【Famous people say Lingnan】How was the majestic poetic style of Lingnan forged during the Ming and Qing dynasties?

Wu Chengxue

Liu Zongyuan thinks that "no one in Lingnan"?

Since the Ming Dynasty, Lingnan people have begun to have a relatively strong sense of township culture. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Qiu Mao wrote a preface to the "Wuxi Collection" written by the Lingnan sage Yu Jing: "To taste the strange willow is the atmosphere of the mountains and rivers of Lingnan, and it is only for things, not for people." He was angry about this, and felt that Liu Zongyuan thought that the beautiful spirit of the mountains and rivers in Lingnan was only gathered in the property, not in people, which was quite the meaning of no one in Lingnan. He then listed Two famous people from Lingnan, Zhang Jiuling of the Tang Dynasty and Yu Jing of the Song Dynasty, to refute them.

In fact, Liu Zongyuan did not mean this. He mentioned in the "Preface to sending the poet Liao Youfang" that Jiaozhou produced many treasures, the property was strange, and the grass and trees were different from those in other places. Then he sighed and said, "I taste the strange Yang Virtue Bingyao, which originates uniquely in the midst of a variety of magnificences, and rarely resembles people." Jiaozhou is probably in the territory of Hanoi in present-day Vietnam, far from Lingnan, and Liu Zongyuan did not say that the divine qi of Jiaozhou is "not interested in people", but said "Han Zhong hu people", and the words are very measured. From the perspective of writing rhetoric, Liu Zongyuan's meaning of "Han Zhong Hu Ren" is only to praise the valuable talent of the Jiaozhou poet Liao Youfang. In short, the object of Liu Zongyuan's comments has no entanglement with Lingnan, and he has absolutely no intention of belittling Lingnan talents. With Qiu Mao's erudition, he will not misunderstand Liu Zongyuan's words, and he will only use this topic to express his confidence in Lingnan culture. Behind this "self-confidence" is actually a kind of identity anxiety, that is, it is worried that Lingnan culture will be obscured and despised by other regional cultures.

It is no wonder that, because in the Chinese cultural map, Before the Ming Dynasty, Lingnan was indeed relatively backward and remote, especially the obstacle of the Five Ridges, which caused a certain degree of alienation and even isolation from the cultural center. Fortunately, the celebrities exiled here, such as Han Yu, Su Shi and many others, have made these places widely known at home and abroad, such as "Chaozhou", "Huizhou" and "Hainan". After the Ming Dynasty, Lingnan culture has developed more obviously, and the literature that has survived to this day has only increased greatly after the Ming Dynasty. What Qiu Mao expressed was a gradually self-conscious Lingnan cultural consciousness at that time.

A majestic poetic style comparable to the Central Plains and Jiangnan

On the occasion of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Lingnan became a place where many literati at home and abroad yearned, gathered and paid attention to because of its special geographical location. During the eighteen years, the Yongli regime moved between Lingnan and Southwest China. As an important position against the Qing Dynasty and the restoration of the Ming Dynasty, the Lingnan region gathered a large number of relict poets. They have personally experienced the vicissitudes and great changes of the Yi Dynasty, their thoughts have been tempered in pathos and reflections, their emotions have suffered in bitterness and pain, and their poetry has penetrated the righteousness of heaven and earth. At that time, many Lingnan poets were participants or witnesses of the anti-Qing struggle, and many poets traveled abroad many times to establish deep ties with poets outside Lingnan, and they used the majesty of Lingnan to absorb the thickness of the Central Plains, the tenacity of Qin and Jin, the agility of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the fierceness of Xiang'e, and they took a wide range of wisdom and forged a heroic poetic style comparable to the Central Plains and Jiangnan.

An in-depth analysis of the reasons for the prosperity of the Lingnan poetry scene and the dynamic changes in the new pattern of the poetry world during the Ming and Qing dynasties undoubtedly have academic significance in the history of literature. Professor Li Chanjuan's book "Research on Lingnan Poetry in the Ming and Qing Dynasties" is rich in content, and I will briefly talk about my reading experience.

This book focuses on three clusters of Lingnan poets during the Ming and Qing dynasties, namely the "Twelve Sons of South Garden", "West Garden Poetry Society" and "Five Sons of Beitian". The composition of the poet group, the time of activity, the life and travel, the poetry creation and the influence of status are examined. Among them, the study of the poetry group of the remnants of the "West Garden Poetry Society" is the most noteworthy. The "Xiyuan Poetry Society", which was active in Guangdong during the shun and Kang years in the early Qing Dynasty, was founded by Qu Dajun, a famous poet in Lingnan, and has existed for nearly 50 years. In the past, the record of it was relatively simple and trivial, and there were many contradictions and errors, which affected the understanding of its true appearance and exact status. Based on the relatively reliable historical records, combined with the lives and works of the members of the poetry society, this book investigates the origin of the establishment of the poetry society, the time of establishment and existence, the development of activities, etc., and at the same time analyzes and examines some previously inaccurate statements, restores the general appearance of the poetry society and the appearance of the members, and provides historical support for further research. The author strives to reveal the convergence of mentality in the poetry group: the exceptionally fierce national sentiment and the tenacious and indomitable spirit of national salvation, the strong sense of locality and the love of the culture of the township, the unity of the mentality of avoiding the world and avoiding disasters, and the firm belief in inheriting the world's Taoist unity and cultural salvation.

The unique brilliance of Lingnan poetry during the Ming and Qing dynasties

In terms of poet research, this book is the most innovative for Chen Zisheng's research. Chen Zisheng was one of the "Twelve Sons of Nanyuan" in the late Ming Dynasty, and was called the "Three Sons of Eastern Guangdong" together with Wang Minglei and Wu Ruilong; and together with Chen Gongyin, Liang Peilan, Cheng Keze, Wang Bangqi, Wang Minglei and Wu Ruilong, he was also known as the "Seven Sons of Eastern Guangdong". His "Collected Remains of Zhongzhou Caotang" truly reflects the political changes in Lingnan during the Yi Dynasty, the situation of the poetry world, and the complex mentality of the Han remnant literati at the time of the Ding Revolution, and has rich textual significance. In addition, he takes poetry as the sending of life, benefits many teachers, and has a changeable poetic style, and is good at forming his own unique poetic characteristics on the basis of absorbing the essence of the poetry of his predecessors. Previously, the academic research on Chen Zisheng was relatively weak, and this book studied Chen Zisheng in a more in-depth and comprehensive manner.

This book also has a good discussion on the construction of Lingnan scholars' sense of rural state and the construction of Lingnan regional poetic concept in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. In all regional cultures, the sense of township state is universal. Of course, the Lingnan people's sense of rural state did not begin in the Ming Dynasty, but since the Ming Dynasty, it has been stronger and more conscious, which is also closely related to Lingnan's creation and self-identity. The formation of the Lingnan poet cluster and the maturity of the Lingnan poetic style herald the advent of the era of poetry with regionality as the main feature. Through the Lingnan poetry circles in the Ming and Qing dynasties, we can clearly see the influence and expression of the township consciousness in the construction of regional poetic views.

In short, "Lingnan Poetry at the Time of the Ming and Qing Dynasties" conducts an overall investigation of the Lingnan poetry circle under the historical time, space and social culture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and strives to truly and deeply present the spiritual history of Lingnan poets in this period, show the process of the rise and prosperity of lingnan poetry, explore the interconnection and influence of Lingnan poetry and the Central Plains, Jiangsu and Zhejiang poetry, and reveal the changes in the fashion of Lingnan poetry at the time of the Ming and Qing dynasties and the significance in the evolution of poetry history. It can be said that this book has greatly promoted and expanded the research in this field on the basis of the research of predecessors.