Editor's note: Scholar Li Zehou died in Colorado, USA at 7 a.m. local time on the 2nd, at the age of 91.
Li Zehou, a native of Ningxiang, Hunan, is a famous philosopher, a researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, an academician of the International Academy of Philosophy in Paris, and an honorary doctor of humanities at the Colorado College in the United States, mainly engaged in the history of modern Chinese thought, philosophy and aesthetics.
The sound of the Tang Dynasty was originally a rather vague concept. In the case of poetry, Li Bai and Du Fu are both called Sheng Tang, but the two kinds of beauty are completely different. Take the book, Zhang Xu and Yan Zhenqing are called Sheng Tang, but they are also two different kinds of beauty. In fact, from the perspective of time, Du Fu and Yan Zhenqing's artistic maturity and famous representative works were all after the Anshi Chaos, and in terms of style, they were also different from their predecessors and opened up a new road. These two sheng tang have very different meanings and values in aesthetics. If we say that the "Sheng Tang" represented by Li Bai, Zhang Xu and others is a breakthrough and breakthrough in the old social norms and aesthetic standards, its artistic characteristics are content overflowing forms, not bound by any constraints of form, and it is a kind of genius expression that has not yet determined the form and cannot be imitated. Then, the "Sheng Tang" represented by Du Fu, Yan Zhenqing and others is precisely the determination and establishment of new artistic norms and aesthetic standards, which is characterized by the emphasis on form, requiring the strict combination and unification of form and content, so as to establish a format and model that can be studied and imitated. If the former is more prominent in reflecting the "shabby" and "breaking forms" of the emerging secular landlord intellectuals, then the latter is more prominent in their "establishment of new" and "establishment forms". "There are talented people in the Jiangshan dynasty, each leading the way for hundreds of years", Du Shi, Yan Zi, and Han Yu's articles have not only led to hundreds of years of turmoil, they have almost laid the standard for the feudal society in the late millennium, set a model, and formed orthodoxy. Their close relationship and influence on the society and art of future generations is far greater than that of the former (Li Bai and Zhang Xu). Dushi, Yanzi, and Korean are artistic norms that are still widely influential today. This is like the poems of Cao Zhi in the Wei and Jin dynasties, the characters of the second king, and the Piao wen changed from the Han Dynasty, which became a model for the early feudal society, and as an orthodox, it has always influenced the late Tang and Northern Song Dynasties. Cao, Wang, Piao, Figure Painting and Du Shi, Yan Zi, Prose, and Landscape Painting are two aesthetic styles, artistic tastes, and orthodox norms that are obviously different in the field of literature and art in the field of literature and art in the late Feudal society of China.
Su Shi believed that Du Shiyan's Korean characters were "masters of the collection". He also said, "Therefore, as for Du Zimei and Wen as for Han Huizhi, as for Yan Lugong in the book, as for Wu Daozi in painting, and the ability to change the world in ancient and modern times is complete." Among these people, the Late Han Dynasty has little to do with the Sheng Tang Dynasty (such as according to Gao Tang's drawing, it can still belong to the Sheng Tang), but the specific history is full of all kinds of accidents, including the accident of personal talent, which can never be as neat as logic, and the Sheng Tang has also appeared with the forerunner of the Korean language, but it is not outstanding enough. This is enough to prove the nature of The Korean language as a requirement of the times. Therefore, if personality is left aside, in terms of historical generality and spiritual essence, Korean can and should not only be juxtaposed with Du Shiyan characters, but also seen as a common embodiment of the same spirit of the times and the ideal of beauty. As for Wu paintings, the authentic works are not passed on, but from the famous summary of "Wu Belt Dangfeng", and the facsimiles such as "Sending Sons and Heavenly Kings" and Dongpo's claim that Wu paintings "come out of the new meaning in the law, and send the magic reason to the extravagant", the innovation of the rational law is concretely manifested as line transcendence, which may be a basic element that has a great influence on future generations. Like the Murals of the Yongle Palace of the Yuan Dynasty and the "Eighty-Seven Immortal Scrolls" that embody this feature, they are all extremely swirling and twisting ink lines, expressing the unusually smooth and solemn walking dynamics and the vitality of the connection. What they highlight is a normalized musical beauty (different from the unregulated calligraphy of the Sheng Tang Dynasty), which has influenced the art of painting throughout later generations—especially the pen and ink taste of landscapes, flowers and birds for thousands of years. However, Wu Daozi's original work is invisible after all, and it has to be left alone. As a result, only Du Shiyan characters and Korean characters are left. "I once heard of the blue sea holding whales, the divine power is too vain, the ancient and modern three feet, Du Shihan pen and Yan Shu." (Ma Zonghuo's "Shulin Zaojian" quotes Wang Wenzhi on the book of absolute sentences)
So, what are the common characteristics of these artistic models of the late feudal period that arose at the turn of sheng (Tang) and (Tang)? A common feature of them is that the majestic and majestic momentum of sheng tang is incorporated into the norm, that is, strictly contained and condensed in a certain form, specification, and law. Thus, it is no longer the genius beauty that is possible and unchoolable, can be reached but cannot be learned, but has become an artificial beauty that everyone can learn and learn. However, it retains the majestic spirit and situation of the former, and only adds a formal strict restraint and strict norms. This is what later generations said, "Shaoling poetry is like Sun Wu, and Li Bai poetry is like Li Guang" (Yan Yu: "Canglang Poetry"). "The Li and Du families have no advantages or disadvantages in their talents, but the style of the Ministry of Works is clear and dense, and there are methods to be found; Qinglian Xing will be marked, non-learning can be reached. (Hu Yinglin: "Shi Xue") "The rules of the text are rope ink, from the Tang and Song Dynasties down the so-called method of suppressing yang and opening ups and downs, the Jin and Han Dynasties have never heard of it, and Han Liu Ousu has set up a ,...... Therefore, since the ancient texts have come to this point, they have not been a realm. (Luo Wanzao: "This GuanTang Collection: The Art Preface of Han Lin's Making on Behalf of the People's Generation") and so on. Li Guang used soldiers like gods, but he had no military skills; Sun and Wu had military techniques to follow. Li Bai, Zhang Xu and others belong to a category that cannot be followed, and Du Shi, Korean, and Yan Zi belong to a category that has laws to follow. The latter provides a model of beauty that future generations have long learned, followed, simulated, and imitated. Thus, the whole landscape of beauty is very different. The elusiveness of the dragon seeing the beginning and not the end, the kind of aristocracy of the super-group, the elegant and elegant style, gives way to a more approachable, more understandable, more neat and disciplined worldly demeanor. It is indeed more popular, more universally accepted, and more widely welcomed. Everyone can seek beauty, develop beauty, and create beauty within the circle of rules they have created. Take Yan Zi to say, Yan yi calligraphy is the most standard, it is "stable and practical and beneficial to civilian use", (Bao Shichen: "Yizhou Shuangyu Lixia Pen Talk") originally absorbed the folk copying calligraphy at that time, and finally became the Song Dynasty printing style of Zhang Ben, which everyone can learn to write, it is of course very different from the Sheng Tang Wild Grass, compared with the traditional Chong'erwang, it is another kind of demeanor realm. Left and right basic symmetry, out of the positive image, thick and strong, square solemn, neat and generous, "yuan qi is clear, no longer with the posture as a thought" (Ruan Yuan) Of the Yan Shu, is not more than the glyph micro-side, left shoulder tilt, dexterous, elegant and feminine, graceful and colorful Erwang Book and its early Tang Dynasty facsimile? It is precisely under this new aesthetic standard and concept that it is not surprising that such sayings and views as "Xi Zhi Shu Shu Fan Wenlan said it well: "The master of the Song people, Zhenqing, is like the master of the early Tang dynasty, Wang Xizhi. Du Fu's poem 'Book Noble, Thin, Thin, and Hard Fang Tongshin', which was the old standard before Yan Shu's death; Su Shi's poem 'Du Ling's commentary on books is noble and hard, and this theory is not justified and I do not rely on it', which is the new standard after Yan Shu's popularity" ("Compendium of General History of China"), aren't there two aesthetic tastes and artistic standards here? Like Yan's "Yan Family Temple Stele", there is softness in the rigidity, there is a circle in the square, and there is a curve in the straight, which does reach a certain extreme of beauty, but it is still popular and learnable. In Korean, the situation is similar. Compared with the six dynasties to the five dynasties as the orthodox of the literary world, the progressive characteristics of the colloquial popularity are extremely prominent. The so-called "decline of the eight generations of Wenqi" and "Hanzi's text is like the Yangtze River", its true meaning is also here. The Korean language finally became the greatest pioneer of prose since the Song Dynasty. "Since the Tang Dynasty, the scribes have all followed the body of the Six Dynasties, and through the Kaiyuan Tianbao Poetry Grid, and the WenGe has followed the old rules, the Yuan Jie and (Lonely) and the Beginning rising and rising, Xiao Yingshi and Li Hua are left and right, and then Han Liu has followed, and the tang's ancient texts have flourished..." ("The General Catalogue of the Four Libraries and the Biling Collection"), indicating that the ancient texts represented by Han Yu are a new stylistic norm that is opposed to the "old rules" of the Six Dynasties. Not to mention Du Shi. As has long been pointed out, Li Bai was "indulgent and indulgent, and put away restraints", while Du Fu was "laying out the beginning of the end, ranking the rhymes" (Yuan Shu), "The Du Tang Du Gong Department is like Zhou Gong production, and the future generations can not propose" (Ao Qi's words, quoted from Zhu Dongrun's "Outline of the History of Chinese Literary Criticism") "When learning poetry should be based on Zimei as a teacher, there are rules, so it can be learned." ("Houshan Poetry") "The Tang Dynasty syntax is ambiguous, such as the poems of the two Han Dynasties, and it is not possible to ask for one word; until Lao Du and later, there are strange words in the sentences as eyes, so that this syntax can be obtained." (Hu Yinglin: "Shi Xue")..., these illustrate the status of Du Shi as a norm and model from various angles. Moreover, since then, Xuedu has almost become a necessary way for poets, refining words and forging sentences, deliberately seeking work, repeatedly deliberating on each sentence and every word, and making sufficient efforts to find and create a beautiful artistic conception. The so-called "two sentences and three years, one groan and two tears", "a combination of praise, everything is always forgotten" and so on. Of course, this is something that Li Bai and others do not know and do not want to know. To this day, isn't the seven-law form, which du Fu applied, is the most handy and successful, still the most popular and often used poetic style? In these rather limited phonological and strict norms such as seven words, eight sentences, fifty-six words, and so on, can't everyone create new words and sentences with endless variations and inexhaustible patterns? "The difficulty of the near body is not difficult than the seven laws of speech." In the fifty-six words, the meaning is like a pearl, and the words are like a combination. Its piercing beads are also like luminous walking discs, without losing the magic of twists and turns. Its combination is also like a jade box with a lid, and there is no trace of jagged twisting. The splendid embroidery of the Qi group is rarely colored, the palace merchant horn signs are combined with each other to form a sound, the desire is deep and more than enough and cannot be lost, and the lust is unhurried and cannot be lost.... Solemn is the Qing Temple Ming Hall, calm is wanjun jiuding, Gao Hua is full of stars, majestic is Taishan Qiao Yue, yuanchang is flowing water, and change is miserable wind and rain. In one article, there are many who must be counted, and it is called the whole United States. Therefore, celebrities and philosophers have been difficult since ancient times. (Hu Zhenheng: "Tang Yin Yan Signature") Of course, this is a bit too xuan and too high. However, the form of the Seven Laws is loved by people because it is standardized and free, the degree of heavy law is still flexible, the strict confrontation adds aesthetic factors, and the definite sentence shape can contain the development and change of a variety of styles. And Du Fu skillfully used this form perfectly. Many of his famous Seven Laws and other genres of verse have always been a model for posterity to fall, imitate, and learn.
The wind is rushing, the apes are roaring, the white birds of Nagisa Sand fly back, the boundless falling wood is xiaoxiao, and the Yangtze River is rolling endlessly. Wanli Is often a guest in the autumn and has been sick for more than a hundred years. Hardship hated the frost sideburns, and poured out the newly stopped cloudy wine glass.
The twilight yin and yang promote short scenes, the frost and snow at the end of the world are cold, the five drums and horns are tragic, and the shadow of the Three Gorges Galaxy is shaken. Wild weeping a few smell war drums, Yi Song several fishing trees. The Crouching Dragon Prancing Horse ends in the loess soil, and the Renshiyin Book is lonely.
The night is heavy and spring drinking, the drizzle in front of the lamp is falling, but I feel that there are ghosts and gods in the song, and I know that I am starving to fill the gully....
Deep and depressed, profound and tragic, the majestic momentum is strictly regulated in the neat rhythm of the battle. Aren't they really two styles, two moods, two styles, and two forms of Li Bai's poems we quoted earlier? In terms of aesthetic nature, as pointed out before, the former is a genius beauty without norms, natural beauty, and no carving; the latter is a strictly standardized artificial beauty, the beauty of the world, and the words are carefully considered. However, it should be noted that this kind of normative consideration is not the pursuit of the four-voice and eight-rhyme form in the Qi Liang era. The harsh emphasis on pure form is the literary and artistic end of the Six Dynasties Gate Valve Clan, and the norms here are the norms that are closely related to the content. The normative requirements of this form happen to be the artistic expression of ideological and political requirements, which is basically a preview that after the relative superiority of the Six Dynasties, Sui, Tang, and Buddhist Paths, Confucianism will regain the upper hand and set another statue. Du, Yan, and Han were all adherents or advocates of Confucianism. Du Fu's ethical and political viewpoint of "to Jun Yao Shun, and then make the customs pure" of loyalty to the king and patriotism, Han Yu's semi-philosophical Confucian belief of "fraternity is benevolence, doing is appropriate, and righteousness is the way from being right", and Yan Zhenqing's outstanding personality of "the festival of loyalty and righteousness, the sun and the moon and the sun and the moon and the solidity of the golden stone" ("June 1st Inscription") all show that the aesthetic norms created and established by these artistic masters are both content and form. Unlike the early feudal art, which was closely related to the concept of immortal Buddhism since the Six Dynasties of Wei and Jin dynasties and often used as a philosophical basis, the late feudal art with Du, Yan, and Han as the pioneers was based on Confucian teachings as its philosophical foundation. Although this doctrine soon lost its actual dominance (see the next chapter), it was always entangled with the above-mentioned aesthetic norms and appeared as a moral and ethical requirement of such norms. This is also why future generations of literati have always emphasized the use of Confucian morality such as loyalty to the king and patriotism to appreciate, comment, and explain the original reasons of Du, Yan, and Han. An interesting situation is that all the true popularity and worship of Du, Yan, and Han are authentic, and their status is not established, not in the Tang, but in the Song. From the Tang Dynasty to the Fifth Dynasty, the Body of The Tang Dynasty always dominated, and there were also many famous artists such as Lu Xuangong's Song Discussion, Li Yishan's Four and Six, and so on, and Han Liu's prose was not popular. Similarly, at that time, Du Shi's reputation was not as good as Yuan and Bai, and even worse than Wen and Li. Both Han and Du were prominent under the strong encouragement of the Northern Song Dynasty by Ouyang Xiu (Zun Han), Wang Anshi (Feng Du) and others. Although the Book of Yan has been valued by the Tang Dynasty, the consolidation of its unique position is still after the four major schools of Calligraphy of Su, Huang, Mi, and Cai in the Song Dynasty. All this may seem so coincidental, but it is by no means accidental. From the aesthetic point of view, it clearly reflects the changes in the social foundation and superstructure of the time. The secular landlords rose from the beginning (Tang) to the prosperity (Tang), consolidated through the middle (Tang) to the late (Tang), and by the Northern Song Dynasty, they achieved full rule in the economic, political, legal, and cultural aspects. The time when Du Shiyan's Korean characters gained dominance coincided with this itinerary. As mentioned at the beginning, the class of secular landlords (i.e., Shu and non-identity landlords, relative to the monk landlords and door valve landlords, the same below) has a far wider social base and a large number than that of the Six Dynasties Gate Valve clan. It was not one of the few hereditary houses of the Gate Lords, but large and small landowners scattered in various regions. It is entirely understandable that they welcome and accept the beauty of this more popular norm. Although all this is not necessarily so conscious and conscious, the necessity of history is often always revealed through the unconscious activity of the individual. Cultural history is no exception. These literary and artistic giants of the emerging secular landlord class (represented by Du, Han, and Yan) laid down the norm of beauty for future generations, just as the giants who preceded them slightly before their time (represented by Li Bai) broke through the tradition for future generations. These two factions together have the kind of vitality and strength, "the poems of the Princes of the Tang Dynasty, such as the Yanlu Gongshu, are both powerful and powerful. Therefore, it is natural that they were roughly produced in the same time as the Tang Dynasty, and they were collectively regarded as the "sound of the Tang Dynasty". Although in my opinion, the real sound of the Tang Dynasty is only the former, not the latter. If we all have to say Sheng Tang, then it should be two kinds of "Sheng Tang", each with its own style characteristics, each with its own aesthetic value, and each with its own social significance. Carefully distinguishing them, revealing their respective aesthetic essences, and clarifying the problems that have always been entangled and confused should be said to be meaningful in appreciating, evaluating, and understanding these arts.
Excerpt from Li Zehou's "The Course of Beauty"
Life, Reading, and New Knowledge Triptych Bookstore 2014-03
Partial image source: Feng Kai