Embarrassment of Classics: Evolution of Selected Works in Song Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was not far away from the Six Dynasties. The overall taste of the Selected Works compiled by Xiao Tong was similar to that of the poets in the Tang Dynasty, while the social atmosphere with strong popularization tendency in the Song Dynasty was far from the interest of the Selected Works. Moreover, as a model for learning for a long time, the Song people have been tired of the anthology to a certain extent, so it is inevitable to be left out in the Song Dynasty. However, The Selected Works, after all, has magnificent volume and peerless elegance, and Lao Du, whom the Song people admired, is only its loyal reader. Therefore, Song people could not give up the selected works, and even often attached to them.

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Selected Works has become the most influential literary classic in the Tang Dynasty, guiding and shaping the development of literature in the Tang Dynasty. In a sense, it may be said that it was the imitation of Selected Works that made the literature of the Tang Dynasty * * *. Du Fu advised his son to read a book: "Familiarize himself with the theory of selected works." It should be understood as the general orientation of poets in Tang Dynasty. Li Deyu said that scholars don't write anthologies (Selected Records in the Book of the New Tang Dynasty, Volume 44), which also makes us feel that anthologies are necessary for scholars' desks.

In the early Song Dynasty, literati still attached importance to selected works. Selected Works is still a model for scholars to learn, imitate and popularize. Song Qi, a famous scholar, once copied three editions of Selected Works by hand. Wang Dechen recorded his childhood in the book History of the Madam, and his late monarch ordered him to take a class "Selected Works" every day, taking Song as an example (in the book History of the Madam by Wang Dechen). The popularity of anthology in the early Song Dynasty is actually a continuation of the tradition of Tang poetry.

However, after Li Qing, the style of writing changed, and the influence of Selected Works, which has been circulating for 500 years, showed a downward trend. Lu You's Notes on the Old Learning Temple Volume 8: "The anthology was still in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and at that time, scholars specialized in this book, so the grass must be called" Wang Sun ",the plum must be called" Hou ",the moon must be called" Wang Shu "and the landscape must be called" Qing Hui ". After Li Qing, the author began to clean it. " This shows the change of literary fashion in Song Dynasty. The change of Li Qing's literary interest shows that what is elegant in one period may go to the opposite side in another. If we continue to say that the grass must be "the king's grandson", the plum must be "the back", the moon must be "looking at Shu" and the mountains and rivers must be "bright", which is not only indecent but also vulgar. Although Selected Works was and still is the highest model, it has always been used by scholars. Any kind of fashion, once familiar, will be vulgar and will be rejected. Whether to abandon the selected works is in line with the theory of "defamiliarization" in aesthetics.

Whether to abandon the election occurred after Li Qing, because the literature of the Song Dynasty experienced seven or eight decades of development. With the further strengthening of the literati's sense of the times and their literary self-confidence, and with the establishment of contemporary models such as Yang Yi, Fan Zhongyan, Mei and Ouyang Xiu, the literati in the Song Dynasty have disdained following the Tang Dynasty, so it is reasonable to choose learning as outdated. Moreover, around these great writers, a large number of followers were born and grew into literary groups with the significance of changing the atmosphere. Therefore, it is inevitable that literature will be handed down from generation to generation, thus distancing itself from the literary orientation of the previous dynasty. When each generation of literature develops to this period, it will inevitably change and establish a new article paradigm suitable for the contemporary era. Old readers will be challenged and abandoned.

Su Shi, who later became a literary giant in the Song Dynasty, was the first to sing the elegy in the Selected Works era. Su Shi's attitude towards Selected Works is typical. He is almost above this literary classic praised by his predecessors and dares to criticize its shortcomings. In his eyes, this book not only did not add a little mystery because it was admired for a hundred years, but completely unveiled the veil that it was worshipped by literati in the Tang Dynasty and the early Song Dynasty. "I hate that it can't be properly compiled", and said that "Qi Liang's articles are poor, and Xiao Tong is especially low" (Dongpo Zhi Lin, Volume I). Su Shi's attitude of drawing lessons from the past and the present and praising the selected works marked the maturity of new literature in Song Dynasty and the formation of new literary aesthetic standards.

Therefore, The Selected Works was lightly abandoned in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, which is an important embodiment of the literary consciousness of the Song Dynasty with Su Shi as the core. They deliberately cut the mountain to clear the way for the Tang people, so they didn't look for the Tathagata. From Yang Yi to Yan Shu, they all tried to establish poetic interest and norms in the new era. This was the first awakening of the poetry circle in the Northern Song Dynasty, but it was still the old road of Tang poetry, so it was surpassed by the second wave of poetry movement represented by Ou Su. Europe and the Soviet Union pursued new changes and sought to be different from and surpass the Tang Dynasty. The final summary of the method is that Su and Huang advocate "taking the vulgar as elegance" and "taking the old as the new". His so-called "vulgarity" and "reason" include the poetic tradition under the Selected Works. Some people say that "Song poetry appeared as an antithesis of Tang poetry" (Ji Chuan's History of China Poetry, Fudan University Press, 200 1 edition) is actually an antithesis of Selected Works. Because of these unprecedented self-confidence, everyone has disdained to follow the Selected Works.

The denial of Su Wenxuan is not only the sublation of the style of writing in the Six Dynasties, but also the transcendence of Tang poetry. In the mid-Northern Song Dynasty, the memorial archway of Wenxuan was overthrown because it dared to look at the past and present. Their transcendence of Selected Works may be more appropriate if it is regarded as the weather of an era.

The reason why Song poetry as a whole can get out of the classical era with anthology as the direction of prayer lies in the depth of literati life in Song Dynasty. They are too familiar with this era. In their works, ordinary and extraordinary, plain and not plain, elegant and vulgar all conform to nature and exist in * * *. They washed away the splendor of the Six Dynasties and chose the simple and elegant leading fashion.

It took about 300 years from Du Fu's praise to Su Shi's criticism. These 300 years can be described as "the age of selected works". Du Fu's Selected Works and Su Shi's Selected Works are not only their own likes and dislikes, but also the trend of the times and the development law of "literature handed down from generation to generation".

Wenxuan is still the Wenxuan. The anthology itself has not changed, but the times, readers and aesthetic tastes have changed. Most importantly, Selected Works, as a collection of literary works, is different from being a writing model. As a writing mode, it tends to be outdated and vulgar because of long-term and in-depth imitation, which will make readers tired; As a literary anthology, it has its own enduring and innovative people, so the selected works cannot be completely replaced by other literary anthologies later. It is for this reason that learning Selected Works became a new fashion in the middle and late Southern Song Dynasty.

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Du Fu's poems naturally become classic readers rather than anthologies, and become new models. From the study of Selected Works to the study of Du Fu, one elegant model replaced another.

Selected Works, as a writing mode for a long time, is inevitably "vulgar" and "old", and the times urgently need new classic anthologies. This choice of new classic readers has achieved initial results in the literary world in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty represented by Su Shi. Su: "Zimei's poems, closed-door articles and new books are all great achievements." ("Poetry of the Back Mountain")

We have noticed that the popularity of Du Fu's poems and the decline of selected works are related in time. Since Qingli, Du Fu's poems have actually replaced Selected Works. Ye Shi said: "Since Li Qing and Jiayou, the world has taken Du Fu as a teacher and began to learn from the Tang people, while various sects in Jiangxi have taught them." The preface to Xu Siyuan's anthology is inconsistent with Lu You's Selected Works after the celebration. In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, Du Fu's poems were respected by some poets. After entering the Song Dynasty, it is not only a consistent trend, but also a conscious choice of the Song people.

At the same time, we also noticed that the Song people began to compile new readers that could inherit or replace the selected works. For example, Song Taizong compiled a thousand volumes of Wen Yuan Hua Ying during the reign of Emperor Yongxi, which summarized the beautiful essays of the Tang Dynasty, followed by Selected Works. In addition, scholars also have a collection of compilations. For example, Yao Xuan's "Tang Cuiwen" also effectively means "anthology". Selected Works edited by Yan Shu and Lin Wenqiu edited by Zhao Zongxi. However, these collections (or books) do not seem to be widely circulated, and as for annihilation. I'm afraid the reason is that its practice is out of date. Yan Shu's "Deleting Two Liang Chen Zhi Tang" is actually just a piece of dust after the anthology. As for Chao Zongxi's special collection "Essence of Good Words", it is almost the same as the "post messenger", "Wang Shu" and "Qing Hui" mentioned in Notes of Laoxue Temple. They are all aesthetic concepts in the popular era of literary selections, and naturally they are not to the taste of people in the Northern Song Dynasty. However, these collections (or books) reflect, after all, Song people's demands for literary reading materials other than the Selected Works, and also reflect people's attention to new literary achievements since the Selected Works. Although it has not played a "popular" role, it shows that readers are looking forward to surpassing the selected works in a sense.

In the late Northern Song Dynasty, Su and Huang became literary leaders, and their poems and even paintings were world-renowned and became a new generation of literary models. From the beginning, Su's articles were popular all over the world, and even appeared "Su Wensheng, eating vegetable soup; Su Wen is ripe and eats mutton. " In the middle and late Southern Song Dynasty, Su and others followed suit, so the craze subsided and even was criticized. Zhang Jie said: "Since the Han and Wei Dynasties, poetry has been better than Zijian Yu's, and it is not as good as Su and Huang." Yan Yu's Cang Hua also attacked the "modern princes" (Cang Bian), which promoted the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. They all declared the end of the era of Su and Huang as literary classics, and the poetic style changed greatly.

Su and Huang's criticism, like the Selected Works of that year, is based on the word "familiarity", because it has become a familiar custom after being imitated all over the world. "Su Wen cooked mutton" is Su Wen's greatest glory, but it is also his greatest misfortune.

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With the poems of Su and Huang being questioned or even rejected, there is a tendency for the readers of classics to be diversified in the Southern Song Dynasty: to pick up the selected works, to return to the late Tang Dynasty, to respect the prosperous Tang Dynasty, or to learn from Tao Yuanming, Xie, and Liu Zongyuan. Of course, there are quite a few learners in Su and Huang. There is no exclusivity between families, and they can learn and blend. Take Chen as an example. He studied Du Fu's poems, but he was able to "go up and down between Tao, Xie, Wei and Liu" (Collection, Volume 35, Epitaph of Senior Minister Chen Gong).

In fact, as early as the turn of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty, the poetic style had quietly shifted. Xu Fu, an important figure in Jiangxi Poetry School, re-examined Selected Poems. "Chuancun Poetry Talk" says: "East Lake flavor and:' Modern poetics ends in Su Huang, and there are people related to Lao Du and poets of the Six Dynasties, but no one has seen it. If you study poetry, you don't know that there is a poem called Selected Poems. There is no cart or car. "Donghu tastes books as a legacy, and advises to read the" Xuan "poem. On Poetry In modern times, no one has studied the poem Xuan, but East Lake is unique, which is really wonderful. Before Jiangxi School, Song people studied the Selected Works and took rich and beautiful articles from the Selected Works. If we study Selected Works in the future, we will take its light side. The taste of choosing before and after is different.

As a master of Neo-Confucianism, Zhu also has a unique understanding of poetics. He advocated: "It is better to write poetry from Tao and Liumen. It is better to say that there is no dilution of interests, and it is inevitable to be imprisoned in the dust. There is no reason to go to the ancients. If you choose poetry and Wei Suzhou, you will not be unfamiliar. " (The Poet Jade Scrape, Volume 5, Hui 'an teaches people to learn poems and selects Wei Suzhou) He also tried to re-establish the preface of poems, saying, "If you want to copy the rhymes contained in the books on the history of learning, you should select the ancient sayings of Han and Wei in the next article, and attach them to Three Hundred Songs of Chu, thinking that they are poems." It is believed that Zhu "deliberately chose literary style in Wei and Jin Dynasties to exclude Jiangxi poetry" (The History of China Literature, Zhonghua Book Company, 1993 edition). In fact, this is consistent with the background of the turn of poetic style in the Southern Song Dynasty.

The people in the Southern Song Dynasty regained the Selected Works, which was different from the early Northern Song Dynasty or the Tang Dynasty. The first volume of Zhu Zhuang's Poems quoted Xuelangzhai Diary: "In the past, there was a saying that' literary selections were bad and scholars were only half-talented' because there were many literary selections. I said that if you want to know the essentials of the article, you should be familiar with the Selected Works, which are available from the Warring States, Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, Six Dynasties and Three Dynasties. The wealth of the ancient times is gorgeous today. " It seems that we have abandoned the utilitarian purpose of our predecessors' posting anthologies and really paid attention to the literary connotation.

We also found that the Southern Song critics reflected and revised the attitude of the Northern Song people towards the Selected Works. Zhang Jie said: "Recently, scholars have regarded Su Zizhan's Selected Works as a fallacy and stopped paying attention to it. As we all know, the Selected Works was collected by Zhaoming, but it was not written by Zhaoming. ..... 46 poems, this is the solution, Ann can clearly take a loss and forget it? " The understanding and evaluation of Selected Works (Han Sui Tang Poetry Volume) tends to be calm and objective. There is another view about the decline of "selected learning": "After he Feng, scholars discussed the classics with chisels, and selected learning was abolished." This is the reason why it declined from literature.

However, the style of "Selected Works", which was restarted at the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty, became popular in the poetry circles at the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, so it was labeled as "Selected Works". "Sejong Fa Zheng Mu Cang": "In modern times, there is a theory of writing poetry. When you speak, you will teach people to choose a style. The poems in Selected Works of Fu, drafted at that time, must all belong to themselves. Nowadays, they are widely used, but I don't know what they are. If you look at Du Fu's poems, you will have a legitimate vision and you will not be confused by heresy. " (Textual Research on Poetic Methods in Yuan Dynasty by Zhang Jian, Peking University Publishing House, 200 1 Edition) "copied" blindly, but "dressed well". As the predecessors said: "Imitation of Selected Works is too similar, focusing on antique, with no trace. It is better to post in Chuhe South than to be alone. " (Zhang Qianyi's "Zhai Shi Tan" (Volume 7)) After all, there was no master Yuan You in this era, and poetics went to a low ebb, so we had to "turn back"-back to the Selected Works and the late Tang Dynasty. Of course, the rise of elections in the middle and late Southern Song Dynasty is also consistent with the overall decline of the Song Dynasty. The so-called popular resentment may be the deep-seated reason for the selection of poetry styles in the late Tang Dynasty and the resurgence of poetry styles.

(Author: Suzhou Institute of Technology)