Introduction to prose

When there were words in the Shang Dynasty, there were essays to record history. In the Zhou Dynasty, the historiographers of various vassal States further recorded the historical facts between countries in simple language and concise words, such as Spring and Autumn Annals. Later, with the needs of the times, historical literature describing reality appeared, and historical works such as Zuo Zhuan, Mandarin and Warring States Policy appeared.

Zuo Zhuan is the abbreviation of Zuo Zhuan in the Spring and Autumn Period, also known as Zuo Chunqiu. According to legend, it was written by Zuo Qiuming, a Lu historian at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, with the word 180000, which recorded the political, military and diplomatic activities and speeches of various countries in the Spring and Autumn Period for 240 years, as well as events such as heaven, ghosts, disasters and blights. This book is full of drama and compact plot, especially excellent war description, concise language and rich images.

Guoyu is a kind of national history, which records the events of Zhou Dynasty and vassal states (BC 1000-00) respectively. It recorded more words than notes, and most of them were the words of enlightened nobles with foresight at that time.

The author of the Warring States Policy cannot be tested, and the current version is compiled by Liu Xiang in the Western Han Dynasty. Like Guoyu, it is also a chronicle of different countries, which records the major events of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Qin, Qi, Chu, Zhao and other countries, and records the activities and speeches of counselors and military strategists. The article "Warring States Policy" is characterized by being good at saying things, making good use of metaphors and creating vivid characters.

Pre-Qin historical prose laid the foundation of China's historical literature and had a far-reaching influence on later historians and ancient writers.

The turn of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period is an era of great social change, and various academic schools have written books and argued endlessly, forming a situation in which a hundred schools of thought contend. The works of thinkers representing different classes or strata promote the development of reasoning prose. These thinkers include Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism and Legalism. The books recording their speeches have been handed down to this day, including The Analects of Confucius, Mencius, Mozi, Zhuangzi, Han Feizi and so on.

The Analects of Confucius and Mencius are all Confucian works that interpret benevolence. The Analects of Confucius recorded the words and deeds of Kong Qiu and his disciples, most of which were short conversations and questions and answers. Mencius recorded Monk's remarks. Monk is good at arguing, so the language in the book is lively and inspiring.

Mozi represents Mo Zhai's thought of "universal love", with simple language, clear reasoning and strong logic, and articles such as "universal love" and "non-aggression" are very representative.

Zhuangzi represents the Taoist Zhuang Zhou's thought of "governing by doing nothing". Zhuangzi's prose has a unique charm among various schools of thought. This is manifested in the author's fantastic imagination and keen observation, making good use of folk fables and being good at metaphors, which makes the article full of literary interest.

Han Feizi represents the legalist thought of "adapting to the times". Han Fei's prose is rigorous in structure, sharp-edged and profound in reasoning.

Xunzi represents Xun Kuang's theory, with 32 articles and many long articles. Xunzi's prose is characterized by clear arguments, clear levels, complete syntax and rich vocabulary.

Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals is a collective creation of the Prime Minister of Qin Dynasty. It includes eight views, six theories and twelve periods, including Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, law and agriculture. This book retains a large number of documents and anecdotes from the pre-Qin period. It is a systematic reasoning article that combines many single articles, which is deep and most coherent. Like hundred schools of thought's essays, it is often compared with fables, so the article is full of images.

The reasoning prose of pre-Qin philosophers had a significant influence on the development of later prose both in thought and artistic style.

At the beginning of Han Dynasty, political papers developed. Jia Yi (200 BC-BC 168) was an outstanding writer in the early Western Han Dynasty. His article "Crossing the Qin Dynasty" summed up the reasons for the demise of Qin Dynasty, learned the lessons of the peasant uprising at the end of Qin Dynasty, and developed the people-oriented thought in the pre-Qin period. His prose makes good use of metaphors, and his language is full of images.

Besides Jia Yi, there were many essayists in the early Han Dynasty. Most of their articles either discuss the gains and losses of Qin Dynasty or put forward their own opinions on the disadvantages of the times, among which mistakes and Zou Yang's achievements are higher. Wrong, the most famous essays are "Guarding the Border" and "Persuading Agriculture and Saving Soil".

During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, hundreds of schools were ousted and Confucianism was the only one. The feudal dynasty urgently needed to summarize the ancient culture and give a philosophical and historical explanation to the unified ruling situation, so Sima Qian's Historical Records came into being. Its appearance greatly promoted the development of pre-Qin historical prose. Under the influence of Historical Records, many historical prose works were produced in the Eastern Han Dynasty, among which Han Shu by Ban Gu was an outstanding representative.

A new style "Fu" appeared in Han Dynasty. The name of Fu began with Fu Pian written by Xun Qing of Zhao in the Warring States Period, and later generations formed a specific system. Paying attention to literary talent and phonology has the dual nature of poetry and prose. Prose is called "Wen Fu" and parallel prose is called "Parallel prose". Jia Yi's Ode to Hanging Qu Yuan and Pengniao in the Early Han Dynasty, Zixu and Shanglin by Sima Xiangru (179-18) and Ganquan Fu by Yang Xiong (53- 18 BC) in the Late Western Han Dynasty.

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, parallel prose prevailed and prose declined. However, in Li Daoyuan's Notes and Yang's Notes on Luoyang, there are still some words with simple narration, lyricism and beautiful scenery description.

In the Tang Dynasty, Han Yu strongly opposed flashy parallel prose and advocated writing ancient prose. At one time, he had many followers, but later he got strong support from Liu Zongyuan. His achievements in writing ancient prose have greatly increased, which has a greater influence and has become the mainstream of the literary world. In the history of literature, he called it the ancient prose movement. The victory of the ancient prose movement led by Liu Han established a new style of writing to get rid of stereotypes and speak freely, which greatly improved the artistic functions of prose such as lyricism, narration, discussion and satire.

After the middle Tang Dynasty, the ancient prose movement declined for a time. In the Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu once again set off the ancient prose movement. Since then, Wang Anshi, Ceng Gong, Su Shi, Su Xun, Su Zhe and others have all made their own achievements under the influence of the ancient prose innovation movement. Later generations called them "the eight masters of Tang and Song Dynasties" together with Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan in Tang Dynasty.

Sima Guang, a historian of the Northern Song Dynasty, compiled a historical masterpiece, Zi Tong Zhi Jian, which has not only important historical value, but also important literary value.

Influenced by everyone in the Northern Song Dynasty, the essayists in the Southern Song Dynasty created a number of political essays expressing the author's distinct political attitude. Hu Quan, Chen Liang and Ye Shi are representative writers in this field. The success of the ancient prose movement made prose more practical, as evidenced by a large number of notes and essays in the Southern Song Dynasty. Hong Mai's Rong Zhai Essay and Wang Mingqing's Blowing the Dust Record are both excellent notes. In addition, Zhu's (1 130- 1200) ancient prose is good at reasoning and has profound attainments.

Song Lian (1310-1381) was "the first civil servant in the early Ming Dynasty", and some of his biographies are of great practical significance. His representative works include Qin Shilu, Biography of Wang Mian and Biography of Li Yi. After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the first seven scholars, led by Li Mengyang and He Jingming, launched the retro movement, arguing that literature should be in Qin and Han Dynasties. While they played an active role in eliminating stereotyped writing, they also embarked on the road of blindly following the ancients. Later, Li Panlong and Wang Shizhen, as representatives of the retro movement of the "Last Seven Sons", made the same mistake again.

Gui Youguang and other "Tang and Song Schools" first rose up against the retro school, and then Wanli Police Academy joined the team that lashed out at the retro school.

Yuan Zongdao, Yuan Hongdao and Yuan Zhongdao are representatives of the public security school, and they are called "three yuan". Yuan Hongdao (1568- 16 10) is the most famous. They think that different times have different literature, so they are opposed to attaching importance to the ancient times and ignoring the present, imitating the ancients. Yuan Hongdao put forward the theory of "God of Nature" out of the writer's subjective requirements. The characteristics of the prose creation of the Gong 'an School are: breaking through the rules and regulations of traditional ancient prose, naturally revealing individuality, and the language is not polished.

There are Jingling School, represented by Zhong Xing and Tan, who also advocate expressing their own spirit.

The direct product of the innovation of Gongan School and Jingling School is a large number of essays in the late Ming Dynasty, which is the development of traditional prose. Zhang Dai (1597-? ) is one of the more successful essay writers. His prose covers a wide range of topics, including scenic spots, local customs, China traditional opera skills and even antique toys. His prose language is fresh and lively, vivid, well-read and easy to understand. "West Lake in July" and "Looking at Snow in the Pavilion in the Heart of the Lake" are his representative works.

In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Hou Fangyu (16 18- 1654) made great artistic achievements, including the biographies of Li Ji, Maling and Ren Yuan.

Tongcheng School is the most famous school in the middle of Qing Dynasty. The main writers Fang Bao, Liu Dahuaidou and Yao Nai are all from Tongcheng, Anhui Province, hence the name Tongcheng School. Fang Bao (1668- 1749) inherited the tradition of Gui Youguang and put forward the idea of "righteous law", which became the basic theory of Tongcheng School's ancient prose. The selection language of Tongcheng School's ancient prose works only focuses on clarifying ideas, and does not accidentally pile up materials, so the articles are generally concise and natural, but lack vitality. Representative works include Miscellanies in Prison, Zuo's Anecdotes, and Yao Nai's Climbing Mount Tai.

Contrary to Tongcheng School, there are also writers who advocate "parallel prose", among which Wang Zhong (1744- 1794) is the most successful.

There were many outstanding essayists in the early Qing Dynasty, such as Wang Youding and Wei. Wang Youding's legendary prose (1599—— about 16 1) broke the traditional writing style of ancient Chinese with its legendary style. His representative works include Biography of Li Yizu, Pipa in Tang Dynasty and Hu Yi. Wei (1624- 1680) has made the most outstanding achievements in biographical literature, and his masterpiece is Biography of the Great Iron Vertebrate.

Kang Youwei (1858- 1927) and Liang Qichao (1873- 1929) are the representatives of the reform movement in the late Qing Dynasty and the academic reformists. Their prose is an effective tool for political struggle, ignoring the formula of traditional ancient prose, expressing their opinions and speaking freely. Liang Qichao's new style prose is a fierce impact on all traditional ancient prose, paving the way for the liberation of style in the late Qing Dynasty and the May 4th vernacular movement. His On young chinese is such a typical work.

With the criticism of feudal literature and classical Chinese, the first batch of modern new literary works were born, and argumentative writing is one of them, which is the source of modern prose.

In the early days of the birth of new literature, Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, Lu Xun, Zhou Zuoren, Qian and Liu Bannong had the greatest influence on the essays published in newspapers. Their works mainly appear in the form of essays, with a wide range of contents, with emphasis on ideological revolution and literary revolution. Lu Xun is the writer with the highest achievement in essay writing.

The discussion prose in the birth period acted as the vanguard of anti-feudalism, and the object of discussion was close to life, concrete and subtle; Its form is free, which can be long or short; Its language can be heroic and tragic, but it can also be humorous and fable. After discussing prose, narrative prose and essays came out one after another, and modern prose entered a stage of vigorous development.

Prose in the development period has different styles and presents a prosperous scene. As far as form is concerned, there are narration, scenery writing, lyricism, ambition expression and comments; In style, Lu Xun's coldness and preciseness, Zhou Zuoren's peace and dilution, Zhu Ziqing's and Bing Xin's freshness and elegance, Guo Moruo's and Yu Dafu's heroic elegance, Ye Shengtao's and Xu Dishan's simplicity and straightness, and Xu Zhimo's richness and splendor, etc.

Zhou Zuoren of the Silk Society is one of the pioneers of essays. Representative works include Wild Vegetables in Hometown, Wu Pengchuan, Water Chestnut, Xia Meng and so on. Most of them are described with small themes, and the style is leisurely and leisurely, which subtly cultivates a love for life in an interesting and knowledgeable way. His essays also occupied an important position at that time. Similar to Zhou Zuoren's artistic style, Lin Yutang is also a diaosi society. Qi Fu Ji, his masterpiece, satirizes the current disadvantages, criticizes the traditional golden mean philosophy and emphasizes the struggle with the old world. Yu Pingbo's Zazi and Yan are similar to Zhou Zuoren's Ya, but at the same time they are more obscure.

Guo Moruo and Yu Dafu belong to the uninhibited school. Guo Moruo's collection of prose poems, Six Essays, is exquisite in writing, exquisite in language and rich in scenery. In Yu Dafu's travel prose, Scars Everywhere and Spring Day at Diaoyutai are representative works of his style, especially the latter, which describes the beautiful scenery of Fuchun River and expresses his resentment against reality between mourning the past.

He Qifang's lyric prose had a unique charm in 1930s, and was called "the poet's prose". As a modernist poet, he permeated some modernist techniques in his prose creation to express his feelings as a representative of painting dreams. The language of He Qifang's prose, like his poems, is exquisitely crafted and has strong sensibility.

In narrative prose, Li Guangtian (1906- 1968) is very representative. There is no story in the description of characters in his works, but some fragments of life are intercepted for lyricism to achieve vivid results.

When the Anti-Japanese War broke out, especially after the Southern Anhui Incident, the combative essays issued the strongest voice of the times. Guo Moruo's Ode to the Nine Gods of the New Muse and Rejecting the Reactionary Literature and Art have become important documents in the ideological and cultural front in the Kuomintang-controlled areas. Wen Yiduo's "The Last Speech" shows the heroic spirit of a strong democracy fighter facing a pistol. Feng Xuefeng's essays focus on the analysis of human mind, showing strong theoretical strength; Nie Gannu (1900- 1986) made many useful explorations in art, and he skillfully attacked reality with interesting ancient stories. In addition, many writers such as Feng Zikai (1898- 1975) and Lin Mohan (1909-) also wrote many essays.

Prose combining narrative and lyric has made outstanding achievements in Kuomintang-controlled areas. Mao Dun's Praise of Poplar and Landscape Talk, Ba Jin's Outside the Abandoned Garden and Lights and Dragons are all famous works, and Shen Congwen's Essay on Xiangxi is a beautiful article describing the natural and human conditions.

In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, writers and amateur writers who fought on various fronts consciously sang hymns reflecting the new era, new people, new things and new features in their prose. Because of the large number of authors, the life reflected has reached an unprecedented breadth. The styles presented in the works are also varied, such as Ba Jin's warm and dignified, Bing Xin's delicate and gentle, Jin Yi's enthusiasm and unrestrained, Liu's agitation and grandeur, and Huashan's humorous style. Although their styles are different, they all depict the gorgeous color of new life with real and simple feelings.

A major feature of prose creation in this period is that the two major contents of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea and socialist economic construction complement each other. The works with the theme of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea have great influence: Korea in Battle by Liu, My Motherland and My Mother by Jin Yi, Peace Museum by Jin Yi, Living among Heroes by Ba Jin, etc. Famous articles on socialist economic construction include Liu Qing's In Huangfu Village from 65438 to 0955, Qin Zhaoyang's Wang Yonghuai, Sha Ting's Lu Jiaxiu, Jin Yi's Going to Foziling, Huashan's Fairy Tale Times, Li Ruobing's In Qaidam Basin, Chairman Mao's Laughing at the Yellow River and Yang Shuo's Oil.

Various forms are also one of the gains of prose creation in this period. Travel notes, sketches, essays and essays have all played a role in varying degrees in the new period, and many works have been welcomed by readers. Travel notes include He Jingzhi's Back to Yan 'an Jujube Mother's Arms, Ji Fang's Singing and Playing the Flute, Yang Shuo's Fragrant Hills and Red Leaves, Bi Ye's Scenery of Tianshan Mountains, Ye Shengtao's Visit to Three Lakes, Mao Dun's Miscellaneous Notes in Stockholm and Jun Qing's Travels in Europe. What is the essay "The Cow" and the two sisters written by Zihan? Prose collections include Mao Dun's Stripping the Bandit's Face, Ba Man's Pen by Kuang Zhong, Ren Hui's Doubt of Fei Ming and Ma Tieding's Miscellaneous Talks.

Although the prose creation in this period gained a lot, from the perspective of the whole literary field, prose received less attention than other literary genres, especially essays. In addition, sometimes due to the influence of abnormal political life, the whole literary and art circles generally dare not boldly expose the contradictions and conflicts in reality, and prose creation is no exception.

After 1957, prose creation has attracted the attention of all walks of life, the quantity and quality of works have greatly exceeded the previous period, and famous works have emerged continuously. Ye Shengtao, an old writer, published Two Caves in Jinhua, which is another remarkable travel note after the Three Lakes. Bing Xin's praise of cherry blossoms and Ba Jin's photos brought back from Kamakura are two compliments to the friendship of internationalists. Wu Boxiao's Song and Remember a Spinning Wheel are memories of Yan 'an's hard years. Ji Fang's "Between the Waves" records the critical moment of history and the calm demeanor of the great man Mao Zedong; Tao Zhu's "pine style" is full of meaning. Bi Ye's Snow Road Clouds and Wudang Mountain are full of deep affection and painting between Cong Shan, Lishui and Lu Yun. Chen Canyun's Pearl River Shore and Shatian Water Show describe the changes of people along the Pearl River. Yu Min's Scenery of the West Lake and Li Jianwu's Climbing Mount Tai in the Rain bring people into a misty and poetic landscape. Yan Bozan's Journey to Ancient Inner Mongolia enriches the travel prose and has a rich cultural background of historians. As always, Shen Congwen's "A Journey to New Hunan" glows with the new atmosphere of new life. Han's Overture and Xu's Legend of the Sculptor are both excellent essays describing characters. In addition, Zi Han's Notes on Huangshan Mountain, Yan Zhen's Notes on Peony Garden, Feng Mu's Riptide of Lancang River, Zong Pu's West Lake, Jun Qing's Autumn Poems and Li Ruobing's Snow in Qilian Mountain are all excellent works in travel notes and lyric prose.

During this period, the prose garden entered a mature harvest period, and old writers such as Bing Xin, Ba Jin and Ye Shengtao reached a perfect artistic realm with their tireless spirit of seeking. What is more gratifying is that the young and middle-aged essayists represented by Yang Shuo, Liu and Qin Mu have matured and formed their own artistic style. Yang Shuo's prose is fresh and beautiful, just like a breeze caressing a willow, which is tactfully moving. Liu's prose is as bold and unrestrained as a volcanic eruption, while Qin Mu's prose is as simple and unpretentious as ever, combining knowledge and interest. Other essayists also have their own characteristics, with distinct personalities, such as the beauty of Bi Ye, the light beauty of Chen Canyun, Deng Tuo's profound sharpness, Wu Boxiao's simplicity and sincerity, Cao Jinghua's simplicity and simplicity, Jun Qing's lofty and broad, Li Ruobing's boldness and coldness, Tao Zhu's frankness and preciseness, Zi Han's gentleness and delicacy, and Zong Pu's elegance and beauty ... Everyone has shown their true kung fu in writing prose.

During the Cultural Revolution, culture was destroyed. Without culture, there would be no prose.

After the Cultural Revolution, the sky was covered with dark clouds, and people's pent-up emotions poured out. In the field of prose creation, the first thing that comes together is a mourning song. This song has developed the writing style of a generation with its high-pitched melody, tragic color and simple style.

Memories and deeds of proletarian revolutionaries of the older generation, such as Zhu De, include Linjiang Tower's Story, Mao Anqing's and Shao Hua's I Love Shaoshan Rhododendron, Liu's Wei Taihang, Yuan Ying's Fei, Memories of the Songkran Festival, Crossing the Yangtze River, and Xue Ming's Report to the Party and People. The outstanding works of writers, artists, scientists and other national elites who were persecuted to death include: Ding Ning's Wandering Swallow Soul in memory of Yang Shuo, Huang Zongying's Star in memory of Shang Guanyunzhu, Jinshan's Mourning Dramatist Sun Weishi's Paying Autumn Wind with Blood, Ding Yilan's Memories of Deng Tuo, Huang Mei's Memories of He Qifang, Ba Jin's Memories of Xiao Shan and Lou Shiyi's.

The characters in these works are familiar and admired by people, but their deeds are little known. The emotions expressed in the works are not only touching, but also alarming and inspiring.

Prose in the new period, like a swallow announcing the arrival of spring, first flies into people's hearts with the breath of the times. After the reform and opening up, the boiling life of the whole society is first reflected in prose. In addition, essays that reflect all aspects of life, such as reviewing personal experiences and feelings and revealing life philosophy, also re-smile and shine brilliantly. Excellent works include Ding Ling's Sketch of the Cowshed, which describes her husband's life in the cowshed. Narcissus, recalling the noble character of female professors; Zhang Kangkang's Thoughts on Underground Forests; Hua Guan and Ding Ning's "Determined to Win"; Bamboo and fairy flowers, etc.

Travel prose is becoming more and more prosperous, and most of them inherit the traditional way of sending feelings to the scenery in classical prose, pinning their feelings on a mountain and a river. Among them, the works with international themes are unique, such as Ding Ling's My View of America, Xiao Gan's Journey to America, Wang Meng's Journey to Germany and America, Under the Leaning Tower, Liu's Clear Seine and Old Country.