparison of personal life between the past and the present in the ci contains the pain of the decline of the country.
From Li Qingzhao's words, we can see that she is a very confident woman and a rebellious woman who is unwilling to accept resignation. The most precious thing in her female consciousness is the consciousness of equality between men and women, which is completely contrary to the traditional concept. Therefore, Li Qingzhao, a gifted scholar and a beautiful woman, is famous everywhere, and finally won the admiration of "not just looking down on China, but overwhelming a man"!
To sum up, the female images created in Li Qingzhao's ci are vivid and complete, full of flesh and blood, rich in feelings and beautiful. These characters are not only the portrayal of her self-image, but also typical. As a poetess, Li Qingzhao dared to reveal her inner world in her poems, showing her sincere admiration for the holiness and beauty of life, her self-improvement consciousness of life and her dissatisfaction and deep concern for reality, especially the flashing female consciousness, which has strong artistic charm and high social value and is admirable.
References:
[1] Tan Zhibi. The evolution of China literature. Shanghai: Guangming Bookstore, 1932.
[2] Li Qingzhao research essays. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1984: 169.
[3] Xu Beiwen. Comments on the complete works of Li Qingzhao. Shandong: Jinan Publishing House,1990:156,41.
Fang Ran, Fang Xing. The implicit beauty of Yu Shu's ci and its cultural background. Quote from: Studies on Modern Literature in China. Beijing: China Renmin University Library and Newspaper Information Center, 1992, (6): 156.
[5] Zhu Dongrun. Selected literary works of China in past dynasties (Volume I). Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1979: 186.
[6] Wang Yanti. Biography of Li Qingzhao. Shaanxi: Shaanxi People's Publishing House, 1982: 84.
[7] Li. Yucun Poetry (Volume 3). □