Yuefu poems in Han dynasty

definition

The so-called Yuefu in Han Dynasty refers to wind music. Besides writing and producing poems praising literati and playing new songs and dances, it also collects folk songs and lyrics for entertainment. Han Shu Yi Wen Zhi: "Since the establishment of Yuefu by Emperor Xiaowu, ballads have been adopted, so Zhao, Qin and Chu have taken their place, all of them are influenced by sadness and joy, and they can also observe customs and know thick clouds." Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty collected poems not only to inspect people's seclusion, but also to enrich Yuefu's music for entertainment. During the Six Dynasties, Yuefu changed from an organ name to a poetic name with music.

Following the Book of Songs and Songs of the South, a new poetic style, Yuefu, appeared in the literary history of the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties. It was once brilliant and became an organic part of the excellent cultural heritage of the Chinese nation.

"Yuefu", formerly the official name, is responsible for composing music, training musicians, collecting poems and folk songs for the court to sing at sacrificial banquets, observing local conditions and customs, and examining political gains and losses. China's poetry collection system has a long history, and Xia Shuyin recorded it. The Book of Songs, which has been handed down to this day, was originally a standard anthology officially promulgated and recognized by the society. After the Spring and Autumn Period, the system of poetry collection could not be implemented because of the collapse of rites and the constant battles. The unification of the Qin dynasty was short, and everything had to be done. Although there is the name of Yuefu official office, there is still no collection of poems. The Han dynasty inherited the Qin system and the economy was depressed. Yuefu organs can only learn from the past and barely maintain it. After 60 or 70 years of recuperation, by the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the national strength was already very strong, so Yuefu expanded its scale and collected poems at night. By the Eastern Han Dynasty, poetry collection had become a major event in political life. Emperor Guangwu once "invited people to listen to folk stories", while the emperor sent messengers to "walk separately in counties and listen to folk stories". This fashion was followed in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. During the period of Xiao Liang, the society has changed Yuefu from an official name to a poetic style. Liu Xie's Wen Xin Diao Long has a special chapter in Yuefu besides Ming poems. Selected Works of Zhaoming and New Poems of Xu Ling Yutai also set up Yuefu columns. Among them, there are both literati poems and folk songs, that is, all poems and songs that can be sung through music are called "Yuefu". Among these two kinds of poems, folk songs and poems are the essence, and literati's songs and poems germinate and grow under the dew of folk songs and poems, so we should attach great importance to them.

The system of collecting poems carried out in the gap between wars in the Northern Dynasties is in the same strain as that in the Han Dynasty. Guo Maoqian's Yuefu poem "Two Drums Blowing Across the Horn" preserved the Yuefu folk songs of the Northern Dynasties, some in Chinese, some in translation. Although there are only 60 or 70 pieces, they are profound in content and wide in subject matter, reflecting the broad social life, full of rough and bold spirit completely different from that in the south, and showing another picture of local conditions and customs. Due to the long-term scuffle between the rulers of all ethnic groups in the north, there are many themes reflecting the war, some describing the suffering caused by the war and the corvee, and some praising the brave spirit. Mulan's poems, in particular, are legends who enthusiastically praise Mulan as a woman disguised as a man and joined the army instead of her father. Mulan, together with the Ancient Poems of Lady Jiao Zhongqing, is known as the "double gem" in Yuefu folk songs. Yuefu in the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties is a wonderful flower in the history of China literature, which has a strong vitality and directly influenced the face of China's poetry. It not only opened up a new field of five-character poetry, but also played a bridge role in seven-character poetry, singing and even law.

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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 "writing articles for the time, writing songs and poems for things" (Bai Juyi's Nine Books with the Same Yuan).

Types of Yuefu Poems in Han Dynasty

Judging from its content, it can be roughly divided into three categories:

First, the ode made by noble literati.

Poetry of suburban temples: used to worship heaven and earth, ancestral halls, Tang Ming and the country. Today, there are songs of worship in the suburbs and songs of Anshifang.

Yanshe Pavilion: used for banquets in the imperial court.

Dance lyrics: elegant dance, miscellaneous dance. Elegant dance is used in suburban temples and banquets; Miscellaneous dances are used for banquets.

Second, military music

Advocating lyrics: it is military music, and the flute is short and the drum is short.

Cross-wind lyrics: it is military music riding on a horse and playing drums.

Third, folk songs.

Harmony Poems: Street Ballads in Han Dynasty. At first, it was just recited at will. The orchestra that is gradually being merged into one is a harmony song.

Lyrics of Qing merchants: originated from three tones, and their contents mostly reflected the life, thoughts and feelings of the people at that time.

Miscellaneous songs and words: there are poems that write the truth, express feelings, tell stories about banquets and travels, and express grievances and struggles. They are called miscellaneous songs because of the old Buddha or foreigners.

Theme of Yuefu Poems in Han Dynasty

First, it reflects the pain of war.

The Battle of the South of the City profoundly reflects the painful war life of the people in the Han Dynasty. The first poem describes the desolation and horror of fierce fighting, and the second one describes that civilians abandoned their fields for the sake of war, thus complaining. It is a realistic poem that exposes the bitter days of war. Another example is Dongguang, which reflects the sadness and resentment of the sergeant when Emperor Wu conquered South Vietnam. "Cangwu is full of rotten millet, which is not conducive to stores. The armies are falling, and they are sad to leave early. " It is also an anti-war work.

Second, reflect the pain of the corvee.

The poem "Fifteenth Conscription" describes a soldier who has been fighting outside for 65 years. At the age of eighty, he returned to his hometown and his house was destroyed. He became a nest of birds and animals, dead relatives and friends, nothing, hungry. So he cooked books and soup rice with wild sunflower grass, but how to eat it under such circumstances? When he went out and looked at the horizon, tears kept flowing.

Third, reflect poverty.

The Journey of the Sick Woman describes the tragic scene of a poor family. The poem describes a sick woman dying, her husband crying to relatives and friends, and an orphan crying for his mother in an empty house. I'm really touched and sad. A Journey to the Orphans describes the abuse suffered by orphans. His brother and sister-in-law treated him as a slave and enemy, tortured him as much as possible and wanted to kill him.

A trip to the East Gate describes a poor old man who was forced by poverty, took risks and rose up against it. It reflects that the life of a traveler is hard and it is not easy to return home. Therefore, this kind of journey is full of impassioned voices, showing strong grief and indignation, such as "A trip to the Great Wall Cave to drink horses": "It is unthinkable to travel far, but I have dreamed of it in the past. Dreaming of being by my side, I suddenly felt in a foreign land. Different counties in different places, turning around and not seeing ",is to write a wife who is running around in order to find a good husband." "

Fourth, the theme of love.

"Thinking" wrote that when a woman knew that her lover had his heart, she hated destroying the gift she was about to give him at once, which showed her determination to make a clean break. However, when she recalled that her life in the tryst was sweet, she felt that she could not make a clean break, showing the author's painful contradiction.

Evil expresses a woman's deep confession to her lover and shows her immortal love. She expresses her passion like fire: love will never end except the collapse of mountains and rivers and the destruction of heaven and earth!

Pulling weeds on the mountain tells a short question and answer when an abandoned wife and her dead husband meet by chance. Instead of writing about the sadness of abandoning his wife, write about the memory of his dead husband, which shows that the abandoned son of the hostess's family is innocent. Although her work is better than others and her skin color is not worse than others, she still can't help being abandoned. Her misfortune is only because men like the new and hate the old.

"Peacock Flying Southeast" exposes the evils of feudal ethics through the marriage tragedy of Jiao Zhongqing and Liu Lanzhi, and at the same time enthusiastically praises their faithful love and unyielding spirit of death.

"Cockcrow", "Meet each other" and "A trip to Chang 'an with a narrow evil spirit" all describe the luxury enjoyment of wealthy families at that time, with gold as the door and white jade as the hall, where wine and wine are enjoyed, the atrium is brightly lit, and rare birds are listed behind the house. Everyone is an official, the most expensive 2000 stone. Young women have nothing to do, they just play the violin. "Shang Mo Sang" tells the story of a satrap who insulted a mulberry-picking woman and was severely reprimanded. This poem exposes the dissoluteness and shamelessness of officials, and at the same time creates a loyal, brave and beautiful female image of Qin Luofu.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) People's working life.

In the Han Yuefu, many of them showed the working life of the people at that time. For example, "Picking Lotus in Jiangnan" is a ballad sung by young men and women in Jiangnan when picking lotus. They sang while working, showing the happiness of rural men and women's collective working life and the beautiful natural scenery in the south of the Yangtze River.

Six, drinking and seeking immortality, life is impermanent.

There is also the idea of seeking immortality through wine in Yuefu poems of Han Dynasty, which is a reflection of intellectuals' thoughts influenced by immortal thoughts. Such as Good Deeds, Ximenxing and Wang Ziqiao are all works of this kind. As for the works with the theme of impermanence of life, such as Poems of Complaints and Driving East Gate, the theme is to lament impermanence of life and advocate "eat, drink, and wander freely" to vent decadent and declining emotions.

Linguistic Features and Artistic Features of Yuefu Poems in Han Dynasty

1. Simple language

The folk songs in Han Yuefu use vivid spoken language, which is cordial and simple, narrative and lyrical, and the feelings are really touching. For example, Journey to the Orphan is about orphans being abused by their brothers and sisters-in-law. Although the poems are uneven, the feelings and circumstances of the orphans are vivid. The sentence length of poetry varies from two words to eight words, from neat seven-character poems to complicated miscellaneous poems. Yuefu folk songs in Han Dynasty have no fixed rules and syntax, and their length is arbitrary, scattered and informal, flexible and free. If there are miscellaneous words, the syntax is free and changeable, and the whole dispersion is not limited: for example, the upward slope and the children's song "Up slope!" I want to know you, and I will live long. There are no graves in the mountains, rivers are inexhaustible, lightning in winter shakes rain and snow in summer, and heaven and earth are in harmony, so I dare to be with you. " There are also two, three, four, five, six and seven words, which are extremely free to change. There are many complete five-character poems in Han Yuefu, such as Picking Lotus in the South of the Yangtze River and Peacock Flying Southeast, which have one syllable more than the four-character poems, adapted to the development of social language at that time and enhanced the expressive force of poems. There are both lengths, the longest is more than 350 sentences, and the shortest is a few. The length of folk songs in Han Yuefu is different. The longest is more than 350 sentences such as Peacock Flying Southeast, and the shortest is only four sentences such as Zaqu and Dead Fish Weeping across the River. There are only seven sentences in "Picking Lotus in Jiangnan".

Flexible rhyme

The rhyme of Han Yuefu folk songs is free and flexible. There are rhymes, such as "Ping Ling East": "Ping Ling East, pine and cypress are green, I don't know who robbed Gong Yi", "My heart is so tired, my blood is leaking, and I tell my family to sell yellow calves" is it; There are rhyming sentences, such as "East Gate", "Yan Ge" and "Fu Liangyin". There are also rhymes between two sentences and three sentences, such as "the southeast corner of sunrise" and "calling yourself Luo Fu" in Shang Mo Sang rhymes with two sentences, and "According to my Qin family" and "Guizhi as a cage hook" rhymes with five sentences. This shows the diversity of rhymes.

3. Narration in the form of dialogue or monologue

Yuefu poems in the Han Dynasty ingeniously cast dialogues to depict characters, which are full of sound and emotion, making people feel like hearing their voices and seeing their people. For example, "Picking Weeds on the Mountain" even consists almost entirely of questions and answers from the abandoned wife and her dead husband, which shows the kind character of her wife. There are also monologues throughout, such as the plight of orphans written in monologues in "The Journey of Orphans".

4. Romantic color

Although the folk songs of Han Yuefu mostly express reality, many works also use romanticism. For example, Shangxie is as passionate and highly exaggerated as a flash flood; The crow's soul in Vu Thang attracts people. The rotten fish in "Dead Fish Cry Over the River" can cry and write letters. These rich and peculiar fantasies show the characteristics of romanticism.

5. Even sentences

Even sentences can also be said to be the characteristics of Han Yuefu in all aspects, such as: "There is a bun on the head and a bright moon in the ear." It means "Qi is the lower skirt and Zi Luo is the upper skirt".

6. Cycle, harmony and rhyme

There were many beautiful poems in the folk songs of that day, such as "Picking Lotus in the South of the Yangtze River": "Picking Lotus in the South of the Yangtze River, Hetian Tian brings lotus leaves, and fish play among the lotus leaves. Fish plays lotus leaf east, fish plays lotus leaf west, fish plays lotus leaf south and fish plays lotus leaf north. " This poem echoes back and forth, with vivid image, harmonious rhyme and lively words, which is the true nature of folk songs.

The influence of Yuefu in Han Dynasty on later generations

First, the development of realism

Han Yuefu folk songs inherited the realistic spirit of The Book of Songs. For example, poems by Cao Cao and his son, RoyceWong and Chen Lin. It inherits the spirit of the folk song of Han Yuefu, which is "mixed with sorrow and joy, because of something", and describes the suffering of social chaos in Jian 'an period. They often use the old Yuefu theme, narrative methods and popular language, and they also see the influence of Han Yuefu folk songs in form.

Although Du Fu didn't use the theme of the old Yuefu in Tang Dynasty, he took things as the theme, and the spirit and system of his poems came down in one continuous line with the Yuefu folk songs in Han Dynasty, which was directly influenced by Yuefu folk songs. Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen made Du Fu's social poems "everything happens for a reason" and put forward the slogan "Poetry should be timely", which is also the tradition of "everything happens for a reason" in Han Yuefu.

Second, the language is simple and simple, and the style is fresh.

The styles of Yuefu poems in Han Dynasty are diverse, including fresh and clear, affectionate and euphemistic, and generous and sad, but all of them are simple and natural. The so-called simplicity and naturalness is manifested in the language of poetry. It has no words and no embellishment, so it is simple and sincere, unique in ancient and modern times. Later poets were mostly influenced by Han Yuefu.

Third, lay the foundation of five-character poems.

Han Yuefu is mainly composed of five-character miscellaneous poems. Miscellaneous poems flourished after Jian 'an, and Cao Cao, Cao Pi and Li Bai all originated from Yuefu folk songs. Yuefu had a great influence on five-character poems, and there were many imitators in the Eastern Han Dynasty. By the time of Jian 'an, the situation of "five words soaring" had appeared, replacing the four words in the Book of Songs and the "Sao Style" in the Songs of the South, becoming a main form of poetry.

The influence of Yuefu poetry genre on the singing style of later generations

The genre of Yuefu poetry also has an influence on the formation of singing style in later generations. Bao Zhao, a poet in the Six Dynasties, is famous for his five-character poems and miscellaneous poems. Li Bai's Yuefu songs in the Tang Dynasty are unprecedented, and their artistic forms are obviously influenced by the folk songs of the Han Yuefu. Narration in the form of dialogue and monologue. Yuefu poems in the Han Dynasty ingeniously cast dialogues to depict characters, which are full of sound and emotion, making people feel like hearing their voices and seeing their people. For example, "Picking Weeds on the Mountain" even consists almost entirely of questions and answers from the abandoned wife and her dead husband, which shows the kind character of her wife. There are also monologues throughout, such as the plight of orphans written in monologues in "The Journey of Orphans". These techniques also inspired the rhetorical devices of later poems.