the politics of literature; the literature of politics

Chinese creators have been politically oriented since ancient times. Although Cao Pi said that the article is "the great cause of the country and the immortal event", this also shows that many literary creators at that time looked down on literary creation, and it will still be the case in later generations. He did not shy away from saying that those were a waste of time and energy. Han Yu of the Tang Dynasty, who is known as "the decline of the eight generations of Wenqi", said:

"Today's unprovoked history of reading, wisdom is only for labor."

"Poor and useless, it's like throwing gold in vain."

In the Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi, who was later known as one of the "Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Ancient Prose", also said:

"Strength to compliment the vulgarity, the poor spirit of no compensation."

Liu Yanchong, a scholar of the Song Dynasty, also said:

"The article is inherently expressive, and the drama is not enough to worry about."

These literary creators don't take literature seriously, they just change their minds, regard politics as literature, and deliberately use strategies to arrange the situation they want in the political situation. From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the modern age, many people who created literature said that they did not take politics seriously, but took literature as politics and worked hard. How much is the prize money, how many places are there, I have worked hard to figure it out.

There were no literary awards in ancient times, probably the imperial examination was a literary award that limited the way of writing. However, it was not all smooth sailing for literati from then on, and it was not uncommon to be relegated from top to bottom. A student once asked me:

"They are always like this, referring to life and separation as death. Can this be classified as a hypocritical writing style in the feudal era?"

I smiled and said:

"If you graduate today, and a certain classmate is going to study in the United States, will you be sad to say goodbye?"

"It's inevitable that I'm sad, but I'm also happy for him. We all went our separate ways and look forward to seeing you in the future."

"Will you communicate with each other?"

"What's the communication! Now the Internet is convenient, and both voice and video are available."

"That's it. You can't understand the pain and sorrow of the relegation of the ancients. It's a matter of course." I took a sip of tea and continued:

"When you travel far, you have technology to assist you, and it is easy to communicate. It is not difficult to maintain your relationship. It is not expensive to know whether the other party is safe or not.

When the ancients were proud, when they went to Beijing, they didn’t cry like that. Even when they left home for the exam, they didn’t have too much anxiety in their hearts. Do you write works? "

The students snickered and lowered their heads.

"Homesickness is not uncommon, whether proud or not. It's just that the handed down works are still more bitter, and there is another reason. First, let's talk about relegation and farewell, and it's not surprising that you always talk about life and separation as death. Although there are many people who have been demoted and re-entered the core of power, more of them are old and exiled from then on, and they have died in foreign places. For example, in the Song Dynasty, they did not kill ministers. When you die, the sanitary conditions are poor, and the probability of death is high. If you are separated in this way, it is very likely that you will die. Why don't you cry? This is one point.

Besides, those who have been demoted are out of political power, and there is no need to worry that no one will be beaten. It's not surprising that I will demote you today and cut you tomorrow if I think of it. After Liu Zongyuan was demoted, he was always worried because of this. How many people are not afraid of death, why don't they cry?

Also, relegation is usually the result of political struggles, like dumplings, one string at a time, today is you, tomorrow may be me. Look at others thinking of yourself, ideals and ambitions vanish in a blink of an eye, why don't you cry?

Finally, after parting, can you and your old comrades ask each other for peace and comfort? Communication is difficult and the cost is extremely high. There is no post office, which is used by officials. Although there are many smugglers, they are not available for you when you are demoted. Entrusting someone to deliver the letter by yourself or sending someone to deliver the letter is expensive, and it may not be possible to deliver it. There was a misunderstanding between Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi because of their correspondence, thinking that he was dead, and said, "I will serve the Twenty-Twelve Bai in another day, so I will ask you to write on your behalf"? Every time I receive a letter, it is not easy to be a thriller, so Bai Juyi's letter to Yuan Zhen can be reported as "San Tai". You think it's boring. He probably cried while writing. Who knows if it's still today and tomorrow will be safe ? When I was a child, I was still in the telegraph era. The telegraph was billed by word, and most people couldn't afford it, but at least it was fast. In ancient times, it was difficult to know whether each other was safe or not. Life was more at a loss than death. How could you not cry? "

The emotion of these relegated literature is sincere, and the technique is superb. However, I am still opposed to having high school students read relegation literature. It is difficult for them to understand. If the teacher does not know how to guide (even if he knows how to guide, it is still difficult to operate in practice), the meaning of this article to the students is often just "what to test? How to test?" No matter how good the students have absorbed the beautiful words, they are also full of sorrow and pain. It is not bad to say that these articles are all good things selected by time, but the main literary educators repeat the gentleness, perhaps it is precisely because they are in the official arena, they have a deep understanding of it!