The Yellow Scarf Uprising at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty destroyed the rule of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and also severely hit the power of the aristocratic big landlords. The founders of Wei, Shu and Wu regimes established on this basis all came from the lower social status of the landlord class. For example, Cao Cao's father is the adopted son of the eunuch, "you can't judge his life and death"; Although Liu Bei is an imperial clan of the Han dynasty, he is very alienated, "weaving seats with his mother"; Sun Quan's father, Sun Jian, is a "small county magistrate". With the weakening of landlord power in big noble, the dominant position of Confucianism has been shaken. The revival of Laozi, Zhuangzi, the name of punishment and other theories, coupled with the influence of foreign Buddhism, made many scholar-officials despise ethics and advocate integration and detachment, and their thoughts became more active, which was conducive to the prosperity of Jian 'an literature. Since Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor, the political situation has been relatively stable. Some literati changed from advocating freedom to flaunting freedom, and Lao Zi, Zhuangzi and Zhouyi were valued, so metaphysics flourished and became their important spiritual sustenance. After the beginning, Sima Yi and his son mastered the real power of Wei, and the power struggle with Cao Wei's royal family became increasingly acute. Some scholars were involved in the political whirlpool and lost their lives. So many people even advocate metaphysics as a whole to avoid disaster. This trend began in the late Cao Wei period and continued until the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which had a great influence on literature. Sima seized the Cao Wei regime, established the Western Jin Dynasty, and achieved a brief reunification. However, the ruling clique in the Western Jin Dynasty was very decadent and had many internal contradictions. After Sima Yan's death, the consorts and the imperial clan fought for power one after another, which led to the "Eight Kings Rebellion" and intensified ethnic conflicts, which led to the invasion of five ethnic groups, namely Xiongnu, Jiedi, Biandi, Qiang and Xianbei, and made northern China a battlefield for military leaders of all ethnic groups. The Eastern Jin Dynasty left the Yangtze River, which was also a civil strife. Scholars in this period mostly talk about metaphysics as a means to escape from reality. In literature, it is also very important to expound Hyunri. However, during this period, some writers felt the breath of the times and society and wrote some excellent works reflecting reality, such as Zuo Si, Liu Kun and Guo Pu.

three kingdoms period

Among the three countries, Wei literature is the most prosperous. Zhong Rong once described the prosperity of Wei literature, especially Jian 'an literature: "On Jian 'an, Cao Gong and his son are kind and gentle; Brother Pingyuan, I am Wendong; Serina Liu and RoyceWong are its wings. I climbed the dragon and phoenix, and since I belong to a car, I will cover it. Binbin's prosperity is fully prepared for time. "(Preface to Poetry) Liu Xie once made an analysis of the reasons for the prosperity of Jian 'an literature. He said: "Since Xian Di, literature has flourished. At the end of Jian 'an, it was edited by District Yu Fang, and Wu Weizun and Wang loved poetry chapters; Emperor Wen attached importance to the deputy monarch, and Miao Shan wrote ci and fu; Chen Si is proud of his son, with excellent writing style and handsome appearance, so his talent is thriving. "The main figures of Jian 'an literati group are' Three Cao' and' Seven Zi'. Cao Cao is in the position of political leader, and his poem is Seven Children of Jian 'an.

His creation is closely related to his political and military struggle, showing great ambition, heroic spirit and simple and desolate style. Cao Pi and Cao Zhi are actually the core of Jian 'an writers. They are talented, capable of poetry and writing, and have the most works. Cao Pi's poems are beautiful and charming, and the folk songs are full of charm. He is also a literary critic. His Essays on Canon emphasizes that writers have their own strengths and opposes "scholars despise each other". Put forward the argument that "literature is based on qi" and pay attention to the writer's personality characteristics; And regard the article as "a great cause of the country and an immortal event." This marks the beginning of the conscious development trend of literature. Cao Zhi's works are very lyrical, "extraordinary character, Hua Mao's words" ("Poetry"), which reached the second-to-none level in art at that time. In his book with Yang Dezu, he also talked about the view that "a work made in the world can't be without disease", emphasizing the necessity of literary criticism and paying more attention to folk works. "Seven sons" refer to Kong Rong, Chen Lin, RoyceWong, Xu, Ruan, Ying and Liu Zhen, each of whom has its own beauty. In addition, famous writers at that time included Miao Yi, Fan Qin, Wu Zhi, Han Danchun, Yang Xiu and poetess Cai Yan. The creation of Jian 'an writers also has the characteristics of the times. From the creative attitude, they can basically care about reality and face life. Their works reflect the social changes and people's sufferings since the end of Han Dynasty. In terms of emotional style, there are mostly sad and generous styles, as Liu Xie said, "Today's prose is elegant and generous, good at following the world, evil at the wind, and long in ambition, so the outline is rich and angry" ("Wen Xin Diao Long"). These epochal features of Jian 'an literature are called "Jian 'an Style" or "Han Wei Style" by later generations, which are highly valued by later writers and literary theorists and used as a weapon against weak poetic style. Jian 'an literature is the literature in the early Three Kingdoms period, which developed into the later literature, namely official literature, after Wendi and Ming Di. The main writers in this period are Yan He, Wang Bi, and Ruan Ji, Ji Kang, Xiang Xiu, Ruan Xian and Wang Rong. Because of the sinister political situation at that time, many literati were in trouble, which affected the writers to directly reflect the real contradictions. Even if some authors write about real problems, their methods are often tortuous and obscure. The main achievements of Zhengshi literature are Ji Kang's prose and Ruan Ji's poems about memory. They inherited the fine tradition of Jian 'an literature, that is, "Ji Kang's teacher talks with his heart, Ruan Ji writes poems with his spirit" (Wen Xin Diao Long Cai Lue), and exposed and criticized the cruel and hypocritical Sima Group. Ji Kang's attitude was particularly fierce, and he was finally killed by Si Mazhao. In art, Ji Kang's "flowery words" (Biography of Wei Zhi and Wang Shen) and Ruan Ji's "brilliant" (ditto) all have distinctive features. Most of the first writers knew Laozi and Zhuangzi and had a special liking for metaphysics. They are not as persistent as Jian 'an writers and indifferent to social reality. Therefore, except for Ji and Ruan, the brushwork of most writers is getting weaker and weaker. Wu writers include Zhang, Xue Zong, Hua,. Zhang Quan has a long history and has written more than 65,438+00 poems, poems, inscriptions and inscriptions. Make friends with Kong Rong and Chen Lin in the "seven sons of Jian 'an" in the north, and write back frequently. Xue Zong, a famous Confucian in Jiangdong, was the master of Prince Sun Quan. He wrote tens of thousands of poems, poems and essays, which are called possession. Hua was a writer in the last years of Sun Wu, and he was quite talented in his creation. From Sun Jian to Sun Quan, Wei Zhaoyou created Twelve Wu Poems, which is just the opposite of the Twelve Wu Poems written by Miao in Wei Nan Bei. Zhao Wei was also gifted in narrative, with 22 volumes of Notes on Mandarin and 55 volumes of Wu Shu, which were called good history at that time. The writers of Shu are Zhuge Liang, Zheng,. As a politician, Zhuge Liang's works are also quite literary, such as The Example, which is a famous prose with sincere meaning and clear organization. He was a famous scholar in the last years of Shu State. The Record of Shu State records that "all his poems belong to Fu, and there are hundreds of poems". He is a "man of the moment" (Shu Qin Zhi Chuan Fu), with beautiful prose and elegant style. Today, a five-character poem, Yuan You, is the only reliable poem handed down from ancient times in Shu. It describes the hardships and hardships of a wanderer, which is quite vivid. During the Three Kingdoms period, there were many folk songs, some of which were highly realistic and showed the likes and dislikes of the lower classes. For example, Guo Wei's "Military Ballad": "I am not afraid of Cao Gong, but I am afraid of Lu Hong; Tsao Gong was fine. Zhao Da killed me. " This is an exposure of some cruel officials. Another example is Sun Haochu's nursery rhyme: "I would rather drink Jianye water than eat Wuchang fish; It is better to die in Jianye, not just Wuchang. " At that time, people criticized Sun Hao for moving its capital to Wuchang, which caused the loss of upstream goods.

Western Jin Dynasty (265-317)

As Liu Xie said in "The Literary World of the Western Jin Dynasty": "Although Jin is illiterate, there are many talented people." Although the Western Jin Dynasty did not attach importance to literature, there were many talented people. Zhong Rong listed three poets (Zhang Zai, Zhang Xie, Zhang Kang), Erlu (Lu Ji, Lu Yun), Pan Liang (Pan Yue, Penny) and Zuo Yi (Zuo Si) in The Preface of Poetry, saying that they were "following the former kings of Wu, but their love affair did not foam and their articles flourished". In fact, they are not only good at poetry, but some of them are also good at prose or prose. Besides these eight people, contemporary writers who are famous for their literary works include Fu Xuan, Fu Xian, Zhang Hua, Cheng Gongsui, Xiahou Zhan, Shu, Zhi Yu, Huangfu Mi, Hans Zhang, Sun Chu, Zuo and others. The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove

However, although there were many writers in this period, their achievements were generally not high. Liu Xie said: "Jinshi is a group of talents, he is a little light;" Zhang Pan left the land, comparable to poetry. Take the initiative from the beginning and be soft on Jian 'an. Either the analysis of the text is wonderful or self-defeating. This is also rough. " (Wen Xin Diao Long Shi Ming) This evaluation is basically realistic and to the point. Taikang poets lack both the ambition of Jian 'an poets to make contributions and the profound ideological realm of Zhengshi poets. On the other hand, the literature of this period was further conscious. Lu Ji said in Wen Fu: "Poetry is beautiful because of emotion", which shows that Wei and Jin poets are more committed to expressing their personal feelings and pursuing the beauty of literature. Poets began to spread the atmosphere of arranging couples to confront each other and using allusions and idioms. Lu Ji's leading position among Taikang poets revealed some information about the poetic fashion at that time. Most of his quasi-ancient poems and quasi-Yuefu are divorced from reality, following in the footsteps of the ancients and boring to read. However, some of his archaized poems can put themselves in a proper position, "create feelings for the text", peep at "knowing before", explore the "rare" place of "saints" and "just want to read deeply and talk widely". Therefore, imitating ancient works, under the arrest of Xie Tao, Jiang Baohe's path was broadened. His Wen Fu is a well-written masterpiece. Although it briefly describes the origin of literary development and the change of critical standards of literary works, it describes the writer's creative process in a very cordial and detailed way, even the bitterness of choosing words and making sentences. It occupies an important position in the history of China's literary criticism. His younger brother Lu Yun's "Plain and Brothers" also has a lot of space to talk about creative activities. Pan Yue, also known as Lu Ji, has been repeatedly compared by predecessors, or "Pan Wen is shallow and clean, Lu Wen is deep and chaotic", or "Lu Cai is like the sea, Pan Cai is like the river", although each has its own gains and losses, it is not without competition. However, Pan Yue's "Mourning for Kindness" is still a consistent public opinion from ancient times to modern times, and the work "Mourning for the Dead" has been passed down through the ages. Zhang Xie's poems are few in number, and he is also famous for his clever words, colorful words and sonorous rhyme. Lu Ji, Pan Yue and Zuo Si all reflect the main creative characteristics of the western Jin literary world. Lu Ji, for example, was once known as "Taikang English". However, Zuo Si should be the most successful poet in the Western Jin Dynasty. His poems were different from the habit of advocating carving at that time. Although the number of his poems is small, it is the inheritance and development of "Jian 'an Style". He sang history and injected new life into traditional themes; In the era of aristocratic rule, people who dare to treat their friends as Ai Chen, have the second highest mind and bold brushwork, can't compare with those who are arrogant and grandiose. Lu Xun said: "After Zhengshi and Zhu Lin's celebrity spirit disappeared, there were no writers who dared to learn from others. "Zuo Si is an exception. In addition, there are some writers who have made contributions that cannot be ignored. For example, Zhang Hua wrote the famous Natural History in addition to poetry and prose, which is an earlier novel among the existing strange stories. Sharla Cheung's Touwen, His Cake Fu and Lu Bao's On the God of Money are also similar to anecdotes. Liu Xie's "Wen Xin Diao Long Harmony" article: "It is an ugly girl, selling cakes and the like, which is especially effective and covers a hundred. Wei and Jin dynasties are funny and prosperous. " This also shows the other side of the development of literature at that time. Zhiyu's Collection of Articles is a collection of ancient and modern articles, which has a great influence on the selection of articles and literary criticism in later generations. The political situation in the late Western Jin Dynasty was particularly turbulent, and many writers were killed in political struggles. For example, during the Western Jin Dynasty and the Eastern Jin Dynasty, after the fall of the North, Liu Kun, who continued to lead the troops to fight Liu Cong and Schleswig-Holstein in the area of Bing, left several tragic and generous poems; Guo Pu, whose poem You Xian is Kan Yonghuai, was praised as "brave words". It can be regarded as the end of the "revival of articles" between the Western Jin Dynasty and the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It is worth noting that most of this generation of writers had to be attached to the rich gentry, involuntarily involved in the storm of internal struggle of the ruling class and died. Zhang Hua, Pan Yue, Shi Chong, Lu Ji, Lu Yun, and Guo Pu were all victims of aristocratic fratricide (only Liu Kun died at the hands of Duan Yu). Therefore, after Liu Xie pointed out that the literary world in the Western Jin Dynasty was full of talents, he also pointed out with deep feelings that this generation of writers was "involved in the time and the world, and no one had all the talents".

Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420)

Metaphysical poetry and metaphysical fu are quite popular in the literary world of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Liu Xie said, "Since China and North Korea are noble and mysterious, Jiangzuo is called Sheng. Because talking about residual gas has become a style. It is based on the extreme of the world, and it is easy to change Taiwan. Poetry must be the purpose of the column and endowed with the meaning of lacquer garden. " Zhong Rong said: "In Yongjia, it's a bit empty talk. What was written, said and said at that time was chicken ribs. Therefore, as for Jiang Biao, the microwave is still spreading, and Sun Chuo, Huan and Yu's poems are as flat as morality, and Jian 'an has been exhausted. "These metaphysical poems and fu are the products of the ethos of' speaking freely and being cautious' in that era. Although it copied the metaphysical words in Laozi, Zhuangzi and Buddhist scriptures, it can also use some languages closer to spoken language. The most accomplished poet in this period was Tao Yuanming. Tao Yuanming became an official for the sake of poverty, but he lived in seclusion since he became an official. He went in and out of officialdom several times and saw through the hypocrisy, deception and filth of officialdom. He is determined to quit his job, return to the countryside, live a life of self-financing and hone his character in hard poverty. His poems are about his life experience from being an official to returning to the field. There are also some philosophies of Laozi, Zhuangzi and Confucianism in his poems, but he tries his best to write them in a cordial and simple way, close to the spoken language of the Tian family. He tries to avoid mentioning current events, but people can still see some shadows of the times from his poems. What makes people feel fresh is that for the first time, he wrote the pastoral life of spring planting and autumn harvest, the daily scenery of mulberry trees, sesame seeds, chickens and dogs into his poems. His poems are natural and true, so poets and critics in the Northern and Southern Dynasties who like rhetoric don't pay much attention to him. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that poets and critics realized more and more the simple and noble thoughts and aesthetic values contained in his poems. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, in addition to poetry, novel creation began to flourish. Due to the prevalence of witchcraft and the spread of Buddhism and Taoism in Wei and Jin Dynasties, there were many works of ghosts and gods. Due to the influence of the atmosphere of talking clearly, novels recording literati anecdotes began to appear. Gan Bao's Searching for the Gods in the Eastern Jin Dynasty is another famous novel with great influence after Zhang Hua's Natural History. Pei Qi's Yu Lin is the pioneer of anecdote novels. Miscellaneous Notes on Xijing was written by Liu Xin, and Yi Wenzhi, a book of the New Tang Dynasty, is considered to be written by Ge Hong in the early years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which is quite close to the facts. Ge Hong not only wrote Miscellanies of Xijing, but also wrote Bao Puzi, which reflected his literary view. He opposed the customary forces among the literati at that time, such as attaching importance to the past and neglecting the present, being close and distant, and had a sense of the times. Li Chong's On Hanlin praised and criticized ancient and modern times, and considered the advantages of diseases. Although it was lost today, it also had a certain influence on later literary criticism and anthology.