Song Yu's Story, Profile, and Poems

Song Yu (宋玉), a writer in the late Warring States period of Chu. About Song Yu's life, according to the Historical Records - Qu Yuan Jia Sheng Lian Zhuan: "After Qu Yuan's death, there were Song Yu, Tang Le, and Jing Chai in Chu, all of whom were good at rhetoric and known for their fugue. However, all of them were the ancestors of Qu Yuan's easy-going rhetoric, and they did not dare to admonish him directly." The account is extremely brief. In the Extraordinary Biography of Han Poetry, it is said that "Song Yu met the minister of Chu because of his friend. Liu Xiang's New Preface reads "Song Yu met King Xiang of Chu on account of his friend," and "he served King Xiang of Chu without seeing him," while at the same time there is a statement that "King Wei of Chu (King Xiang's grandfather) asked Song Yu about it. Wang Yi, in his "Chu Rhetoric Chapter and Verse", said that he was a disciple of Qu Yuan. In the Jin Dynasty, Xi Chieya's Xiangyang Jiegu Zhuan (Biography of the Elderly in Xiangyang) also says: "Song Yu was a native of the Yan Province of Chu, and there was a Song Yu in Yicheng, who started to work for Qu Yuan, who was banished, and then sought to work for his friend, Jingchai, in Chu." In short, there is a lot of information about Song Yu. In short, there are many different opinions about Song Yu's life, and it is difficult to distinguish between them. Generally speaking, Song Yu when born after Qu Yuan, and from a humble background, in the career quite unattractive.

Song Yu's works, the earliest according to the "Han Shu - Art and literature", there are 16. Now rumored to be made for him, "nine defense", "invoke the soul" two, in Wang Yi "Chu Rhetoric Chapter and Verse"; "Wind Fugue", "Gao Tang Fugue", "Goddess Fugue", "Dengtu Zi good color Fugue", "to the king of Chu asked" 5, in Xiao Tong "Selected Writings"; "Flute Fugue", "big words Fugue", "small words Fugue", "satirical Fugue", "Fishing Fugue", "Dance Fugue" 6, in Zhangqiao "Ancient Wenyuan"; "Gao Tang," "Micro Wing Fugue", "Ying"; "Gao Tang", "Wei Yong Fugue", "Ying"; "Gao Tang", "Micro Wing" and "Ying". Micro Wing Fugue", "Ying" 3, in the Ming Dynasty Liu Jie "Guangwen Xuan". But these works, the authenticity of mixed, credible and uncontroversial only "nine defense" a. The Invocation is quite controversial. The Invocation of the Soul is quite controversial and is generally considered to have been written by Qu Yuan. Others, such as "Gao Tang Fugue", "Goddess Fugue", "Dengtu Zi good sex", "wind" and other articles, some people think that Song Yu is not made, but their status in the history of literature is still quite important.

The Nine Arguments is a long lyrical poem, which uses the sadness of autumn to express the "injustice" of the "poor scholar's dereliction of duty", and to a certain extent exposes the darkness of reality. The poet's feelings are sincere, but not as intense and persistent as Qu Yuan's, and his tone is relatively low. The theme of sadness and sentimentality in the poem and the method of expressing emotions through the scenery had a profound influence on the poetic creation of later generations. Since Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty's "Autumn Wind Rhetoric", such as Cao Pi's "Swallow Song Xing", Cao Zhi's "Autumn Thoughts", Xia Hou Zhan's "Autumn Mourning" and "Autumn Sunset Mourning", Jiang Thu's "Winging Autumn", Zhan Fangsheng's "Autumn Night Poem", and He Jin's "Sorrowful Autumn Night", all of these poems are similar to the "Nine Dialogues". The authors who have followed in their footsteps since then have been many.

Gao Tang Foo, Goddess Foo, and Deng Tu Zi's Lustful Foo are rich in imagination and elaboration to depict women's appearance and physical appearance, and they have had a certain impact on the history of literature. These works may have originated from the tradition of seeking women from heaven in Li Sao, but they are more anonymous and less satirical. After the Han Dynasty, such as Emperor Wu's "Lady Li Foo," Sima Xiangru's "Beauty Foo," Cao Zhi's "Luoshen Foo," and Xie Lingyun's "River Concubine Foo," all began in this way; and during the Liang and Chen periods of the Southern Dynasty, it evolved into the last stream of courtly and erotic poems.

Song Yuyu's "Fugue" contrasts the "male wind of the king" with the "female wind of the common people", and writes about the difference between the life of the ruler and that of the people, which is a game and entertainment article, but it is more or less satirical, and it is also inspiring to future generations of writers.

Although Song Yu's achievements are not comparable to those of Qu Yuan, he is the direct successor of Qu Yuan's poetic art. In his works, the depiction of objects tends to be more delicate, and the combination of lyricism and landscape writing is natural and appropriate, which plays a role in the transition between Chu and Han Fu. Song Yu's position in the history of literature can be seen from the fact that he is often referred to as Qu and Song. (Jiang Liangfu)

Song Yu and his Nine Arguments

After Qu Yuan, the writers of Chu Rhetoric, whose ancestor was "Fengshou," emerged in great numbers, and the competition among them became a great spectacle. Among the many poets, Song Yu was one of the most outstanding and talented poets of the late Warring States period in the state of Chu. He was a great master of Chu poetry who followed the example of Qu Yuan, but also made his own way and stood out from the rest. Although his character, ambition and artistic attainments are not comparable to the Quzi, but in the history of Han literature, but the Qu and Song and called, and continues to this day.

Du Fu, a patriotic poet of the Tang Dynasty, once sighed with emotion: "I know Song Yu's sorrows y, and my teacher is also a scholar. The despair of a thousand years, a tear, the depression of different generations at the same time. The old house of rivers and mountains empty algae, clouds and rain deserted platform is not a dream? Most of all, the Chu Palace has been extinguished, the boatman pointed to the present doubt." （The poem expresses his love for Song Yu, but also summarizes Song Yu's life, feelings and artistic achievements.

Song Yu's life

About Song Yu's life and artistic career, there is very little historical information, and there are contradictions, and there is no way to distinguish between truth and falsehood. However, we should still be from the complicated threads of the chaos to sort out a bit of clues, and strive for a more correct understanding of the unique talent of the world.

According to Sima Qian, "Records of the Grand Historian - Qu Yuan Jia Sheng biography" cloud: "Qu Yuan is dead, Chu Song Yu, Tang Le, Jing Difference in the disciples, are good rhetoric and known as Fu. However, all of them are the ancestor of Qu Yuan's graceful rhetoric, and they do not dare to give direct advice." Also, Ban Gu, "Han Shu - Art and Literature Zhi" cloud: "Song Yu Fu sixteen, Chu people, and Tang Le and the time, in Qu Yuan after also." And, "Han Shu - geography" said: "the beginning of the Chu sage Qu Yuan was slandered and banished, made "Li Sao" fugue to self-mourning. Later, there are Song Yu, Tang Le's genus of mu and described, all to show the name." The above account is more credible. In addition, certain ancient literature, there are some sporadic records, such as: "Han poetry outside the biography" (Volume 7), "new order - miscellaneous matters (first), (fifth)", "Chu rhetoric chapter and verse" (Volume 9) and so on.

Integrating all aspects of the more credible information, we can basically outline the outline of Song Yu's biography:

Song Yu, is later than Qu Yuan's Chu, Qu Yuan's juniors, and Tang Le, Jing Chai at the same time, was born before and after the sinking of the river, and died at the time of the death of Chu. Although he was not a disciple of Qu Yuan, he was a great admirer of Qu Yuan, and in his literary creation he inherited Qu Yuan's style, but made up his own loom and set up his own gateway. "Sorrowful autumn" is one of the characteristics of Song Yu Fu. He was a poor scholar from a poor family, in order to seek a way out and serve his country, he once left his hometown and went far away to Kyoto and other places. After a few weeks of trouble, all sorts of begging, when the king of Chu around the literary servant. Although the official is small, but with his superior talent, sharp talk piece, also once won the king of Chu's appreciation. Who knows the sea of bureaucracy, the career path is rugged, he is not tolerated by the chaotic world, was slandered by treacherous sycophants, and the king believed in slander and easy to anger, and finally deposed out of office, down and out of the river, scribbling for the rest of his life. He was loyal to the king and loved his country, and always hoped to gain the trust of the king of Chu to show his ambition. However, the king's door was so heavy that it was hard for him to fulfill his loyalty to the king. He was worried about the country and the people, but he could not risk his life to criticize like Qu Yuan did; he only treated the dark reality and his misfortune with a "gentle and kind" attitude and a "grudge without anger" attitude. He was a man who had no way to serve his country, and he was a man who had no way to serve his country, and he was a man who had no way to serve his country, and he was a man who had no way to serve his country, and he had no way to serve his country. He was a scholar who had no way to serve his country, who was unrecognized for his talent, and who was disappointed in his career as a eunuch.

What works did Song Yu leave behind

What works did Song Yu have? This is a question that has been difficult to verify since ancient times. The Han Book - Art and literature recorded Song Yu Fu sixteen, but the title is no longer available; and the existing entitled Song Yu Fu is only fourteen: Wang Yi "Chu Rhetoric Chapter and Verse" in the "Nine debate", "Recruitment of Souls", "Selected Writings" and "Ancient Literature Court" and other books also contains "Wind Fugue", "Gao Tang Fugue", "Divine Feminine Fugue", "Dengtu Zi good-looking fugue," "to the king of Chu asked" and so on, many ancient and modern scholars through the study of nuclear identification, more than the "Recruitment of Souls " is Qu Yuan, "nine defense" for Song Yu made, the others are later forgeries. Now cite a few examples:

A "Selected Writings", "Ancient Literary Garden" and other books recorded by the prose fugue style, is not the Chu Rhetoric style; rather, the Western Han Si Ma Xiangru created the kind of prose fugue style. This kind of style was not produced in the Warring States period in which Song Yu lived. Therefore, if we are sure to say that they are the works of Song Yu, then this Song Yu can not be the Chu people in the Warring States period.

These works are mostly in the form of dialogues between Song Yu and the king of Chu, and in the narrative line often called "King of Chu" and "King Xiang of Chu", and in common sense, Song Yu is a Chu person, can not be said to be the king of his country, crowned with the word "Chu", which means "Chu", which is the word for "king". The word "Chu", and even more so in the life of the ruler of the country to be called in advance of the number.

Three The Flute Fugue says: "Song Yi will send Jing Qing above the Yishui and get his female." If it is recognized that Song Yu lived mainly during the time of King Xiang of Chu, while Jing Ke assassinated the King of Qin in the first year of King Nelu of Chu, decades after the King Xiang, then the allusion to Jing Ke would never have been invoked by Song Yu several decades earlier. Even if Song Yu had survived in the first year of his reign, he wouldn't have written the same story into his own work.

Four Most of these works are clearly written in the voice of a third party. Song Yu should not be called by his own name in his works, such as "Song Yu, Jing Dai service", "asked Song Yu said", "Song Yu said", "Song Yu said", and so on.

Five "Gao Tang Fu" said: "In the past, King Xiang of Chu and Song Yu tour in Yunmeng Pu", the obvious Department of the later memorial words.

Six "Gao Tang Fugue", "Goddess Fugue", "Gao Tang" **** narrative; "Irony Fugue", "Dengtu Zi colorful fugue" content is similar, the same style. Especially "Gao Tang" a, text and "Gao Tang Fugue" first paragraph is basically the same, only the words of the goddess of self-explanation gain four sentences, is "Gao Tang Fugue" first paragraph of the re-record. Song Yu a reason for repeated production of the same subject matter of the article?

Seven The Ancient Literary Garden was written later (rumored to be the old collection of the Tang Dynasty, which was obtained by Sun Shu in a Buddhist temple in the Northern Song Dynasty, and later annotated by Han Yuanji and Zhang Qiao in the Southern Song Dynasty), but the Flute Fugue, Big Words Fugue, Small Words Fugue, Satirical Fugue, Fishing Fugue, Dancing Fugue were recorded by it for the first time. If these works are really written by Song Yu, then, not far from the ancient and extensive Liu Xiang, Wang Yi, why not include it in the "Chu Rhetoric"?

Eight of these works are not in the ancient rhyme of Zhou and Qin, but in the rhyme of the Han Dynasty onwards.

All in all, these works are suspicious of a lot of things, limited space will not be listed. In the existing works of Song Yu, only one of them can be verified, the "Nine Arguments". Now we are ready to talk about "nine defense" in connection with Song Yu's era, life and thought.

The ideological content and artistic characteristics of the "Nine Defense"

"Nine Defense", this is the name of the ancient music tune, in the "Li Sao", "Heavenly Questions", "The Classic of the Mountain and the Sea" have mentioned it. The Chu Rhetoric Chapters and Phrases says: "The one who argues is also the one who changes." Zhou Li - Da Shi Le" Zheng note: "change, Judas more also, music into a more play also." And, wang fuzhi "chu qi tongxue" said: "defense is like all over also, a section is called once. Cover also like Xiaqi "nine defense" of the name, the introduction of the ancient style for the new cut, can be the orchestra. Its words are exciting, different from the wind and elegance, cover the sound of Chu." From this, we can see that "nine defense" is like "nine sections", i.e. a kind of musical tune combined by most of the movements. Therefore, in general, "nine defense" is an organic whole in terms of content; separately, "defense" is a part of the whole music.

Song Yu's "Nine Arguments" is a borrowing of the old music to express his own indignation of poor soldiers, unrecognized talent, old but not successful, and no way to serve the country, the content is mainly sad about the autumn, the feeling of encounter, and think of the king. These three are intertwined, penetrate each other, and merge into one.

"Nine Defenders" first depicts the desolate autumn scene with passionate strokes: "Woe is me! Autumn is also the qi. The grasses and trees fall and decay. The large chestnuts, as if traveling far away. When you climb a mountain and look at the water, you will be sent home. Mousy, the sky is high and the air is clear. Ruoxi, the sky is high and the air is clear."

The word "sad autumn" is the first of its kind, and it sets the tone of the work and symbolizes the era in which Song Yu lived.

The Nine Arguments was written after Song Yu entered his old age. He was at the end of his days in Chu, when a foolish ruler and sycophants were corrupting the discipline, and the wise and talented were abandoned in the wilderness. The Chu dynasty was tyrannical and corrupted, with the sparrow in the hall, and the military playing around, brutally oppressing the people internally and exploiting them; externally, it practiced the policy of surrendering and humiliating the country. Chu situation is like the western wind, which has a patriotic heart for every Chu people, is a sad and frightening reality; not to mention loyal and patriotic, clear-headed Song Yu? And the poor scholar lost his post, stumbling (zhì) hardship, but also make him have the world drifting of the ghost of resentment. In the public and private, all feeling haunted at the time, in the face of the west wind leaves, felt the autumn light is easy to old, good scenery is difficult to again, evoking the feeling of sadness and pathos. At the same time, he also saw the purple swallows resigned to return, the geese traveled south, more evoked the sadness of wandering in a foreign land and the whining of the unrecognized talent: "The unauthorized misery increases sobriety, thin cold in the people. The pathos of the world is so great that it is hard to leave the old for the new. The poor man who has lost his job is not equal to the poor man who has lost his job. I am a traveler with no friends. I am despondent, and I feel sorry for myself."

He left his hometown, wanting to change a new world, but a poor man and suffered from the misfortune of losing his job, so that he had no sleep at night, listening to the autumn bugs, sighing, "when the time passes (wèi) and over the middle of the Ruoxi, Jian Drowning stayed and did not achieve. Nature's crisp autumn scenery and personal life, social environment are sad, the poet fell to the ends of the earth in the sullen autumn wind only to hang their own helpless shadow. Touching the scene of sadness, sighing old contempt, is the natural flow of the voice of the heart. In the third chapter, and further depicts the autumn color and sound of autumn how strongly destroyed the poet's liver and intestines.

He was unable to rotate the universe, to help the world, and to change the customs. Although always want to make a difference, but the ruthless reality is time and time again will knock him down: "frost and dew miserable and cross down Ruoxi, the heart is still fortunate that its Fuzi. When the snow is misty, I realize that my life is about to end. I would like to be lucky and wait for Ruoxi, but I will die with the weeds. I would like to go straight, but the road is congested. ...... I am afraid that the customs of the time are not solid. ...... The world is the same and dazzling Ruoxi, why ruin the reputation of the obscurity! ...... birth of heaven and earth as if over Ruoxi, the work does not work and invalid."

In the major juncture of life, he lacked Qu Yuan's kind of perseverance and fearlessness, the right way straight line, nine deaths of the spirit of remorse; and only stoicism, grief, persistence and helplessness of the sad and compassionate. He could not stand up and fight tenaciously; instead, he kept himself clean, kept high in a poor place, and kept himself to himself. There is a desirable side to his keeping high and pure; but there is also a negative side. His self-pity and self-sighing are only entangled with the word "I". This cut the continuous sadness of the silk woven into the unbreakable net, so that he has been high in the spring and autumn of the talent of the empty melancholy, uncertainty, pathos.

Song Yu is loyal to the king, and therefore is thinking of the king, complaining about the king: "sadness and poverty Ruoxi alone in the silhouette, there is the beauty of a person Ruoxi heart does not deduce. The countryside away from home is a distant guest, the super free Ruoxi today is not thin? I am thinking of you and you can't be transformed, but you don't know what to do! I've been thinking about you for a long time, and I've forgotten to eat. I wish I could see you and tell you what I mean; your heart is different from mine."

He used "beauty" as a self-reference, because life is not easy and sorrowful, thousands of miles away from a foreign land, but where is the home of this fluttering flotsam? The sincerity of thinking about the king and the loyalty of serving the country are difficult to reach the king's ears. His resentment is due to the loyalty of the king, the king is not aware of, think of the king does not know and born, so he does not hate, not angry.

Song Yu's negligence of his duties is due to the belief of the emperor's slander, the good man's false accusations.

The poem compares the small group of people to "fierce dogs", "incompetent", "mallard geese" and "floating clouds"; on the contrary, it compares the loyal and conscientious people to "good people" and "good people". On the contrary, he compares the loyal and virtuous people to "Tiqi", "Fenghuang" and "Mingyue", which shows the poet's distinctive love and hatred. But he only scolded the sycophants, not the emperor, which reflects his weak and compromising side.

The cold and unfeeling reality made him feel disheartened, and he thought that he was at the end of his rope, and there was no more chance to serve his country. So he wanted to beg for his life, and then he thought about it and traveled to the clouds and sky. He unfolded the wings of imagination, soared into the sky, accompanied by many gods, driving a white neon, floating between the stars, fluttering cloud flags, Thunder Master, the wind god, surrounded by the front and back, meandering, not a god! He originally thought that this transcendent world, broke free of the dark and sad reality. However, his loyal soul hidden within the five has not died, in the triumph of the time, but then the joy of sadness, from the remote cloud sky suddenly fell into the terrible reality. At the end of the poem, the poet once again persistently confesses his heart: "Counting on the unchangeable nature of Zengzhi, I wish to be pushed into Zang. Relying on the benevolence of the Emperor, I would like to return to you unharmed."

The scribe, who had fallen down (bó) at the end of the road, finally did not forget his king, and called on heaven to correct the king and bless him. This attitude of "resentment but not anger" is a manifestation of his "foolish loyalty". However, his predecessor, Qu Yuan, was very different. Not only did he fight against the evil ruler and his sycophants for a long time, but when he was dying for his country, he rebuked the evil ruler, saying, "If I don't go to the abyss with my resignation, I would be sorry if the emperor doesn't recognize me." The fact is that Qu Yuan was not "foolishly loyal".

"The Nine Arguments" inherits the style of Qu Fu in its content and form, but has a distinctive personality and original artistic features.

The Nine Arguments, in chapters one, three and seven, concentrates on the depiction of autumn colors and sounds, which is a sad, desolate and bleak natural scene, and it is the place where the poet is most concerned about his feelings and itches. The outside world of the object and the heart of the heart of the feelings of mutual sensibility, into the "sad autumn" art realm. It is not only the realm of nature, but also the realm of the heart, symbolizing the social environment. "There is a scene in the meaning, and there is a meaning in the scene", which is a reflection of the sensitive poet's true nature and great sadness. Autumn wind, high and clear sky, grass and trees fall, the northern geese south, autumn bugs wailing, cold cicadas resting sound, long silent night, the moon hazy: this realm, inevitably make the downtrodden poet by the twilight of nature associated with the life of the twilight of the autumn, and suddenly gave birth to a "rocking" of the sadness, the feeling of the object, the self-reverence of the "Spring and Autumn Day high! ", "old but no success". This is a very natural and frank expression. Originally, Song Yu full of fallen feelings, so in the chanting of condensation between, because of the feelings of the scenery, touching the scene, there are catalysts and seeds. "Scenery a feeling of love, feelings born of scenery," mutual sensation, each other, catalyze, further sublimation, crystallization, sprouting. This sentiment and this scene are also strongly cross-colorable with each other. Poet with a strong sentimental mood to taste the autumn color and sound of autumn, so that the natural scenery is also tinted with a bleak emotional color, fallen leaves, grass, cicadas, autumn insects, like the poet's own incarnation, as if all kinds of natural objects are "sad autumn". At the same time, these natural objects stained with sadness are reversed to stimulate the human senses, knocking on the human heartstrings, so that people are doubly sad. As if the nature in front of the sad people to show the autumn color is particularly thick, the sound of autumn is particularly sad, autumn is particularly deep. As if the Creator deliberately tortured the sad man. This achieves "the thing and the self are forgotten, the thing and the self are the same". Then, the poet and through this condensed cast of the scene and the scene of the feelings, their own voice to people, causing others to emotional **** song. Song Yu is China's ancient literature in the first to "sad autumn" famous poet, after him, many generations of "sad autumn" of the poet is mostly inspired by him. In the past, the popular idiom of "spring girl complains, the sadness of the fall", I'm afraid that with Song Yu also has a little origin.

Song Yu Fu's artistic style is elegant and fresh, lingering and sentimental, low back to the end of his work is the love letter and rhetoric clever, to Wanqu's text of the hidden micro-emotions, is to have their own temperament face. At the same time, because of Song Yu's obedience to Qu Zi, so, in his own works, there are many imitation or copying Qu Fu sentence meaning, word meaning, sometimes show axe marks, this is Song Yu's works of the white jade flaws.

While not many works of Song Yu have been handed down to us, the impact has been tremendous. Some of the later generations of Song Yu's followers have made many pseudo-imitations or imitations of Song Yu's works; however, many more followers did not just imitate Song Yu's works, but learned the essence of Song Yu's works, and created their own styles (e.g., Li Bai, Du Fu, and Li He, etc.). Over the past two thousand years, Song Yu has still had his soulmates. However, some commentators, both ancient and modern, tend to be biased in favor of hatred, and their judgment of Song Yu is not fair. We, on the other hand, should strive to use the viewpoints and methods of historical materialism to study Song Yu realistically, avoiding love but forgetting the ugly, hate but missing the beautiful

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