Song Ji made a great contribution to the chronicle of Tang poetry, saying that "the emperor tasted palace-style poetry, which made the south of the city calm, and the south of the world said,' Saint is sincere, but the style is indecent. If there are good things in the world, there will be prosperous things in the world. I'm afraid this poem will be popular all over the world, and I dare not send a letter. "This story is recorded in The Biography of Yu Shinan in the New Tang Dynasty, The Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty and Poems of Past Dynasties, and it is an important evidence for Emperor Taizong to love and advocate palace-style poetry, and then criticize it. Mr. Wen Yiduo said in "Wen Yiduo's Complete Works: Poems for Redemption of Officials": "Unexpectedly, Emperor Taizong of literature and art is more enthusiastic than Emperor Yang (Palace Poetry). "In the History of China Literature, Sister Liu said," Even Emperor Taizong and his courtiers are addicted to this poetic palace style. Mr. You Guoen and others also said in their History of China Literature: "Emperor Taizong himself was interested in keeping up with Liang Wenfeng, and he took the lead in writing extravagant palace poems. "Even in the newly published works, I still think that he (referring to Taizong, the author's note) is biased towards luxurious aesthetic taste. Many of his poems are beautiful, and he once wrote palace poems, but they were all blocked by Yu Shinan's remonstration (On Tang Poetry by Joe and Shang). Although Lu in the Tang Dynasty, Hu Zhenheng in the Ming Dynasty and The Complete Poems of Tang Dynasty (Volume I) have different views on this, and even there are objective evaluations in the works of Mr. Yuan Xingpei and Mr. Luo Zongqiang in recent years, the negative evaluation tendency of Tang Taizong's literary achievements has not changed obviously for a long time.
In fact, the author believes that apart from a part of Jiang Zuo's legacy in Tang Taizong's poems (it should be pointed out that this is also a normal phenomenon in the process of literary development), what is said in the Chronicle of Tang Poetry has had an objective impact on the understanding of the critics of past dynasties. Even according to the chronology of Tang poetry, many quotations are inevitably taken out of context, because Emperor Taizong has something to say next here. He said, "I'll try your son." If Taizong's words are true, it means that he doesn't really want to write palace poems, just joking; If Tang Taizong's words are insincere, it is not enough to prove that he is keen on palace poetry or even "eccentric". Unfortunately, Tang Taizong's condemnation in this regard has lasted for more than 1,300 years. So, how to evaluate Taizong is more appropriate? This should be combined with Tang Taizong's literary thought, creative practice and influence.
Examining Tang Taizong's literary thought, the outstanding performance is that he advocates that literature must be beneficial to politics and religion, and at the same time attaches importance to the artistic characteristics of literature, opposes the extravagant style of writing, pays attention to the artistic particularity of literature, and emphasizes the literary view of paying equal attention to literature and quality. Although Tang Taizong did not have a comprehensive and systematic treatise on literary thoughts, this can still be clearly seen from some poems related to him. His literary thoughts are embodied in Preface to Emperor Jing. Foreword:
Give ten thousand opportunities to relax and enjoy art. Look at the emperor and king who replaced him, and look at what we did at that time. We don't doubt each other above Xuan, Hao, Shun and Yu! As for many dissenting Confucian, Zhou Mu, Hanwu, Wei Ming and Yu Jun, they carved walls, lived in luxury, levied taxes in the universe, wandered around the world, Kyushu couldn't say what they wanted, rivers and seas couldn't support their desires, and they fell everywhere. I have been longing for the last hundred kings for thousands of years. I generously cherish the memory of the past and think about other philosophers. The disadvantages of Qin and Han dynasties were swayed by the wind of Yao and Shun; With Xianying's songs, it becomes a rotten sound; It is not difficult to ask for human feelings! Therefore, the concept of culture and education takes the six classics as the key link, the reading of martial arts takes the seven virtues as the key link, the Taige takes it to avoid dryness and dampness, and Shi Shang is in harmony with man and god, all of which are neutral and not tied to prostitution. ..... Seeking China by explaining the truth, obeying people's desires, and being disorderly, which is the shame of a gentleman. Therefore, the description of the emperor's chapter is for clarity and elegance.
The preface sincerely shows the starting point and destination of his consideration of literary problems. His conclusion is: "Seeking truth from facts, following people's desires and disorderly roads are the shame of a gentleman." Advocating "enough is enough, not debauchery" is to oppose indulgence. Why should we oppose indulgence? He associated with "Qin Huang, Hanwu, Wei Ming, carved walls, extremely exquisite", and then linked to the lessons of the demise of Liang, Chen and Sui, taking history as a mirror, and "taking the wind of Yao and Shun as a mirror, taking the disadvantages of Qin and Han Dynasties as a mirror; With the song of Xianying, it becomes a rotten sound. " His starting point and destination are to prevent the country from falling. Summarize historical experience, consider political gains and losses, and strive for useful enlightenment. The so-called "Song of Immortals" refers to the quaint political, religious and cultural generations; "Rotten sound" refers to the extravagant and dissolute style of writing developed since Qin and Han Dynasties. In order to achieve the goal of consolidating the political power, he advocated retro, and his standard was "restraining neutrality and not being lascivious", that is, pursuing elegance and integrity. According to the twenty-eighth volume of Zhenguan Politicians, Literature and History, his counterpart said: "Compared with the Fu such as Ganquan Hunting Feathers, the Zixu Shanglin Bangu Capital is all flashy, and it is useless to persuade. What is a fake book? It has a book on things, and the words are straightforward, which can benefit the politicians. I must be prepared to obey and disobey. " The reason why he denied the poems such as Ganquan is that they are not conducive to politics and religion, nor to persuasion. They are not from a literary point of view at all. As a politician, he always puts the rise and fall of the country first. However, it is also meaningful to reveal his requirement of "speaking directly".
"Zhenguan Politicians, Literature and History 28" also records the eleventh year of Zhenguan. Deng Shilong asked to edit the anthology for Taizong's article, but Taizong refused. He said: "If I do things and give orders, it will benefit people and make history immortal. If things don't go back to ancient times, chaos will harm things. Although there are words, it will eventually make future generations laugh, so it is not necessary. Just like Liang Wudi and his son, as well as emperors Chen Houzhu and Yang Di, there were many collections of works. How illegal they were, the Zongshe was overthrown in an instant. Mortal masters are only in Germany, so why bother to write articles! " Every time Emperor Taizong mentioned an article, it was related to the rise and fall of the country. His criticism of Liang Wudi and his son, Chen Houzhu and Yang Di focused on the issue of "taking history as a mirror". "Learning" means "ancient", which is nothing more than "ancient" morality and "ancient" style of writing. He criticized these former emperors for being neither "archaic" morally nor "archaic" in style, because their similarity in literature is that they all regard literature as a typical example of indulgence. Emperor Taizong's first consideration here is not rhetoric, but "making things happen, benefiting people and making history immortal." It can be seen that when dealing with literary problems, Emperor Taizong first considered not the development of literature itself, but the security of the country, that is, the political and religious functions of literature.
Tang Taizong did not advocate writing colourful poems, nor did his ministers. His starting point is still to consider his country and country. It is also the story recorded in the Chronicle of Tang Poetry mentioned above, and it is also recorded in the sixty-five volumes of Tang Yaohui:
(Zhenguan) On September 23, 2007, I said to the courtiers, "I will discuss with Minister Yu Shinan when I am free. I have a good word, Yu Shinan is never unhappy; If you make a mistake, you will feel sorry. Taste the beautiful poetry of the play, and the world will enter the table to remonstrate: although the holy work is bitter, it is indecent. The good things in the world will follow. As soon as this article came out, it became popular. It is not good for the country to be frivolous and vulgar. Ordered to follow peace, not to apply for madness. Now there are many people in Si, and then they die. Please don't serve the imperial edict. If all the ministers are in the south of the world, why worry about the world! " Because Gu said that Heather said, "I have more poems. Can you die? " Heather said: "I smell poetry, move heaven and earth, feel ghosts and gods, top-down, bottom-up and vulgar." Therefore, Ji Zha understood the rise and fall of the country by listening to poems. The way to rise and fall is based on this. Although I am stupid and sincere, I am willing to refuse to obey. " (Tao Min, Fu Xuancong, Chronicle of Literature in Tang and Five Dynasties, Volume of Early Tang Dynasty)
This record clearly shows: 1. Emperor Taizong did not advocate writing colourful poems. It's not that he doesn't advocate making brilliant poems. His colourful poems are "drama" and "taste", not often "drama". 2. Emperor Taizong did not advocate ministers to write erotic poems. Ministers are required to "be like the south." We should know that the request of Emperor Taizong is the will of the emperor and the literary policy of the country. The starting point of Tang Taizong's doing this is to consider the rise and fall of the country and long-term stability. "If I am in the south, why worry about the world!" The purpose is to rule the world.
Generally speaking, Emperor Taizong did not object to elegant writing, but attached great importance to examining his works from the perspective of literary talent. He personally wrote the Book of Jin Lu Ji Zhuan, saying that Lu Ji was "magnificent; Speak generously, the crown is dead. High words are reflected, such as the moon hanging light; The idea of turning back to Shu is like the accumulation of huge stones. If there are thousands of reasons, electricity will frost; If they are connected by wires, the beads will flow together. His words are profound and elegant, and his meaning is rich and obvious, so there is far more than one, a horse, a powerful king, Liu, a hundred-generation literate Sect, and just one person. " Between the lines are filled with praise for Luji's literary talent. Emperor Taizong also attached great importance to the artistic beauty of his works. Shangguan Yi was deeply appreciated by Emperor Taizong, and his poems were often revised by Shangguan Yi. Shangguan Yi paid great attention to exploring the formal beauty of poetry, and was greatly influenced by Qi Liang in the expression of formal beauty, and put forward the theory of "six pairs" and "eight pairs". This also shows that Emperor Taizong did not oppose the pursuit of perfection in artistic form in general. Moreover, Emperor Taizong thought that Han Fu was "flashy", but he also wrote a lot of Fu. These seemingly contradictory practices are actually easy to understand, which shows Tang Taizong's literary thought, that is, paying equal attention to literature and quality. As an outstanding politician, he must first consider the role of literature in politics and religion. When looking at literary works from the perspective of a poet who is quite accomplished in theory and practice, he is so professional and devoted to the artistic characteristics of literature. Wei Zhi, who was highly valued by Taizong, also concentrated on expressing the literary thoughts of the emperors he admired in the Preface to Sui Shu Literature: "The prosperity of Jiangzuo Palace merchants is more expensive than elegance; He Shuo means sincere and firm, more important than temperament. Temperament is better than words, elegance is better than words. Profound and convenient to use when needed, cultured and suitable for singing. Therefore, the gains and losses of poets in the North and South are even greater. If you can be full of emotions, simple and tired, each has its own shortcomings, which is in line with its strengths, and the literary talent is perfect. " As Wei Zhi, who followed Emperor Taizong for many years, he should deeply understand and master his literary thoughts and try to practice them. Wei Zhi's grasp of the different artistic styles of North-South literature and his eclectic attitude are the natural expression and concentrated expression of the aesthetic ideal of integration of "being clear in the south and being upright in the north".
Generally speaking, Tang Taizong's literary thought pays equal attention to literature and quality. He advocates "learning from the past" and strives to change the past into the present; Advocate "exhortation" and emphasize the role of politics and religion; Advocating "elegance" to rectify the secular; Advocate "straightness" and oppose the wind of glitz; Advocate "profound and elegant words" and pay attention to the artistry of works. These literary thoughts of his are interrelated, not favoring one over the other in isolation. Fundamentally speaking, Tang Taizong's literary thought was deeply influenced by the Confucian thought of respecting the past and attaching importance to poetry, which criticized Qi and Liang Wenfeng in the Southern Dynasties, but did not generally oppose the artistic aesthetic pursuit of literature, which left a broad space for the artistic development and new changes of literature in the Tang Dynasty.