In January 2024, the "headline poet" of "October" is Chen Xianfa. "October" is entitled "Suddenly", and 8 poems by Chen Xianfa were published. The inscription shows that Chen Xianfa's 8 poems are the eight bricks in the tomb of Cao Cao's clan. There is some text on each brick, hence the title of these eight poems.
Since "October" is titled "Suddenly", let's take a look at this "Suddenly". Chen Xianfa's poem "Suddenly" was written with the last emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Han Xian, as the main line, which is the Son of Heaven in Cao Cao's "coercing the Son of Heaven to order the princes". To be honest, after reading Chen Xianfa's poems, the biggest impression is that it is "obscure".
There are as many as 11 annotations in this group of poems alone, just like the classical Chinese we read when we were in school. When you read the original text, you have to read the notes, otherwise it will be a little inexplicable. But this kind of leapfrogging reading will make the whole reading fragmented, and it will increase the difficulty of comprehension.
Therefore, when I go to school, I am most afraid of classical Chinese. And the result of fear is that I always feel that the more things I annotate, the more profound they are. Therefore, Chen Xianfa's group of poems looks very learned. For such a work, it is very difficult to read, let alone comment. So, I don't know where to start with this article.
Reading articles, poetry should be the same, and you have to start with the words. Chen Xian's song "Suddenly", the title is puzzling, what does this mean? In today's words, does it mean "forget it"? Chen Xianfa's poem "Suddenly" feels that it was written from the standpoint of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, not from the standpoint of Cao Cao.
History is always defeated by the rabble", "40,000 hidden paper horses", "the cry of a weak person can reach the depths of the will to live", these sentences give people the feeling that it is indeed more positive for Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, rather than Cao Cao. As a result, the bricks in the tomb of Cao Cao's clan felt as if they were intentionally carved for Emperor Han Xian.
There has never been a unified evaluation of historical figures. Different angles and different positions will lead to different evaluation results, or even complete opposites. But we should know by now that history is not made by a few people, but by the vast number of working people. The direction and development of history cannot be decided by a few people, but by the broad masses of laborers.
But in Chen Xianfa's poem "Suddenly", what we see is that "history is always defeated by the rabble" and "40,000 hidden paper horses" seem to refer to 40,000 laborers. And Emperor Xian of Han, the ruler of a feudal dynasty, turned out to be "a weakling". So, it doesn't seem to be the same way we feel.
Of course, I shouldn't have understood what Chen Xianfa was expressing in this song "Suddenly". And for today's poetry, "understanding" is a very low-level requirement, and even a mistake. Therefore, this article is "over".
However, there is still a digression, starting in 2024, the "headline poets" of "Poetry Magazine", "People's Literature", and "Shanghai Poets" all have a new atmosphere, but "October" does not seem to have it. "October" is still insisting on her direction of selection, as a comprehensive literary publication, "October" has always been in the limelight in the field of poetry.