Qu Yuan is one of the greatest patriotic poets in China, and also the earliest known famous poet and great politician in China. He created the style of "Chu Ci" (that is, the style of "Ci Fu") and the tradition of "vanilla beauty". Li Sao, Nine Chapters, Nine Songs and Tian Wen are the most important representative works of Qu Yuan. Li Sao is China's longest lyric poem. The works of Qu Yuan seen in later generations are all from the Songs of Chu compiled by Liu Xiang in the Western Han Dynasty. This book is mainly composed of Qu Yuan's works, including one Li Sao, nine songs and eleven chapters (Taiyi, Yun, Lady Xiang, Shao Siming, Hebo, National Mourning and Ritual Soul).
Qu Yuan was trusted by Chu Huaiwang in his early years and worked as Zuo Tu and a doctor in San Lv. He often discussed state affairs with Chu Huaiwang, participated in the formulation of laws, advocated clear laws and regulations, appointed talents, reformed politics, and united with Qin. While presiding over foreign affairs. He advocated that Chu should unite with Qi and * * * should contend with Qin. With the efforts of Qu Yuan, the national strength of Chu State has been enhanced. However, due to Qu Yuan's honest and frank personality and the slander and rejection of others, Qu Yuan was gradually alienated by Chu Huaiwang. In the first 305 years, Qu Yuan opposed the conclusion of the Yellow Thorn Alliance between Chu Huaiwang and Qin, but Chu completely embraced Qin. Qu Yuan was also expelled from the capital by Chu Huaiwang and exiled to the Northern Han Dynasty. Qu Yuan was expelled from Du Ying. During his exile, Qu Yuan felt depressed and began to create literature. His works are full of attachment to Chu and enthusiasm for the country and the people. His works, gorgeous words, strange imagination, novel metaphors and profound connotations have become one of the origins of China literature. In the first 278 years, the general of the State of Qin conquered the capital in vain. In desperation and indignation, Qu Yuan threw a big stone into the Miluo River and died. 1953 is the 2230th anniversary of Qu Yuan's death. The World Peace Council passed a resolution that Qu Yuan was one of the four cultural celebrities in the world that year.
Note 1:
Recently, the research results of "Hanshou Theory of Qu Yuan's Hometown" submitted by Qu Yuan Society in Hanshou County, Hunan Province passed the appraisal. After carefully reading the report materials and the introduction of unearthed cultural relics, we went to Canggang Ancient Town in Hanshou County for a field trip. A large number of Qu Yuan's relics, unearthed cultural relics and descriptions related to Qu Yuan's works confirm that people have to feel that Qu Yuan's hometown is probably in Hanshou. At least, "Qu Yuan's hometown is in Hanshou" can be regarded as a well-founded new theory.
[Edit this paragraph] Qu Yuan's hometown
Yichang Zigui [1] is the hometown of Qu Yuan, a great poet in the Warring States Period, and also one of the cradles of Chu culture. Located at the foot of Woniu Mountain on the north bank of the Yangtze River, surrounded by city walls, it looks like a skew gourd and has a strong classical architectural style. Therefore, it is called "Hulu City". Because the city walls are all made of stone, it is also called "stone city". The county was established in the Han Dynasty and Guizhou in the Tang Dynasty. In the first year of the Republic of China, it was changed to Zhou Xian, and in the third year of the Republic of China, it was changed to Zigui County, which has been used ever since.
Most of the scenic spots in Zigui are related to Qu Yuan. Outside the east gate of Zigui County, stands a tall archway with the words "Qu Yuan's hometown" written by Guo Moruo. Next to it are two stone tablets, which are engraved with "The Hometown of Doctor Chu Qu Yuan" and "The Hometown of Hanwang Wang Qiang" respectively.
There is a beach between Zigui and Xiangxi, which is said to be the burial place of Qu Yuan's body, and was later named "Qu Yuan Tuo". There is Quyuan Temple on Tuo. Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, due to the construction of Gezhouba Water Control Project, the water level has risen. After several relocations and repairs, this temple was built in 1976. Now it is located in Xiangjiaping, east of Zigui. It was renamed as "qu yuan memorial hall in zigui county, Zigui County". With the construction of the Three Gorges Project, Quyuan Temple will be relocated again.
In Leping, there are many places of interest and legends about Qu Yuan, such as Xiangluping, Zhaomian Well, Reading Cave and Corn Mountain. The ancients once collected "Eight Scenes" and wrote poems in the name of the scenery: "Dragons fall and tigers roar in the sky, and the drums and rocks in the countryside are connected with drums. Seeing the well is cold, raping and dying, and reading is the talent. Autumn corn meets love, and a drop of pearl swings in the valley. Lock the water back to the Yangtze River, and the three customs and eight scenery win Penglai. "
Zigui is also the hometown of oranges with a long history. In his masterpiece Ode to Oranges, Qu Yuan once made a profound description of the image and character of the orange tree. Today, Zigui has become one of the seven citrus production bases in China. In late autumn, there are citrus forests everywhere, and red fruits are hidden under the green branches and leaves, which are picturesque.
There is another wonder worth mentioning in Qu Yuan's hometown. The cows here can obey orders without wearing ropes. According to legend, Qu Yuan went home from Chu, and when he was near the door, the rope for the waiter to take the book was broken. An old farmer untied the cow nose rope to him at once. From then on, the cows here no longer use the cow nose rope.
Qu Yuan was born in beautiful Leping. Qu Yuan is a far-sighted politician, the first great poet in the history of China literature, and the "first-rate genius" of the Three Gorges. He was worried about the country and the people, and finally died in the Miluo River. Qu Yuan's brilliant poems, such as Li Sao and Nine Chapters and Nine Songs, are famous at home and abroad.
[Edit this paragraph] Life
domestic
Qu Yuan was born in a noble family in Chu State. Qu Yuan, like the King of Chu, is surnamed mǐ and comes from Zhu Rong's family in the Zhuan Xu system of the Yellow Emperor. Yi people migrated from Shang Dynasty to southern Chu area. When it reached Xiong Yi, he was sealed in Chu for his merits and lived in Danyang (now Zigui County, Hubei Province).
Because Qu Yuan was a family of the King of Chu, he was called "the public house" or "the public house" at that time, so his relationship with Chu was of course different. The descendants of Qu, such as Qu Zhong, Qu Wan, Qu Dao and Qu Jian, all held important positions in Chu State. Qu Yuan's father's name is Bo Yong. In Qu Yuan's generation, not many people became great officials, only Qu Yuan and Qu Gai, a general who was later captured by Qin State. In Qu Yuan's Nine Chapters of Chu Ci, Xi Yong once said, "I suddenly forgot my poverty." It is very likely that the aristocratic family had already declined at that time.
be born
According to the research results of many people in modern times, Qu Yuan's date of birth is probably not between 27 years (342 BC) and 30 years (339 BC) in Chu Xuanwang. According to Jiazi's calculation, it should be Wuyin year. Coincidentally, Qu Yuan was born not only in the year of the Silver Moon, but also on that day. According to the ancient saying of China calendar, "people are born in the shade", so Xia Zheng takes the month of establishing the shade (the first month) as the beginning of the year. Because Qu Yuan was born in the year of Silvermoon, which really accords with the date of birth of "human", he said in Qu Yuan's masterpiece Lisao: "She was taken to raise her virginity in Meng Xi, but she was taken to surrender." This sentence is the first month of the year when the stars meet the Yin [4], which is Geng Yin Day. I was born from my mother. Explain that this year is a cloudy year; Meng is the beginning, the new moon is the first month, and the summer calendar begins with the month, which means that the first month of this year is; Geng Yin explained that it was cloudy. Qu Yuan was born in Yinri, which is a good day (according to Zou and Liu, this day was 2 1 day in the first month of 343 years ago). In the Qing Dynasty, Chen You took the week calendar as the 22nd day of the first month of 343 years, and now it is generally defined as the first 340 years.
name
Qu Yuan felt that his birth and death years were somewhat different, so he said in Li Sao: "Emperor Guan is full of joy, Zhao Qian's name is common, and the word is even."
My father gave me a good name when he saw that my birthday was unusual. The name is Ping and the word is Yuan. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wang Yi explained Qu Yuan's name in Zhang Sentence, saying, "Benevolence and justice; Then the law is also ","Spirit is also, and God is also; Uniform and adjustable. There is nothing fairer than the sky. The people who raise things have been adjusted and are not in the ground. "
Therefore, it is called "Pingtian" and the word is "Tian". According to his date of birth, literally speaking, "ping" means justice, and fairness is the image of heaven; "Original" is a broad and flat terrain [7], which is the image of the earth. Qu Yuan's birth and death year and name conform to the three systems of heaven, earth, ugliness and fate in Yin [8]. Today, it's just a coincidence. It doesn't matter, but it was considered a good sign at the time.
The first left disciple
Qu Yuan is an outstanding talent among Chu nobles. Proficient in history, literature and mythology, and have a thorough understanding of the national conditions and the way of governing the country; People are smart and eloquent. Sima Qian's Historical Records said that he was "knowledgeable, ambitious" and "good at rhetoric". In his twenties, he became a leftist in Chu Huaiwang. The picture on the left is only one level lower than Ling Yin of Chu State. He consulted with the King of Chu at home, issued orders, received guests abroad and dealt with princes. The king of Chu trusted him very much, let him draft laws and regulations, and let him go to Qi to unite against Qin. This shows that Qu Yuan is an important official in charge of internal affairs and foreign affairs of Chu State. However, his reform spirit and measures aroused the opposition and jealousy of the noble ministers of Chu. The representatives of the opponents are Chu Huaiwang's favorite concubine Zheng Xiu, son Zilan and Shangguan doctor Jin Shang. These people are short-sighted and jealous of talents. They only want to protect their aristocratic privileges, but they forget the long-term interests of the country. However, they are very powerful. They surround Chu Huaiwang all day, influencing Wang Huai's words and deeds. Chu Huaiwang, who was in a daze, listened to rumors and gradually alienated Qu Yuan.
Express feelings with poetry
From the sixth year to the eighteenth year of King Xiang of Qing Dynasty, the State of Chu was basically in the hands of Qin, obedient and did not dare to move. Qu Yuan was very sad about it, but there was nothing he could do. Seeing that the country's situation is getting weaker and people's livelihood is more difficult, he has to use poetry to express his feelings of worrying about the country and the people.
Experience period
Qu Yuan experienced three periods in his life: Chu Weiwang, Chu Huaiwang and King Xiang of Qing Dynasty, and his main activities were in the period of Chu Huaiwang. This period is the eve of China's imminent reunification. "Qin Huang is horizontal, Chu Wang is vertical." Qu was born in a famous family, good at dealing with chaos and rhetoric, and was highly valued in his early years. He was a doctor of Zuotu. In order to realize the great cause of Chu's reunification, Qu Yuan actively assisted in the reform to strengthen the country, and insisted on uniting Qi with foreign countries to resist Qin, which once made Chu rich and strong. However, due to the sharp contradiction between Qu Yuan and the decadent aristocratic group of Chu State in internal affairs and diplomacy, and the jealousy of Shangguan doctor and others, Qu Yuan was later framed by a clique and alienated by Chu Huaiwang.
In the fifteenth year of Wang Huai (the first 304 years), from Qin to Chu, Zhang Yi bribed Shanxi merchants, Zilan, Zheng Xiu and others as spies with huge sums of money, and at the same time deceived Wang Huai with "offering merchants for 600 miles", which led to the breaking of diplomatic relations between Qi and Chu. After being deceived, he became angry from embarrassment and sent troops to Qin twice, both of which were defeated. Therefore, Qu Yuan was ordered to send an envoy to Qi State to rebuild the friendship between Qi and Chu. Once again, Zhang Yi failed to disintegrate the Qi-Chu alliance from Qin to Chu. In twenty-four years, Qin Chu formed an alliance with Huang Ci, and Chu was completely embraced by the State of Qin. Qu Yuan was also expelled from the capital and moved to the Northern Han Dynasty.
Thirty years after Wang Huai, Qu Yuan returned to Du Ying. In the same year, Qin made an appointment with the military attache, was detained by Qin, and finally died in Qin. After Wang Xiang ascended the throne, he continued to implement the policy of surrender. Qu Yuan was once again expelled from Ying Capital and exiled to the south of the Yangtze River, and was displaced between Yuan and Xiang. In the twenty-first year of King Xiang of Qing Dynasty (278 BC), General Qin attacked Yingdu in vain, and Qu Yuan threw himself into the Miluo River in anger and died for his political ideal.
[Edit this paragraph] Current situation
Since the Spring and Autumn Period, many small countries have been gradually annexed by big countries after a long war. By about 403 years ago, seven great powers (Yan, Zhao, Wei, Han, Qi, Chu and Qin) had been formed. After that, Qin unified the six countries (22 1 year ago), which was called the Warring States in history. In this era, the struggle between countries is fierce and the political situation is turbulent. The poet Qu Yuan lived at the end of the Warring States Period, when great changes took place in society. The strength of the Seven Heroes in the Warring States is not balanced, and with the deepening of political and economic reforms in various countries, their strength is also rising and falling. At the beginning of the Warring States period, Zhao, Wei and North Korea reformed their economic and political systems, and were once strong. After political reform, Wei became the most powerful country at that time.
Unfortunately, their reforms were not thorough and the terrain was unfavorable, and they soon declined. Yan is in a remote corner of the north, trying to open up the territory of the northeast. After the demise of the Prince of Yan, some political reforms were carried out, but they were not completely completed. Therefore, "all countries were in the Warring States for seven years, and the State of Yan was weak." It's just that we are less affected by the war and can take sides. The other three countries, Qi, Chu and Qin, were evenly matched at first.
After Shang Yang's political reform, Qin Xiaogong made great efforts to increase production and encourage people's fighting spirit. Ten years later, the country became rich and strong, attacking other countries year after year and becoming a serious threat to the other six countries. Because of Qin's strength, the other six countries are no rivals. So a group of military strategists put forward the idea of "integration", that is, from Yan State to Chu State, the six countries of North and South United into a vertical line, and * * * joined the Qin State, which was opposed to the West. The representative figure who advocates union is Su Qin. 334 years ago, he persuaded Yan to help him lobby the six countries and set up an alliance. 3 18 years ago, Su Qin attacked the state of Qin in six countries. He was also a leading figure, but he was defeated. On the contrary, Qin also organized a group of military strategists to put forward the idea of "Lian Heng", that is, the Western Qin formed an alliance with one of the six eastern countries to form an east-west horizontal line to attack another country. The representative of Lian Heng is Zhang Yi. In the first 328 years, Zhang Yi was the prime minister of Qin Dynasty, and implemented the Lian Heng policy, which was very effective. At the end of the Warring States period, when Qu Yuan lived, the hegemony of the seven countries was basically a struggle to unite with Lian Heng.
Chu's internal affairs and diplomacy
Among Qin, Chu and Qi, Qin and Chu are the most likely countries to unify the six countries, and Qin is dominant. Therefore, Chu can only fight against Qin by uniting with Qi. Only by destroying the Qi-Chu alliance can Qin make friends, attack nearby, and break them one by one to realize her great cause of unifying the six countries. This is the diplomatic situation of Chu in Qu Yuan's era. As far as Chu's internal affairs are concerned, in order to be rich and defeat Qin, it is necessary to strengthen the rule of law, limit aristocratic privileges, develop talents and empower the people, and develop economic strength. Qu yuan advocated political reform and opposed corrupt aristocratic rule; Advocating reunification and adhering to the diplomatic policy of uniting Qi and resisting Qin is a correct policy in line with the long-term interests of Chu, which is based on the situation that the seven heroes of the Warring States strive for hegemony.
[Edit this paragraph] Exile
First exile
Xupu, Qu Yuan's exile.
(Hanbei area)
Qu Yuan's first exile in Hanbei was in Chu Huaiwang, the upper reaches of the Hanshui River, in the sixteenth year (3 13 BC). In order to break the alliance between Chu and Qi, the State of Qin sent Zhang Yi to Chu with many treasures. Zhang Yi bribed a group of Chu dignitaries and lied to the king of Chu, saying, "If Chu can break with Qi, Qin is willing to give up more than 600 miles of land in this area." However, Chu Huaiwang, blinded by interests and wisdom, didn't think so. He listened to Zhang Yi's nonsense, awarded Zhang Yi a photo seal and sealed Zhang Yi as a photo. Covet the land of 600 miles of commercial bricks, and really broke off diplomatic relations with Qi. He also sent someone to the state of Qin with Zhang Yi. After returning to the state of Qin, Zhang Yi pretended to be ill and didn't see Chu for three months. Stupid Wang Huai thinks that Zhang Yi accused him of not being firm enough and sent someone to insult Wang Qi. The king of Qi was furious and broke up with Chu. Instead, I joined hands with Qin. At this time, Zhang came out and said to the ambassador of Chu, "Why don't you accept this land? From one place to another, it is six miles long and six miles wide. " Six hundred Li became six Li, and Chu was very angry. He reported to Wang Huai, who was very angry. He attacked Qin twice and was defeated by Qin, losing 80 thousand troops. More than 70 people, including Qu Gai and Bi, were captured, and a large area of land in Hanzhong was also occupied.
At this time, Chu Huaiwang realized that "it is useless to regret Qu Yuan's strategy" and "reuse Qu Yuan" and let him go to Qi to rebuild the Chu-Qi alliance. After defeating the Chu army twice, Qin was also afraid of the resumption of diplomatic relations between Qi and Chu, and offered to return half the land in Hanzhong for peace. Chu Huaiwang hated Yi Cheung and proposed not to Hanzhong, but to Yi Cheung's head. King Hui of Qin disagreed, but Zhang Yi said confidently, "I, Zhang Yi, can reach Hanzhong by myself, and I am willing to go to Chu. [1 1] "After Zhang Yi arrived in Chu, he bribed Zheng Xiu and Shanxi merchants. After a speech in front of Chu Huaiwang, Chu Huaiwang, who was completely confused, actually released Zhang Yi again; And married the king of Qin. Qu Yuan showed interest when he brought Qi back. Wang Huai wants to get Yi Cheung back, but Yi Cheung has gone without a trace. In this way, Chu once again violated his promise to Qi. In the first 305 years and twenty-four years, the State of Chu once again joined forces with the State of Qin and went to the State of Qin to celebrate his wedding. The following year, Chu Huaiwang and the King of Qin met in (now northeast of Xinye County, Henan Province) and accepted the land returned by Qin (now Zhushan County, Hubei Province). At that time, although Qu Yuan strongly opposed it, the result was not only ineffective, but was exiled to northern Hanbei (now Ankang area and the upper reaches of Hanshui River) for the first time.
In the first 303 and 26 years, Qi, Han and Wei attacked Chu and denounced Chu's breach of contract. Chu asked Qin for help and sent a prince to Qin as a hostage. The following year, the king of Chu killed Doctor Qin and fled back to Chu. In the first 30 1 year and 28 years, Qin used this as an excuse to unite Qi, Han and Wei to attack Chu, kill and occupy Chongqiu (now the northeast of Biyang County, Henan Province). The following year, he attacked Chu, wiped out 20,000 Chu troops and killed Jiang Jing of Chu. At this time, the fatuous Cai again remembered the importance of the Qi-Chu alliance and set up a prince hostage to fight Qin in the Qi-Chu alliance. In the first 299 years, Qin attacked Chu and took eight cities of Chu. Taking advantage of this situation, Zhao Haoqi, King of Qin "invited" Chu Huaiwang to meet in Wuguan (now Shangxian East, Shaanxi Province).
After returning from exile in the Northern Han Dynasty, Qu Yuan, together with Zhao Ju and others, advised Chu Huaiwang not to attend the meeting, saying, "It is better not to be trusted in the country of the tiger and the wolf of Qin." But my child Zilan was afraid of losing her love and urged her to go. As a result, as soon as Chu Huaiwang entered Wuguan, he was detained by Qin Jun, grabbed Xianyang and threatened to cede Wuxian and Qianzhong counties. After the capture of Xianyang, the State of Chu was made King Xiang by Qi Ying, and his son was made King Xiang, refusing to cede the land to the State of Qin. Qin sent troops to attack Chu, defeated the Chu army, beheaded 50 thousand and took sixteen cities. In 296 years ago, Chu Huaiwang died in the State of Qin, and the State of Qin sent his body back to the State of Chu for burial. Chu people pity him, just like mourning their parents and brothers. So the ministers thought Qin was unjust. Qin and Chu broke off contacts.
Second exile
(Jiangnan area)
In 293, in the sixth year of Xiang Wang, Qin sent Bai Qi to Iraq to attack South Korea, which won a great victory and beheaded 240,000 people. The State of Qin sent a letter to the King of Chu, saying, "The State of Chu has betrayed the State of Qin, and the State of Qin is ready to lead the vassals to crusade against the State of Chu and decide the outcome. I hope you will rectify your foot soldiers and have a good fight. " King Xiang of Chu was very worried, so he planned to make peace with Qin again. It is absolutely intolerable to Qu Yuan. He wrote lyric poems, expressing his desire to care about Chu, the king and not forgetting to resist. He also pointed out that King Huai finally fled to other countries because "his so-called loyal ministers are disloyal, while the so-called sages are heartless". This posed a threat to Zilan, so Zilan instructed Shanxi merchants to visit King Qing Xiang, and Qu Yuan was exiled to a remote area in the south for the second time. According to Ai Aizhen's analysis, the route of this exile started from Du Ying (jiangling county, Hubei Province), first went downstream to the southeast, celebrated Xiashou (southeast of Shashi, Hubei Province), passed through Wanglongmen (Du Yingdong Gate) in Dongting Lake, then left Xiapu (Hankou, Hubei Province) and finally reached Lingyang (according to legend, Qingyang County, Anhui Province today).
[Edit this paragraph] Suicide
Miluojiangqian
Later generations wrote about Qu Yuan's self-destruction;
Qu Yuan, who was once released, swam in the river beach and sang on the bank of Zehe River, with a haggard color and a haggard description.
When the fisherman saw this, he asked, "This son is not Dr. San Lv's! Why? "
Qu Yuan said, "The world is cloudy, and I am alone. Everyone is drunk, I wake up alone, I can see. "
The fisherman said, "A saint is not obsessed with things, but can keep pace with the times. The world is muddy, why not spit its mud and make waves? Everyone is drunk, why not feed the bad guys and encourage them? Why think deeply and hold high, and let yourself become? "
Qu yuan said: "I heard that the new bather plays the crown and the new bather shakes his clothes;" Ann can observe with her own body, but what about the person who collects things? I'd rather go to Xiangliu and be buried in the belly of a river fish. Ann can be white and covered with secular dust! "
The fisherman smiled and walked away with the drum, but he sang: "The water in the rough waves is clear, you can hold my tassel;" The water in the rough waves is turbid, so you can lick my feet. "Then go, no longer use words.
[Edit this paragraph] Commemoration
According to Records of the Historian Biographies of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng, Qu Yuan advocated the promotion of talents and empowerment, and made the country rich and persuaded the Qin Dynasty, which was strongly opposed by the nobles. Qu Yuan was expelled from the capital and exiled to the Yuanxiang Valley. During his exile, he wrote immortal poems such as Li Sao, Tian Wen and Tian Wen, which have a unique style and far-reaching influence (therefore, the Dragon Boat Festival is also called the Poet's Day). In 278 BC, Qin Jun conquered Kyoto of Chu. Seeing that his motherland was invaded, Qu Yuan was heartbroken, but he was always reluctant to give up his motherland. On May 5th, after writing his masterpiece Huai Sha, he died in Miluo River and wrote a magnificent patriotic movement with his own life.
Legend has it that after Qu Yuan's death, the people of Chu were so sad that they flocked to the Miluo River to pay homage to Qu Yuan. The fisherman paddled the boat and fished for his real body back and forth on the river. A fisherman took out rice balls, eggs and other foods prepared for Qu Yuan and threw them into the river, saying that ichthyosaurs, shrimps and crabs were full and would not bite the doctor. People followed suit after seeing it. An old doctor took an altar of realgar wine and poured it into the river, saying that he would stun the dragon water beast with medicine so as not to hurt Dr. Qu. Later, people were afraid that rice balls would be eaten by dragons, so they came up with the idea of wrapping rice with neem leaves and then wrapping it with colored silk to make it develop into brown seeds.
Later, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, there was the custom of rowing dragon boats, eating zongzi and drinking realgar wine. In memory of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.
According to Wen Yiduo's "Dragon Boat Festival Examination", the Dragon Boat Festival existed in wuyue before Quyuan threw himself into the river, but it has been recognized by the mainstream of China society as a sacrifice to Qu Yuan since his death more than 2,200 years ago. )
Another legend says that after Qu Yuan's death, all the food people sacrificed to Qu Yuan was taken away by dragons. But Xiaolong was afraid of neem leaves and colored silk thread, so people wrapped rice into brown seeds to sacrifice to Qu Yuan. It is said that the dragon boat race is to salvage Qu Yuan's body. Although these legends are not reliable (one is to commemorate Gou Jian, the king of Yue, and to train him as a navy master), they fully reflect people's love for Qu Yuan and show his position in people's minds.
[Edit this paragraph] Works
Qu Yuan is a poet, and only from him did China have a writer famous for his literature. He created the style of "Chu Ci" (that is, he created the style of "Ci Fu"), which is known as "a poet in clothes, not a generation". According to Liu Xiang and Liu Xin's collation and Wang Yi's annotation, there are 25 works of Qu Yuan, namely Li Sao 1, Tian Wen 1, Jiu Ge1,Nine Chapters 9 and Travel Far. According to Sima Qian in Biography of Qu Yuan in Historical Records, there are 1 evocation. Some scholars believe that Zhao Da is also the work of Qu Yuan. However, some people suspect that the chapters behind Journey and some chapters in Nine Chapters were not written by Qu Yuan. According to Guo Moruo's textual research, there are 23 Qu Yuan's works handed down. Among them, Nine Songs 1 1, Nine Chapters, Li Sao 1, Tian Wen 1, Evocation 1.
Generally speaking, Li Sao, Tian Wen and Jiu Ge can be regarded as the representatives of three types of Qu Yuan's works. Nine Chapters, Journey, Buju, Fisherman, Evocation of Soul, and Da Zhao can be classified as Li Sao in content and style, and most of them are well documented and meaningful, focusing on expressing the author's inner feelings. Li Sao is a magnificent poem created by Qu Yuan with his own ideals, experiences, pains, enthusiasm and even his whole life. It shines with bright personality and is the focus of all Qu Yuan's creations. Tian Wen is a poem written by Qu Yuan according to myths and legends, which embodies the author's academic attainments and views on history and nature. "Nine Songs" is Qu Yuan's music for offering sacrifices to the gods in Chu. It is full of life breath in the expression of characters' feelings and the description of environmental atmosphere. However, it is the expression of generations or gods, rather than the author's self-lyric, which shows more traces of the literary tradition of southern Chu. Li Sao and Nine Songs constitute the basic style of Qu Yuan's works.
Qu Yuan's works are closely related to myths. Many illusory contents are developed from myths. Qu Yuan is also a poet who pays attention to reality. His works reflect various contradictions in the real society, especially the dark politics of Chu.
The style of Qu Yuan's works is obviously different from the Book of Songs. This is related to the differences in folk customs between the Yangtze River Basin and the Yellow River Basin. At that time, the north had entered the patriarchal society, and Chu still had the legacy of clan society, which was tough and lively, and was not bound by etiquette. Therefore, the expression of love between men and women and patriotism is so straightforward, and the materials used are so rich that everything can run to the bottom of the pen. Write about the love between man and God, crazy people, ancient historical legends, and traveling with ghosts and gods. All gods have ordinary human nature among the people, and God is just a person beyond ordinary people. They make their works look bright, full of emotion and unrestrained. This kind of works shows different characteristics from northern literature.
From the institutional point of view, Qu Yuan's previous poems, whether the Book of Songs or southern folk songs, were mostly short stories, and Qu Yuan developed into a long and huge system. Li Sao alone has more than 2,400 words. In terms of expression techniques, Qu Yuan skillfully combined Fu, Bi and Xing, and made extensive use of the Bi Xing technique of "vanilla beauty" to vividly express abstract morality, consciousness and complex realistic relations.
In terms of language form, Qu Yuan's works have broken through the four-sentence pattern in The Book of Songs, with each sentence ranging from five, six, seven, eight and nine characters, as well as three sentences and cross sentences. Grammar is uneven and flexible. The word "Xi" and function words such as "Zhi", "Yu", "Hu" and "Er" are often used at the end of sentences to coordinate syllables and produce cadence, singing and sighing effects. In a word, his works are very creative from content to form.
Qu Yuan's works had a greater influence after the Chu people established Guanzhong, the capital of the Han Dynasty. With the continuous study and development of Songs of the South, the literature in the north has gradually become Chu. The new five-character poems and seven-character poems are all related to Chu Sao. Fu writers in Han Dynasty were all influenced by Chu Ci. After the Han Dynasty, works of "Shao Sao" appeared in all previous dynasties. The author often uses Qu Yuan's poems to express his own obstacles, and even uses Qu Yuan's experience as a metaphor, which is the direct development of Qu Yuan's literature. In addition, there are poems, songs, lyrics, songs, dramas, Qin lyrics, Daqu, scripts and so on. Take the life story of Qu Yuan as the theme, such as The Portrait of Qu Yuan, Nine Songs, Nine Tweens, etc. It is also difficult to count. Therefore, Lu Xun called Qu Yuan's works "outstanding" and "influenced later articles even more than' 300'" (Outline of China Literature History).