People often say, "Tang poetry and Song poetry". In fact, the prose creation of the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty also reached an unprecedented height, and a large number of excellent essayists emerged. Among them, the most well-known is the "Eight Greats of the Tang and Song Dynasties". They were: Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan, Ouyang Xiu, Su Xun, Su Shi, Su Rui, Wang Anshi, and Zeng Gong.
In this list, why is there no Fan Zhongyun, who is known for his prose creation?
Fan Zhongyan was a famous literary scholar during the Northern Song Dynasty, born on October 1, 989, at the age of 26, he entered the career path. Fan Zhongyan's career path has gone through ups and downs several times in his life, although he was an official to participate in the zhizhi affairs (deputy prime minister), but because of his direct advice, he was repeatedly reprimanded by the imperial court, and finally died of illness in the post of Yingzhou Zhizhou. What is rare and valuable is that Fan Zhongyun was both literate and martial, not only wrote beautiful poems, but also once guarded the northwest frontier and crossed his horse and sword, so that the Western Xia army did not dare to attack easily.
Was Fan Zhongyan's failure to be selected as one of the Eight Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties because his articles were not well written enough?
Of course not.
Fan Zhongyan's creative process in his lifetime has reached more than 40 years, and his works are very rich and extensive, and he has a good performance in prose, poetry, words and other fields. His poems are extensive in content and distinct in style, representing an important part of the transition from Tang to Song; his lyrics are not produced very well, only 5 of which have been passed down to later generations, but each capital is a masterpiece of popularity. Fan Zhongyan's prose is even more worthy of a special book.
On October 17, 1046, fan Zhongyan, 58 years old (imaginary age), was invited by his friend Teng Zijing of Yuezhou (Gulanling County) zhizhou to write an article for Yueyang Lou. Fan Zhongyun wrote the "Record of Yueyang Lou" that has been passed down through the ages. This article is not an ordinary travel record, but borrows the grand view of Yueyang Lou to express the patriotic feelings of "worrying about the world before the world, and enjoying the happiness of the world after the world" and the open-minded idea of "not being happy with things, not being sad with oneself". The article has produced many idioms, and the creative method of integrating narrative, scene writing, lyricism and discussion has pushed prose creation to a new height. Yueyang Lou is also famous in the world because of Fan Zhongyan's article, becoming one of the four famous buildings in the world.
Of course, the prose works created by Fan Zhongyan in his lifetime are not only "Yueyang Louji", "Book of The Virgin of Tang Dynasty", "Reply to the Edict of Chen Shishi", "Book of Han Qi", "Ling Wu Fu", "Book of Shangzheng Affairs" and other articles with a high degree of circulation.
To discuss Fan Zhongyan's failure to be selected as one of the Eight Greats of the Tang and Song Dynasties, we must start from the source of the Eight Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties.
In the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty, and the Yuan Dynasty, there was no such thing as the Tang and Song Dynasties. The first to put forward the Tang and Song Dynasties was the Ming Dynasty literary scholar Zhu You. Zhu You participated in the compilation of the "History of the Yuan" and served as the right long history of Zhu Tang, the King of Jin. Zhu You once edited a collection of essays called "The Collected Works of Mr. Six". Saying that it is "Six Gentlemen", in fact, there are 8 people, it is Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan of the Tang Dynasty, plus Ouyang Xiu, Su Xun, Su Shi, Su Rui, Wang Anshi, and Zeng Gong of the Song Dynasty. Zhu Right combined Su Xun, Su Shi, and Su Rui into one family, so he was called "Mr. Six".
After Zhu You, when editing the collection of essays, the literary scholars mostly followed the selection principle of the "Collected Works of Mr. Six". For example, in the Confucian master Tang Shunzhi in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, in his selected "Compilation of Texts", the prose of the Tang Dynasty and song dynasty only takes the first eight masters. Mao Kun, an essayist at the end of the Ming Dynasty, compiled a copy of the "Eight Great Literary Notes of the Tang and Song Dynasties", which was widely circulated in the anecdotes and had a great influence, and since then the tang and Song dynasties have been fixed.
So, what principles did Zhu You, Tang Shunzhi, and Mao Kun follow when they identified the Eight Emperors of the Tang and Song Dynasties?
Four words: "Ancient Literature Movement." ”
Since the Han Dynasty, the literary circles have been popular in the literary circles, which is rigorous and rhetorical. Piao Wen pays more attention to formal skills, and if used properly, it can also produce many masterpieces with both voice and emotion. For example, the Tang Dynasty literary scholar Wang Bo's "Preface to the Tengwang Pavilion" and the Southern and Northern Dynasties literary scholar Yu Xin's "Wai Jiang Nan Fu" are all classics in the Piao text.
However, there are still too few excellent works of Piao Wen, and the vast majority of Piao Wen are articles with rigid forms and empty content. In view of this situation, Han Yu was the first to put forward the "retro" literary theory, opposed the creative method of Piao Wen, and proposed the use of scattered composition, thus opening the prelude to the ancient Wen Movement, so it was called "Hundred Dynasties Wenzong".
Liu Zongyuan, who is 5 years younger than Han Yue, actively responded to Han Yu's initiative and continued to carry the banner of the Guwen Movement. Under the influence of Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan, Xiao Wen was hit by a wave. However, when Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan died, Xiao Wen revived.
At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the literary leader at that time, Ouyang Xiu, once again advocated the ancient literature movement, and took Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan as the objects of study. At the same time, Ouyang Xiu did not deny the advantages of the Piao wen in general, but combined its advantages with the advantages of the ancient text, opening up a broader world for the ancient literature movement of the Song Dynasty.
Ouyang Xiu used his position in the literary world to influence many literary scholars. Su Shi, Wang Anshi, and Zeng Gong once worshiped Ouyang Xiu as teachers, and Su Xun, Su Shi, and Su Rui were all three masters, and they all threw themselves into the ancient Chinese movement initiated by Ouyang Xiu and became the best of them.
The Guwen movement in which Ouyang Xiu, Su Xun, Su Shi, Su Rui, Wang Anshi, and Zeng Gong participated gave Xiao Wen a second blow. Since then, the influence of Xiaowen in the literary world has declined day by day, and although it has not been completely extinct, it has ceased to be the glory of the past.
In order to record the contributions of Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan, Ouyang Xiu, Su Xun, Su Shi, Su Rui, Wang Anshi, and Zeng Gong to the Guwen Movement, it is a natural thing that Zhu You, Tang Shunzhi, and Mao Kun successively included their works in a book.
On the other hand, Fan Zhongyan, who was 18 years older than Ouyang Xiu, belonged to the "literary predecessor" in front of Ouyang Xiu, and became famous far earlier than Ouyang Xiu. Ouyang Xiu naturally "led" Fan Zhongyan, and Fan Zhongyan did not participate in this vigorous ancient literature movement. When Zhu You, Tang Shunzhi, Mao Kun, and others selected the leaders and participants of the Guwen movement, they obviously did not write Fan Zhongyan's name into it.