"Peacock Flying Southeast" is the earliest preserved long narrative poem and one of the representative works of ancient Yuefu folk songs. Together with the "Mulan Ci" of the Northern Dynasties, it is known as the "Shuangbi of Yuefu". The following is the work of which dynasty I compiled "The Peacock Flying Southeast". Welcome to read.
Which dynasty is the work of "The Peacock Flying Southeast"?
"Peacock Flying Southeast" is a folk song produced during the Jian'an period (196-219 AD).
Introduction to "The Peacock Flying Southeast"
"The Peacock Flying Southeast" is the first long narrative poem in the history of Chinese literature and the pinnacle of the development history of Yuefu poetry. Later generations praised it as being closely related to the Northern Dynasties. His "Mulan Poetry" is one of the "Double Jewels of Yuefu".
"The Peacock Flies Southeast" is based on a marriage tragedy that occurred in Lujiang County (now Huaining and Qianshan, Anhui) during the reign of Emperor Xian of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The original title was "An Ancient Poetry Written by Jiao Zhongqing's Wife". Because the first line of the poem is "The peacock flies southeast, lingering for five miles", it is also called this. The whole poem has more than 350 lines and more than 1,700 words. It mainly tells the story of the couple Jiao Zhongqing and Liu Lanzhi who were forced to separate and commit suicide. It accuses the cruelty and ruthlessness of feudal ethics and praises the sincere feelings and resistance spirit of the Jiao and Liu couple.
Analysis of "The Peacock Flying Southeast"
As the longest narrative poem in ancient history, "The Peacock Flying Southeast" has a well-crafted and simplified story and lifelike characters. It not only portrays the close connection between Jiao and Liu couple , The image of perseverance and unyielding also vividly portrays Jiao's mother's stubbornness and Brother Liu's arrogance. The end of the chapter conceives the myth that Liu Lanzhi and Jiao Zhongqing both turned into peacocks after their death, expressing the people's strong desire to pursue free love and a happy life.
It has been circulated among the people for a long time, and has been constantly added and decorated. It was written down in the Six Dynasties, and was later compiled into "New Odes of Yutai" by Xu Ling. Since its inception, it has been popular and widely recited. It is a rare glorious chapter in Chinese classical poetry and an outstanding representative of long narrative poems.
For such famous masterpieces, when teaching, in addition to explaining the words clearly to cultivate students' ability to read classical Chinese, their thoughts and art should also be carefully analyzed. There is much to be said about the thought and art of poetry, but students often do not understand deeply or accurately on the following points: 1. Why did Jiao Liu commit suicide so easily? Too weak? 2. What does the beginning mean? Is there any superstition at the end? 3. Liu Lanzhi is so wealthy, what is her economic status? Inaccurate understanding of the above issues will affect the understanding of the entire poem. I think these issues are worth talking about. Moreover, these problems are also the difficulties of the textbook. Of course, when explaining, it is not appropriate to answer questions in isolation, but to pay appropriate attention to the process of analyzing the ideological and artistic nature of the poem.
In fact, Jiao Liu’s suicide is exactly what the title is about. It is through Jiao Liu's marriage tragedy that the work exposes the evils of feudal ethics and feudal patriarchal system, and praises Jiao Liu's noble character of being loyal to love and his rebellious spirit of not succumbing to feudal forces.
Liu Lanzhi was well-educated since she was a child. She knew poetry, music, and could weave and tailor clothes. After marrying Jiao Zhongqing, she served her mother-in-law very respectfully, worked hard at weaving, and was very diligent. Getting along is even more affectionate. However, such a flawless woman turned out to have such a tragic fate! Such a loving couple ended up committing suicide!
Did they commit suicide? Are they weak?
To answer this question, we must first analyze the reasons for this tragedy. This point is very clear in the poem, which is the persecution of feudal ethics and feudal parents. This point requires guiding students to understand deeply. This poem, for today's youth, is an excellent perceptual material for understanding "feudal ethics and cannibalism".
In feudal society, young men and women had no freedom of marriage at all, and everything was subject to the orders of their parents. The status of women is particularly low and their fate is particularly tragic. Feudal ethics stipulated strict rules and precepts to maintain the so-called ethical principles that represented the interests of the ruling class and to constrain people's thoughts and behaviors. For example, "The Book of Rites of Dadai: Benming Chapter" clearly stipulates the "seven outs" (also known as "seven outs") for women: "There are seven outgoings for women: disobeying their parents, going without children, being sexually involved, and being jealous. Go away; go away if you have a bad illness; go away if you talk too much; go away if you steal.” This is no different from the law. Therefore, even though Liu Lanzhi's behavior was inherently "impartial", Jiao's mother only had to find excuses at will, such as "This woman has no etiquette and acts freely", "I have been angry for a long time", "I have lost my kindness" Liu Lanzhi can be kicked out of the house even if he is "disobedient to his parents" and so on.
Parents' orders have supreme authority in the feudal society where "filial piety governs the world". This is the root cause of Jiao Liu's tragedy.
Faced with such a cold reality, Jiao Zhongqing first begged his mother for forgiveness with the threatening words "If I send this woman away now, I will never take her back again", and then he said "Please return home for now" " "We will return soon" to retreat and defend, hoping to be reunited in the future. But in the face of powerful feudal forces, his wishes were ruthlessly crushed. Similarly, Brother Liu can trample on Liu Lanzhi's pampas grass rock agreement at will. Lanzhi has no father, and her elder brother is the head of the family. So when Brother Liu forced her to marry, Lanzhi could only express that "the punishment was suitable to brother Liu."
These plots in the poem effectively expose the brutality of feudal forces.
In the face of the powerful and inhumane feudal forces, Jiao Liu could not control his own destiny and could only be at the mercy of his parents. But this does not reflect the weakness of their character. On the contrary, they resolutely resisted the feudal forces in the way possible in their time, that is, one "raises oneself to clear the pond" and the other "hangs oneself on the southeastern branch." This action was, on the one hand, to fulfill their initial agreement to "be friends in the underworld", and on the other hand, it was a brave challenge to break through their parents' arrangements. They are unwavering in their beliefs; they would rather die than obey their parents' intentions. Isn’t this a spirit of resistance? Isn’t it a sign of strong character? We cannot ask the ancients from today's perspective.
Because of this, although Jiao and Liu were swallowed up by feudal forces, they won people's infinite sympathy. "People hurt them", and their spirit of resistance to their tragic fate was deeply praised and praised. Praise, and even use a mythical ending to express people's good wishes.
This theme is a universal problem in feudal society. Explaining this clearly will deepen students' perceptual understanding of feudal society.
Poems are also highly artistic, and naturally have a lot to say about them, such as realistic narratives, twists and turns of plots, complete stories, vivid characters, simple language, etc. Hu Yinglin of the Ming Dynasty praised it in "Shi Sou": ""The Peacock Flying Southeast" is quality but not slang, detailed and concrete, and a five-character history." He also praised it as "the masterpiece of ancient and modern times". The so-called "five-character history" means that its narrative is as true and realistic as historical biography; the so-called "detailed and substantial" means that its narrative is as true and realistic as historical biography; the so-called "detailed and substantial" means that it engraves The characters are described in detail, and the materials are well organized; the so-called "quality but not slang" means that the language is simple but not vulgar. This evaluation indeed captures some of the characteristics of the poem. These advantages can completely guide students to learn from them. But the beginning and end of the poem, as well as the narrative paragraphs in the middle, are more characteristic of folk literature. Students have relatively little exposure to these techniques, and it is especially necessary to explain them to guide students to appreciate them correctly to avoid the above misunderstandings.
"The peacock flies southeast, lingering for five miles." - This kind of beginning is a commonly used rising technique in folk songs, and there are a large number of examples in the "Book of Songs". The so-called "Xing" means "preface other things to trigger the words to be chanted." Properly used, this technique will not only create a certain atmosphere and sentiment at the beginning of the article, but also inspire readers' associations and imagination, and enhance the poetic flavor. Regarding the beginning of this poem, Mr. Wen Yiduo quoted from "Yuefu Poetry Notes" "How can a beautiful song be performed" (the first few lines are "A pair of white swans are flying, coming from the northwest. ... Five miles away, I look back.") , Six Miles and One Wandering"), "Xiangyang Music" (the first two sentences are "Yellow swans soar into the sky, and the middle road is gloomy and wandering") and other articles, explain: "The above themes all talk about the pain of separation between couples, this article... "Weiyi" means "peacock" ear. "Using peacocks, swans (swans), mandarin ducks and other beautiful birds that are destined to be married to each other to refer to the love between husband and wife is a common expression in folk literature. This poem uses the scene of the peacock lingering and paying attention, which is exactly this technique.
At the end of the poem, it describes the scene of the sycamores, pines and cypresses on Jiao Liu Cemetery, with their branches and leaves intertwined, and the mandarin ducks wailing among them. This is also a common technique in folk literature. It is rooted in the good wishes of the people. The deceased had suffered misfortune during their lifetime, and there was nothing they could do about it, so people hoped that they would be reunited after death to express their wishes and sympathy. For example, the story about Han Ping and his wife recorded in Jin Qianbao's "Sou Shen Ji" is an example. King Kang of the Song Dynasty seized the He family of Han Ping's wife, causing both Han Ping and his wife to commit suicide. But "over the course of the night, a big catalpa tree grew at the end of the two tombs, and within ten days it was full of trees. Their bodies were bent together, their roots intertwined at the bottom, and their branches staggered above. There were also mandarin ducks, one male and one male, and they were always there. Perching on a tree. Morning and evening, he cries in grief, and the sound is touching. "The story of Liang Zhu's transformation into a butterfly in later generations should be said to be in the same vein as this kind of legend. Myths, legends and superstitions are two completely different categories and should be treated differently.
As for the extravagant technique (that is, an exaggerated and unfolding narrative), it is also a common artistic technique in folk songs. For example, Hu Ji is described in "Habayashi Lang" and Luofu is described in "Mo Shang Sang". In order to highlight the beauty of the protagonists, their costumes are described in exaggerated strokes. This is only to enhance the artistic effect and must not be used in this way. Demonstrate their economic status. The same is true for this poem: in order to highlight Liu Lanzhi's deep affection, she wrote about the luxury of the box she left behind; in order to highlight her beauty, she wrote about the exquisite makeup she put on when she said goodbye; in order to highlight that she was not moved by wealth, she wrote about the prefect The family's wedding ceremony was luxurious; in order to highlight her ability, she wrote about how quickly she made the wedding dress; and so on. The use of this extravagant technique effectively enhances the artistic effect of the poem. At the same time, it is also a manifestation of the people's beautiful ideals. Regarding this point, students should also be guided to understand it correctly and should not regard it as purely realistic to judge her economic status.