From the content point of view, the folk songs of Han Yuefu come from the mouth of the lower class and have a wide range of themes. It expresses people's own feelings, their love and hate, widely reflects the painful life of the people in the Han Dynasty, and reflects the political and social outlook of the Han Dynasty like a mirror.
Nineteen Ancient Poems was produced in the Huanling period at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. During this period, social contradictions were extremely acute, and the lower classes suffered greatly. Within the ruling class, political corruption and darkness, consorts eunuchs and local strongmen monopolize politics, fighting each other constantly. In this case, some middle and lower intellectuals have neither social status nor political future. They are often down and out in rivers and lakes, leaving their homes, struggling, cornered and frustrated. Nineteen Ancient Poems is a morbid reflection of life in this dangerous era, and its theme range is much narrower than that of folk songs in Han Yuefu. "It reflects the wandering worries of frustrated people in turbulent times." "In Nineteen Poems, it is either wandering or missing women. Taken together, these two different themes are different, but they are essentially two sides of the same problem. " [1] (p18) The History of China Literature, edited by You Guoen, also said: "The sentimentality of wandering women revealed in Nineteen Ancient Poems is a reflection of the decline of the feudal ruling class in the late Eastern Han Dynasty." [2](P2 14) Of course, these are all popular viewpoints in the field of literary research before the 1980s. Ni Qixin pointed out: "The ideological feature of Nineteen Poems is that the lower feudal literati, starting from their own status, interests, situation and experience, are full of sadness, expressing their dissatisfaction and generating resentment. In order to improve their status and treatment, they had to give up their family life, run their careers and pursue fame and fortune, which led to the general departure of this class. " [3](P264) Ye Jiaying thinks: "Nineteen Ancient Poems can arouse thousands of readers' * * * because it writes three kinds of feelings: parting, frustration and anxiety about the impermanence of life, which is the most basic feeling of human beings." [4](P79) It can be seen that most of the folk songs of Han Yuefu reflect the society at that time and have a wide range of topics, while Nineteen Ancient Poems pay more attention to life and have narrow topics. Of course, there are also many topics of common concern:
1. all reflect the lovesickness of husband (wanderer) and wife.
There are a lot of poems about wandering and thinking about women in Yuefu poems in Han Dynasty, such as elegy: "Elegy can be used as mourning, and from afar it can be used as angelica." Miss my hometown and feel depressed. Nobody wants to go home, and there is no boat to cross the river. The brain can't talk, and the wheels in the intestines turn. " This poem expresses deep feelings in plain language and truly shows the wandering picture of where people will go. This homeless tramp reminds us of the 80-year-old retired veteran in the Tenth Five-Year Plan. It is conceivable that his ending must be to join the ranks of tramps. In fact, the homesickness of the wanderer is mainly about his wife and relatives at home, and the relatives at home are not wanderers who want to go out day and night. For example, in "Drinking Horses in the Cave of the Great Wall", it is written that a woman misses her husband day and night, but she has a dream: "It's incredible to be far away, and I dreamed it in the past. I saw him by my side in my dream and woke up to find that he was still in exile. In different counties in other places, exhibitions will not meet. " Although the dream is sweet, it adds a layer of acacia after the dream. The ancient quatrains also described a woman who missed her husband who was away from home, revealing the pain of family separation brought by military service to thousands of families in Qian Qian at that time.
The parting and lovesickness of wandering women are common themes in China's classical poems. In Nineteen Ancient Poems, more works show this theme, accounting for more than half. There are both wandering words and thinking about women, and thinking about women accounts for the majority. For example, Picking Hibiscus on the River is about a frustrated drifter who misses his wife. Wandering across the river to pick hibiscus, and then to Caize to pick bluegrass, "picking hibiscus" leaves people "far away", which shows the deep affection of the wandering people for their loved ones. Because of the long distance, I can't give gifts, and the feeling of melancholy and sadness arises spontaneously. "Living with one heart and leaving home, urging death with sorrow" directly wrote the painful mood that the wanderer and the newcomer were "concentric" but could not reunite. Another example is "how bright in the Moon": "how bright in the Moon, take care of my bed. Too sad to sleep, wandering around in clothes. Although the guests are happy, it is better to turn back early. Who should a person complain about the trouble of running away from home? Take him back to his room with tears on his clothes. " From these descriptions, we can clearly see the image of a wandering wanderer, who is unbearable, wandering and tortured by strong homesickness. For example, "Hang Hang, Hang Hang, Hang Hang, Hang Hang, Hang Hang, Hang Hang, Hang Hang, Hang Hang, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, It's a long way to go, Xiu Yuan, and we'll be safe! North Malaysia is still attached to the north wind, south birds fly north, and nest in the south branch. The longer they are apart, the wider they become and the thinner they become. Clouds cover the sun, and wanderers ignore it. Just because I want you to age me, another year will soon end. Don't give up donations and try to add meals! " The lyrical context of this poem is clear and deepened layer by layer, highlighting the husband's long journey, long separation and reunion and his wife's deep homesickness. Lonely Bamboo in Ran Ran describes the feud between a newly married woman and her husband after a long separation. It is not only lyrical but also ups and downs, expressing women's dissatisfaction sincerely and strongly. Others are also writing about the grievances of missing women, such as Grass by the Green River, which sets off the loneliness and desolation of lovesick women with its vibrant spring scenery and gorgeous appearance like spring flowers; "Altair all the way" borrows the fairy tale of Cowherd and Weaver Girl that "the water is full of flowers and there is nothing to say", and writes the painful parting of men and women who love each other but can't meet each other, which is euphemistic, subtle, vivid and touching.
2. They all show the life view of pursuing the pleasure of life and eating, drinking and enjoying in time.
Because life is turbulent and unpredictable, many poems in Han Yuefu lament the shortness of life, hoping to free themselves by eating, drinking and having fun in time. For example, after the rhetoric of "Don't play today, when to wait", Ximenxing actually revealed the inner anguish that could not be solved. "Under the short pressure of life, the declaration of eating, drinking and having fun is not so much the enjoyment of secular life as the anxiety of life." [5](P 147) The same is true of Nineteen Ancient Poems. The poet is crazy about his official career, pursues wealth and complains that his classmates don't recommend him. When these literati have to face this short and illusory life, they are eager to find comfort and relief for themselves, and eating, drinking and having fun in time is one of them. They hope to paralyze and fill the empty life by eating, drinking and having fun in time, and ease the sadness of life with temporary happiness. [5](P226) "Sailing to the East Gate": "Life is like a post, and life is not solid. Long live is better, sages can't do it. Seeking immortality by eating is mostly caused by medicine. It's better to drink wine with Wan and Su and wait on them. " "Born in less than a hundred years": "Born in less than a hundred years, the total worry is chitose. The days are short and the nights are long. Why not travel by candlelight? If you want to eat, drink and be merry in time, how can you stay here? " This is the real living feeling of the lower-class scribes after their career disillusionment-lamenting that life is short.
In addition to the above, the other Yuefu folk songs are works that expose the ruling class, express resistance, praise love and protest feudal ethics and marriage.
1. Tell about the hardships of life and attack the social injustice and people's resistance to the exploitation and oppression of the ruling class.
There are many social contradictions hidden behind the powerful appearance of the unified empire in Han Dynasty. The exploiting class leads a luxurious life, while "the poor often wear clothes of cattle and horses and eat food from cats and dogs" and "sell farm houses and children to pay off debts" (History of Eating Goods by Ban Gu). Many poems in the folk songs of the Han Dynasty tell the hardships of life and express indignation at the unfair social reality. Among them, Meet reveals the luxurious and dissolute life of the ruling class through the boy's boasting of his master's wealth: "Gold is the monarch's door, and white jade is the monarch's hall. A bottle of wine was put in the hall as the ambassador to Handan. There are osmanthus trees and bright lanterns in the atrium. There are two or three brothers, and Neutron is the assistant minister. Come back on the fifth day, the road shines. Gold wraps around the horse's head, and the viewer benefits. " This poem reflects the corrupt life of the ruling class with gold as its house, drinking prostitutes and groups of maids and concubines. Another "Ping Ling East" accuses corrupt officials of their evil deeds through the description that officials extort good citizens and make innocent people lose all their money: "Ping Ling East, pine and cypress, I don't know who robbed Yigong. Robbed Gong Yi, and paid 1.2 million yuan under the hall of high learning. It is also difficult to take two steps, for fear of seeing the chasing officials. I was so anxious that I told my family to sell yellow calves. " The more luxurious the life of the ruling class, the more painful the life of the working people; Behind their rackets, the blood and tears of the working people in Qian Qian are hidden. They are naked and have no food to eat. For example, the seriously ill woman in Gynecology couldn't let go of her child's fate before she died: "That belongs to two or three orphans, so my child is hungry and cold!" However, due to cruel exploitation, the father finally violated his wife's dying entrustment and cruelly abandoned the child. The famous Orphan's Journey staged a family tragedy under the feudal system: after the parents died, in order to monopolize family fortune, brother and sister treated their brothers like slaves. Either let him go out for a walk, or let him carry water, cook, watch horses, raise silkworms, grow melons and do everything at home. Orphans are "no recovery in winter and no clothes in summer". Under this inhuman torture, orphans shouted, "I would like to send a ruler book, so it will be difficult for me to live with my parents and brothers and sisters underground." This is not only an orphan's blood and tears complaint against his brother and sister-in-law, but also the broad masses' condemnation of the cruelty of the ruling class!
But where there is oppression, there is resistance, and the oppressed people express their dissatisfaction to the ruling class with their weak strength and spontaneous way. For example, in The East Gate, a man who was cornered by poverty left without considering the consequences to find a way out for his family. But he's not worried about going home. When he saw that "there is not a bucket of rice in the pond and there are no clothes hanging on the shelf", he strengthened his determination to "draw the sword to the East Gate". A kind-hearted wife couldn't bear her husband to take risks, so she took her clothes and cried, "His family wants money, and my concubine and your husband support me." The upper class uses surging waves naturally, while the lower class uses this yellow mouth. Not today! But the hero said angrily, "Duh! All right! I'm too late to go! It is difficult for white hair to live long. " Because he knows: "He has already faced the dilemma of having no clothes to wear and no food to eat. If he doesn't leave home, then his fate will only be waiting for death. " [6](P95) "Therefore, it should be said that his behavior is spontaneous resistance, just behavior, not despair." [7](P75) can't be said to be "doing something illegal". [8](P67) Another "On Mulberry" reflects the people's rebellious spirit through face-to-face struggle. In this paper, Qin Luofu, a five-horse woman who resisted dissolute and shameless, was praised. Beautiful, hardworking, resourceful and brave, she flatly refused to face the monarch's shameless demands: "The monarch is really a fool! The monarch has his own wife and Luo Fu has his own husband. " And tactfully brag about your husband, which makes you feel ashamed. It's really comforting to dare to regenerate evil thoughts and quit quietly like this!
2. Praise for love, protest against feudal ethics and marriage.
In the simple and natural Yuefu folk songs, there are many works reflecting love and marriage. Evil shows the girl's reckless pursuit of happiness through vows: "Evil! I want to know you and live a long life. There is no mausoleum in the mountains, the river is exhausted, there is Lei Zhen in winter, and there is rain and snow in summer. Heaven and earth are in harmony, dare to be with you! " The poem lists a series of impossible things and uses them to swear, showing loyalty and singleness to love. Pursuing happy love is human nature, but under the bondage of feudal ethics and marriage system, there is no happy marriage at all! In the feudal society where men are superior to women, women often face the fate of being abandoned. Liu Lanzhi and Jiao Zhongqing, the protagonists in the famous long narrative poem Peacock Flying Southeast, have a good relationship, but they are no match for their mother-in-law who represents feudal power. Liu Lanzhi was kicked out of the house, and the husband and wife parted ways. In the end, they had to fight to the death. Pulling weeds on the mountain is an abandoned woman who meets her old husband and asks the new couple's conversation: "The new couple is not as good as the old couple." It reveals the bitterness and helplessness of women towards their miserable lives. The poem "Thinking" expresses the feelings before and after the frustration of love. The heroine carefully prepares a gift for her lover first, which will be "mixed and destroyed" and "when the wind blows" after the accident. The sharp contrast between the two attitudes vividly expresses strong feelings of love and hate. Ode to a bald head expresses the ardent expectation of women all over the world through the fate of a divorced woman: "If you get married, you don't have to cry. I hope to be United with one heart and one mind and never give up. "
The rest of the Nineteen Ancient Poems are a lot of works that reflect the frustration of middle and lower intellectuals when they are injured, lament that life is too short and bosom friends are hard to meet, and demand to make contributions.
In the Han Dynasty, especially at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, consorts and eunuchs took part in politics one after another, placing close relatives for those in power to consolidate their political status, which greatly affected the normal way for ordinary scholars to enter the body. Among the middle and lower literati, there are many works that are frustrated when they are injured: some lament the hardships of life, such as "getting into the car and driving to talk." Looking around, the east wind shakes the grass. When you encounter something for no reason, how can you get old quickly? "Reveal the hardships of life with the image of a coachman who is busy in the broad future, and imply that time flies with the bleak scene of" the east wind shakes a hundred herbs ",which leads to the following two deep and desolate lamentations; Some express their feelings for this rare bosom friend, such as "there are tall buildings in the northwest": "there are tall buildings in the northwest, and there are clouds on the horizon. Cross sparse junction window, aging third order. There is a string song on the floor, with a sad voice! Who can write this song? Nothing, just Qi Liang's wife. The Qing merchants blew with the wind, and the middle song fell and sighed repeatedly, more generous than sad. I don't care whether the singer is bitter or not, but I hurt my bosom friend. I would like to fly high for the two swans! "The plaintive wail played by women in high-rise buildings was the common living feeling of literati at that time, and it was also the yearning of lonely people for bosom friends. Nature can cause the wanderers to sing. But the high pavilions block the communication of bosom friends, so this sad piano sound can only leave deeper sorrow for lonely travelers; Some expose the worldly wisdom and are indignant at the indifference of the world. For example, "I used to be friends of the same family" in "The Bright Moon in the Sky", and I lifted my spirits. I don't want to join hands and abandon me like a relic. "
By comparing the contents of "Folk Songs of Han Yuefu" and "Nineteen Ancient Poems", we can better understand the social outlook and people's living conditions of the Han Dynasty and the thoughts of some literati at that time when reading and appreciating poems.
(2)
From the perspective of style and creative characteristics, as Yuefu poems were collected from the people, just as the style of the Fifteen Kingdoms was also collected from the people, these "street songs" inherited the tradition of "the hungry sing about their food and the laborers sing about their things" in the Book of Songs, and formed the characteristics of "feeling sad and happy, starting from things". This feature "makes the theme, thought, art and form of Han Yuefu have active and vigorous vitality, forming a new source of realism tradition initiated by The Book of Songs." [9](P37)
Nineteen Ancient Poems is praised as "the gold of one word" and "the crown of five words" with its soft, sad and distant style. The combination of these two factors, coupled with the use of the new form of five-character poems at that time, made Nineteen Ancient Poems a new classic since the Book of Songs and Songs of the South.
It can be said that the folk songs of Han Yuefu and Nineteen Ancient Poems have different styles, each with its own style, and both shine brilliantly in the history of China's poetry.
1. Expression method: narration and lyricism
The characteristics of Han Yuefu's "mixed sorrow and joy, arising from events" make poetry have both narrative and lyrical features, but "the biggest and most basic artistic feature of Han Yuefu's folk songs is narrative ... In the history of China literature, Han Yuefu's folk songs mark a new and more mature stage of development." [2](P 193) Since China's poetry, lyric poetry has an absolute advantage. There are not many immature narrative works in The Book of Songs, and the songs of Chu are mainly lyrical. Until the appearance of folk songs in Han Yuefu, although it was not enough to change the mainstream situation of lyric poetry, it was able to announce the formal establishment of narrative poetry. About one third of the existing folk songs of Han Yuefu are narrative works, which is not low. Compared with The Book of Songs and The Songs of the South, the narrative elements of Han Yuefu are greatly increased, with certain plots and scenes. For example, Journey to the Orphan describes the experience of orphans being abused by their sister-in-law, and selects several things to describe, such as "visiting Jia", "pumping water" and "collecting melons". Both Ping Ling East and Peacock Flying Southeast have complete story lines. Some poems highlight certain scenes or fragments, such as "Journey of the Sick Woman", which depicts two pictures of the sick woman's dying entrustment and her husband's helplessness; "Journey to the East Gate" intercepted a segment of a civilian man who wanted to take risks and his wife tried to stop him. "Pulling Grass in the Mountain" selects the scene where the abandoned wife meets her ex-husband and so on. In the vivid plot, the characters are also vividly displayed. The grievances and sufferings of orphans in A Journey to the Orphan, the sadness and indignation of her husband in A Journey to the East Gate, and the beauty, diligence, wit and courage of Luo Fu in A Stranger Mulberry are all expressed between the lines.
Nineteen Ancient Poems are all lyric poems, which inherit the fine tradition of The Book of Songs and Songs of the South, draw nutrition from the folk songs of Han Yuefu, express deep feelings with its exquisite artistic techniques, and increase the lament for the short-lived consciousness. This is reflected in almost all works, either hidden or obvious. For example, Ran Ran's Lonely Bamboo is about his wife's unforgettable love for her long-lost distant husband, and it also implies a short-lived sadness about life consciousness, which makes this poem have a deeper connotation. It inspires readers not only to cherish love, but also to cherish youth and vibrant life.
2. Poetic style: diversification and simplification
Yuefu poetry in Han Dynasty is changeable in form, free and flexible, with a flying trend and flowing beauty. There are many complete five-character fonts and a few four-character fonts, but the main ones are miscellaneous characters, including three, four, five, six and seven characters, which are uneven in level and eclectic, showing the trend of moving around. For example, Thinking: "Thinking is in Hainan. Why ask Yi-jun? The double beads are tortoiseshell, and the jade color is dazzling. I heard that you have his heart and you will burn it. When the wind blows, it will be destroyed and burned. From now on, don't miss each other again! Acacia junjue! I'm determined to break up with you, but I think of the sweetness when we first met, and I'm afraid. Princess, hey! The autumn wind is cool and the morning wind is thinking, and the East needs to know. " Other poems, such as The Orphan's Journey and Wu Sheng, are quite miscellaneous. This hybrid of Yuefu ancient words is free and flexible, and can be arbitrary, ranging from one or two sentences to ten sentences in an article. This is mainly because Yuefu folk songs come from the people and retain a lot of folk spoken language. Its formal beauty and artistic flexibility and vividness were gradually discovered by literary scholars and became the soil for the generation of ancient poems with five words and seven words in later generations. There are not many seven-character poems in Han Yuefu poems, but there are many neat five-character poems, such as Mo Shang Sang, Peacock Flying Southeast, Liang, Elegy and Li Sao, all of which are five-character poems. "The five-character Yuefu new poetry in Han Dynasty not only laid the foundation of China's classical poetry, but also played a role for more than two thousand years. Its role is self-evident. " [ 10](P260)
Nineteen ancient poems are all five words, which is the result of literati's influence and reference from Yuefu poems. Comparing the five-character poems of Yuefu folk songs in Han Dynasty with those of literati at the end of Han Dynasty, we can find that the five-character poems of literati are obviously branded with Yuefu folk songs everywhere. As mentioned above, the five-character poems of the literati at the end of the Han Dynasty came directly from the five-character poems of Yuefu songs. It's just that literati have a high cultural accomplishment after all, and cultural heritages such as The Book of Songs and Songs of the South are constantly infiltrating into it. In addition, they began to write five-character poems after a long and tortuous development process, so they can fully learn from folk songs and improve them on the basis of five-character poems, making this poetic style far more radiant, vivid, fresh and natural than other forms in the history of poetry. Thus, a new model of five-character poetry is established-this is the significance of Nineteen Ancient Poems in the history of China's poetics.
3. Style: clear and implicit
Most Yuefu poems express ideas directly in the first person, so as to arouse readers' * * *. Because these people are singing their own words, expressing their own feelings, full of their own blood and tears or filled with their own joy, and their emotional tone is clear. Such as "Evil", fiery monologue language, the image of a woman who dares to love is vividly on the paper. Others, such as Man Gexing, lamented that "I am suffering alone" and Ximenxing lamented that "life is less than 100, and I am always worried about my life. The days are short and the nights are long. Why not travel by candlelight? " , expressed the worry that life is short and things are impermanent. These are typical examples of expressing one's mind directly.
However, Nineteen Ancient Poems is affectionate and euphemistic. "Cold in a Dream in Winter" takes nearly half of the space to write about the cold in a dream in winter, the cold loneliness of empty stars, and the ruthless hints given by the full moon, all in order to express the lonely life of women's boudoir and their desire for people. The rendering of the scene sets off the lyrical effect of the poem, making it euphemistic and implicit, with endless aftertaste. On the other hand, in the twists and turns of the structure, The Spring Break mainly expresses euphemistic feelings and writes about a woman's husband. Because of the eagerness to think and the depth of love, there is a suspicion of "Jin Li Hang down". Because of thinking, it doesn't sleep, and finally "dreams of glory", from reality to dreams. The description in the dream is also extremely tortuous, which not only describes the joy of getting married, but also describes the moment of meeting each other. Finally, it writes the sadness of finding a dream, and twists and turns express the endless yearning for women.
4. Language: the directness of spoken language and the refinement of literati's poetic language.
The language of Han Yuefu folk songs is simple and straightforward, colloquial, fresh and natural, expressive and full of life breath. Such as "Jiangnan": "Jiangnan can pick lotus, and lotus leaves are sweet! Between the fish and the lotus leaf: the fish hits the lotus leaf east, the fish hits the lotus leaf west, the fish hits the lotus leaf south, and the fish hits the lotus leaf north. " A few words are completely unadorned, but they vividly outline a fresh and natural picture. The characters' language in Yuefu folk songs is full of life breath and oral color, such as the characters' language in Gynecological Diseases and Shang Mo Sang.
Nineteen Ancient Poems has refined language and vivid words. It can be said that this is the result of learning Yuefu folk songs and keeping the language of folk songs simple, natural and fluent. However, it is meaningful and intriguing. In addition, these literati have high cultural literacy, and they have a unique position in language use compared with folk song writers. In addition to Yuefu songs, the unique splendor and eloquence of Han Fu and the elegance and exquisiteness of Ya Song style are the nutritional sources of its language. They can also absorb and use many words, idioms and allusions from the previous classics, and integrate rich ideological and emotional connotations into concise and refined language forms.
Through the above comparative analysis, we can see that although the folk songs of Han Yuefu and Nineteen Ancient Poems have their own unique styles, they are still inextricably linked. The stylistic features and styles in Nineteen Ancient Poems have been developed and improved more or less on the basis of constantly learning Yuefu five-character poems and absorbing their essence.
Folk Songs of Han Yuefu and Nineteen Ancient Poems have a lofty position in the history of China literature and China's poetry, and have made great contributions to the development of China's classical poetry. This is the crystallization of ancient people's wisdom and a precious cultural heritage they left to future generations. Therefore, we have the responsibility to explore its profoundness and study its literary value, so as to deepen our understanding of the traditional culture of the motherland and improve our cultural literacy in a broader scope.