"Drunken Pavilion" is a classic essay created by Ouyang Xiu in the Song Dynasty, and once this article came out, it immediately caused a sensation in the Literary Circle of the Northern Song Dynasty.
However, Ouyang Xiu's student Su Shi commented on the article: "Its words are easy to play, cover the clouds, and do not think it is strange." Su Shi means that this article is only a game work, and the content is not unique, and it is not worthy of such praise.
People who held the same view as Su Shi were Wang Anshi. The latter believes that Wang Yuanzhi's "Record of the Bamboo Building" is significantly stronger than Ouyang Xiu's "Record of drunken Pavilion". However, this "Drunken Pavilion" reached the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, but it was suddenly "rehabilitated".
During the Qing Dynasty, this "Drunken Pavilion" has been revered as a "masterpiece" in ancient travelogues. If you want to know why Ouyang Xiu's essay has become a "famous piece through the ages", let's find the reasons from the statements of literary critics of past generations.
I. Where is the "bad" of "Drunken Pavilion"?
In fact, at the beginning of the publication of Ouyang Xiu's "Drunken Pavilion", it had already triggered a debate that lasted for many years on the question of whether its genre was "remembered" or "endowed".
In ancient times, "ji" was originally based on records, but in Ouyang Xiu's article, there is a lot of discussion, and at the same time, there are exclusive words for "endowment" in many places.
Therefore, at that time, many people thought that it was a "gift". Therefore, the Northern Song Dynasty poet Chen Shidao believed that Ouyang Xiu deliberately imitated Du Mu's "A Fang Gong Fu" and wrote a "game" article.
Because the ancient people's papers, first on the system, and then on the clumsiness, the body is not correct, the text does not matter. As a result, in the eyes of the literary critics of the two Song Dynasties, "The Tale of the Drunken Pavilion" lost its qualification to receive good reviews.
After Ouyang Xiu's article came out, Huang Tingjian liked it more, so he immediately "followed the trend" and then wrote a "hidden word" "RuiHe Xian Huan Chu Ji Shan Ye". The full text of the "Drunken Pavilion" was simplified and incorporated into this poem.
Later, Huang Tingjian mentioned in the "Book Of Wang Yuanzhi Zhulou Records": Wang Anshi said that "Zhulou Records" was better written than "Drunken Pavilion". Some people think that Wang Anshi did not say such a thing, but Huang Tingjian thought he had said so.
Because Wang Anshi is a relatively old-fashioned person, he commented on the article "often first system and then clumsy writing". When he looked at it, Ouyang Xiu's "Drunken Pavilion Record" was not clear whether it was "record" or "fu", it must have been poorly written.
In addition to the problem of "remembering" and "giving", there is also an obvious problem in "Drunken Pavilion" that twenty "also" words are used continuously throughout the text, and some people feel that this is more deliberate and artificial.
However, there are also those who oppose this statement. For example, Ye Liao at the end of the Song Dynasty mentioned in "Love Ri Zhai Cong Banknote" that there is a hardcore Ouyang Xiu fan surnamed Hong who said: "There are twenty-one "alsos" in the "Drunken Pavilion", and there are also sixteen "alsos" in the "Wine Classic" written by Su Shi.
Why does everyone remember the Drunken Pavilion, but few people remember Su Shi's Wine Sutra? Su Shi's "Wine Classic" is less "five" and "also" than Ouyang Xiu, and the degree of "fabrication" should be slightly lower than the latter.
However, when Ouyang Xiu uses the word "also" in the article, he has a better grasp of rhyme and rhythm. Let the reader unconsciously produce an excited emotion, "wonderful is not the world's pen and ink can describe."
However, due to Su Shi's great influence in the literary circles of the Two Song Dynasties, "The Tale of drunken Pavilion" has not been highly evaluated. However, this situation changed a lot in the Yuan and Ming dynasties.
Second, where is the goodness of "Drunken Pavilion"?
Before officially entering the Yuan Dynasty, the literary world's evaluation of "Drunken Pavilion" has begun to undergo a small change. Chen Hu of the late Song Dynasty believed in the "Xitang Jiqi Old Continuation" that the "Drunken Pavilion" has "unprecedented originality" in the system of the article.
Wang Ruoxuan, a literary critic of the Jin Dynasty, also believes that the predecessors were more "ridiculed" by this article, mainly because of its funny style. But that doesn't stop it from being a great one, so what's so good about this article?
First, it is Ouyang Xiu's work from the bottom of his heart, and it is a model of flowing nature. Although "Zhulou Ji" is a very decent narrative, "Drunken Pavilion Record" breaks the inherent stylistic boundaries and has "innovation" in the article system.
The creation of articles has always attached importance to emotional expression. The so-called "love is the scripture of literature", and the creation of literature because of emotion is a requirement of Chinese aesthetics. In terms of lyricism, "Drunken Pavilion" is still slightly stronger than "Bamboo House".
Second, this article is the work of Ouyang Xiu's "self-righteousness", who created a new system of articles. Chen Shidao of the Northern Song Dynasty mentioned in the "Poetry of houshan": "Retreat to the record, remember its events; the present record is also discussed." ”
When Han Yu used to write notes, he only wrote articles on notes, but in the era when Chen Shidao was, when everyone wrote "notes", they had already begun to publish discussions.
So when exactly did this shift begin? Shaoyou is called "Drunken Pavilion Record", and also uses endowment! The meaning of this sentence is that from the beginning of the "Drunken Pavilion", there is not only a discussion in the narrative article, but also the expression of "endowment".
This is "self-offending," a genius innovation. This is the advantage of "Drunken Pavilion", not the disadvantage. Therefore, the innovation of "Drunken Pavilion" is incomparable to other articles.
Third, this article is not a game work, but a work of Ouyang's ingenuity. Because this article seems to be written more casually and more personality-
Fourth, this article is "chaotic and orderly" and has a high ideological intention. When Ouyang Xiu wrote this article, he had just been demoted to an official, but instead he exiled himself as a free and secluded life.
At the same time, in this article, Ouyang Xiu's idea of "enjoying with the people" is also reflected. The phrase "drunkard does not mean wine" is particularly intriguing.
In other words, the literati of the three dynasties of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties all believed that the article "Drunken Pavilion" was lyrical, original and ideological. For the dispute between "remembering" and "fu", modern scholar Wu Xiaoru believes that it is neither "remembering" nor "fu", but a prose poem.
epilogue
The literati of the Song Dynasty looked more serious, and although they occasionally wrote some comical articles, such as Su Shi, who wrote a lot of funny poems, in their hearts, they always believed that they adhered to the principle of "writing to carry the Tao".
So for those "not serious" articles, they will not give high praise. However, in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, this situation changed, and the idea of "carrying the Tao with literature" was shaken. Especially after the Ming Dynasty, everyone prefers works that promote "spirituality".
Literary creation belongs to the category of art, so to evaluate the quality of an article, we must first see whether it is written with a sense of truth. The second is to see whether it is unique, which refers to both the originality of narrative art and the originality of thought.
"Drunken Pavilion" is quite successful in terms of lyricism. However, the idea of "enjoying with the people" in the article is not unique to Ouyang Xiu. Therefore, Su Shi mistakenly believes that this article "does not think it is strange also".
Moreover, the literati of the Song Dynasty had a big problem, that is, when creating poetry articles, they were often more rational than emotional, so Song poetry was far less touching to read than Tang poetry, because the Song Dynasty literati loved to "reason" in poetry.
The "originality" of the article "Drunken Pavilion" is precisely reflected in the unclear system of its "ridicule" by the Song people. Because of this "travelogue", people can read the feeling of "poetry" and "endowment" from it.