The allusion of Yangchun Baixue comes from Song Yu's Answer to the King of Chu in The Songs of Chu. King Xiang of Chu asked Song Yu, Is there any hidden virtue in Mr. Chu? Why don't the people praise you so much? Song Yu said that there were singers in the Chu state, who sang "Xialiba people" at first, and there were thousands of peacemakers in the country. When the singer sang "yang a Xielu", there were only a few hundred middle school peacemakers. When the singer sang "Yangchun Baixue", there were only dozens of middle school peacemakers. When some difficult skills are added to the song, that is, "attracting businessmen to carve feathers, miscellaneous to levy", there are only three people in the middle school. Song Yu's conclusion is, "It is that its music is high and its harmony is sparse." The more elegant and complex songs such as "Spring Snow" are, the fewer and fewer people can sing, that is, the songs are high and few.
Of course, the purpose of this discussion between Song Yu and the King of Chu is not to talk about the song itself, but to emphasize the huge gap between elegance and vulgarity, and to justify that their talents and virtues are not recognized by the world. Song Yu went on to say that "birds have phoenixes and fish have Kun", which is natural and extraordinary. Song Yu said, "Not only birds have phoenixes, but fish have Kun, and so do scholars." Finally, Song Yu drew his own conclusion, that is, "the husband and sage walk gracefully and are detached and alone; "How can a secular people know what a minister is doing?" Song Yu means that anyone who is great and extraordinary in the world is often maverick, and his thoughts and actions are often not understood by ordinary people.
Shen Kuo of the northern song dynasty pointed out in Meng Xi bi tan, volume 5, music law I that it is clearly stated in Song Yu's Answer to the King of Chu that "guests have songs in the music", that is, guests sing in the music. It's not that Ying people are singing, let alone that Ying people are good at singing. Shen Kuo thinks that Yingzhong is the old capital of Chu, and there are so many people. The reason why there are so few people in harmony is because they don't know or have never heard this song. Song Yu's own situation is somewhat unreasonable. Isn't it ridiculous to accuse people because they are not familiar with such songs as Yangchun Baixue? Shen Kuo also pointed out that some details in Yang Chun Bai Xue's allusions were later misinterpreted and spread. For example, good singers were all called "Ying people", while the original text meant that Ying people were not good at singing.
The story of "Spring Snow" shows that there are great differences in aesthetic taste and ability among different appreciators. The higher the artistry of music, the fewer people can enjoy it. I have to admit that this difference has a great relationship with the subjective taste of the audience, and sometimes it is difficult to get an objective and fair evaluation. As Ge Hong in the Western Jin Dynasty pointed out in his book Guangpi: "It is very good to watch and listen, but it is difficult to agree with love and hate." For those who are used to listening to the songs of Sangjian Pushang and the voices of Xialiba people, of course, they can't understand the elegance of Yangchun Baixue and Huangzhong Dalu. From this point of view, there is not much difference between ancient and modern times. Today's people appreciate music, mostly "it is better to listen to the ear, but it is faster to listen to the heart."
"It doesn't matter who the snow sings with." A diversified world can't leave "snow singing" and "vulgar feelings". The more popular any music seems, the more people support it. This is the same reason that the best box office receipts today are often pop songs concerts. Of course, elegant art has its own value, and the longer it goes, the more precious it becomes.