Under the ginkgo tree in the Yamen courtyard, Wang Xiaolie flipped through the manuscript in his hand, with no expression on his face, neither sad nor happy. Chen Yuyi, who was sitting aside, felt uneasy and wondered what Wang Xiaolie's opinion was.
After a long time, Wang Xiaolie put down the manuscript in his hand. Said: "Wu Shu came from the west and was going to station in Luoyang. The surrounding forces were in commotion. Li Kuan from Shaanzhou came to Xiangyang in person, which was really unexpected. I sent Shao Ling to Neixiang to greet him, and he arrived today. Wang Ruohai had something to do a few days ago. I came to Xiangyang and haven't left yet. It's rare for so many people to gather together, so I called Niu Gao to come over and have some food and wine tonight, and we can talk about things together."
Chen Yuyi bowed his hands and said yes.
Wang Xiaolie looked up at the setting sun in the west and didn't speak for a long time. A ginkgo leaf floated down from the tree, and Wang Xiaolie caught it casually. The leaves are slightly yellowish, mostly still green. This leaf is telling that autumn is approaching, but summer is not over yet.
Gently twisting the leaves in his hand, Wang Xiaolie said: "To be honest, looking at these manuscripts, I know that the counselor has worked hard these days. But in my eyes, he is a little dissatisfied."
Chen Yuyi said: "I wonder what Zhenfu is dissatisfied with?"
Wang Xiaolie shook his head gently. Said: "It's not that I'm dissatisfied with any article, but I'm dissatisfied with the attitude of the writer. Why? In these people's writings, it's like the people talking in the tick column are telling stories one by one. Some of them emphasize novelty. , some are about cruelty, and others are telling all kinds of coincidences. Counselor, we are not telling stories. When we rescued Shaanzhou, the army brought so many scholars and asked them to record what they saw and heard. Why? I just want to sort out these deeds when I have free time. The Jin soldiers invaded the south, and everyone was devastated. Many prosperous places became a scorched earth! I don’t want to see these people and these things ten years later, or decades later. , forgotten by people. The pain, struggle, and resistance of the people under the iron cavalry of the Jin Army, and the suffering they encountered should always be remembered by the people on this land. Let future people understand what their ancestors experienced Such hardships. We must let later officials know what failure in benevolent governance and chaos in the court will bring to this country. We must let later armies understand that they cannot defeat the enemy on the battlefield, cannot defend the country's borders, and the entire country's What will the people face."
Having said this, Wang Xiaolie patted the lower part of his leg. Said: "Those who record these records must first understand one thing. They are recording our affairs, not telling a story. When others read it, they are not amazed by the legend of the story, the coincidence of worldly affairs, and the changes in the world, but I lament the difficulty of living for the people. From this point of view, I am not satisfied with these. We are the official, and the official records should naturally be different from those of the private sector."
Chen Yuyi was silent for a long time. Said: "What the governor said is true. I strictly ordered my subordinates to re-edit it."
Wang Xiaolie shook his head bitterly: "Counsellor, you may understand what I'm talking about, or you may not. But one thing can be concluded, just by strictly ordering subordinates to reorganize it, I'm afraid it won't have much effect."
Having said this, Wang Xiaolie looked up at the huge ginkgo tree next to him. After thinking about it for a while, he said: "Scholars, what I'm talking about is diligent study of the Six Classics. Many people say that the first of the Six Classics is the Yi Jing, and there are many, many, various truths. I also read the Six Classics, although it is not profound, I have a rough understanding of it. The meaning. I think that the Six Classics have been about poetry, books, rituals, Yi, Yue, and Spring and Autumn Period since ancient times. This ordering is not unreasonable. At least I think it is appropriate to put poetry at the top of the Six Classics. Reading Those who want to read the poem must first understand it, so that the rest of it can have a foothold."
Chen Yuyi was stunned for a moment after hearing this. This was something I had never heard before, nor had I ever thought about it. He cupped his hands and said, "Please ask the governor to explain it in detail."
Wang Xiaolie said: "What is poetry? There are three hundred poems, words for various songs. When there is no music, or there is no need for music, it becomes poetry. The poems we make now are also lyrics at the beginning, no need for music. Once you sing it, it becomes poetry. But this is not important. What is important is what is said in the poem? Why did the poems that talked about these become national documents and scriptures? "
Playing with the ginkgo leaves in his hand, Wang Xiaoxue said: "I am not as good as you Confucian scholars when it comes to the meaning of the scriptures. But I can talk about it from another perspective, from the political perspective of an official, which is different from the Confucian scholars."
"The content of the three hundred poems is divided into Feng, Ya and Song. Feng is the national style, and by reading the national style, one can know the customs and customs of the world. Ya is the song of the court and court meetings, and one can know the appearance of officials and scholars. Song is the music of sacrifice. , knowing how the ancients worshiped their ancestors. In my opinion, the most important value of the Three Hundred Poems is not how many techniques these poems used or how much inspiration they gave to future generations, but what they are about."
"By reading Feng, you know what the world was like at that time, how people lived in ancient times, and what they thought. By reading Ya, you know what officials, scholars, or gentlemen were at that time. It looks like that. When you read the poem, you will know how the ancients worshiped their ancestors and how they viewed it. The form of the poem is not important. What is said in it and why the ancients said it is important."
Hearing these remarks that he had never heard before, Chen Yuyi opened his mouth and was about to refute. Thinking of Wang Xiaolie's identity, he quickly shut his mouth.
Wang Xiaolie said: "For politics, how an official views the world depends on at least these three items. The first of them is what the world is like, how people live and think. What do they hate? What you like, what you hope for. If you can't understand the people, how can you understand the country? If you don't understand the country, how can you govern it well? This is the foundation. The people are the foundation of the country, and a gentleman is based on this foundation. There is no gentleman , If the foundation is still there, it will be like a dead tree that can bloom in spring. Without a foundation, it will be like the fallen leaves after autumn!"
"The most important thing about poetry is style, followed by elegance and praise. In the Han Dynasty, literati wrote more poems, but there were fewer folk poems. - It cannot be said that there are fewer folk poems, but that folk poems have been Fewer ones have been written down. After the Han Dynasty, even fewer folk poems were recorded. When we read history, it is like talking about three hundred poems. We cannot just talk about poetry, but also talk about its spirit. As things change, people's language also changes. Change. In the pre-Qin period, people used poetry to express their emotions, so-called poetry expresses aspirations. After the Han Dynasty, poetry was not as widespread as in the pre-Qin period. There were more articles and even dramas. By our time, there was another form of speech. It’s different, but if these are about the customs and customs of the world, they are still the national customs.”
Having said this, Wang Xiaolie closed his eyes and reorganized his words. It felt like at the end, what I said was a bit confusing, and I didn't know if Chen Yuyi could understand it.
After a while, Wang Xiaolie said: "What I just meant is that according to the record of the Book of Songs, national style is the first and indispensable. But after the Han Dynasty, there are very few works that can be compared to national style. It is the official record that has been circulated, and basically no longer exists. According to its spirit, without having to pay attention to whether it is a poem, an article, a speech, or a drama, the closest thing we have now is speech."
Having said this, Wang Xiaolie patted the manuscript in his hand and said to Chen Yuyi: "I want you to write down what you see and hear. This is in accordance with the meaning of the imperial court recording national customs in the Book of Songs. Do you understand?"
Chen Yuyi nodded slightly: "I understand somewhat."
Wang Xiaolie said: "There are actually many national customs at this time. Such as talking, drama, nursery rhymes, and some stories passed down orally by the common people. We write them down so that the court and officials can know the situation of the world. Rather than some wealthy families who have never touched the spring water since they were born, and do not know the sufferings of the people. When we grow old and our children and grandchildren read these, they will know how we lived. Instead of just reading history books, Guess what kind of life we had.”
Wang Xiaolie didn't know whether Confucius meant this when he compiled the Book of Songs. But Wang Xiaolie knew that what he said was not biased. It is the country's responsibility to record the country's features. As time develops and a country's strength increases, it should be recorded in more and more detail and in more and more diverse forms. It is an important asset both to the time and to future generations.
Wang Xiaolie didn't know how history viewed the Book of Songs. His education in his previous life was not like this. At that time, The Book of Songs was China's first collection of poems, emphasizing its historical and literary value. As for its political implications, we have basically ignored it.
In Wang Xiaolie's view, the most important significance of the Book of Songs is its political value. The Book of Songs talks about what should be included in a country’s documents and how to study these contents. The form of the poem is irrelevant. The reason why the Book of Songs is poetry is because that was the language of the time. With the development of time, this form has turned into songs, poems, tunes, dramas, and even movies, TV, or short videos, animations, comics, and forum messages. Its spirit remains unchanged. Starting from the pre-Qin era when the Book of Songs began, China's political power has paid attention to what the people think and think, what they like and what they hate.
In this sense, with the development of technology, the world has entered the Internet era. Facing this era, the spirit of the Book of Songs has not been passed down. As a national institution, we should study what people's thoughts on forums represent when they use "hehe" as a universal reply and say "Thanksgiving" for everything. What measures should be taken in the face of such thoughts?
Cultural institutions need to study how and why animation became popular. The thoughts in animation represent what kind of thoughts people in the new era have. Cultural institutions also need to study why campus culture in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other places, as well as campus youth idol dramas based on this culture, are so popular among young people in China. Why do young people in China no longer talk about classmates, but learn to call them seniors and seniors? Cultural institutions also need to study why China's online literary works, from Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom, quickly become templated and even routine-based. Why is it that in online literature, the pretentious and slap-in-the-face type of son-in-law is so popular? Why is the plot of someone who has their talent taken away and takes back the revenge particularly attractive to readers? Why the decline of martial arts TV series and the rise of fairy tales and ancient puppet works represent what kind of aesthetics young people have.
It is not enough to just say which types of works have a bad impact on society and simply ban them. These phenomena illustrate people's thoughts and the style of an era. As an official cultural institution, what we need to do is research and provide guidance based on research.
