The Social Background and Appreciation of Qu Yuan's Li Sao

Song Qi, a famous historian and poet in Song Dynasty, said: "Li Sao was the ancestor of Ci Fu and was written by later generations. If it is perfect, it can't be too strict or too round. " In other words, Li Sao not only opened up a vast literary field, but also was an unattainable model of China's poetry and prose.

Li Sao was written in 245 years in Chu Huaiwang (305 BC and 304 BC), and two or three years after Qu Yuan was released to the Northern Han Dynasty. The land in the north of Han Dynasty is north of a section where Hanshui River bends eastward and flows eastward. Today, Tianmen, Yingcheng, Jingshan and Yunmeng County are the lands in the north of Han Dynasty. For sixteen years, Huai Wangwan drafted a constitutional order and advocated political reform and joint Qin. He was framed by internal and external opposition forces and left the left post. Later, Chu was defeated by Qin in Danyang and Lantian, and Qu Yuan was called back to the court and appointed as the envoy to Qi. In the twenty-fourth year of Chu Huaiwang, Qin Chu got married. In the twenty-fifth year, Qin Chu formed an alliance with Huang Ji, Qin returned to Chu, and Qu Yuan was released to Hanbei.

North and northwest of Han Dynasty, not far from the old capital of Chu (now Yicheng). Li Sao was written by Qu Yuan after visiting the ancestral halls of the first king and ministers. The beginning of the poem can be traced back to the distant ancestor of Chu and the great ancestor of Qu. At the end, it says "a trip to my hometown", and I can't bear to leave. In the middle, I write psychic divination and witchcraft divination, all of which are related to this specific creative environment.

Li Sao is a passionate political lyric poem and an artistic masterpiece combining realism and romanticism. Some fragments in the poem reflect the historical facts at that time (for example, "Beginning and Yucheng each said their own words." Regret running away and having him. ..... it hurts the soul and numerology "refers to Wang Huai's political diplomacy and repeated attitude towards Qu Yuan). However, in the performance, it completely adopts the romantic method: not only the materials of myths and legends are used, but also a large number of figurative methods are used to express feelings with flowers and birds, "taking feelings as the inside, taking things as the table, and being depressed and resentful" (Liu Zawen). The deployment of vehicles in the figurative symbols used by poets is based on the inheritance of traditional culture, which always gives people a feeling of endless meaning.

Because of the poet's incomparable grief and passion, the whole poem is like a river, boundless. But after careful consideration, both the conception of artistic conception and the external structure reflect the poet's extraordinary artistic ingenuity.

Conceptually, this poem describes two worlds: the real world and the surreal world composed of heaven, gods, ancient figures and personified sun, moon, wind, thunder, wind and birds. This surreal fantasy world is a supplement to the real world. There is no king on the ground and no emperor in the sky; On the earth, it is "everyone strives for greed." If you can't find a comrade, you can't achieve anything if you beg for your daughter. This is somewhat similar to Xi Fang Ping's description of the underworld in Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio. Only in "Xi Fang Ping", the hero went to another world by turning people into ghosts, while in "Li Sao", he shuttled freely between heaven and earth. This conception is more suitable for expressing the passion of lyric poetry. The celestial world envisioned by the poet is above the high altitude and the legendary Kunlun Mountain, which is consistent with the universal consciousness and prototype myth formed from the primitive society, so it is very natural, and it is more mythical than the treatment of going to another world through death, dreams and eternal life in later literary works, and has no religious superstition. The background presented by the poet is broad, majestic and magnificent. The beauty, strength and sadness of its artistic conception are unprecedented. In particular, the poet regards the image of dragon and horse as a tool from the world to heaven and from heaven to the world. "Hou Shang Shu" is lost, saying that Emperor Yao succeeded to the throne and that "the dragon and horse were crowned with armor". One of the archetypes of the animal dragon in ancient China is the deified steed. Zhou Li said that "a horse over eight feet is a dragon", and Lv Chunqiu said that "the beauty of a horse is a dragon's horse, and it is a legacy". The horse on the earth is a dragon when it is lifted up. Originally, it was only the difference between the ground and the sky, but because of the implication of the changes in Shen Jun, the sky became a paradise. The poet formed the internal structure of this long poem with the help of his own plot changes from earth to heaven and from heaven to earth. The plot of the fragments written in the poem is only used as the carrier of emotion to externalize the ideological struggle and emotional changes. However, these plots effectively avoid the disadvantages that long lyric poems are easy to flow in the air.

From the external structure, the whole poem is divided into three parts and a ceremony. The first part, from the beginning to "though I haven't changed my mind, I can't be criticized", describes my life, and reviews the poet's mental journey of constantly improving himself and fighting against the environment for the lofty political ideal of reality, as well as the emotional changes after the tragic failure. This is the true expression of his thoughts in the most intense turmoil. The second part is from "my daughter embarrassed me and I am grateful to her" to "I don't care about you, how can I bear to die here?" Among them, the daughter's accusation shows that even his relatives don't understand him, and his loneliness is unparalleled. This leads to the plot of making a statement to Zhong Hua. This is a transition from the real society to the fantasy world (emphasizing that the ancient sage has been dead for more than 1000 years, so it seems "empty" to call him; But the poet imagined the place where Cangwu buried him, so it was somewhat "real". Then a trip to the sky. If you can't get into the Heavenly Palace, you will ask for women up and down, which shows the tenacious spirit of the poet's political struggle and constant pursuit. The third part, from "Sommer's banquet is full of joy" to "servant's sorrow is more than Ma Huaixi's, but he can't do it", shows the poet's ideological struggle on the question of whether to stay or not, and shows his deep feelings for the motherland, which makes people sad to read! The last section is the ceremony. Although there are not many words, it shows that the poet's patriotism is linked to his ideal of American politics. This is the crowning touch after the climax of the whole poem, which is used to wrap the whole poem, deepen the theme of the poem, and show a clearer flow direction, such as the surging emotion of the Yangtze River. The first part of this poem shows the poet's environment and his own course in a way close to realism. The latter two novels bring readers into a fantastic realm with colorful and complicated descriptions. It often shows a vast and magical sight. If there is only the first one, it can't be said to be a masterpiece full of blood and tears, but it can't be such a romantic masterpiece; If there are only the latter two parts without the first part, then the political thought of the poem will be thinner and its theme will not be as implicit and clear as it is now; Both hazy and profound.

Li Sao created a tall lyric hero for us. First of all, he has outstanding external image characteristics. "High risk, and Pei Yuan." "It doesn't hurt to be longer." Many portraits of Qu Yuan can be recognized as Qu Yuan at a glance even if the word "original" is not written, because they are all described based on this feature in the poem. Secondly, he has a distinct ideological character. First, he is a progressive political reformer, advocating the rule of law ("follow the line without coming"), praising talents and empowering people. Second, he advocates American politics, attaches importance to the interests of the people and the role of the people ("God is selfless, and the people's morality is not wrong"), and opposes the dissolute tyranny of rulers and the pursuit of self-interest by courtiers (a remark can be seen). Third, he pursues the truth and is strong and unyielding ("My heart is also good, although I have no regrets in my death", "Although my body has not changed, I cannot punish my heart"). This image is a concentrated expression of the spirit of the Chinese nation. For more than two thousand years, it has demonstrated the character and behavior of countless people with lofty ideals and given them strength.

The language of Li Sao is quite beautiful. First, metaphors and symbols are widely used. For example, picking herbs is a metaphor for strengthening self-cultivation, and wearing herbs is a metaphor for keeping clean. But the poet's means of expression is much better than the general metaphor. For example, "lotus thinks clothes, hibiscus thinks clothes." I don't know. It's embarrassing. I feel like I believe it. "The square in the fourth sentence naturally comes from lotus and hibiscus, which takes care of the first two sentences, but it is also used to describe love. Therefore, although the words "such as", "like" and "if" are not used or explained, their metaphors are self-evident. Secondly, many names of fragrant flowers and herbs are used to symbolically express abstract concepts in politics and ideology, which not only makes the works subtle and longer than the charm, but also intuitively increases the color beauty of the works. Since Qu Yuan, "vanilla beauty" has become a symbol of noble personality. (Liu Zongyuan's "Hibiscus Flowers by the Moat River", the wind suddenly blew and the rain whipped the vines. " )

Thirdly, the whole poem is composed of four sentences, each section is composed of two incoherent sentences connected by the word "Xi", and with a fixed rhyme, the whole poem is carried out in a rhythmic circular melody. Finally, use dual figures of speech, such as "the evening is second to the poor stone, and the morning is full of prosperity"; "Su dung is full of sorrow, which means that Shen pepper is not fragrant"; If the word "Xi" is removed, the dual works are no different from the poems of Tang and Song Dynasties.

Li Sao is not only a treasure of China literature, but also a treasure of world literature. (Zhao Kuifu)

Judging from Qu Yuan's position in the society at that time, he was a politician, not a "poet" in the general sense. But as far as his great creative achievements are concerned, he is also the first great poet in the history of China literature. There are also many beautiful and moving works in The Book of Songs, but they are basically mass and collective creations, and rarely show individuality. On the other hand, Qu Yuan's creation is branded with his ideals, experiences and pains, as well as his lifelong enthusiasm. This marks a new era of China's classical literature creation.

Qu Yuan is a poet with lofty personality. He cares about the country and the people, and is still respected as a staunch patriot. Although his patriotism is linked with his loyalty to the monarch, he can't deviate from the basic moral principles of his time and society, but at the same time, he should also see that Qu Yuan has a strong sense of self. He doesn't consider himself a servant of the monarch, but a monarch, so he is the guide of the country. He has a firm belief in his political ideal and life ideal. In order to pursue his ideal, he would not hesitate to confront most people in his social group and would rather die. This reserves the right to think independently and be loyal to one's own understanding under the recognized moral premise of loyalty to the monarch and patriotism. As an ideal martyr, later generations have greatly inspired him; His way of establishing the world was also cited as an example by upright literati in later generations.

Qu Yuan's works express strong and tragic feelings with unrestrained writing style. Han Confucianism once said that Li Sao and Xiaoya in The Book of Songs are both works of no pain. Yuan Hongdao, a poet in the Ming Dynasty, refuted in Xu Xiaoxiu's poems that Li Sao was "extremely angry" and "bitterly criticized" his henchmen and the king of Chu, and "was content with the so-called resentment without harming others." It is pointed out that "vigorous, steep and exposed" is the characteristic of "Chu style" His opinion is obviously correct. Moreover, Qu Yuan's praise of his personality is spontaneous and true. Sing the love of the gods, passionate and incisive; Celebrating the sacrifice of martyrs is passionate, generous and tragic. In a word, compared with the restrained and gentle emotional expression in The Book of Songs, Qu Yuan's creation shows emotional liberation to a certain extent, thus creating a brand-new poetic style full of vitality and strong appeal. Due to the need of this kind of emotional expression, Qu Yuan can't be satisfied with plain writing techniques, but borrows a lot of mythological materials from Chu and uses absurd fantasies to greatly expand the realm of poetry and show magnificent features. This opened up a new path for the creation of China's classical poetry. Poets with strong personality and emotion in later generations, such as Li Bai and Li He, were greatly inspired.

Qu Yuan is a poet who loves beauty. He does not deny the beauty of all kinds of art with a narrow utilitarian view. In "Nine Songs" and "Evocation of Soul", there are warm scenes of music, songs and dances and the feelings caused by them everywhere. In Qu Yuan's works, it is a beautiful scene of "forcing prostitution to entertain people, and the viewer forgets to return". Similarly, his poems also like a lot of colorful words. He also developed the figurative techniques in The Book of Songs, endowing plants, fish, insects, birds and animals, Yun Ni and other natural things with human will and life, so as to pin their thoughts and feelings and increase the aesthetic feeling of poetry. Generally speaking, the schools of literary beauty in China ancient literature can be traced back to Qu Yuan.

In the form of poetry, Qu Yuan broke the short and pithy system of The Book of Songs, and created a "Sao-style poem" with long or short sentence patterns, grand length and rich and complicated connotations, which is also of great significance.

In a word, Chu Ci, which was initiated by Qu Yuan, together with The Book of Songs, constitutes the two major sources of China's poetry and even the whole China literature, and has exerted an infinite influence on later literature. However, due to the development of the times and the cultural differences between the north and the south, the Songs of the South has made remarkable progress compared with the Book of Songs. Therefore, its influence on later literature is more on the Book of Songs.

There are different opinions about the meaning of the title of Li Sao in ancient and modern times. Sima Qian interpreted it as "worrying" in Historical Records and Biographies of Qu Yuan. Ban Gu interprets it as "righteous sorrow" in the preface to Li Sao Zan. Wang Yi interpreted it as "Don't worry" in The Songs of the South. Later generations have different opinions. Scholars in modern times have always relied on "Zhao Da", "Fu" and "Driving Argument". Lao Shang in Chu Ci and Jia Xu and Lao Shang in Wang Yi's notes are music names. They think that Lao Shang and Li Sao are disyllabic words, and Li Sao is Lao Shang's transliteration, so it is inferred that Li Sao is the original music name of Chu Ci. However, it is generally believed that Li Sao: divorced from "suffering" and encountered; SAO: Sorrow. "Li Sao" is a poem written by the author when he is sad.

& lt& lt Li Sao > & gt:& lt Chu Ci > Title. Qu Yuan, a Chu man in the Warring States Period, wrote "Li Sao", which was previously interpreted as worrying about the country and the people, but also sad; In the first half, the author repeatedly expressed his concern about the fate of Chu, his desire to reform politics, and his will to stick to his ideals and never compromise with evil forces even in times of disaster. In the second half, he wandered in the sky, pursuing the realization of his ideal, and dying after failure, reflecting his thoughts and feelings of loving Chu. The works use the metaphor of beauty and vanilla, a lot of myths and legends and rich imagination, forming a gorgeous literary talent and magnificent structure, showing a positive romantic spirit, which has a far-reaching impact on later literature.