Brief history of characters

There are many similarities between Xin Qiji and Lu You: he always takes revenge for national humiliation and regaining lost land as his lifelong career, and writes about the expectations and disappointments of the times and the enthusiasm and indignation of the nation in his literary creation. However, Xin Qiji is also different from Lu You in many aspects: as a politician with practical ability, he once gained a fairly high position, and his pursuit against gold was not mainly out of enthusiasm like Lu You; As a hero, his personality is stronger than that of Lu You, and his thoughts are not as "pure" as Lu You. His ideal not only reflects the common aspiration of the nation, but also reflects the ambition of a heroic man to realize himself on the historical stage. Therefore, in literary creation, he doesn't like writing poems like Lu You, especially the seven laws with strict format. Instead, he puts all his energy into Ci, a genre that is more suitable for expressing volatile emotions. His collection of poems, Jia He Short Sentences, has preserved more than 600 poems.

I. Xin Qiji's Life and Creation

Xin Qiji (1140-1207) was born in Licheng (now Jinan, Shandong). He was fifteen years younger than Lu You, and when he was born, the north had fallen into the hands of jurchen. Although his grandfather Xin Zan worked in the State of Jin, he always hoped to have the opportunity to "throw a shelf and relieve your father's bitterness", and often took Xin Qiji to "climb high and look far, point out the mountains and rivers" ("Ten Theories on Mei Qin"). At the same time, Xin Qiji also witnessed the humiliation and pain suffered by the Han people under the rule of Jurchen, which made him set the goal of reviving the Central Plains and serving the country in his youth. On the other hand, because Xin Qiji grew up in the north under the rule of Jin people, there was less traditional culture and education that people blindly followed the rules, and he had a chivalrous spirit.

In the thirty-first year of Shaoxing (1 16 1), Yan Liang, the gold owner, invaded the south on a large scale, and the Han people behind him rose up because they could not bear the harsh oppression of the Jin people. Twenty-two-year-old Xin Qiji also gathered 2,000 people to join the huge rebel army led by Geng Jing and served as secretary. When the internal contradictions among the Jin people broke out, Wan Yanliang was killed by his subordinates at the front line, and the Jin army retreated northward. In the thirty-second year of Shaoxing (1 162), Xin Qiji was ordered to contact the court of the Southern Song Dynasty. On his way back from his mission, he heard that Geng Jing was killed by the traitor Zhang Anguo, and the rebel army was dissolved. He led more than 50 people to attack the enemy camp, took the traitor back to Jiankang and handed it over to the Southern Song Dynasty court for execution. Xin Qiji's amazing courage and decisiveness made him famous for a while. "Cowards rise for it, and the Emperor of Heaven sighs for it" (Hong Mai's Jia). Song Gaozong appointed him to sign a judgment in Jiangyin, and started his career in the Southern Song Dynasty. At this time, he was only 23 years old.

When Xin Qiji first came to the south, he didn't understand the cowardice and cowardice of the imperial court. In addition, Song Gaozong and Zhao Gou both praised his heroic behavior, and Song Xiaozong, who soon acceded to the throne, also showed the spirit of regaining lost ground and avenging. Therefore, in the first period of his tenure in the Southern Song Dynasty, he enthusiastically wrote many suggestions to resist the Northern Expedition of the Jin Dynasty, such as the famous Ten Treatises of Meiqin and Nine Treatises. Although these suggestions were praised and widely circulated at that time, the imperial court, which was unwilling to fight again, was indifferent. It was only interested in Xin Qiji's practical ability in the proposal, so it sent him to Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan and other places to hold important local offices to control famine and rectify public order. This is obviously quite different from Xin Qiji's ideal. Although he did a good job, he felt more and more depressed and miserable because he deeply felt that time was flying, life was short and his ambition was hard to pay.

However, the reality is harsh for Xin Qiji. Although he has excellent talents, his heroic and stubborn personality and persistent enthusiasm for the Northern Expedition make it difficult for him to stand on the officialdom of being timid, smooth and jealous of talents. He also realized that he was "just clumsy and confident, and he was not accepted by everyone for many years" ("On the Thief Zazi"), so he was ready to retire and built a garden pavilion by the lake in Shangrao, Jiangxi Province, so that he could settle down after leaving his job. Sure enough, in the winter of the eighth year of Xichun (1 18 1), when Xin Qiji was 42 years old, he was dismissed from office because of impeachment and returned to Shangrao. In the next 20 years, he spent most of his time in the countryside except for being appointed as the prison director and Fujian Special Envoy for Peace every two years.

Xin Qiji has always praised the hermit who is arrogant in the mountains, and living in the countryside is not coincidental with his outlook on life; Moreover, because of his past position, he can live a very luxurious life. But as a hot-blooded man and a man of the hour, he was forced to leave politics when he was in his prime, which made him unbearable. Therefore, he often enjoys the pastoral scenery and its quiet interest, while constantly surging inside, sometimes excited by his own life ideal, sometimes angry and depressed by the ruthlessness of reality, and sometimes forced himself to comfort himself and make broad-minded thoughts, and spent the rest of his life in this emotional ups and downs.

"It's a pity that it happened in vain to get rid of worldly affairs and win fame for Wang after his death" (Broken Array) and "I exchanged ten thousand words for my master to plant trees" (Partridge Sky), which buried his deep affection. In the third year of Jiatai (1203), Han Biaozhou, who advocated the Northern Expedition, began to use leading figures. At the age of 64, Xin Qiji was appointed as the magistrate of Shaoxing and the messenger of peace in eastern Zhejiang, which inspired the spirit of the older generation of poets. In the second year, he met Song Ningzong, enthusiastically and generously said that Xu Jinguo "will be chaotic and will die" ("Inflammation Miscellaneous Notes since the establishment of the ruling and opposition party B"), and personally went to work in Zhenjiang front.

However, he suffered a heavy blow again, and was forced to leave his job under the blows of some admonishers, and returned to his hometown in the first year of the jubilee (1205). Although he has been called to work in the last two years, he is old and sick and weak. Finally, he died suddenly in the autumn of Kathy's third year.

Although, since the fall of the Central Plains, expressing grief and indignation over national humiliation and expressing enthusiasm for serving the country has become the central theme of literature, Xin Qiji's ci still has unique brilliance in it. This is not only because Xin Qiji grew up in the north ravaged by other nationalities, and his desire to restore his homeland is stronger than that of ordinary literati, but also because he actively seeks the glory of his personal life while undertaking the national mission, and shows an irresistible heroism in his words.

When Xin Qiji's ci expresses his ambition to serve the country, he often shows the heroic and confident state of mind of the soldiers, such as "I want to pull the waves of the Milky Way and wash the sand in the northwest" ("Shuidiao Getou"), "When Marco Polo is buried, I should swear that moths will not sink" ("Manjianghong") and "When people die, their hearts are like iron. See how to try to mend the sky "("He Xinlang ").

Wait, they are full of pride, and they are angry about bullfighting. For those who have the same courage to serve their country, he sincerely praises and encourages each other with one voice. For example, the impassioned "Shui Long Yin Chen Jiashou Han Nan Jian Shang Shu" is completely different from ordinary vulgar birthday speeches:

How many people really know how to cross the river and come from the south? Chang 'an elders, the scenery of the new pavilion, are as poor as ever. How many times did you look back when you were on land? Do you know that Wan Li's fame and fortune are true Confucianism? There is an article about hitting mountains, all of which are sunny days with children's voices. When I fell to the ground, now I try, and the situation is running.

The wind and smoke in the green fields, the vegetation in Pingquan and the wine singing in Dongshan. I will rectify Kun's work and celebrate her husband's birthday next year.

Xin Qiji has an instinctive aversion to vulgar and smooth bureaucrats who do nothing in the face of national peril. In Millennium Tune, he outlined the ugliness of such characters: "Give people a drink, then pour it first. The most important thing is to make cocoa, and everything is fine. "

However, it is such people who are full of officialdom, hold power and embark on a road of stealing peace. He wrote angrily: "General Lee won herma forever. Cai Li is the next person, but he is a seal. " ("Operator")

When Xin Qiji led a few troops across the battlefield and came to the south, he was full of blood and eager to show his grand plan. Unexpectedly, he fell into a mediocre situation, which made him feel unbearable depression and indignation. In the 12th year of Nangui, when he revisited Nangui's first stop, Jiankang, he wrote the famous "Shui Long Yin Deng Jiankang Happy Pavilion":

In autumn, the south is empty and desolate, the river flows with the sky, and autumn is even more boundless. Seeing the mountains in the distance will only cause me sadness and resentment at the end of the country. These mountains are like a hairpin and a spiral coil on a woman's head. The sun in the west leans against this floor, and geese are barking in the distant sky. I am wandering in the south of the Yangtze River, homesick for a wanderer. I saw Wu Gou and made a column, but no one would attend. Don't say that the bass is ugly. Zephyr and Jiying haven't come back yet? People like Xu Si who only buy land for themselves should be ashamed to see Liu Bei who is brilliant and complete in these two aspects. Unfortunately, time passes like running water. I'm really worried about the country's ups and downs. As Huan Wen said, the trees have grown so much! Who is money, calling for red scarf and green sleeves, calling for heroes.

This is the sorrow of broken mountains and rivers, and the sorrow of empty ambition; Time goes by mercilessly, and it is even more shocking because of this sadness. However, even if the poet writes about his loneliness and sadness, his pain and tears, we can still see his unsinkable heroism. Until he became the magistrate of Zhenjiang in his later years, his book "Yong Yu Le Jing Kou Gu Bei Ting Nostalgia" was still full of sighs, recalling his fighting career when he was young, and expressing his heroic feelings that he was unwilling to get old and still had much to do:

I have been back to the south for forty-three years, and I still remember the war scenes in Yangzhou. Looking back, there was a crow club drum under the beaver temple. Who can ask: Lian Po is too old to eat?

This heroic nature, which can never spend a lifetime in mediocrity, has been shining in Xin Qiji's words along with his life. It played the strongest sound of Song Ci.

On the other hand, the helpless situation and the same helpless mentality make Xin Qiji, like Lu You, have to seek ways to relieve his depression in rural life. He was deeply influenced by Laozi and Zhuangzi's thoughts. He once said, "If you write a number of books on a case, you will be Laozi" ("Calling the Emperor Grace"). The philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi made him temporarily forget the troubles of the world, get close to nature and daily life, and felt and expressed the philosophy and beauty contained in "one valley and one mountain" in his poems. However, due to the differences in personality and aesthetic taste, his ci works are not as simple and elegant as Lu You's poems, but fresh and beautiful, lively and agile. For example, Qingpingle describes the mood of farm life:

The thatched roof of the hut is low and small, and the stream is covered with green grass. Drunk Wu local drunk, gentle voice, white-haired old man who is it? The eldest son is hoeing bean creek in the east, and the second son is knitting a chicken coop. He likes children scoundrels best, lying at the head of the stream peeling lotus flowers.

"Xijiang Yue Jixing" is about his own life;

It takes time to worry. Recently, I began to feel that I don't believe anything in ancient books. Matsumoto was drunk last night and asked Matsumoto, "How drunk am I?" . I only suspected that I was here to help her, so I pushed her with my hand and said "Go".

However, this word does not mean that Xin Qiji's grief and indignation changes with his age and leisure life. This is only a temporary forgetfulness, but also another manifestation of grief and indignation. Just read the famous "ugly slave, the middle wall of the mountain road" and you will know:

Teenagers don't know the taste of sorrow and fall in love with the floor. Fall in love with the floor and worry about adding new words. Now that I know what it's like to worry, I want to talk about it. I want to say I'd better have a rest, but I said it's cold and autumn.

It is precisely because he has experienced many vicissitudes of life, accumulated too much depression, and knows the helplessness of life, so he "wants to talk about it." He can only seek shelter for his feelings and soothe his wounded heart in the quiet countryside, which is what a hero has to do in a mediocre society. Only by understanding this point can we understand Xin Qiji's true mentality in writing such words.

Second, the artistic creation of Xin Ci

Song ci created a bold, broad-minded and open style in Su Shi's hands, but it did not get strong inheritance and development. Until the beginning, Zhang, Ye Mengde and others took revenge against gold as the theme, and inherited Su Shi's ci style, which played a role in connecting the past with the future. However, their ci is mainly the result of inner passion under the special background of the times, and it has not become a conscious artistic pursuit, nor has it been extended to other themes to a greater extent, so their achievements are not very high. When Xin Qiji appeared in the ci world, he not only continued the direction of Su Ci, but also wrote many magnificent works, and created his own unique ci style in the ci world with his arrogance, rich knowledge and extraordinary talent, which not only promoted the style of Su Ci, but also broke through the scope of Su Ci and opened up a broader world of Ci.

Both Xin Ci and Su Ci are famous for their broad realm and generous and cheerful feelings. However, the difference is that Su Shi often experiences life with a broad and detached view of time and space, and often shows philosophical insights and insight into life, and his emotions turn from impulsiveness to deep calmness, while Xin Qiji always embraces life with fiery feelings and lofty ideals, showing more heroic pride and grief. Therefore, a strong subjective feeling and the persistence of subjective ideas constitute a major feature of Xin Ci. In his words, for example, "the general has been through many battles and his name is cracked." It's a long time to go to Heliang and back to Wan Li. Xiaoxiaosha is rustling, the west wind is cold, and everyone is dressed like snow. Is a strong man, elegy is not complete "("He Xinlang ")," crazy song hentai at midnight, listening to clank iron horse eaves. North-south division "("He Xinlang "), and even" hate, hate can not be ground. " Changhong's deeds and humanitarianism later turned his blood into blue in three years (The Warrior Lanling), which were all grief and resentment, such as The Storm, which shocked the readers' hearts with extremely strong power. Xin Qiji also believed in Laozi and Zhuangzi and made broad-minded words in his poems. However, he can't turn impulsive feelings into calmness, but vent his inner grief and indignation from a low or even desperate direction, such as "Long Yuan is old, it is better to lie high and curling is cold." Rise and fall through the ages, laugh for a hundred years, swim for a while "("water ")," I am weak. I've been disappointed all my life, and my friends have dispersed, and there's not much left. White hair hangs down three thousands of feet, smiling at all things in the world "("He Xinlang ")," The glass of life is free. There were three or five heroes in ancient times. Where did the wind and rain come from? " ("Langtaosha"), these seemingly broad-minded and decadent sentences make people feel the pain of his high expectations being shattered and becoming desperate.

The grandeur and despair of his hero are intertwined, ups and downs, and the contrast is strong, forming a waterfall-like impact. For example, from the beginning, I wrote all the scenes and atmosphere of imaginary training to kill the enemy, which was incisive, exciting and magnificent. But after "ending the king's world affairs and winning his reputation before his death", he suddenly added the last sentence "All this is in vain" and pointed out that all this is a futile dream. The fact is that the white hair is ruthless and the ambition is empty, just like a scoop of ice water poured on a fierce fire, which makes people shudder.

In the use of images, Xin Qiji also has his own characteristics. Generally speaking, he seldom uses orchids, willows and powders as embellishments, which are common in traditional ci-poetry. Consistent with the tragic and majestic emotional tone to be expressed, the natural scenery depicted in his works has a rushing and arrogant style. Such as "the gorge is the Cangjiang River, crossing the dangerous building to fly" ("Water"), "Who believes in the heavenly wind enclave and opens the blue wall lake" ("Man Jiang Hong"); Most of the historical figures he adopted were bold and unconstrained, or generous and sad, such as Li Guang (Eight Tones of Ganzhou), Emperor Wu of Song (Joy of Unfortunate Encounters) and "Young Man Full of Wealth." This choice of nature and historical materials is just in line with the emotional power in ci, which makes people feel excited.

Therefore, both of them belong to the uninhibited school. Su Shi's ci is more natural and unrestrained, broad-minded and verve, while Xin Ci gives people the feeling of being uninhibited, sad and passionate.

But the above only refers to the artistic style of the mainstream part of Xin Qiji's ci.

Xin Qiji's great contribution in the history of Ci lies in the expansion of content and theme. His existing more than 600 poems are about politics, philosophy, feelings of friends and lovers, rural scenery, folk customs and feelings about daily life and reading. It can be said that at that time, he wrote all the poems that could be written in any other style, and the scope was much wider than that of Su Ci. With the changes in the content, theme and emotional tone of Ci, the artistic style of Xin Ci has also changed. Although his ci is mainly vigorous and vigorous, he is also very handy in writing traditional charm words. For example, in the famous "fishing, cherish the spring and the sea ...", I first wrote about cherishing spring, and the second wrote about palace resentment. I used a woman's style, with great twists and turns, euphemistic feelings and delicate brushstrokes, to write the feelings of loneliness and disappointment layer by layer. Many of his works describing rural scenery and farmers' life are so simple, beautiful and full of vitality. Such as "Partridge Day":

"The mountain is far and near, the road is inclined, and the green flag sells wine. The peaches and plums in the city are worried about the wind and rain, and the shepherd's purse in the stream is in spring. " The next sentence of Xijiangyue: "Seven or eight stars are out of the sky, and two or three points of rain are in front of the mountain. In the old days, Maodian was near the forest, and the road turned to Xiqiao. " It is difficult for ordinary people to reach the realm of simplicity and exquisiteness. Therefore, Liu Kezhuang's Preface to Xinjiaxuan said: "Public work, loud, loud and quiet, swept away the Liuhe River, swept away through the ages, never seen in my life. The secret person is not under Xiaoyan and Qin Lang. " This is a relatively comprehensive and fair evaluation.

Xin Qiji and Su Shi are both powerful pioneers of ci language skills. The predecessors said that Su Shi took poetry as his ci, while Xin Qiji took prose as his ci. Of course, this is somewhat simplistic, but it does point out that the language of words is more free and liberated in Xin Qiji's hands, and there is no reason to change it, so there is no rule. In Xin Qiji's poems, there are very popular and naive folk languages, such as "some bottom things lead to misunderstanding." You can't really be homesick "("Partridge Day ")," You have been so worried recently, as if it were coming. Who can help each other? There are also some classical Chinese sentences mixed with many function words, such as "those who don't know the clouds are rain, and those who rain are yin" (Han Gongchun), "I don't hate the ancients for not seeing me, and I hate the ancients for not seeing my crazy ears" (He Xinlang); There are lively dialogues, self-questioning and self-answering, and even yelling, such as "Who is the hero in the world?" "(Nanxiangzi)," Cao Liu, the cup before you came! " ("Qinyuanchun") also has quite strict antithesis, such as "800 Li fire order, 50 strings crossing the Great Wall" ("Broken Array")

..... To sum up, one of the characteristics of symplectic words in language skills is loose form, coherent semantic flow and long sentences. The way of dense image linking and escaping linking, which are widely used in literati ci, has been completely broken in Xin ci. But it doesn't mean that Xin Qiji's so-called "taking words as words" no longer has musical rhythm. He uses prose sentence patterns extensively to keep a vivid tone, and at the same time, he can create the rhythm of change through various means. For example, in Hidden Dragon, "The sunset is on the roof, and in the sound of a broken rainbow, you are wandering in the south of the Yangtze River. After reading Wu Gou, no one will meet him, he will come to the scene. " This is a long sentence in the word, but it is striking and powerful, and it is by no means just putting an article in the form of words.

Another major feature of Xin Ci in language skills is that it widely quotes words, sentences and historical allusions from classics, history books, sub-books and previous poems, and melts or embeds them in its own words. It is easy to cause blunt and difficult problems, but with Xin Qiji's talent, most of them can be used properly, naturally, or with other interests, as A Qing and Liu Xizai said in "Introduction to Art": "Once used, you will get romantic." Take the article "Le Jing Kou Gu Bei Ting Nostalgia in Yongyu" as an example. 100 words describes the deeds of five historical figures, namely Sun Quan, Emperor Wu of Song, Liu Yilong, Tuoba Tao and Lian Po, which is closely related to the author's subjective feelings and ideas. Not only is the connotation extremely rich, but also the tone is flying and the expression is exposed, which is really not easy.

Of course, Xin Qiji's ci often has the defects of scattered culture, too much discussion and so-called "book bag", that is, he uses too many classical sayings, but in any case, he did greatly transform his ci. His words are not only "everything can be said unintentionally", but also that any "meaning" and "thing" can be freely and fully expressed. In this way, the creation of ci completely got rid of the fetters and entered the realm of freedom.