Among the ancient Chinese literati, Sima Xiangru has always been the object of envy.
This envy comes from two aspects, one is that he used his talent to get the love of the beautiful Zhuo Wenjun, so much so that he dared to elope with him, which made one of the few romantic love stories in ancient times. Secondly, the envy of later generations of Chinese literati is that he was favored by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty because of his talent, and he was not only recruited into the court as an official, but also entrusted with important tasks and sent to his hometown, and achieved the glory of life when he returned to his hometown.
And the talent that makes Sima Xiangru have such an adventure in life is his ability to write "Fu".
There are two sources of Chinese literature, especially poetry, one is the Book of Songs, and the other is the Ci of Chu.
The Book of Songs is the earliest collection of poetry in ancient China, which collects poems from the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, reflecting the social outlook of about 500 years from the early Zhou Dynasty to the late Zhou Dynasty. The Book of Songs was compiled by Confucius, and was called "Poems" in the pre-Qin period, or "Three Hundred Poems" as an integer number. In the Western Han Dynasty, it was revered as a Confucian classic, originally called the "Book of Songs", and has been used to this day. The "Book of Songs" is divided into three parts: "Wind", "Ya" and "Song". The technique is divided into endowment, comparison and xing.
The poetry scriptures considered by Confucius to be "thinking innocent" have a great influence on China's later generations, from the pre-Qin princes to the later dynasties, people always quote a lot of poetry, and admire the generations, which can be regarded as the Spring and Autumn Era, the opening voice of this ** era of the Chinese. However, the Book of Poetry contains all three or four short sentences, each of which is no more than a dozen, and it is concise and concise, becoming the oldest text condensation.
Compared with the Book of Poetry, Chu Ci is like the Yangtze River, gushing endlessly.
Chu Ci is originally the lyrics of Chu Di. During the Warring States Period, Qu Yuan of the Chu State absorbed its nutrients and created huge masterpieces such as "Lisao", which were imitated by later generations and succeeded by famous articles, becoming a kind of literary work with local characteristics, commonly known as Chu Ci. When it developed to the Han Dynasty, the style of "Fu" appeared. In terms of form, the Han Fu is in the style of Chu Ci, but all the special dialects have been removed, and in terms of content, it is in the style of poetry, but the connotation has been expanded. Therefore, Han Fu is a literary form that absorbs the respective characteristics of the Book of Poetry and Chu Ci.
There are about three or four hundred people in a standard sentence, and there is no limit to the number of words in each sentence, although it does not rhyme strictly, but it does rhyme. This style is more flexible and richer in expression than the forms of poetry and Chu Ci.
Sima Xiangru's "Zixu Fu" was written when Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, but Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty did not like to resign, so Sima Xiangru's fate did not improve greatly. The change came from Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who liked literature.
One day, Liu Che, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, who read "Zi Xufu", actually sighed that "self-hatred cannot be contemporaries with the author". In the eyes of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, such a beautiful rhetoric can only come from the pen of the ancients. But his attendant told Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that its author was a contemporary, and he was still a fellow villager with me, in Shu County, and he had many such works.
So Sima Xiangru's fate changed dramatically, and he was drafted into the court.
The reason why it is dramatic is because Sima Xiangru is in his hometown when he is in love and disappointed in life. Because of his talent in writing Fu, he was liked by the local rich beauty Zhuo Wenjun, and he was willing to elope with this talented Langjun.
Such a scandal made his father-in-law, Zhuo Wangsun, angry, and cut off relations with his daughter in a fit of anger. The two who eloped were under pressure to survive, so they simply opened a wine shop in front of their father-in-law's door, Sima Xiang summoned shorts to serve the guests shirtless, and Zhuo Wenjun even went down to warm the wine for the guests in person. This is a great insult to the father-in-law with status, Zhuo Wangsun's face is gloomy, and he doesn't go out.
And the conscription took place at this time, and the son-in-law, who made his father-in-law deeply ashamed, became the emperor's guest because of an article. Soon after, he paid homage to the Zhonglang general, and sent an envoy to the southwest as a minister to deal with the annexation of the southwest Yi countries, which can be said to be an honor to return to his hometown. Shu County is too guarded and all the **, the suburbs are welcomed, and the people of Shu County are honored. Zhuo Wangsun felt that it was too late to marry his daughter to Sima Xiangru.
From the story of Sima Xiangru, we can see the great influence of Fu in the Han Dynasty. Han Fu has also become a representative literary form after the Book of Poetry and Chu Ci. This form lasted until Tang poetry replaced it and became a dominant force in Chinese literature for hundreds of years.
Sima Xiangru, Ban Gu, Zhang Heng and Yang Xiong have become the four masters of Han Fu that we often say, and their works mark the maturity of Han Fu's content and style.
Sima Xiangru's "Zixu Fu", "Shanglin Fu", Ban Gu's "Liangdu Fu", Yangxiong's "Hedong Fu", Zhang Heng's "Xijing Fu" and other famous works have also become the last dazzling halo of the big ** era.
Sima Qian's "Historical Records", which was called the "Sage of History" by later generations, can be regarded as a summary of the great ** era of China.
The Records of the Historians is not only the first general history of China, the official history, but also the most valuable history book of ancient China. It is from the 27th century before the Yellow Emperor Ji Xuanyuan, down to the century before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty let him be corrupted, with more than 200 biographies, more than 520,000 words, showing 2,600 years of personnel changes and social changes, and then with a number of **, special reports as a supplement, with concise ancient Chinese texts to give us a concise outline of China's development from the beginning to the Han Dynasty. Let this history book not only become a treasure of China, but also set a benchmark for future generations of historians, so that future generations will not be able to jump out of the scope founded by Sima Qian for two thousand years.
In the 5,000 years of China, the "Records of the Historians" is just in the middle, with more than 2,700 years before and more than 2,000 years after. The greatness of the "Records of the Historians" not only lets us know the way China came from in the previous 2,000 years, but also points out the way for China in the next 2,000 years.
From the ideological and cultural field, the prosperity of Han Fu, the exclusive respect of Confucianism, and the completion of the "Historical Records" allowed the Han Dynasty to continue the vigorous creativity of the Chinese in the Great ** era, which is a full expression of the glory of the Great Han.