The ancients "selfie copywriting"
▌Li Chuqiao
It is said that this is the era of "look at the face". Thanks to smart phones and social media, the selfie culture has penetrated into the daily lives of men, women and children. A self-image taken at random or meticulously modified with a few lines of simple mood text has become a new way for people to release their individuality and even shape their personal image.
The civilization of human science and technology is changing with each passing day, but the spiritual needs for self-expression and self-appreciation are indistinguishable. Before the birth of photography, the ancients had been accustomed to using portraits to record their appearances, which were called "small photos".
Yuan Mei's "Suiyuan Poetry Talk" Volume 7 mentioned: "There are no small photos in ancient times. It started from the painting of ancient sages and martyrs in the Wuliang Temple of the Han Dynasty. Nowadays, there is a line of happy pictures for the vulgar and vulgar." A sense of superiority, in fact, he was dissatisfied with the "requesting questions" trend that was spawned by the popular portraits of the whole people at that time.
Modern people post a selfie, and they have to compile copywriting to show their taste. The ancients took great pains to paint portraits for themselves, and hoped that there would be a good poem to "complement" and show the personality and style of the people in the paintings. It's a pity that most people don't have enough ink in their belly, so they have to ask someone to chant. A celebrity like Yuan Mei receives a lot of guests who "hold a picture scroll and begging for poems" every day. When we meet each other, we must exaggerate each other from the skin to the soul in just a few lines. This is not difficult!
Complaints fall into complaints. After all, why are people so persistent about the subject like poetry? It is not led by cultural icons in history.
From "narcissism" to "self-denial"
From the time when Chinese portrait art was born, poems on portraits have been accompanied by them, and were first called "Portrait Praise". But for centuries, these "likes" were neither interesting nor uninteresting. They were not for self-expression, but for moral education. The protagonist of the chant is nothing more than the role models of heroes, sages, martyrs, filial sons, etc., which are the things that Lu Xun bore the most when he was a child looking through the old house.
Lu Xun doesn’t like old morals, but he can recreate old cultures. For example, his famous poem "Small Portrait of Oneself": "The spirit platform has no way to escape from the gods, and the storm is like a dark homeland. I recommend Xuanyuan with my blood." Needless to say, it has inherited the tradition of literati writing like and expressing ideas since the Tang and Song dynasties.
Literati self-inscribed portraits, my hand writes my heart to me, whether it is sad or happy, or screams if it is uneven, it must be much more moving than praising the heroic women. This tradition began in the middle and late Tang, flourished in the Song and Yuan dynasties, and became popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. There is also a cultural context behind it: the imperial examination system is mature and the literati class has awakened, and then literati painting has risen, and then the trend of thought "resisting reason with emotion" and the development of literati self-consciousness appear.
The earliest fan of image poems that we can know is also the one who pioneered a trend in the history of Tang poetry-Bai Juyi. Bai Juyi is really a bit "narcissistic." When he was 36 years old in Chang'an as a Hanlin bachelor, he asked the famous painter Li Fang to paint a portrait of himself and wrote a poem: "I don't know myself, Li Fang writes that I am true. God and bones are people in the mountains.” It means a little pretentious.
Ten years later, Bai Juyi revisited this image, feeling that he was a lot older, and couldn't help but complain to himself: "I was thirty-six, and my appearance was in Danqing. I am forty-six today, and I am in decline. , No repetition of past rituals. Forms and shadows care about each other silently, like a brother to an old man." As a realist master, there is a trace of humor in the line drawing, which makes it impossible to see that he is experiencing the greatest pain of his political career-being demoted for slander. State. However, at the end of this "Title Old Photograph", he gritted his teeth and stated that "I hate Lingyan Pavilion and cannot paint fame", which shows that he still wants to do a career.
However, after another decade of beating in the political arena, the 56-year-old Bai Juyi completely denied the 46-year-old Bai Juyi. He found this portrait again and inscribed a poem "Sense of Old Portraits". This time he refused to mention any lofty ambitions, saying that he would be fine if he was still alive: "Li Fang wrote me truth, and wrote it for twenty years. Don't ask. How true is it, the paintings are also glamorous. Zhu Yan and Xuan Temple have been revamped day and night. There is no difference in appearance, and the joy is still there."
One portrait, three mentalities, how vivid and helpless, can exhaust the frustrations of a generation of talented scholars over the past twenty years. Bai Juyi's three poems with portraits are comparable to the tales of his friend Liu Yuxi's three trips to Xuandu Temple, and they have also inspired future generations.
Or bitterness, or serious
In the Song Dynasty, the sense of existence of the literati class was unprecedentedly strong, and coupled with the rapid development of culture and art, all literati of some status and status loved to ask for portraits. The objects are relative to each other, with mixed feelings. When the leaders of the poetry circle complain, they naturally create a lot of classic poems.
Su Shi wrote a poem titled "Portrait of Jinshan", the poem is famous, and the painter who made his portrait is even more famous-Li Gonglin, known as the "first person in Song painting". Su Shi was over sixty years old when he wrote this poem. He experienced three dynasties, suffered three demotions, wandered for a little half of his life, and finally returned to Beijing after being pardoned. He set off from Hainan and passed by Jinshan Temple in Zhenjiang. He saw the portrait of Li Gonglin painted for himself many years ago in the temple. He sighed and said: "The heart is like a wood that is already ashes, and the body is like a boat that is not tied to it. Ask Ru's life achievements, Huizhou, Danzhou, Huangzhou ."
The moment the poem came to an end, it was only more than two months before the end of Su Shi's life. The great poet may have a premonition of this, and he gave himself a bleak tone to "conclude the coffin": the merits of this life, not in the ritual ministry, nor in the name of the world, but in the three barren states that have been relegated. Sad? Humorous? It really complied with the state of Lu Zhishen's sixth and pagoda listening to the tide when he passed away, "I know I am me today".
It is also a poem titled during the period of being demoted. Huang Tingjian’s "Portrait of Self-Praise" is also very interesting: "Like a monk with hair, like a vulgar without dust. Dreaming in a dream, seeing the body outside." Huang Tingjian's character, The experience is quite similar to that of his teacher, but he also has unique skills. One is to learn Buddhism and precepts for half a lifetime, and write the inscribed poem with the tune of Zen's mind. The second is to be able to paint well. You don’t need to hire a painter, you can give yourself a portrait, and you can write poems with relish after painting. He is really a "selfie master" and "selfie copywriter" in the Northern Song Dynasty.
In contrast, Zhu Xi, another master of self-portrait, is not so cute. The poetry he wrote to himself is too ungrounded: "Calm in the field of etiquette, sinking in the house of benevolence and righteousness. It is Yugai who intends, But it’s impossible to understand. Pei Xianshi’s motto is to follow the precepts of the former violent. But it is secretly repaired by the day, or almost silent."
This series of Zhihuzhe, coupled with Master Zhu's self-portrait with a long beard, smiling and bowing gestures, is unclear. However, Zhu Xi also said that this is "a portrait of a mirror, with self-warning". It is necessary to be more serious, otherwise how can you achieve the better self in your mind.
"The First Mystery Case" in the History of Poetry
"Self-portrait" is not the privilege of beauties, nor is the title of literati. "The Poems of the Tang Dynasty" contains a work titled "Self-Inscriptions". The poem is not very amazing, but the author is indeed extraordinary: Huang Chao.
As the first "grave-digger" in the Tang Empire, Huang Chaoai was also good at writing poems. This is no longer cold knowledge. For example, the two very imposing sentences "Fragrance to the sky penetrates Chang'an, and the city is full of golden armor", which are well-known in the entire history of Chinese poetry. This is Huang Chao's work after he failed in the exam when he was young. It shows a fierce unwillingness to fail and teaches people how to read it. But his "Portrait of Self-Inscription" is completely different: "I remember flying on the grass, iron clothes full of monk clothes. No one knows on the Tianjin bridge, and he leaned on the fence to watch Luo Hui."
The editor of "Quan Tang Poems" appended a caption to this poem:
Tao Yi's "Five Dynasties Chaotic Li Ji" said: "After the nest was defeated, he became a monk, and he lived in Luoyang according to Zhang Quanyi. Once painted a poem with portraits, people see the image and recognize him as Chaoyun."
According to this statement, after the failure of the uprising, Huang Chao fled to Luoyang to become a monk, took refuge in Zhang Quanyi, his former subordinate, and drew his appearance after becoming a monk, and wrote this seven-character quatrain.
Deeds and poetry are in reference to each other, and the image of a late man is on paper. Once the army horse was stubborn, with great ups and downs, but now it escapes into the empty door and hides in the market. The dramatic contrast and the desolate mood of honor and disgrace are both impressive, and it is also in line with the "human design" of Huang Chao.
Although the book "Five Dynasties Luan Li Ji" that first recorded this poem has been scattered and lost, in the notes of scholars and scholars in the Song Dynasty, the record of Huang Chao's ordained poem is not uncommon, and the details are becoming more and more full. Wu Zeng's "Nenggaizhai Manlu" mentioned that Huang Chao's place of monk was Nanchan Temple. Wang Mingqing's "Waichenlu" added that Huang Chao's dharma name was Zen Master Cuiwei. Another person verified that he finally went to Xuedou in Mingzhou. There is a tomb of Huangchao in the temple and Xuedou Temple, and the local government still sends people to make sacrifices every year.
In addition to hearsay, more personal experience. For example, in Shao Bo’s "The Shaw Family", he said that he saw a monk on the wall of Nanchan Temple. The appearance is no different from ordinary people, but his eyes are fierce like a snake. The old monk in the temple told him that this is the yellow nest. Said that there was a rare silk portrait of Huang Chao in the temple, and read the classic poem again and again. With this layer of information superimposed, the credibility of the poem written by Huang Chao's monk is almost certain.
What is the ending of Huang Chao in history, from the Can Tang and Five Dynasties to today, there is still no conclusion. Official historical materials alone are fighting each other. The Old Tang Book says that he was killed by his nephew in the rebellion, and the New Tang Book says that he was defeated and killed himself. As for the time, place, and last words of his death, detailed records The discrepancy is even greater, which is really a mess. Is it possible for Huang Chao to escape and become a monk under the pseudonym? No one can say no, you don’t see this vivid "Self-titled Portrait" as evidence.
However, Zhao Yushi of the Southern Song Dynasty was the first to jump out to solve the case. He clearly pointed out in "Bin Tui Lu" that this poem that has been circulated for almost two hundred years with Huang Chao's name has nothing to do with Huang Chao. It is not even an original poem, but "Yi Yuan Wei Zhi" The poems of "Zhidushi" flew easily, and merged into one." To put it bluntly, it was cut and put together from the two poems of Yuan Zhen.
All the mysteries are in Yuan Zhen's group of poems called "Two Poems by Zhidu Shi". This was written by Yuan Zhen to a buddhist monk friend who was born in the army. It described the other party's experience of fighting heroically during the Anshi Rebellion and his later life after a leisurely conversion. The original text of the two poems is as follows:
Forty years ago, he flew right away, and his fame and fame were full of Zen clothes. Under the pomegranate garden, go back alone.
Three traps, Siming and three breakthroughs, the iron clothing throws out the Zen clothing. No one knows on the Tianjin Bridge, lean on the railing and watch Luohui.
So far, the origin of the legendary Huang Chao's "Portrait of Self-Inscription" speaks for itself. At the same time, there is also a phenomenon that makes people think deeply: even if someone pointed out the truth of the matter as early as the Song Dynasty, for more than a thousand years, this fake work named Huang Chao has always been much more famous than the original poem, with more powerful poetic vitality. It can also arouse the "Xingguan group complaints" of future generations. The self-inscribed image poem has the meaning of self-contemplation and reflection. The image-inscribed poem that can be recited by thousands of mouths is the evaluation of this self-evaluation from the audience's perspective. People like to see a person with unspeakable merits and demerits put down his butcher knife and become a Buddha. Isn't this also a kind of human heart?