Preface
In the Han Dynasty and even the Wei and Jin dynasties, the status of the Cifu family was worrisome, and it was regarded as a "haiyou", and its role was even like a parrot beside the emperor, playing the role of whitewashing the Taiping and improperly responsible for it.
Cifu was a flourishing style of the Han Dynasty, which reached its peak in the Han Dynasty. As the creator of Cifu, the identity of Cifu has always been contradictory.
On the one hand, he is a virtuous man who has lost his mind, and on the other hand, he is regarded as a good man. The way it was treated was also contradictory in the Han Dynasty, where the emperor listened to his advice on governing the country and regarded him as a comical hero.
The literati of the Han Dynasty and even the Wei and Jin dynasties thought that "Cifu Xiaodao" while writing fu, and while practicing the cause of the Cifu family, they had a low identity with the Cifu family.
Such a contradiction was not unique and was common in the Han Dynasty.
The term "advocating excellence" is used by historians, and this identity is despised by historians, such as Sima Qianyun, "the lord teases, advocates excellence, and despises customs".
Although this is a grumbling evaluation, it can also reflect the microcosm of the operation of the social evaluation system, and Sima Qian believes that such a person who is raised like an advocate of excellence is despised by the vulgar.
And advocating excellence to show off a skill to please its owner, between being funny and funny, and solemn and elegant, this is an identity that is not recognized and valued by Confucianism, and it is also a rather serious derogation.
The parrot in the poem "Sending Wen Tingyun to Weifang Cheng" by Ji Tangfu in the Tang Dynasty can be seen as a true portrayal of the status of the Han Dynasty.
Parrots are good at imitating and answering each other, but they can only be locked in a golden cage for others to play with, and they are raised as canaries and ornaments for entertainment.
The role of the parrot largely depends on the mood of the owner, and few parrots are entrusted with the responsibility of supporting the family by the owner, which is also equivalent to the Han Dynasty monarchs and ministers in the eyes of the Cifu family is a parrot with a clever tongue and good speech.
"The minister of the word attendant" can be the icing on the cake, but it is not valued by the scholars of the Han Dynasty, let alone the minister of the humerus who gives advice and advice, and is in the same important position as the scholars.
First, the sage's discouragement
The source of the Fu has always been a topic of discussion among the writers and scholars.
Ban Gu believes that Fu is the inheritance of the style of ancient poetry. Fu is not only a literary form, but also inherits and assumes the political significance of the satirical exhortation of the Book of Songs.
"Reciting without singing is called endowment, and ascending can be a doctor. Whether it is a stylistic fu or a form of performance, a person who has mastered this skill can be called a "doctor". This is a rare high positive evaluation of the Cifu family in Han Dynasty literature.
The high evaluation of Fu objectively promotes the number of contributions to the thousands, and Han Fu, as a representative of the Han Dynasty, shines together with the style of the three generations.
However, although the origin is here, the Han Dynasty's Cifu family is probably different from the pre-Qin Dynasty's predecessors who compiled poems for 300 years, and Ban Gu's criticism of the Han Dynasty's Cifu family is the most important satirical meaning of the Cifu, and it has become a style that only has "extravagant words".
The poet's endowment adheres to the ironic semantics of the poem, while the endowment of the poet is differentiated from the rhetoric tends to be gorgeous.
Yang Xiong said that if the disciples of Confucius could use Fu, Fu's status would rise by another level. Moreover, Yang Xiong is the most critical of the identity of the poet, and he believes that the fu made by the writer is different from the fu made by the poet - it has reached the point where the rhetoric is gorgeous.
Duan Lingchen objected to the idea that Fu is a diversion of poetry. He believes that Fu does not originate from ancient poetry, but on the contrary, it is a diversion of southern literature
2. Negative criticism
Although Ban Gu is a representative of the rare positive evaluation of Cifu and Cifu family, perhaps Bangu's positive evaluation of the remarks already contains some negative remarks about the Han Dynasty.
And Yang Xiong is a typical representative of upholding the negative opinion, and he firmly believes that Fu is "a boy carving insect seal", which is "a strong man is not for". Unlike Ban Gu's "ascending to the top can be a doctor", Yang Xiong believes that Fu is not done by a strong man, but a small skill of carving insects and seals by a child.
When Fu is used as oral literature, the contributor of Fu when the Son of Heaven listens to the government is Xuan, which can be further explained by the identity and physical characteristics of Xuan, and Fu was presented to the Son of Heaven as oral literature rather than desk literature at this time.
Yang Xiong's psychology is very complicated, on the one hand, he believes that the Cifu family can also assume the important role of satire, so that the incumbent can be alert and realize the great ambition, but the rhetoric obscures this function, which makes the viewer feel that the words are too much.
Sima Xiangru presented "Adult Fu" to satirize the good immortals of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, in order to persuade him, but the language is quite similar to the disciples of Chun Yu and Youmeng, witty and funny, Yang Xiong believes that this kind of people and Fu are not lawful.
From Yang Ziyun's direct comparison of the Cifu family with Haiyou's identity, it can be seen that Yangxiong's evaluation status of the Cifu family is extremely low.
The identity of the resignation family is that of the word attendant. Sima Xiangru, Dongfang Shuo, Mei Gao, Wang Bao and others were all such ministers, and they gave advice day and night to present Han endowments, while ministers such as Ni Kuan, Taichang Kong Zang, and Taizhong Doctor Dong Zhongshu also sometimes made offerings.
The "ministers of the verbal attendants" are bound to be the same as the "ministers of ministers", but although these remarks are polite, they fundamentally make a qualitative judgment on Dongfang Shuo, Mei Gao and other resignation families: verbal attendants.
The squire does not make essential suggestive changes to the master, just as the parrot plays the role of amusing the squire for the master.
In addition, Fu is not the specialty of the Cifu family, and the Minister of State can also talk about politics, which further weakens the core function of the Cifu family, and the offering of the Fu is not the patent of the Ci Fu family, and the alternative status of the Ci Fu family is further strengthened, which also provides the possibility of deepening the negative perception of the identity of the Ci Fu family.
He was proficient in writing fu, and achieved the official position of Hongnong Duwei, who was proficient in scripture, gave advice to the king of Wu, and had the talent to govern the country, and made accurate judgments on the current situation. King Wu was not able to make a difficult plan, and was finally destroyed.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty heard of his name when he was the crown prince, and recruited him after ascending the throne. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's conscription was inseparable from his great desire to expand his territory and need outstanding strategists.
This is something that few other writers can match, and it is also an important reason why his son Mei Gao Chengyin did not achieve his father's position after he was born.
Sadly, he died at an advanced age on his way to the Central Imperial City. Emperor Wu's regret was made up for after finding his son Mei Gao, and he also treated him with courtesy, and Emperor Wu expected that the son of Mei Cheng would have the same experience as Mei Cheng, but this was not the case.
Compared with his father, Mei Gao did not know the scriptures, behaved like haiku, liked to give gifts and praises, and used small skills to win the attention of high-ranking officials and nobles, these small skills were disdained by the people of the time, so his status was not as noble as Yan Zhu and others, his status was not as good as his father, and he was not treated as well.
From this point of view, Emperor Wu respected the Mai Cheng not entirely because he was a Ci Fu family, but because he was a military strategist and strategist, and the Ci Fu was just a skill that added to the military talents.
Compared with his father, Mei Gao did not fully inherit his excellent military strategy talent, did not know the scriptures, and gradually moved down in status, becoming a Haiyu generation, and he regretted it for a long time.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had more than one haiyou.
Mei Gao and Dongfang Shuo are both resignations, and it is inevitable that there will be a comparison, and in terms of admonition, Mei Gao also played the matter of admonishing Empress Liwei.
In terms of composition, Mei Gao is better than Dongfang Shuo, but he thinks that he is not similar to Sima, self-remorse is on a par with advocating excellence, and he slanders Dongfang Shuo, who has a similar identity, and his style is of course witty and shy.
And Sima Xiangru was late for the text, so the number was not as good as that of Mei Gao. Quantity and quality aside, Mei Gao self-evaluates himself as Hai Zhan and regrets that he has a connection with this identity, so when he faces the same resignation as Hai Zhan, whether it is himself or others, he denigrates Dongfang Shuo, laughs and humors, disagrees, and agrees.
It is not difficult to see from Mei Gao's self-evaluation that even the self-positioning of the Cifu family itself is "advocacy", which is just a joke, and this kind of view is confirmed from the aspect of self-identity, which further exacerbates the negative evaluation of the Cifu family.
III. The Emperor's Opinion
As mentioned above, the Han Dynasty subjects had more views on the Cifu family as "haiyou" and "advocate excellence" than "doctors", and in general, negative evaluations were dominant.
The emperor's attitude is also confusing, even if it is the emperor of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu is a virtuous and meritocracious monarch, although Emperor Wu values Dongfang Shuo, a regular servant, but he does not entrust him with important tasks, and he is not better than Yan Zhu and others.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty appointed a group of doctors including Gongsun Hong Sima Qian, and Dongfang Shuo also did a doctor in Taizhong, but then his functional identity changed, and accompanied by Mei Gao and other kings, and gradually became the role of Haiyou.
However, Dongfang Shuo had great ambitions and wanted to become a courtier who was on an equal footing with Yan Zhu and others, so he wrote a letter advising on the strategy of strengthening the country in agriculture and warfare, and asked to grant him an official position and implement it.
Its symbolic words are sprinkled, revealing the ideas of Legalism and Shang Ying, which is exactly in line with the proposition of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty on the external and internal laws of Confucianism, but Emperor Wu did not adopt Dongfang Shuo's opinion, because it "refers to debauchery and is quite witty".
Although his words contain Confucianism and Legalism, and his heart can be learned, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty still classified Dongfang Shuo into the category of Mei Gao and Guo Sheren, and just laughed.
Is it because Dongfang Shuo is good at witty characteristics that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty misplaced him, or is Dongfang Shuo's "quite witty" expression not very solemn, so that Dongfang Shuo lost the right to speak?
Not really. Regardless of the way or not, the emperor's attitude towards the Cifu family is ambiguous.
Wang Bao, Zhang Ziqiao and others followed Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty to hunt, and sang praises, and Emperor Xuan was satisfied with the reward.
In the face of the admonitions, Emperor Xuan of Han defended:
"'There is no gambler, but it is virtuous!' The big one is synonymous with ancient poetry, and the small one is gratifying. For example, female workers have Qiyu, music has Zheng Wei, and the world still uses this to say that the ears and eyes are given, and there are still benevolent and righteous edicts, and the view of birds, beasts, plants and trees is more than heard, and the virtuous is far from advocating the excellent game. ”
Emperor Xuan's statement undoubtedly gave Cifu a status that can be up and down with a lot of space: it can achieve the same status as ancient poetry, and it has the role of beautiful rhetoric.
Such a large evaluation shows that the emperor himself has an ambiguous attitude, and the attitude of the incumbent is quite interesting.
The subjects who admonished thought that the resignation was "obscene and not in a hurry", and wanted to persuade Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty to stop the loss in time, exercise moderation, and reduce the frequency of listening to the fu. Emperor Xuan of Han's answer was to justify his behavior of listening to Fu:
On the one hand, the Fu is raised to the same height as the ancient poems with the spirit of satire, consistent with Bangu's views, and at a small level, it has also reached the point of "beauty", with many descriptions of birds, beasts, plants and trees, and affirming its rhetoric.
Taking a step back, resignation is better than "advocating excellence". Emperor Xuan's ambiguous attitude is ostensibly praising the Cifu family, but on closer reading this attitude contains some implicit negation of the status quo.
Comparison is based on comparability and similarity, if it were not for the Han Dynasty's monarchs and ministers who believed that resignation was a small way, how could Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty compare resignation with the game of advocating excellence at the point of retreating?
On the surface, it is a justification for saying good things about Cifu, but in fact, it contains a tone of helplessness and taking a step back.
The subjects of the Han Dynasty also understood this deep meaning of the emperor, and their attitudes mainly came from these two aspects, the positive one thought that Cifu had the beautiful role of benevolence and righteousness, and the negative one thought that "Cifu Xiaodao", "advocating excellence" and "Haiyou" were similar to them, and even compared with "game".
In this way, the emperor's ambiguous attitude added a taste of helplessness hidden under the effect of sarcasm.
After the Han Dynasty, the world's evaluation of Han Fu was mostly negative.
Cao Zhi said in "The Book with Yang Dezu": "The resignation of the small way is not enough to promote righteousness and show the afterlife."
Lu Xun believes that Cao Zhi has two reasons for this approach: one is that he is good at the field, people are always harsh on themselves and tolerant of others, Cao Zhi's articles are known as talented and high, and he has made certain achievements in the field of articles, so Zijian himself dares to say so.
The second is that Cao Zhi's main goal is the political field, and the article is not his main concern field, and if he is frustrated in politics, the article will be useless and unimportant.
Zhong Youmin believes that the two concepts of "resignation" and "article" cannot be equated with each other. He believes that the world may misunderstand Cao Zhi. For example, the "Cifu Xiaodao" more or less reflects Zijian's dissatisfaction with frustrated politics, but the original meaning of these four words should be in response to the Han Fu's detachment from reality.
Although the part of the Han Fu that whitewashes the peace and sings the praises of virtue can be regarded as a "small way", from the perspective of highlighting education and satirizing the righteousness, the Han Fu is far inferior to historical materials.
Yangxiong's negative evaluation of Han Fu is also based on this, both of them believe that Han Fu's writing is too brilliant but fails to achieve the effect of irony, so that the phenomenon of dominating the audience is more prominent.
It is true that, compared with the historical biography, the Han Fu is indeed not an article that satirizes the righteousness and the disadvantages of the times, but if the Han Fu is judged by the standard of the Han Fu, and the role played by the Han Fu is similar to that of the historical biography, then the Han Fu loses its significance as a different genre.
The "talented and tired" parrot has a body of ambition but is only reduced to a tool for witty jokes and icing on the cake for the master, just like the rhetoric of the Han Dynasty, who thinks that he has the heavy responsibility of sarcasm but cannot be reused.
However, even such a "parrot" has a different understanding of what the Fu depicted by the Fu Family, and whether it really played a strategic role in "rising and falling, and polishing the Hongye".
Li Zehou gave a positive and macro affirmation of Fu in "The Course of Beauty", and he believed that the rhetorical and ornate Han Fu despised by Yang Xiong and others precisely showed a grand vision of prosperity, optimism about the world, and positive emotions.
Although the rhetoric is too ornate, its verbal richness can hardly be surpassed by later generations. If a country or nation produces prosperity at the level of literature and art, it at least shows that the country or nation is economically developed, the national sentiment is optimistic, and the sense of national identity is rising.