Paper Keywords: Tang poetry; Month; Image; Sense of hardship; Sentimental color
Abstract: The moon has always been the poet's darling, accompanied by China's literature, and has a long history as an image. The moon image in Tang poetry is one of the most attractive images in classical poetry. Poets in the Tang Dynasty used the moon to create landscapes or melt emotions, and put their unique humanistic and religious experiences into it, showing unspeakable emotional processes, especially loneliness, desolation and lovesickness.
Since ancient times, people have described and praised the moon, and poems expressing feelings through the moon abound. This kind of works is particularly important in Tang poetry, in which the moon is often intertwined with people's sadness such as loneliness, desolation and lovesickness. This paper mainly explains the anxiety consciousness and sentimental color of Tang poets reflected by the image of "moon" in Tang poetry from several aspects, such as homesickness, the sadness of lovesickness between the two places, philosophical speculation on life feelings and historical meditation on moon feelings.
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The Tang Dynasty was the golden age of China's classical poetry. In the prosperous world of Tang poetry, the moon stands out from many natural images and becomes one of the most typical images in Tang poetry. Then, why was the moon so favored by the literati in the Tang Dynasty?
The existence of the "moon" image in poetry has its historical origin. First of all, "give people a soft, beautiful and complete feeling"; "When the moon is full, it emits quiet and bright light, giving people a visual sense of beauty"-quote; Its "regular shape change from lack to circle, from new moon to hope" constitutes its "indispensable content in physical beauty" These aesthetic features of the moon coincide with the aesthetic concept of China people. In primitive society, the moon known by primitive people was combined with women. There are many stories about pregnancy in ancient legends or historical myths in China. "Out of the Mountain": "The spring water under the mountain is as thin as a chicken. If you love it, you will swallow it unconsciously, so you will be pregnant. " Fu Ruizhi, Book of the Song Dynasty, records: "Help the capital to see the white spirit and penetrate the moon, feel interested, make soup on the second day of the second day, and the number of days is B" and so on. This should all belong to the category of reproductive worship. Nowadays, in many places, there is a custom that children Yue Bai and old people look at the moon. People still regard the moon as a reproductive worship, and they are eager to pray for the moon so that their descendants can eat and drink enough and prosper. In ancient legends, it is the toad who plays tricks on drugs in the middle of the month, also known as "toad fly" and "Zhan Zhu". "Taiping Yulan" Volume 4 quotes Wei Yankong's Picture in the Spring and Autumn Period: "Toads fly and the moon is sunny." "Huai Nan Zi Shuo Lin" said: "The bright moon shines on the world and erodes in Zhanzhu". "Toad is a favored son of heaven, a" non-class "of favored son of heaven. However, it bites its hand and dares to erode the moon and destroy the' eyes' of the sky. Therefore, the change of yin and yang of the moon is often referred to as toad hook, toad plate and toad wheel.
Secondly, a series of myths about the moon, such as the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon, reflect the unique position of the moon in China culture. "Huainanzi Lan Mingxun" records: "You gave the elixir to the Queen Mother of the West, and the Queen Mother of the West stole it to the moon. She felt sad and lost." Henkel lured the note: "Big E, marry your wife. I invited the elixir of life to the Queen Mother of the West, but I didn't take it. If I steal it, I will be immortal and I will be the essence of the moon in the middle of the moon. " Women are the soul of the moon, and the moon is a poetic symbol of women. When it comes to the moon, people naturally think of Chang 'e (also known as Chang 'e). She endured eternal loneliness alone in the Guanghan Palace, so she became a female image repeatedly expressed by the poet and was endowed with multiple meanings as the soul of the moon. The moon is "floating in the mythical world, loaded with profound primitive cultural contents" and "circulating the vast spiritual space of China", which embodies the Chinese nation's "life feelings and aesthetic feelings and becomes a cultural prototype hanging high in the sky".
Furthermore, the moon conforms to China's traditional aesthetic pursuit. "It is no coincidence that scholars show special preference for the image of' the moon'. The moon represents femininity, harmony, obedience and tranquility. It is an inevitable reflection of the life mood and aesthetic taste of some literati in ancient China, especially those who have taken natural leisure, purity and ethereal as their life and artistic goals since the Tang and Song Dynasties. " This kind of reflection just reflects the aesthetic ideal and taste of ancient China literati.
The eternal moon always shines brightly on the earth and all beings. Moonlight is soft, hazy, cold and hazy, like Mona Lisa's shallow smile. It can be said that the moon gave birth to Tang poetry to a certain extent. In the Tang Dynasty, the prominent position of poetry could not be separated from the inspiration and contrast of the moon. Li Bai, Du Fu, Wang Changling, Meng Haoran, Li Shangyin ... are often held in their hands, studied carefully at the window under the moon, bathed in Yue Hui, and expressed their sadness in their chests, thus gaining the spirit of all things. Thus, the moon and the poet forged an indissoluble bond. Walking on the Moon in Luodi, bid farewell to jathyapple in Jiangting, Guan Shanyue, Gulangyue Journey, Yue Bai, Moonlight Remembering Brothers, Jiangyue, Frosty Moon, Quiet Night Thinking, Feeling Old on the River, a night-mooring near maple bridge, Moonlight on the Spring River and Spring Mountain in jathyapple.
The image of "moon" can be found everywhere in Tang poetry: 1 time image. The moon. The moon rises and falls, and the full moon is absent, which conforms to the cycle of life. Therefore, the ancients often used the "moon" to pin their grief over fleeting life and fleeting years. When will Li Bai from The Moon in the Sky come? Stop for a drink, ask "Today", discuss the philosophy of life that "today people don't see Gu Yue, but this month they followed the ancients", and give a sigh that "the ancients looked at the bright moon if they were running water" (Li Bai's Drinking asking for the moon). 2. The front image of the moon. The sobs of "the leading moon is near the pass, and the pedestrians play the flute at night" (Wang Wei's "Leading Poems") tell the profound sorrow of "watching the moon with this girl, according to our China warriors" (three miscellaneous poems in Shen Jian's period (part two)), and "the sand is like snow before returning to Yuefeng, and the moon outside the city is like frost" (Li Yi's "Watching the flute at night"). Wan Li has no sorrow for Mrs. Kim (seven poems about Wang Changling joining the army) ... We can also truly feel that "the moon is closed in Qin, and the Long March people have not returned" (two poems about Wang Changling joining the army) and "I don't have enough sorrow when I am stirring, and the moon shines on the Great Wall in high autumn" (poems about Wang Changling joining the army) 3. Acacia image of the moon. For example, Meng Haoran's "And the wind blows the leaves on both sides of the river, and the bright moon crosses me and sails alone" ("Stay by the Tonglu River"). Sending an old tour of Guangling) is lonely and sad; The profound meaning of Wang Jian's "I don't know who Qiu Si will fall into tonight" ("I will send Du Langzhong on the fifteenth night of the full moon"); Qian Qi's "Twenty-five-string drama on a moonlit night, grievances are hard to clear" ("Returning to the Wild Goose") is unsightly ... In the emotional world, the expectations of the Tang people are very ethereal and love is very warm. The urgency of the infatuation in The West Chamber (Cui Yingying answered Zhang Sheng, a poem "Three Nights in the Moon"), the emptiness and loneliness in "I woke up, the light on the rafters in the low moon" (Du Fu's "Two Dreams of Li Bai") and the deep infatuation in "The Moon sets and the stars are sparse, and the dream is hard to extinguish" (Li Duan's "Boudoir Love") seem to be the best testimony of love. The longing for love created by the moon is full of life feelings that can't be explained by the ancient people in China, and it is a great song that inspires the ancient people to love and cherish each other. In a word, the image of "moon" is fleeting, the destination of love, and the interpretation of the joys and sorrows of life ... It contains the poet's sense of hardship and sentimental color, and embodies their different outlook on life.
(1) Homesickness of the journey.
In the traditional culture of China, the month represents reunion, which embodies the desire and expectation of reunion with relatives. However, poets in the Tang Dynasty seldom describe the joy of reunion under the moon, but often talk about the pain of separation. In the hearts of wandering wanderers and lonely wives, the moon not only entrusts with the expectation of reunion, but also triggers messages of sadness and regret. The moon evokes and conforms to the poet's lonely and sad feelings with its pale and sad brilliance and lonely figure. Whether wandering around or staying alone in the cold window of the hostel, as long as he bathes in the moonlight, he can't help but miss his hometown. Nothing can express homesickness and homesickness better than Fu's Moonlit Night.
Tonight is Shuozhou month, looking alone from her bedroom window. For our boys and girls, poor little baby, too young to know where the capital is. The fragrant mist wets the temples, and the jade shoulders are cold. When can we lie on the screen again, tears streaming down our faces?
This poem was written by Du Fu, who was captured by the Anshi Rebellion in August of the 15th year of Tianbao (AD 756) and homesick on the moonlit night in the occupied Chang 'an City. The poem begins with two sentences, "Tonight is the month of Langzhou, looking at her bedroom window alone". What I see is Chang 'an Moon, and I am more worried about how worried my wife in Yunzhou is about her situation. "Watching alone" in "Tonight" is in sharp contrast to watching together before, and "Recalling Chang 'an" has mixed feelings. "Remote pity" children are naive and can only increase the burden on their wives. A word "pity" is full of affection and touching. "Double photos" and "watching alone" echo each other. In the clear moonlight, "I" was in the enemy's lair, and everything was lingering. The whole poem does not directly describe his feelings for the moon, but from the way that his wife misses herself for the moon and tears are endless, which makes the melancholy of pregnant people more specific, profound and unique. The whole poem is full of twists and turns, with novel ideas, rich imagination, beautiful language and sad feelings.
Because home is connected with the land of hometown, the wanderer's yearning for home will naturally extend to his deep attachment to the motherland. The lyric heroes in frontier poems in the Tang Dynasty love to regard the moon as a symbol of their lonely and frustrated feelings, and use the image of "moon" to strengthen the special situation and feelings of inviting people to be in a remote place and feel lonely and desolate inside, thus leaving behind the masculinity of horses screaming and swords, resulting in feminine beauty. Whenever we read poems such as "Looking at the Moon for a while" (Li Yi's "Joining the Army in the North" and "Leng Yue in the Post-war Battlefield" (Wang Changling's "Two Saturdays"), we can appreciate the deep sorrow of the recruiters. Wang Changling's masterpiece Two Poems on the Dyke (Part I) was once regarded as a masterpiece in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
It is still the moon and border pass in Qin and Han dynasties, and the enemy has fought a protracted war. But Dragon City will fly in. Don't teach Huma to climb the Yinshan Mountain.
It is "the melody is soft, but it is still the bone of the prosperous Tang Dynasty", and it is "tragic and should be sung." J (The poet begins with "Qin Yue" and "Han Guan", and the bright moon shines on Guan Bao, which shows the artistic conception that the border is desolate, hard to recruit and boundless in sadness. "Only make Longcheng fly, don't teach Xiuma Huayinshan" is powerful and commands the whole article. Foreign troops were often used in the Tang Dynasty, and wars rose and fell. Border guards guard the border all the year round, lonely and cold in the boundless darkness. It is conceivable that their homesickness is so urgent and their melancholy is so profound! Facing a bend in the Leng Yue, the moon fell, and the feeling of sadness was hard to stop. "Conscription Month" is particularly sad and empty because of its profound historical connotation.
The bleak moonlight shines on people who are self-mutilated, adding sadness and hatred, and becoming a witness of their depression and hardship. They tried hard to seek comfort and home, so the flowing "moon" written by literati and poets became the carrier of their homesickness. The eternal literary motif of "going home" accumulated in the hearts of poets in the Tang Dynasty is particularly heavy. Here, the moon has become the spiritual sustenance for lonely ministers and prodigals to start homesick.
(2) The suffering of lovesickness in both places
Poets in the Tang Dynasty also used the word "moon" to express passionate love, express the hatred of parting, and express the infinite feelings between marriage. The full moon is a symbol of happy love. On the night of the full moon, the light shines brightly, which is a beautiful moment for lovers to tell each other their hearts, but the bright moon on the horizon is so provocative to lovers who are separated from each other, which evokes many feelings of parting. Zhang Jiuling's "Looking at the Moon and Thinking Far" is a pregnant work;
The moon, at this time is at sea, over the end of the world. Bring a separated heart, lovesickness at night. Put out the candle to love this moonlit room, and I wander in the deep night dew in my clothes. You can't have beautiful moonlight, just want to meet you in your dreams.
The artistic conception of the sentence is vigorous and broad, and the weather is high. In this long "remote night", a pair of lovers who are far away from the world have missed the moon for a long time, and a word "resentment" arises spontaneously. Three or four sentences focus on the word "resentment", "lover" echoes "acacia", "distant night" echoes "dusk", and the bright and complete moonlight makes it even more difficult for people to sleep: "It's not black to blow out candles, but it's not warm to put on a coat". What can you give each other when lovesickness is sleepless? Only a hand full of moonlight. This moonlight is full of sadness, sincere and touching.
The bright moon does seem to have an indissoluble bond with Sifu. Zhang's "Moonlit Night on the Spring River" covers the whole Tang Dynasty with a solitary poem, which can be described as the whole Tang Dynasty. In "A Moonlit Night on a Spring River", the moonlight flows through the heart of a homesick woman, and it is not difficult for us to see the eternal love brilliance of the people. The poet described his feelings of parting and his concern for his family in a beautiful and sad style like a folk song. From "Traveling in the Clouds" to "Falling Moon Rocking the Trees over the River": All scenery words are love stories, and the word "love" except spring, river, flowers, moon and night is extremely well written. "Where to miss the bright moon building" is the "lovesickness" complex between the lonely boat wanderer and the dissatisfied wife in the cabinet. From "I don't know each other at this time" to "the moon sets on the west slope of Hechi": Since the moon is not round tonight, I can only "face each other", if only I could follow "Yue Hua" and "flow" to his side! But this can't be done, so please "fish and geese pass the book", but it's just "light (crossing)" and "water writing (tattoo)" At this point, the sadness of thinking about the moon has deepened step by step. A series of heartbreaking images such as "dream falling"-"moon setting in the west"-"spring ending"-"not returning home" have greatly aroused the bitter feelings of women who think of others and cherish spring. After twists and turns, subtle and deep rendering, the whole poem naturally comes to an end: "The slanting moon is full of sea fog, and the Jieshi Xiaoxiang is infinite." I wonder how many people will return every month. The moon is full of rivers and trees. "The bright moon finally falls slowly, but my lover is still far away. While writing about a couple's faithful love, the poet boldly confessed and shouted out the voice of the times "I wonder how many people will borrow the moon to return home". This makes the word "love" beyond five words have a new color, lingering and far-reaching feelings.
(3) Philosophical thinking on life regret
The reason why Moonlit Night on the Spring River is called a wonderful flower in Tang poetry is that the poet has triggered philosophical thinking on Jiang Yue and life, eternity and transience. Faced with this round of solitary moon, the poet can't help but express such feelings in his life: "Who first saw the moon by the river, and the moonlight shone on people at the beginning of the river?" Life is endless from generation to generation, and Jiang Yue is only similar year after year. I wonder who Jiang Yuezhao is? But see the Yangtze River send water. "This is not only the" Cosmic Consciousness "~8J(P 17s) in Dream Meeting, but also the anxiety consciousness of emotional infiltration of human life. From the rising of the bright moon-the bright moon in the sky-the sinking of the moon in the west-the falling of the moon, this life network runs through the infinite universe and limited life, thus giving poetry a brand-new beauty of speculation and philosophy. The moon is also a symbol of transcendental life interest. Take Li Bai's Drinking the Bright Moon Alone as an example;
Flowers in the next pot of wine, no friends, drink alone. Until, holding up my cup, I asked the moon to bring me my shadow, so that the three of us, alas, the moon could not drink, and my shadow marked me blankly; But there was still a time when I had these friends and encouraged me through the end of spring. I sang. The moon encourages me and I dance. After my shadow rolled, I made love when I was awake, and then I got drunk and we lost each other. I am willing to stay with them forever and forget the harm of friendship, just like the Milky Way.
This poem is based on Syaraku's loneliness and music. Legend has it that it was written in Tianbao for three years. At that time, Li Zicheng worshipped Hanlin and was slandered and alienated by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. He had nowhere to tell, so he had to write poems under the moon to relieve his inner anguish. In the flowers, the poet made his debut alone, holding his glass. His loneliness can be imagined. Lonely and unbearable, the poet pulled the bright moon in the sky and his own shadow. "But there was still a time when I had these friends who cheered me up at the end of spring." Let a person feel faint, unspeakable sadness. In poetry, the moon is endowed with human emotions, and the poet obtains physical and mental tranquility and sublimation from the clear and eternal natural moon, reaching a surreal aesthetic realm. I think this is the realm of "Tao" pursued by literati.
Let's look at his "wine asks the moon (asked by an old friend Jia Chunling)":
When will the moon appear in the blue sky? I'll stop for a drink and ask. The moon will never reach the moon, but it is very close to the people. Green smoke as bright as a mirror is flying in the palace, emitting cold light. I only see the clouds rising from the sea every night, and who knows the clouds in the morning? The white rabbit plays medicine in autumn, revives in spring, and Chang 'e lives alone with whom. Now people are not seen in Gu Yue, but in this month they took the ancients. The ancients said, if people are running water, they look at the bright moon. Just look at the glass and sing loudly, and the moonlight can grow in a golden cup.
The poet expressed his desire for eternal life with the lofty sentiments of the unity of body and Tao and the unity of man and nature. "Today people can't see Gu Yue, and they took photos of the ancients before this month. If the ancients were flowing today, they would look at the bright moon. " The poet compared man to the moon, from which he realized eternity outside the universe. Li Bai's life has been entangled in "being an official" and "living in seclusion", so he used the appeal of eating, drinking and having fun to relieve his inner pressure. When I want to sing to wine, the moonlight always shines in a golden bottle. Wine is a strange thing on earth, and the moon is a messenger from heaven. Loneliness and fullness, transience and eternity are all transformed into a silvery Yue Hui, which is integrated with the vast universe. Li Bai adopted an eternal aesthetic view of the moon, then he forgot his anguish and troubles, realized the rhythm of life, and realized the perfect unity of real life and infinite universe.
The eternal and quiet moon has caused many scholars and poets to think philosophically about the life of the universe! Their deep sighs more or less reveal their aesthetic sorrow for the finiteness of life. In the face of a bright moon with moonlight like water, poets always feel a lot, or feel that they are not talented, their careers are ruined, their ambitions are not paid, or they lament that fate is bumpy, times are dark, and people's livelihood is difficult ... so there are many sentimental months in Tang poetry.
(d) Historical meditation on the moon.
The Tang Dynasty gradually declined from its glorious heyday. In the face of the bright moon still hanging high, some literati after the middle Tang Dynasty will inevitably feel a sense of sadness. They also have Mr. Xie, who is in power in Anbang, showing great concern for state affairs. In the process of revisiting history, the poet expressed his feelings about current events, his ups and downs, the ups and downs of the past and the ups and downs of the present. Therefore, the image of the moon is also pinned on the poet's ups and downs in his career, his frustration in life and his feelings of compassion for the world. Liu Yuxi shouted in "Stone Town":
The mountains are still the same, surrounded by abandoned ancient capitals, and the tide is beating against the lonely empty city as in the past. On the east bank of Huaihe River, the ancient cold moon, midnight, peep at the old palace.
Stone Town used to be prosperous for a while, but now, the bright moon rising from the east of Qinhuai River still shines affectionately on this dilapidated ancient city. "In the old days, Huai Shuidong came to the female wall at night." The poet described the reality of "old country" and "loneliness", but reflected on the nearly 300-year history of the Six Dynasties. It was Jiang Yue who witnessed the tragic history of the sudden rise and fall of these dynasties. This old month in Qinhuai has merged into the depression of the poet's hometown and the desolation of life. There is also "smoke cage cold water moon cage sand, night?" From Qinhuai to Restaurant (Bo Qinhuai by Du Mu); Night falls on Mengshan, water is like the moon "(Du Mu's Shen Xiaxian) and so on. These "moons" also bear traces of history and are shrouded in infinite sadness. Even in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, when the poets' ideals were ruthlessly shattered by reality, their pursuit of life value was also reflected in their creation. Du Fu's depression and Zi Ang's sadness all started from here. It is a specific historical period, such as the prosperity of Kaiyuan, which makes the poet realize the current affairs of the country, care about life, and have a sense of suffering from a painful experience. The national disaster is at the forefront, and the times have given poets a more severe historical task. Different from the birth of Taoism and the meditation of Buddhism, Confucian scholars are mostly secular. What they care about is not the freedom of personality and the sublimation of soul, but the honor and disgrace of the nation and the safety of the country. Du Fu's poems are not only rich in Confucian people-oriented thoughts and feelings about the world, but also fully reflect the characteristics of Confucianism's rigorous and orderly and depressed sense of hardship.
The breeze rippled on the grassy coast, through the night, and blew to my still mast. The endless plains are dotted with drooping stars. The moon runs with the river. I hope my art can bring me fame and liberate my sick old age from the office! . Flying around, flying around, what am I like, just a sandpiper in the vast world! . (Du Fu's Night Tour)
Nostalgic works are not just "reflections on ancient love", but mainly reflect the poet's meditation on history, society, people's livelihood, his own destiny and future. It should be pointed out that the poet felt sad at that time. Although his feelings were dignified, he was not pessimistic. The state between intellectuals and politics in ancient China has always been tense. Since Qu, Tao, Li and Du, countless poets have expressed their anxiety about real social life. This kind of anxiety will inevitably bring about a kind of resistance, and they will combine personal misfortune with national worries to vent or fight. Confucianism, which has long influenced China literati, is one of the reasons for this consciousness. With what he saw and felt in the distance, the poet fused his worries about time, the world and himself. So there was the bitterness of the ups and downs of the official career when the full moon was full, and there was no way to serve the country.
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Looking at the various manifestations of anxiety and sentimentality reflected by the image of "moon" in Tang poetry, we can draw such a conclusion:
First, love and youth are the most beautiful and precious things in life. However, it is not difficult to find that, except for a few works with bright and cheerful colors, most poems are full of sad and melancholy colors. In feudal times, free and happy love was hard to find, so we had to sing sad songs.
Second, the national disaster, political crisis and the future of the country are worrying, and the poet's life experiences are all reflected in "worry".
Thirdly, the inheritance and development of the tradition that poetry can complain (The Analects of Confucius Yang Huo) made many frustrated poets use the moon to reflect some information of social life at that time in order to seek spiritual liberation. Therefore, there is always a lingering sadness and loneliness in frontier poems and nostalgic poems.
As the essence of China's classical poetry, Tang poetry embodies the profound tragic consciousness in the national spirit in the tradition of expressing the sense of hardship. Generally speaking, there are two characteristics: first, the feelings of Tang poetry that hurt spring and grieve for autumn, leave sorrow for parting, hate the country and hate the family, the world is cold, and youth is hard to stay are overwhelming; Most of the characters are marriage seekers, vagrants and the like. They are lonely, lonely, depressed and sad. In a word, they bear almost all the tragic experiences of human beings, and travel hard and lonely in the long river of history, so they are called tragedies. Secondly, the image of "moon" is often used to express emotions such as tears, sadness, hatred, resentment and sigh in Tang poetry. Whether it is the sadness of an uninhibited poet or the lingering sadness of a graceful poet, they can't escape the sentimental tone in the end, so they are called sentimental.
We can't simply hold a negative attitude towards the sense of hardship and sentimental feelings embodied by poets in the Tang Dynasty. Worry consciousness and sentimental mood inevitably have a negative side, but they also contain the poet's persistent pursuit of a better life and positive attitude towards life. It should be said that anxiety and sentimentality are one of the spiritual costs that human beings must pay to history. In the "full of absurd words" in Tang poetry, what we see is the poet's infatuation with a better life and a better ideal! The "moon" in Tang poetry embodies the sense of hardship and sentimental color, which makes Tang poetry have infinite spiritual appeal and infinite artistic beauty.