Therefore, a hundred schools of thought contend, Zuo Zhuan, Historical Records, Hanshu, Han Dynasty political essays, Wei and Jin articles, Shui Jing Zhu, Yan's family instructions, etc. They are all in essays, including myths, legends and fables, but they are all examples of words, not independent creations. But it is a variant of poetry, Han Fu is the mainstream of ancient poetry, and the parallel prose of the Six Dynasties pays attention to the beauty of rhyme. Even Han Yu's Jin Xuejie, Ouyang Xiu's Autumn, and Su Shi's Before and After Red Cliff Fu. It's all a change in the parallel prose of Ci and Fu. In the mid-Tang Dynasty, the "ancient prose movement" advocated by Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan appeared, and the prose language changed epoch-making and independent prose works appeared. But, strictly speaking, he said. Prose that can really be called literary creation. In fact, it is a different style created in prose language. For example, Han Yu's Biography of Mao Ying is an allegorical legend, Liu Zongyuan's Three Rings in Yongzhou is an allegorical work, and the most popular prose creation is a legendary novel.
General prose works, mostly applied prose, such as preface and postscript, historical criticism, etc., are "writers' stream", practical but not fictional. However, since the mid-Tang Dynasty, prose has replaced the popular parallel prose, writers deliberately write for the sake of literature, and all kinds of applied prose are highly literary, so they are regarded as literary prose. In fact, in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, as for the Ming and Qing Dynasties, in the traditional literary concept, prose works still belong to the scope of application. Therefore, Zhu said that the composition should be "seven points solid, only two or three cents", and Ne thought that "the style of writing should be based on system" ("A few examples of articles"), while the traditional style classification still takes "poetry" and "prose" as two categories. Therefore, the "ancient prose" mentioned in this paper actually refers to the works with high literariness in ancient applied prose.
Of course, ancient prose was created by ancient writers according to their own understanding of the social life of their own time, so later readers should be able to analyze it in order to understand, understand and comment on what the writer wrote, why and how to write this work, that is, to analyze its theme, theme and artistic expression. Because of the distance between ancient and modern languages, we must first overcome the language difficulties and understand the meaning of every word and sentence when reading ancient Chinese today. Secondly, we should grasp the theme and theme of the work, so that he can accurately tell the artistic characteristics and achievements of the work, that is, accurately answer: what, why and how to write this work? This must be analyzed. Analyzing works is an essential link in reading and appreciating works. It is different from reading and appreciation, and the difference between analysis and appreciation is more subtle. The analysis of the works should conform to the objective reality of the works and the author's original intention, while the appreciation of the works is mainly dominated by the readers' aesthetic concepts. Analysis of works should not have the subjective elements of readers, and should not impose their own subjective feelings and understanding on authors and works. But appreciation can only be judged by readers' aesthetic feelings and concepts. Therefore, analysis can deepen the appreciation of works, but it does not mean appreciation. Similarly, appreciation helps to understand and analyze works, but it cannot replace analysis. For intuitive art clips, the analysis process between viewing and appreciation may be neglected, resulting in the direct effect of "love at first sight". But for language art, the analysis process between reading and appreciation can not be avoided and ignored, regardless of ancient and modern times. When readers turn artistic works composed of language into concrete artistic images in their own minds, it is actually realized through analysis and synthesis. If we can make a concrete analysis of an ancient prose consciously, it will not only deepen our understanding, but also help us appreciate it.
First, knowing people and discussing the world, concrete analysis
Historical materialism requires understanding objective things, and everything is based on time, place and conditions. If it is used to understand an ancient book, it should be a paper on understanding people, and it should be analyzed in detail. Since ancient prose is the work of ancient writers, it is of course created according to one's own thoughts and life. Therefore, to analyze an ancient prose, we must understand the author and the social life of his time. Even writers of the same era have different experiences, ideological courses and artistic paths, so their works have their own ideological and artistic characteristics. Furthermore, a writer's life-long creation changes with the development of his ideology and art, and it can't be static, so the works of the same writer in different periods are bound to have ideological and artistic differences. Therefore, when analyzing an ancient prose, we should and must specifically understand the time when the writer created this work, the social life of this era, the ideological and artistic characteristics of the writer's general works, the writer's life experience, ideological status, artistic progress and so on. This is a paper about meeting people. If the analysis of the work is limited to the facts, it will be difficult to understand the characteristics of the work, let alone make an appropriate historical evaluation.
Second, from the structural analysis.
Knowing people's papers and analyzing them in detail is a general method to analyze an ancient prose. Then specifically, he said, after reading the work, where should I start the analysis? Start with analyzing the structure. The structure of ancient Chinese prose generally has three levels: one is the stylistic structure, the other is the ideological content structure and the third is the artistic form structure. The so-called stylistic structure is to see what kind of style it belongs to. The classification of stylistics has become more and more complicated and detailed since Wei Wendi Cao Pi's Dian Lun Wen divided articles into four subjects and eight styles: recitation, calligraphy, inscription and postscript, and poetry. After the middle Tang Dynasty, parallel prose parted ways, and there were dozens of applied styles in the Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, there were only 80 orthodox styles in Xu Shizeng's Distinguishing Style, which shows that ancient times attached great importance to style. Classical Chinese mostly follow the traditional style, so when analyzing works, we should see the topic clearly and distinguish the style. The titles of ancient Chinese prose are self-drawn, and others are drawn up by later generations, but they all indicate the style, such as Yuan Jie's Journey to Xi, Ouyang Xiu's Zuiwengting and Ceng Gong's Mochi, all of which are written. According to the format of "note", it is generally required to describe the time, place, content, parties, what happened and the reasons for taking notes. All three records follow and meet these format requirements. Remember places first, then landscapes or legends, then things, then functions or influences, and finally explain the reasons for remembering. It can be seen that the style format is determined according to the application needs of this style, and its essence is an abstract and general formulaic structural form, which has a framework effect on the content to be written. Style has both format requirements and frame functions, which will be reflected in the structural form of the work. Therefore, to analyze the structure of ancient Chinese prose, we should look at the topic, identify the style and understand its stylistic structure.
Excellent ancient prose is usually a way for the author to write something or a problem according to his own theme, which is called "conception" and "planning". Therefore, the specific structure of a short article depends on the logical structure of its theme first. In order to grasp the logical structure of ideological content, it is necessary to make an abstract logical analysis after understanding the text and dredging the chapter, so as to grasp the internal relationship of the whole ideological content. Comparatively speaking, the content structure of narrative and reasoning is easier to analyze and grasp, but it is more difficult to write landscape and lyric. Because the former is directly expressed as a logical structure, while the latter often uses concrete images or metaphors to express ideas, and often has the characteristics of ancient lyric poetry, that is, the jumping of images and the ellipsis of logic, such as lyricism in scenes, the use of metaphors and comparative emotions. It is necessary to analyze the meaning of specific images and grasp their logical connections. For example:
In the Tang Dynasty, Wang Wei's Book of Mountains and Scholars is a famous lyric prose. Wang Wei wrote this article and invited his friend Pei Di to his villa in the mountains after his professional exam next spring. The theme is to persuade Pei Di not to be keen on fame and nostalgia for his official career, and hope that Pei Di will keep a clear understanding and aloof attitude in the choice of official seclusion. This theme determines the content structure of this letter: the first paragraph shows that the author understands that Pei Di is busy reviewing classics this winter and is preparing for the joint exam next spring. It is inconvenient to invite Pei Di to the villa in the mountains this winter, so he can only go back to the mountains alone; The second paragraph describes how much he missed Pei Di when he arrived at his villa in the mountains. In the third paragraph, Pei Di is invited to climb the mountain next spring. Its second and third paragraphs are famous lyric poems about scenery:
I walked north through the dark blue water, and the moonlight was clear, reflecting the city wall. Climb Huazigang at night, the water edge ripples, up and down with the moon; The cold mountain is far from the fire, and the forest is destroyed; Cold dogs in deep alleys bark like leopards; There was a flood of rice in the village, and the scattered bells staggered. At this time, I sat alone, fell silent, thought about the past and thought about the future, and worked together to write poetry.
When it is mid-spring, vegetation grows, and spring mountains can be expected; Light water, Bai Ou correction wing; The dew is wet and green, and the wheat is in the morning, not far away. If you can swim past me? Can the unintelligent invite each other with this urgent matter? And this has a deep purport!
The second paragraph is divided into three levels. The sentence "Go to the North" summarizes the scene on the way, highlights the bright moon, contains interest, shows lofty and aloof, and the lyric "Go to Huazigang at night". When you climb Huazigang, you arrive at the destination of this trip, which is where you want Pei Di to go with you. Seeing Deng Gang at night is a mountain village scene on a moonlit night in winter. In the cold winter, it is colder in the mountains. The author points out "cold mountain" and "cold dog", but mainly does not write cold. The four sentences of "edge water" describe the night view of mountains and rivers, presenting an empty artistic conception; The four sentences in "Deep Lane" are written about the countryside in the mountain village, rendering a simple and simple artistic conception. The author is satisfied with this pleasant environment and ideal destination, and his spirit is just right. "At this time" five sentences write meditation and memory. Pointing out that "sitting alone" means that the servant doesn't understand his mood at this time; And Pei Di, his friend who once traveled here with him to write poems, can't go with him at this time, so he is busy taking an examination of Wen Jing. In this loneliness and melancholy of lack of bosom friends, there are both thoughts and concerns about friends and different regrets. Therefore, the third paragraph expresses the hope of spring invitation with temporary regret, so it says "when in spring" The six sentences in "Grass" describe the spring scenery in the mountains, full of vitality and freedom. However, this is only the author's favorite spring scenery in the mountains, and Pei Di may not know it. So I asked, "Can you really travel in the mountains by that time?" That is to say, whether you are on the list of next year's spring exam or unfortunately not in Sun Shan, will you still be interested in enjoying the spring scenery in the mountains? The implication is that Pei Di will get rid of the shackles of official career and fame, and he will come to the mountains no matter whether he takes the exam or not, so Pei Di is a "beautiful cat" and can understand the "deep interest" of "urgent affairs" wandering in the mountains. Visible this invitation, the essence is hope Pei Di seclusion. Generally speaking, the logical structure of the theme of this letter is that Pei Di lost a kindred spirit because he had to take the exam. He felt lonely, deeply missed and even more sorry, but he hoped that Pei Di would finally wake up from his official career and return to the lofty road of seclusion. However, due to the author's euphemistic attitude, implicit expression and indirect expression in logical language, it is necessary to analyze its specific lyric images and grasp its logical connection. It can also be seen that the structure of its ideological content determines its artistic form structure, and its artistic form structure is the concrete expression of its ideological content structure.
The artistic form structure of an essay is completed by the author through selection, cutting and arrangement according to the needs of the theme. The essence of analyzing the artistic form structure of an essay is to analyze its material selection, cutting and arrangement. For example, Wang Wei's letter mentioned above is selected from Pei Diwen Jing, who returned by himself, saw what he saw on the way, saw what he saw in the mountains, missed Pei Di, imagined spring scenery and sent an invitation. Among them, the theme village, which is mainly processing, is the spring scenery seen and imagined in the mountains. However, all the selected materials have been properly detailed, put in proper positions, and combined into paragraphs with clear ideas and prominent points to complete the overall structure. Compare the following three articles:
The Story of Youxi narrates the construction of Youxi and criticizes the burial of materials. Call for the use of materials. The first paragraph (location) points out that the right flow is unknown; In the second stage (landscape), Quanshi lived in seclusion. Three paragraphs (function), feeling that no one appreciates love; The last paragraph (the reason) is for illustration.
"Zuiweng Pavilion" describes the intention of the pavilion name "Zuiweng Pavilion", gives full play to the idea of having fun with the people, and expresses the feeling of being happy and tireless. The first paragraph (where) indicates the intention of naming; The second section (landscape) outlines the landscape of the four seasons; Three sections (functions), for the imperial secretary to have fun together; Point out the last paragraph (reason) and make a note when you wake up.
Mo Chi Ji describes the scenic spots and historical sites, criticizes the grandiose style and advocates the pragmatic style. The first paragraph (where) directly explains where it is; Sub-section (landscape), pointing out that historical sites are not true; Three paragraphs (function), emphasizing unnatural; The last paragraph (reason), ironically, is improper propaganda.
As mentioned above, these three articles are all "Ji" style, and their stylistic structure is roughly similar. However, due to the different themes and themes, the focus is different, and the village selection, tailoring and arrangement are also different. You Xi Ji buried humble and excellent materials with Youxi, so it was pointed out in the record that Youxi was originally an unknown stream near the west of Daozhou. When describing the landscape, it focuses on the natural form of the stream stones, showing natural interest and outstanding quality. By naming the pavilion, Zuiweng Pavilion expresses the mind of people with lofty ideals who have fun with the people and have no leisure. Therefore, after recording its position, it directly explained the intention of defending the identity of the local master and named it drunkard. When describing the landscape, focus on the pleasure of the landscape in the pavilion, show the proper position of the pavilion, and highlight the natural changes at dusk. Mozi, which is said to be Wang Xizhi's reading work in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, uses the Fuzhou School to establish a pool of historical relics, criticizes this grandiose style and advocates a down-to-earth style of study with equal emphasis on Confucian moral articles. Therefore, after recording this place, it did not describe the scenery there, but pointed out that the legend of Mo Chi was absurd and inconsistent with historical facts, focusing on textual research and discussion. They cut the theme according to the needs of the theme, one is to highlight the beautiful quality, the other is to write for fun, and the third is to see from the above table that the arrangement not only conforms to the style framework, but also has its own theme logic, which is implemented in the overall structure of material selection, cutting and arrangement.
Thirdly, analyze the artistic image of ancient prose.
The artistic image of ancient Chinese prose is essentially an objective thing expressed by the author in a visual way according to his own understanding. Therefore, the artistic image of essays is a blend of the objective image written in the works and the self-image shown by the author in the works. All excellent prose works are not only vivid in objective image, but also vivid in the author's self-image. It is precisely because of different authors' different ideological understanding and artistic accomplishment that the same author's thoughts and art have undergone different changes. Each excellent essay has its own unique artistic image, which is manifested in both objective things and self-image. Generally speaking, the objective image is usually the theme image synthesized by the specific theme of the work, while the self-image is the sum of the author's understanding, feelings, attitudes and tendencies towards the theme. Therefore, a concrete analysis of the artistic image of an essay actually needs an answer: what kind of image is it? What are the characteristics? What skills are used to express it? What thoughts, feelings and tendencies does the author express or reveal? By analyzing the specific themes of the whole article one by one and then summarizing them comprehensively, we can accurately understand and grasp the image of the whole theme and the expression of the author's self-image, so as to understand the artistic characteristics of this work.
He said, specifically, the image of analytical reasoning is the characteristics and expression of analytical examples; Analyzing the image of narrative is to analyze the characteristics and description of its details, and analyzing the image of lyric is to analyze the characteristics and performance of specific things that lyric can be expressed. For example, Han Yu's Yuan Yi is an argumentative essay, and its objective image is an example of vivid expression in the text. Its front is typical of whimsical characters with clear thinking and lifelike; Its opposite is typical that several people are jealous of virtue, avoid being able to do things, and fight for differences between parties. Their characteristics are distinctive and their ugliness is exposed. Positive and negative contrast, repeated contrast, thus concrete and vivid. He explained the cause and ugliness of slander. Another example is Ouyang Xiu's "A Book of Advice with Gauss", which is a critical letter and a reasoned article. The positive criticism in the letter revealed that Gao Ruona, the remonstrating official, had whitewashed his mistakes and reversed right and wrong, and "had no sense of shame in the world". However, it did not describe Gao Ruona's ugly face specifically, but repeatedly discussed Gao's behavioral motives and consequences, proved that Gao was not a true gentleman and a good remonstrator, exposed his despicable quality and dirty heart, and made people feel that this person's image was ugly. Obviously, Korean is a general reasoning, and Owen is a concrete refutation, so it is easy to distinguish the characteristics and expressions that constitute its objective artistic image. And lyrical writing is more difficult to grasp by means of metaphor. For example, the "Night Tour at Huazigang" in Wang Weixin quoted above is full of beautiful and vivid scenery. Then we must first grasp the characteristics of these scenes, pointing out that they are empty, simple and simple mountain village winter night scenes, and then analyze the expression of light and sound contrast, the expression of silence in motion, and the hierarchical structure from far to near, so as to successfully complete the artistic image expression of scene blending.
The author's self-image in prose is usually not expressed by self-description. In the first-person prose, it is revealed by the theme image, and in the third-person prose, it is revealed by the writers. Readers' feelings and understanding of the author's self-image are actually based on readers' own understanding and enriched by their own life experiences. Therefore, analyzing the self-image of prose works is actually realized while analyzing the theme image. It should be pointed out that the self-image in essays is the author's thoughts, feelings and tendencies in the theme he wrote, not the author's overall image, so it is essentially the same as the theme image, just a vivid expression. Because of this, the self-image expressed by the same author in different works may be very different. For example, the author's self-image expressed in Ouyang Xiu's A Book with Gauss and Zuiweng Pavilion is almost two people. The self-image in the book is sharp and fierce. The self-image in Ji's works is so simple and open-minded. Books are ugly things that attack injustice, so right and wrong are clear and tit for tat; "Ji" is a kind act to praise the joy of the people, so the feelings are smooth and happy. Speak slowly. This is the author's different image expression from different themes and themes. It can be seen that analyzing the self-image of prose works is actually analyzing the author's thoughts, feelings and tendencies about the right and wrong, love and hate, likes and dislikes of the theme, and then comprehensively summarizing them to form the image of the author in the reader's mind.
Fourthly, the analysis of ancient Chinese language.
Finally, briefly talk about the analysis of prose language. As a literary style, prose has only one material means, and that is language. It is not as rhythmic as poetry, nor does it have music, stage and actors like traditional Chinese opera. Therefore, prose can be described as the simplest language art. Writers use language for artistic creation, and readers begin to get in touch with their works through their understanding of words, which ultimately boils down to their appreciation of language art. Since most ancient prose belongs to literary application prose, language skills and techniques are more important and prominent. One of the basic requirements for Han Yu to advocate ancient prose is that "literary works should follow the word order, and all people know their duties and do whatever they want" (Epitaph of Fan Shaoshu), and he believes that writing ancient prose must take this as the starting point. In other words, first of all, it is required to accurately grasp the lexical meaning, correctly use grammatical rules and properly use rhetorical skills. Therefore, the analysis of ancient Chinese language must be familiar with the basic knowledge of ancient Chinese. Secondly, a fine tradition of the language of ancient Chinese works is that "what you say must be done" (Han Yu answered Li Yishu), constantly drawing fresh spoken language from life and refining it into vivid written language. Therefore, the analysis of ancient Chinese language should pay attention to the characteristics of the times, so as to understand and master the style of the times of the language of the works. Thirdly, every excellent writer's prose works have their own unique language style, which should also be paid attention to when analyzing language art. Generally speaking, the language analysis of ancient Chinese works is essentially an analysis of the technical skills of grammar and rhetoric, and an analysis of the tools and means on which literary expressions are based, rather than literary analysis. So, I won't say it here.