Characteristics of Du Fu's Poetic Thought

Characteristics of Du Fu's Poetic Thought

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■ Dai Dunbang painted Du Fu's poem "The Hut was Blown by Autumn Wind".

Gu Nong

Du Fu didn't want to be just a poet. His main interest is politics, and he has lofty ideals and ambitions. The so-called "stealing millet and agreeing" ("reciting 500 words from Beijing to Fengxian") and "making the monarch Yao and Shun, and then making the customs pure" ("Twenty-two Rhymes of Wei Zuocheng"). Therefore, he has also published some opinions that despise literature, such as "writing small skills does not respect pottery" ("Taking Huayang Liu Shaofu"), "What's the benefit of ci-fu work" ("Traveling with General He", article four of ten) and so on. This is quite similar to Cao Zhi's situation. Cao Zhi once said in "A Book with Yang Dezu" that "the way of ci and fu is not enough to express meaning and show new people." At that time, the purpose of his activities was political, which inevitably despised literary creation.

A poet who writes for literature will never be a first-class poet.

After the disillusionment of Du Fu's ideal as a politician, that is, after the disillusionment of his so-called "long-term strategy of economic shame", he devoted himself to writing poems, and called them "an eternal one" ("My Topic"). However, he still uses poetry as a means to express his political views, and often directly enters poetry with current events and writes many famous articles. It has existed since ancient times to enter poetry with current events, but since the Jin and Song Dynasties, metaphysical poetry, landscape poetry and palace poetry have been popular for a long time, and politics has long since faded out of poetry. This situation changed a lot in the Tang Dynasty, but Chen Ziang wrote 38 sentimental poems, using outdated techniques such as Ruan Ji's Yong Huai and Zuo Si's Yong Shi. Li Bai often writes contemporary events with Yuefu ancient poems. Although politics has re-entered poetry, it is always separated by a layer. Du Fu lived in a chaotic world, and the situation was very complicated. If we use those old methods again, it will be unclear, and the old methods will not work. So he simply entered the poem with current events and directly marked his own fresh topic. Although the method of "writing famous articles" has existed since ancient times, and Jian 'an poets also had it, it has been interrupted for a long time, so it can still be regarded as Du Fu's new creation. Later, Yuan Hebai, the leader of the New Yuefu Movement, appreciated this very much. Bai Juyi said in "Nine Books with Yuan" that he admired Du Fu's "Three Officials" and Lu Zihe and others most. Yuan Zhen said more generally that "the only poets in modern times, such as Du Fu's Sad Chen Tao, Ai Jiangtou, Bing Che, Beauty, etc. All the songs and praises are famous, and no one can rely on them. " When I was young, some people said that it was right to look down on my friends Lotte and Gong Li, so I no longer planned to give them ancient names (The Preface of Yuefu Ancient Words).

It is understandable that Yuan and Bai treat Du Fu in this way. Strangely, Du Fu himself did not talk much about the principle that poetry should emphasize political content, but he had almost opposite opinions. For example, he said, "When you ask filial piety, you should be prepared to be ordinary, and you should pay more attention to your economic health." Ci has its own articles and is used to it. It is said that there are some countermeasures to pay attention to current affairs, and the article (slightly close to literature and emphasizing poetry) only needs to pay attention to the meaning of words and chapters. Perhaps for the same reason, he himself did not mention his works directly serving politics, nor did he advocate that kind of poetic style; What he talked about most was the art of poetry, attaching importance to metrical poems that pay attention to rhythm and literary talent, and advocating bitter songs. This artist has a strong sense of smell. This is quite different from Yuan and Bai's insistence on current affairs politics. Of course, the greatest poet always cares about politics, but he is often not enthusiastic about it and does not emphasize it in theory. This situation is worth pondering.

Du Fu repeatedly stressed that poets must strive for perfection in art ... He proudly said that he had made an in-depth study of temperament, "Grammar was spread early" ("The Doctor Weeds for Wei's Progress"), "Inquiring about the poetic method" ("I received this poem because I was a director of East America, but I failed to stop the rain"), and "The evening festival gradually became more detailed in the poetic method" ("I sent a boring play to nineteen Cao Chang"). He repeatedly emphasized that "the choice of words must be correct" ("Thirty Rhymes of Clever Poems") and praised his son for "finding new sentences and knowing the law" ("Xianzong Wu"). He praised other people's poems, and often focused on them. For example, "Persuading Zheng Shiyun" said: "Thinking about floating clouds and things, ghosts and gods in France are shocked. No regrets, no waves. His emphasis on literary talent is consistent with his advocacy of bitter songs. As the saying goes, "Today's people love the ancients, and clear words and beautiful sentences must be neighbors" (the fifth part of "The Play is the Six Poems"), "People like sentences, and words are not surprisingly endless." River water is as valuable as sea water. "). He advocates that one must" work hard "(seven of twelve poems to relieve boredom) and" bleak management "(an introduction to Dan Qing). The influence of these remarks on the poetry circles from the late Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty was almost no less than that of his current affairs poems. Although the word "history of poetry" is highly appraised, it is not enough to comprehensively summarize Du Fu's achievements.

Just because Du Fu attached great importance to the artistry of poetry, he didn't criticize the Six Dynasties blindly like Chen Ziang and Li Bai. On the contrary, he fully affirmed Yu Xin and many poets in the Six Dynasties, and also fully affirmed the four outstanding poets in the early Tang Dynasty who still carried the legacy of the Six Dynasties, and called on people to learn from these "sages". He warned those frivolous former sages and younger generations that "the name of Ercao is ruined, and the rivers will not be wasted through the ages" ("The Play is Six Wonders"). Du Fu also said, "The authors are all unique and have a low reputation." ? The famous and influential writers in the history of literature all have their own strengths. Later generations should learn more from their teachers and improve their poetic skills.

It seems that Du Fu has profound insight into poetry creation and great boldness of vision. Later generations often take only one side, which is bound to be dry. For example, the political satirical poems of Yuan and Bai are not artistic, and their writing is not formulaic and poetic. Those who study Du Fu only from art can't help but focus too much on syntax, rhythm and other aspects. Without Du Fu's lofty thought of worrying about the country and the people, they get less.

Paying equal attention to politics and art, intervening in social life with highly artistic poems and eulogizing lofty ideals can be said to be the characteristics of Du Fu's poetic thought.

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