Famous Chinese poets and their works

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Chinese poetic literature is amazing, multifaceted, mysterious and romantic. It is difficult to translate, but understandable not with the mind, but with the heart. The poetry of China is the poetry of thought. The poems of Chinese poets from the moment the very first lines appeared, born several tens of centuries ago, belong to the world by virtue of their openness to it.

The origins and patterns of ancient Chinese poetry

Ancient Chinese poets of the Neolithic era (around the 8th-3rd millennium BC), no matter how ridiculous it may sound, composed their first poems when many more centuries had to pass before the appearance of hieroglyphic writing. The archaism of poetic origins is confirmed by archaeological materials found on the territory of Ancient China.

Musical instruments and ceramic vessels of that ancient era were decorated with drawings depicting dancing people. Therefore, it is assumed that the poetic element was the most important component of the then emerging dance and musical art, which at first wore a ritualcharacter.

The mythical stories of ancient China describe creativity as a divine gift that was available to god-like characters and the highest rulers. Or people created by divine order.

This is confirmed by the translation of one of the fragments of an ancient treatise called "Springs and Autumn of Lord Lu", which was written in the middle of the III century BC. The meaning of the passage is as follows: "Di Ku ordered Xiao Hei to create singing, and he came up with …". The following is a list of invented songs.

Starting from the first half of the Zhou era, the art of versification gradually becomes an independent creative unit that existed separately from the ritual with its dances and music.

So, around the VIII century BC. e. the term "shi" appeared, which denoted the poems of Chinese poets and, in fact, poetry. The most ancient are the poetic texts printed on bronze vessels.

Today, more than 40 samples of such inscriptions from the 10th-8th centuries are known. BC e., applied to solid surfaces: stone, ceramics or metal. These inscriptions are poetic annalistic compositions, which describe the genealogy of the owner of the vessel and significant moments in the life of the times of the first Zhou rulers.

“Chu stanzas”, or the set of “Chu tsy”

The Kingdom of Chu is the southern regions downstream of the Yangtze River, which existed during the period of the 11th-3rd centuries. BC e. The tradition of poetic creativity of this period is most clearly expressed in the works of the Chu Chinese poets Qu Yuan and Song Yu,who lived in the IV-III centuries. BC e.

A distinctive feature of the author's works of these poets was the power of personal emotional experiences, which is shown through the image of an exile poet, experiencing a life drama, discovering the imperfection of the world and the injustice of the surrounding society.

Such courage in expressing one's own emotions has its roots. Unlike the rituals of the Yellow River regions, the ritual activities of the local culture allowed rituals in which momentary human emotions were expressed in poetic texts that arise when communicating with higher powers during these rituals.

Shi Zing - Book of Songs

The birth of the famous Confucian Book of Songs completed the formation of literary poetry in China. Scientific historians have proved that this anthology was compiled by Confucius himself, placing there, among other things, a whole collection of poetic texts that told about the essence of the chants performed in the process of sacrifices and court ceremonies.

The anthology of Shih Ching includes many poetic works that were created before our era, in the XI-VIII centuries. In the future, Chinese poetic literature developed under the influence of this great book.

Shi ching has become a source of knowledge about human society and nature. It includes 305 poetic texts, the period of creation of which is XI-VI centuries. BC e. The songbook has four sections:

• "Go fyn", translated as "Morals of the kingdoms". It contains 160 songs belonging to fifteenkingdoms that are part of Ancient China of the Zhou Dynasty (soulful poetic folk songs about sincere feelings).
• "Xiao Ya", translated as "Small Odes". Ancient rulers are sung here with their exploits (an example of court poetry).
• "Yes I am", translated as "Great Odes". It contains poetic texts directly from the Zhou tribe (written by court poets).
• "Sun", translated "Hymns". Collected here are temple chants and hymns written in honor of ancient Chinese dynasties.

Each of the listed sections is a separate book. The anthology enjoyed unprecedented popularity both among the people and among the ancient elite. The one who knew the Songs was respected and considered an educated person. However, in 213 BC, almost all the books of the Shih Ching, along with other Confucian works, were burned. True, the Book of Songs was subsequently restored.

Poets of Ancient China

The most famous Chinese poets lived and worked during the Tang (618-907 AD), Song (960-1279 AD) and Han (206 BC) dynasties - 220 AD). The greatest of them are Su Shi, Li Bai and Du Fu.

In those days, any official in the public service could rhyme lines, but only a select few could write real poems from those that became great for all time. It never happened that a peasant became a poet. Only in exceptional cases, poems were written by those whose bureaucratic career did not work out.

Having been educated, the newly baked officials dispersed to strangersto distant lands for service, where they had neither friends nor relatives. No wonder highly educated intellectuals with sensitive hearts took to writing poetry.

Romance and realism of the Tang era

Chinese poets of the Tang era were distinguished by their simplicity of style. Their romantic poems were mostly about love and the beauty of nature. Such was the work of the poet Li Bai (701-762), who wrote in a free style, inherent in the earlier times of Gu Shi. He traveled a lot, lived either in the north in Chang An, or in the southwest in Sichuan. Li Bai described the events and nature of the places he visited in his poems.

Du Fu

An adherent of a completely different style of writing was another poet from the greats of the Tang era - Du Fu (second name Zimei). He was born in Henan in 712. Du Fu's grandfather was the famous poet Du Shenyang. He wrote his first poem at the age of seven, and the level of the work was quite high.

In his youth, like many poets, he led a wild life and traveled a lot. Having matured, he moved to the capital, taking a low position at the palace. During the rebellion, he fled with the emperor's retinue, and when he returned after the suppression of the rebellion, he became close to the emperor. Subsequently, he was an adviser to the young ruler of Suzong.

However, in 759, Du Fu left the service and lived on the outskirts of Chengdu for 4 years alone. After that, he moved with his family to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The poet died in his boat when he once again set sail on the Yangtze.

His poetic stylestructured poetry (Lu Shi) was distinguished by its realistic orientation and drama. Du Fu was an official and served in the capital of Chang'an. He wrote about the severity and injustice of peasant life and the horrors of war. According to numerous testimonies of contemporaries, Du Fu spent the last years of his life in a poor hut. At this time, he wrote the best poetic texts. More than 1,400 of his realistic works have survived to this day.

Bo Juyi

Along with Du Fu, another Chinese poet, Bo Juyi, who lived in the Tang era, denounced injustice and described the suffering of peasants in his works. He was born in the city of Xinzheng in a noble and educated family, and lived in the province of Shanxi, in the town of Taiyuan. In his younger years, the poet was a reformist activist who stood up for the common people.

The poet initiated the New Yuefu movement, believing that creativity is not divorced from reality, and poems must reflect the realities of their era. Political setbacks spurred Bo Juyi to drink heavily and to write ironic poems about wine.

His poetic texts are distinguished by the simplicity of the syllable to the extent that "even an old woman is able to understand." And his essays are sharp, ironic and brevity. Bo Juyi's poetry had a significant impact on Chinese society. In addition, he was popular in Japan and other countries.

Bo Juyi was very close to his contemporary poet Yuan Zhen. In questions of the transformation of poetry, they were like-minded people. Bo Juyi's famous essay "Letter to Yuan Zhen" was the impetus for the Movement fornew poetry.

Li Bo

The Chinese poet Li Bo was the greatest man of letters of his time. His origin, namely distant kinship with the imperial family, did not give him privileges. Li Bo was born in 701 in Sichuan to a poor family. Being a developed child, he already at an early age tried to comment on the classics of Chinese literature. However, Confucianism aroused dislike in him and, having retired to the mountains, he studied Taoism with a hermit monk.

He did not ask for positions and traveled a lot. While traveling, he saved the life of the future First Minister Guo Zi and met the famous poet Du Fu, after which they became friends. Both sang their friendship in verse.

Li Bo was presented to the court only in 742, when he was already a famous poet. There he lounged, drank with friends and wrote poetry. For one such poem, dedicated to the emperor's favorite concubine, as a result of palace intrigues, he suffered, was expelled and continued to study Taoism in Shandong.

After joining the disgraced Prince Yong, who wanted to take the emperor's place, Li Bo was imprisoned and awaiting execution. But he was saved by Minister Guo Zi, who did not forget the service he had once received. Li Bo was sent into exile in Yelan, where he traveled for three whole years, but only reached Wushan, as he stayed with friends for a long time, and there he was caught by a general amnesty.

Li Bo died in Taiping in 761, as an old man, like a true poet. He tried to "hug the reflection of the moon in the waters of the Yangtze" and drowned. A temple was erected on the site of his death.

GreatChinese poets, themselves being officials, blamed the misfortunes of ordinary people on selfish and negligent colleagues through their works, denouncing them both before the people and before the ruler. For impudence and disagreement with the authorities, they were deprived of their posts and exiled away from the capital, where rebellious poets continued to write their damning works.

Sung patriotic poetry

The Sung state in the XII century was attacked by the Jurchens, who came from the northeast, who captured the northern territories of the country. Against this background, patriotic poetry developed, describing pain for people and their country. After the suppression of China by the Mongols of the Yuan Dynasty, this poetic style flared up with renewed vigor. The brightest representatives of the patriotic style were the famous Chinese poets Lu Yu and Xin Qiji.

The latter came from a military family and was brought up in a patriotic spirit and the desire for liberation from the Jurchens. Which he did when he grew up and led a resistance force in 1160, which was defeated a year later by the military of the Jin dynasty. However, Xin Qizi was seen in the Southern Song, where he transferred to the service. His works were distinguished by their patriotic orientation and criticism of the oppressors. Xin Qizi had the best poems about nature among Chinese poets, distinguished by expressiveness of images. The warrior-poet died on the way to the emperor's court on March 10, 1207.

The Chinese poet Su Shi, born Su Dongpo (1037-1101) is the greatest poet of the Northern Song era. More than 2000 of his works and nowcause genuine interest and admiration. He was a court official in the Song Dynasty. After political upheavals, he was expelled and lived on a peasant farm, it was then that he created amazingly powerful poetic works.

Chinese poets of those times had unbending fortitude. They risked their lives, lost comfortable positions and died in distant exile for their beliefs and their poetry.

Styles

Chinese poetry is distinguished by genre diversity and unusual styles. For example, in the Han Dynasty, the rhyming prose "fu" was popular, which, in turn, was divided into "xiao fu" and "da fu". Lyrical poems by Chinese poets about love, nature and feelings were written in the Xiaofu style, while odes and hymns were written in Dafu.

The style of "shi" of the Tang Dynasty is couplets, and the Sung "tsy" in its structure resembles songs, where syllabic patterns are chosen by the poet himself. Both shi and ci were actively used by Chinese poets. At the same time, the authors necessarily adhered to strict rules of versification.

Famous Chinese poets who wrote poems for folk songs used the Ge style, where the structure of the works allows you to sing verse texts.

The qu style was introduced by the Mongols, it is distinguished by its melodic structure and form. Opera or Mongolian music and songs were called Yuan Qu. Modern songs follow the style of Ku, which is free from various poetic forms.

Modern Chinese poetry

ModernChinese poets rarely follow the canons of classical versification. This is because classical norms are incompatible with current Chinese vernacular.

Free verse is a new Chinese poetry that was formed under the influence of European versification. Here are short xiaoshi poems, and lyrical-epic poems, popular in the 1930s, and philosophical short poems of love and landscape lyrics.

The 1970s witnessed an increase in freedom of thought and the themes of poetry, with a shift from glorifying historical events to reassessing historical events and rethinking society.

Nowadays, poetry has lost its popularity inherent in ancient China, giving way to cinema, computer games and other modern realities.