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Southern Song Dynasty lyricist Jiang Kui: Self-taught, wrote the plum blossom words of the world, and was friendly with Xin Jiuqiang, but he did not have the imperial examination in his life

There is such a Southern Song dynasty, he is a professional lyricist, musician, and undisputed status in the list of the top ten musicians of ancient China.

Just looking at these labels of his business cards is already remarkable. He also had even more remarkable achievements, he did not have the opportunity to take the imperial examination in his life, music was all self-taught, and his achievements were remarkable, he was a purgator all his life, but he was unanimously recognized by the literary bigwigs of the time.

That's right, he is the "great Gatsby" of the Southern Song Dynasty. Oh, wrong, again, he is the great lyricist of the Southern Song Dynasty, Jiang Kui.

Jiang Kui's greatest contribution in life is to bring new standards and paradigms to the world of words, and he has spared no effort to fill in words throughout his life.

So, how to evaluate Jiang Kui's life and his achievements in lyrics? And listen to the small words and poems in detail.

Song Ci is a shining pearl in mainland classical literature. Originated in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, until the Song Dynasty, ushered in the stage that really belongs to it, under the blessing of many literary and literary fillers, the song words entered the era of blooming flowers and competing for beauty, a literary term "Song Word" was born, and later scholars Wang Guowei creatively labeled Song Ci, "a generation of literature".

Song Ci is both a kind of lyrical literature and a kind of musical literature. From a musical point of view, the lyrics are still a beautiful song, and the original words are sung to the score. In terms of singing style, the words have two different styles: bold and gentle.

In the Song dynasty, the representative figures of the Haofang school are Su Shi, Xin Qiqiao, Zhang Yuangan and other lyricists, while Qin Guan, Zhou Bangyan, and Li Qingzhao are recognized as outstanding representatives of the Wanyo school.

However, in the Song dynasty world where extravagant words and euphemisms are popular, there is a lyricist who, with his own talent and musical talent, wanders outside the extravagant and gentle schools, but combines extravagance and gentleness, he is the famous lyricist Jiang Kui of the Southern Song Dynasty.

One of Jiang Kui's major contributions to the world of words is to combine music and dictionaries in a perfect form, so that the literary nature of words is most beautifully reflected with the assistance of music.

Jiang Kui is good at composing self-made songs. "Self-degree song" is the form of lyrics creation composed by oneself and filled in by oneself, "self-degree song" is different from filling in the lyrics according to the score, but first write the lyrics, and then compose the lyrics, and Jiang Kui's "self-degree song" is very original. In the combination of music and lyrics, it opens up a world of its own and forms a unique artistic style.

Jiang Kui has composed a large number of self-degree songs in his life, such as "Yangzhou Slow", which describes Yangzhou, "Dark Fragrance" and "Shuying" praising plum blossoms, etc., all of which are masterpieces of the lyrics composed and filled in by Jiang Ku himself. And "Yangzhou Slow" is a masterpiece that combines musicality and literature, ideology and artistry, and has always been praised.

Jiang Kui has a deep knowledge in music, and he is also known as one of the top ten musicians of ancient China. Jiang Kui has a music monograph "Baishi Daoist Songs", 10 memory god songs "Yue Jiu Song", 17 self-tuning songs, and 1 piano song "Ancient Grievance".

Jiang Kui's collection of lyrics "Baishi Daoren Songs" is the only complete Song Dynasty music score document in the history of Chinese music, and is regarded as a rare treasure in the history of Chinese music

Jiang Kui's lyric style is unique and self-contained, and he is a veritable classic lyricist who composes music and fills in lyrics. He integrated aesthetic styles such as Qinggang, Shulang, Qingkong, and Shaoya into his lyrics, and he established a tacit and appropriate balance between the literary and musical nature of the words, and achieved high artistic achievements. Reading Jiang Kui's lyrics can not only make people wander in the artistic beauty of the text itself, but also immerse people in the moving melody of music.

No chance for the imperial examination, Qingke life

Jiang's epoch-making achievements in lexicology would give the illusion that he should have received a professional study of music theory, and his identity should be a court musician or a scholar, so as to match his musical achievements. But on the contrary, he was just a cloth coat, and he spent his life in poverty, and his music theory was also obtained through self-education.

Chen Yu, a writer of the Southern Song Dynasty, wrote the book "Hiding a Word", which contains anecdotes about characters in the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties. The book's record of Jiang Kui is: "If the appearance is invincible, and the remaining strength is enough to carry the crown of a hundred Hu; There is no cone at home, and there are no diners in a meal. Tushi Hanmo's collection, full of sweat and cows, spilled in the period, is a Jin and Song lyricist. "Chen Yu and Jiang Kui are contemporaries, so we can be sure that Chen Yu's records are true and reliable.

Jiang Kui (1155-1221), courtesy name Yaozhang, was a native of Baishi Dao, a native of Poyang, Raozhou (present-day Poyang, Jiangxi), a famous lyricist and musician of the Southern Song Dynasty. Jiang Kui lost his father as a teenager and took the imperial examination many times, but he failed the test repeatedly, so he did not have the opportunity to enter the career path, and he was clothed for life.

In order to make a living, Jiang Kui had to be a guest in the house of the nobles of the palace, relying on poetry and composition to win the appreciation of officials and nobles, to put it bluntly, relying on the secretarial work of dancing and inking to receive a meager income. At that time, such a niche profession was called "purging".

Of course, being a pilgrim is not an easy thing, in addition to being proficient in poetry and song, you also have to accompany the main family to drink and play cards, entertain and entertain, and also look at the owner's face. To put it bluntly, the pilgrim is a kind of dwelling, sending people under the fence.

Just as the Qing Dynasty people recorded this about Qingke in their notes: a good stroke is good, second-class talent is not revealed, three catties of alcohol are not drunk, the four seasons of clothes are inappropriate, Wuzi Go does not regret, six Kunqu opera is not pushed, seven-character crooked poems are not late, eight horses are not checked, and the title of ninth grade is not chosen, which is very harmonious.

Although such a record is a joke and exaggeration of the life of the Qingke, it portrays the life of the Qingke who lives in a place and sends people under the fence, and the image of the Qingke who has to make the owner laugh at it.

Jiang Kui has a strong feeling of joining the world, but his career path has been repeatedly frustrated, and he has not been able to enter the career path for the rest of his life. Without the stumbling block, Jiang Kui has more time to travel, and his footprints are all over Hefei, Yangzhou, Wuxi and other places.

Sending love to the landscape during travel, observing the wind and objects during travel, and broadening his horizons during travels also provide rare first-hand information for Jiang Kui's creation.

Jiang Kui is studious and hospitable, especially in music. Jiang Kui is multi-talented, and is familiar with poetry and song, music and calligraphy, all of which are proficient. He is especially known for filling in lyrics and making songs, and he was deeply appreciated by the literary bigwigs Xin Qiqiang, Yang Wanli, Fan Chengda, Xiao Dezao and others at that time.

Jiang Kui's father had a relationship with Xiao Dezao, a poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, who called himself "The Old Man of Thousand Rocks", and in his early years, Jiang Kui was a guest at Xiao Dezao, Xiao Dezao was very good to Jiang Kui, and also appreciated Jiang Kui's talent, and he also married his niece to Jiang Kui.

In the spring of the fourteenth year of Emperor Xiaozong of Song (1187), after Xiao Dezao's recommendation, Jiang Kui went to Nanjing to visit the famous poet Yang Wanli. Yang Wanli also wrote the poem "Sending Jiang Yaozhang to Mr. Shihu", in which he wrote:

My friend Yiling Xiao Taishou, every time people say that Jun does not leave his mouth.

Sleeve poetry came to the east to consult the old man, ashamed to be a high-priced man.

Bought a Songjiang boat and went to Suzhou Sanshi Lake.

Yang Wanli felt that Jiang Kui's talent was very high, and he recommended Jiang Kui to Fan Chengda, a literary giant at that time. Fan Chengda is a famous pastoral poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, whose description of pastoral life is meticulous, and the classic pastoral poem "Four Times of Pastoral Miscellaneous" was written by Fan Chengda.

Two plum blossom words, classic chant circulating

Fan Chengda has a large estate in Shihu, and the manor has famous attractions such as Beishan Hall, Thousand Rock Temple, Tianjing Pavilion, and Shoule Hall. Fan Chengda loves plum blossoms, and has planted hundreds of plum blossoms on the Yuxue slope of Shihu Lake, but it is not enough, and he bought more than 70 old houses of the Wang family in the south, and after demolishing all of them, he planted plum blossoms in one-third of them.

Jiang Kui came to Fan Chengda's Shihu Manor and spent a leisurely life here. And Jiang Kui's most representative plum blossom sister chapters "Dark Incense" and "Shuying" were composed after enjoying plum blossoms in Fan Chengda's Shihu Manor.

These two plum blossom words by Jiang Kui are known as the ancient swan songs in Yongmei because of their beautiful musicality and literature, try one of them "Dark Incense":

Old moonlight, count how many times to shine on me, Mei side playing the flute? Evoke the jade people, regardless of the cold and climbing. He Xun is getting old now, and he has forgotten and written in the spring breeze. But strangely, the bamboo outside the flowers, the fragrance is cold into the Yao mat.

Jiang Guo, is silent. Sighing and the road is far away, the night snow is accumulating. Cuizun was prone to tears, and the red calyx was speechless. Changji once worked hand in hand, a thousand trees pressed, and the West Lake was cold. And the pieces are blown, when will you see it?

Plum blossoms are a common aesthetic image in ancient China, and plum blossoms symbolize cultural connotations such as purity, elegance and chastity, and have always been respected by the world. Plum blossoms are one of the flowers that have been repeatedly chanted by ancient literati for their zigzag and colorful forms and arrogant and cold characteristics. Poets often use the external beauty and inner beauty of plum blossoms to integrate their own subjective meaning, endowing plum blossoms with various beautiful qualities, thereby stimulating people's rich imagination and bringing people beautiful cultural enjoyment.

In "Dark Incense", Jiang Kui did not specifically depict the form of plum blossoms, and only used several images of moonlight, jade people, and music to depict a picture of plum blossoms with lofty artistic conception.

When Jiang Kui filled in the words, he felt his own drift, complex emotions surged in his heart for a while, and he used words such as dark incense, fragrant cold, red calyx and other words to describe the shape and color of plum blossoms, the words are elegant, the brushstrokes are beautiful, forming a sound and color "moonlit night plum appreciation picture", this word is clear, quiet, empty, intriguing to read.

Why is Jiang Kui so fond of plum blossoms? This has to do with the lyricist's life pursuit. Jiang Kui participated in the imperial examination many times in his early years, but he was all famous Sun Shan, so he has been living a life of wandering and uncertainty.

He befriended the celebrities of the time as a cloth coat, but he was quiet and elegant, clean and self-sufficient, so he was recognized and praised by many literary celebrities, including many literary bigwigs such as Xin Qiqian and Fan Chengda. Despite this, Jiang Kui's life was not stable, he was poor all his life, and he was willing to stay poor.

It is this kind of life experience and life experience that has created Jiang Kui's quiet and elegant character. This kind of noble and elegant character is connected with the spirit of plum blossoms, so Jiang Kui regards plum blossoms as a confidant, and he often uses plum blossoms in his lyrics to express his elegant and quiet, indifferent personality and sincere emotions of "I write my heart by hand".

Zhang Yan, a famous lyricist in the late Southern Song Dynasty, admired Jiang Kui's two Yongmei poems very much, and he praised it in "Etymology": "The Fumei of poetry is only associated with Jing, and the world is not without poetry, and it cannot be driven by it." The words of Fumei, but Jiang Baishi's "Dark Incense" and "Shuying" two songs, there are no ancients before, no one after, self-reliant and new, really a swan song. ”

Later, Zhang Yan also wrote the word "Shuying", which is also because of the competition with Jiang Kui, and Zhang Yan's "Shuying" is also a very beautiful Yongmei lyric. However, in terms of artistic conception, there is still a certain difference in artistic conception with Jiang Kui's plum blossom words, the key is that Jiang Kui's lyrics build a standard between literature and musicality, and this standard is the refinement and elegance of the grammar.

The famous lyricist Zhu Yizun of the Qing Dynasty once put forward the aesthetic concept of "mellow elegance", he attached great importance to the mellow elegance of the lyrics, and Jiang Kui's style of words was also in line with the aesthetic concept put forward by Zhu Yizun, so Zhu Yizun highly respected Jiang Kui, he commented: "Since Poyang Jiang Yaozhang, the sentences are refined and attributed to mellow elegance." He also did not forget to add another sentence: "The word Mo is good at Jiang Kui".

Zhu Yizun once again affirmed Jiang Kui's lexical achievements in the book "Dictionary Synthesis and Fa Fan": "Words were extremely productive at the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty, and extremely changed at the beginning of the Song Dynasty, and Jiang's Yaozhang was the most outstanding. In fact, this also shows from one side that Jiang Kui's exquisite and elegant lyrics were further recognized by lexicographers in the Qing Dynasty and gained unprecedented prestige.

Picking up pearls in the sea

In 1186, Jiang Kui's wandering footprints set foot on the land of Xiaoxiang, he traveled to Changsha, Hunan Province, climbed Zhurong Peak, the highest peak of the 72 peaks of Yue Heng Mountain in Nannan, and found two musical scores, the dedication song "Yellow Emperor Salt" and "Su Hexiang", both of which were originally Tang Dynasty music, and were later lost.

In the summer of the second year of Emperor Shaoxi of Song Guangzong (1191), Jiang Kui went to Nanjing again to visit Yang Wanli, and on the way met a pipa musician who was playing "Drunken Yin Shang Hu Weizhou", which is exactly a tune that Jiang Kui meditated on.

"Neon Clothes and Plume Song", originally a famous court music of the Sheng Tang Dynasty, its music, dance, and costumes all focus on depicting fairy lands and fairy images, and the tune belongs to Huang Zhongshang. The score found by Jiang Kui belongs to the commercial tune, although it is different from the original appearance of Tang music, but after all, it is the relic of Sheng Tang music.

Jiang Kui discovered rare music scores twice in a year, so he sought pipa playing techniques in front of this musician and composed "The First Order in Neon Clothes", in this small preface to the lyrics, Jiang Kui completely recorded what happened. This is of great significance in the history of Chinese classical music.

There is also "Yumei Ling", originally Fan Chengda's homemade song, only song, no words, when Jiang Kui visited Fan Chengda, at Fan Chengda's appointment, he filled in very beautiful lyrics according to the score.

Every time Jiang Kui composes an original song, he must play it first with a flute, and friends often sing along with it. Whether it is filling in the lyrics according to the score or composing the lyrics, Jiang Kui fills in the lyrics according to the law, because of the musical beauty of its rhyme, it must bring the phonological beauty of the words, and also makes the lyrics of Jiang Kui have both the beauty of love words and the beauty of vocal feelings.

Self-named Shiraishi, Yoyudo Road

Jiang Kui's words are elegant, which is also related to his life experience of floating and living. Ge Hong, a scholar of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, wrote the book "The Legend of the Immortals", which reads: "Mr. Baishi ... Taste boiled Shiraishi for food, and then people are called Mr. Shiraishi. ”

Perhaps out of recognition of this idea of retreat, Jiang Kui called himself "Baishi Daoist", Jiang Kui was originally a person with "invincible appearance", which is very much in line with his image of a white-clothed scholar.

Liu Xizai, a famous critic of words in the late Qing Dynasty, also commented on Jiang Kui in "Art Overview": "The lyricist called Baishi 'Zishi Laoxian', or asked after all, similar to He Xian? Oh: Despise the ice and snow, cover is close. ”

In 1193, Jiang Kui met Zhang Jian, the son of a family, in Hangzhou. Zhang Jian was the grandson of Zhang Jun, a general of the Southern Song Dynasty, from a wealthy family, with field residences in Hangzhou and Wuxi. Zhang Jian admired Jiang Kui's talent, because Jiang Kui tried again and again, and he wanted to invest in an official and a half-post for Jiang Kui, but Jiang Kui did not want to enter the career in this kind of pityed way, so he politely declined.

After that, Jiang Kui often went in and out of Zhang Jian's house, composing poems and singing harmony with each other. Zhang Jian is Jiang Kui's best confidant in his later years, and the two have a deep friendship, Jiang Kui said affectionately: "Ten years of getting along, love is very flesh and bones." ”

In 1196, Xiao Dezao was welcomed back to Chiyang by his nephew Xiao's father, and Jiang Kui lost his foothold in Huzhou, so he simply moved to Hangzhou, attached to Zhang Jian and his brother Zhang Di, and then stopped migrating and lived in Hangzhou for the rest of his life. In 1202, after Zhang Jian's death, Jiang Kui was very sad and wrote poems and mourning, which shows the depth of his affection.

In 1197, the forty-three-year-old Jiang Kui presented the "Da Le Yi" and "Qin Se Archaeological Map" to the imperial court, hoping to be promoted, but the imperial court did not pay attention to it, and the "Da Leyi" represented the highest achievement of folk music art in the Song Dynasty, and provided valuable information for future generations to understand the musical situation at that time.

Two years later, Jiang Kui again presented the "Twelve Chapters of the Song of the Holy Song" to the imperial court, this time the imperial court issued an edict allowing him to go to the Ministry of Rites to take the entrance examination, but he still failed, and since then he has completely rejected the idea of a career and died in cloth.

Jiang Kui called himself a Baishi Taoist, and Jiang Kui recorded in his autobiography that he was appreciated and affirmed by celebrities in the literary world when he lived in Drifting, including the idyllic poet Fan Chengda, the master of science Zhu Xi, the prime minister Jing Boring, and the bold lyricist Xin Jiuqiang.

And Jiang Kui's interaction with Xin Qiqian can also be called an interesting story in the literary world. In 1204, the patriotic lyricist Xin Qiqian was sent to Zhenjiang Prefecture, and in the autumn of the same year, Xin Qiqian ascended to Beigu Pavilion and wrote the legendary classic "Yongyule Jingkou Beiguting Huaigu".

Jiang Kui admired Xin's character of abandoning illness, and admired Xin's abandonment of illness and the country and people, and he greatly appreciated Xin's "Yongyule Jingkou Beiguting Huaigu", so he also wrote a song "Yongyule Cijiaxuan Beigulou Word Rhyme", the original words are as follows:

The clouds are across the labyrinth, the moss seal is very stone, where are the people going. Count the autumn smoke, a cold wave, and the ancient caves come and go. Let the king's heart be there, the cliffs are green, and the suffering is retained by the north gate. There is a drunken wine in honor, and the big banner is embroidered with bears and tigers.

The predecessor Zhuge came to visit this place, and he was rewarded with a few words. Outside the building, Jiang Gao was faintly recognized by Zhengxi Road. The middle origin gathers, the elders of Shenjing, and the golden drum of Changhuai in the south. Ask if it is still there at that time, Yiyi planted willows.

In his words, Jiang Kui used the ancient events of the ancients to praise Xin's patriotic feelings of abandoning illness, and expressed his political enthusiasm for the rise and fall of the country and supporting the great cause of the Northern Expedition by praising Xin's abandonment of illness. The most valuable thing about Jiang Kui's poem is that it reflects the people's eagerness for reunification, so as to motivate Xin Jiu in his twilight years to strive to complete the important task of recovering the Central Plains.

Trivial poetry

Although Jiang Kui has lived a life of floating and living all his life, and he has to live the life of a Qingke in order to make a living, he has always maintained a light personality and independent personality. As a cloth cloth, he made important contributions to the development of music, lyrics, calligraphy, and music in the Song Dynasty.

Especially in the process of interacting with Xin Qiqian and others, he and the patriotic spirit represented by Xin Qiqian combined to form a powerful spiritual force, and Jiang Kui used his own life experience and lyrics to build the humanistic spirit worthy of the times in his life.

With his brilliant talent and independent personality, Jiang Kui won the respect of people in his time, and also won the respect of later generations. We can see from Jiang Kui's body the spirit and appearance that a literati should have.

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