Idiom story:
The allusion of Yangchun Baixue comes from Song Yu's answer to the king of Chu in Chu Ci. King Xiang of Chu asked Song Yu if there were any hidden virtues in Mr. Chu. Why don't people praise you so much?
Song Yu said that there were singers in Chu State, and the earliest one was "Xialiba People", and there were thousands of peacemakers in Qian Qian. When the singer sang Yang A Xielu, there were only a few hundred middle school peacemakers.
When the singer sang "Spring Snow", there were only dozens of middle school students and peacemakers. There were only three people in the Intermediate People's Court when some difficult skills were added in the Song Dynasty, that is, "attracting business and carving feathers, and miscellaneous to levy".
Song Yu's conclusion is, "it's its high and low." The more elegant and complicated the song "Chun Xue" is, fewer and fewer people can sing it, that is, the songs are sung in high voices.
Of course, the purpose of this discussion between Song Yu and King Xiang of Chu is not to talk about Song itself, but to emphasize the huge gap between elegance and vulgarity, so that their talents and virtues are not recognized by the world. Song Yu went on to say that "birds have phoenixes and fish have Kun", which is naturally extraordinary.
Song Yu said: "Not only birds have phoenixes, but also fish have Kun and scholars." Finally, Song Yu came to his own conclusion, that is, "a virtuous man is a doer, detached from things, and immune to himself;" How can a secular person know what a minister is doing? "
Song Yu means that any great and extraordinary person in the world is often maverick, and his thoughts and actions are often not understood by ordinary people.
Appreciation of idioms:
In the Northern Song Dynasty, Shen Kuo pointed out in Meng Qian Bi Tan, Volume 5, Music Law I that Song Yu clearly put forward that "the guest has a song in Ying", that is, the guest sings in Ying. Not that English people can sing, let alone that English people can sing.
Shen Kuo thinks that Zhong Ying is the old capital of Chu State with a large population. The reason why there are so few people in harmony is because they don't know or have never heard of this song.
Song Yu's own situation is somewhat unreasonable.
Isn't it ridiculous to accuse people because they are not familiar with songs like Spring Snow? Shen Kuo also pointed out that some details in the allusions of Yangchun Baixue were later misinterpreted and circulated. For example, those who sing well are called "English people", while the original text means that English people sing badly.
The allusion of Chun Xue shows that different appreciators have great differences in aesthetic taste and ability. The higher the artistry of music, the fewer people will appreciate it.
I have to admit that this difference has a lot to do with the subjective taste of the audience, and sometimes it is difficult to get an objective and fair evaluation.
Just as Ge Hong in the Western Jin Dynasty pointed out in his book Guangpi: "It is very good to watch and listen, but it is difficult to love and hate." For those who are used to listening to the songs of Sangjian Pushang and the voices of Xialiba people, of course, they can't appreciate the elegance of Yangchun Baixue and Huangzhong Road.
From this perspective, there is not much difference between ancient and modern times. Nowadays, people appreciate music, mostly because "the ears listen better, but the heart listens faster."