There were many strange writers in the late Ming Dynasty, and all the strange people were curious. Strange people write strange articles, which are novel and eccentric and have wonderful techniques. Reading prose is a "wonderful reward" and they get "amazing" aesthetic enjoyment.
In the classical Chinese, it is said that "words are based on sincerity", and "Family Gua Legend" says: "A word spoken by a gentleman cannot be recalled", and the copula says: "Love and falsehood are mutually beneficial". These concepts were developed into "integrity" and "sincerity" by Neo-Confucianism to strengthen moral cultivation. Literati understand, sincere, meaningful and straightforward. The outstanding literati in the past dynasties adhered to the creed of "sincere words", and the scholars in the late Ming Dynasty even appealed directly in words. For example, Chen Jiru, a famous sketch writer, said in Reading the Mirror: "Today's epigrams are all painted words. When a player plays, all the bad words are empty and untrue. This inscription has been handed down from generation to generation, so there is no such thing? We are connected with ghosts and gods, but our words and deeds are consistent. If we scribble, how can we convince ghosts and gods? " "Yi" said: "Words are sincere", which is very interesting. Qian's Preface to the Collected Works of Mr. Tang Yirang also said: "The ancients have gone, their academic accomplishment is brewing, and their essence is lingering. After a thousand years, they disappeared and disappeared into the words of the language. Yi said that' words have substance' and' words represent sincerity', and Ji said that' insincerity means nothing', both of which are called this thing. " Tang Xianzu was a famous sketch painter in the late Ming Dynasty. In fact, Qian's comments on his prose are also comments on his sketches.
Prose writers in the late Ming Dynasty especially emphasized the truth of the text, the truth of people, the truth of feelings and the truth of words. Li Zhi advocated "the theory of childlike innocence", in which he said: "A person with childlike innocence is absolutely false and innocent, and his initial heart is also his first thought. If you lose your childlike innocence, you lose your sincerity; If you lose your heart, you lose your real person. People are not true and have no beginning. " "Nothing in the world is not out of childlike innocence." (Book Burning Volume III) Yuan Hongdao's Xu Xiaoxiu's Poems give full play to "childlike innocence" and clearly put forward that the article should "express the soul alone" and "refuse to write unless it flows from one's own mind" (Yuan Hongdao Volume IV). In the book Jiang, he claimed that all the travel notes about Vietnam and China were "not untrue" and said that if they were shown to "people who made false articles, they would be severely reprimanded" (ibid., vol.). Lei Sipei praised Yuan Hongdao and said, "Only a real husband can have a real story. Real people are extremely knowledgeable, talented and rich, saying what people say, what people can't say, and what people dare not say. " Lu Yunlong also said: "The article only expresses its spirit." When commenting on Chen's Preface to the Collection of Li Shi in East Guangdong, Chen also stressed: "A work without sincerity is a pseudo-science and a pseudo-economy." (Sixteen Essays by Mr. Chen Mingqing in the Ming Dynasty) emphasizes the truthfulness, sincerity and reality of essays, that is, expressing sincere and natural feelings, not being hypocritical, pretentious, false, big and empty, and opposing "pseudo-neo-Confucianism and pseudo-economy", being sincere, willful and true. This view of literary creation is influenced by Laozi, Zhuangzi and Zen, but it mainly comes from Zhouyi. From "sincerity" to "truth", its source-stream relationship is very obvious. "Truth" is the soul of prose in late Ming Dynasty. The word "true" appears frequently in essays in the late Ming Dynasty, such as Yuan Hongdao's essays, in which the word "true" can be found everywhere.
In the hexagrams of Zhouyi Huan, it is a hasty image that the upper "Xun" is the wind and the lower "Kan" is the water, and the wind blows the water. Therefore, Biography of the Elephant says, "Water is popular and wandering." Zhu believes that "Huan" has a "literary appearance", which is a "water custom, but it is also a text". He also explained that "Huan originally had a literary meaning", "But it is popular on the water, and the arts and sciences are all bad, so it is also a text." (Book of Changes, Guru Shangjing, Volume 16) On Cohesion: "Therefore, God has no way and is easy to lose his body." Kong's Book of Changes (Volume) explains: "God is subtle and mysterious, and cannot be measured. ..... Where there is no square and no body, there are two meanings: one is that God is nowhere to be seen, and the cloud is square; Second, traveling is not always in one place, and it is unreasonable. There is no body. First, it changes naturally without knowing the reason for the change, which is invisible. The second is to follow the change, not solid in one, and there is no body. " Popular on the water, naturally written, naturally changing, unpredictable and full of aesthetic implications. As a result, later papers developed and advocated the style of nature and natural change.
In the northern song dynasty, Su Xun's article "Zhong Xiong Fu Ziwen Shuo" vividly described the form of water and wind, saying that "Feng Shui is extremely well prepared", and then summed up the argument: "Therefore, it is said that the prosperity on water is also the best in the world. However, is there anything to ask for in these two things? Inadvertently ask for help, meet unexpectedly, and write awkwardly. It's words, not water words, not wind words. There are two things, not for the text, but for the text, things and I live together, and the text comes out of it. So this world is the best. Today's husband and jade are tepid but beautiful. We must not think that writing, engraving and embroidery are not literary and can't talk about nature. Therefore, there is no camp in the world, only water and wind. " ("Jia You Ji" Volume 15) Su Shi praised Xie's letters and poems in "Teacher Xie" as "roughly flowing, with no definite quality at first, but often doing it, often ending in not doing it. They are natural art and science, full of gestures. " (Volume 14 after Su Dongpo's Collected Works) Wen Shuo said: "My essays are like a spring of thousands of miles, which comes out in disorder and gurgles on the ground, although it is not difficult in a day. It twists and turns with rocks, shapes with things, and is unknown. The knower always does what he should do, and often stops at what he can't do, that's all. Although I can't know anything else. " (Volume 57 after Su Dongpo's Collection) It can be seen that the Song people admired the brushwork of nature and the brushwork of flowing water. Su Shi's prose is a model of prose admired by people in the late Ming Dynasty, and the theory of prose in the late Ming Dynasty directly inherited Su Shi's point of view. Tan's Preface to Dongpo's Poems said: "Literature is like a spring, and it comes out in disorder; Poetry is like a fountain, a place of choice. Writing can't be done, but it can't stop; The poem stopped when it was done, although it stopped. The words are clear in the heart and clear in the mouth; Poetry is clear in my heart, but I still dare not know it in my mouth or in my hand. " (Tan Ji, Volume 22) From the comparison between poetry and literature, Su Shi's literary theory has been brought into play.
Li Zhi's ZaShuo strongly advocates "writing without meaning", but it can be a "cultural" work, that is, a purely natural work. He said: "And I heard that chasing the wind and chasing electricity is never between yellow and yellow; People who respond to the demand for gas will never count ink; Popular words on the water are by no means singular. " ("Burning Books" Volume III) Chen Jiru's "Small Window" also reiterated Li Zhi's words, but did not note the source: "The husband who should be angry is by no means a person who seeks ink; Popular words on the water are by no means singular. " Zhong Xing's Preface to Dong's Poems: "Ancient poets say that the wind is human, the wind is unintentional, and the temperament is there. The author doesn't know his work. " (Yin Xiu Xuan Ji, Volume 17) It can be seen that the essayists in the late Ming Dynasty took the "water popularity" and "natural literary theory" in the Book of Changes as the standards for the "essentials" and "essentials" of prose. Emphasize that essays are natural, "informal", willful and casual, "confident and casual." (Yuan Hongdao Shaw, Volume 11) I didn't work hard and didn't want to write, but it became a wonderful article. The "natural writing" originated from Zhouyi is the highest aesthetic pursuit of prose in the late Ming Dynasty, and it is also its distinctive feature. Most of the notes and sketches in the late Ming Dynasty are random, not to mention the rules and routines. Scattered, rambling, trivial and miscellaneous can best represent the natural and "informal" characteristics of essays.
Zhouyi is the first wonderful book in ancient and modern times, which is strange, strange, strange, strange, strange, magical and strange. I ching thinks that nature breeds literature, which is absurd, and so is the article. This "defamiliarization" consciousness influenced the "defamiliarization" style of later articles. Han Yu claimed that "the purpose of the Six Classics was written" and praised "the Book of Changes is strange and law-abiding". Master Huang Fu said, "The Book of Changes is amazing. Does it hinder the principle from hurting the sacredness? " (Answer the second book) Based on the "strangeness" of Yi, advocate the strangeness. Huangfu believes: "The husband's new ideas are different from the usual, and if they are different from the usual, they will be strange; If the word is high, it will be public, and if it is public, it will be strange. " ("Answer to Li Sheng's First Book")
Twelve volumes of Wen Ming Qi Yan edited by Lu Yunlong, a famous essayist in the late Ming Dynasty, are based on "magnificent and colorful". Li Qing's Preface to Ming Qi said: "If you are curious, you don't have to be gorgeous in writing. If you are gorgeous, you can't be amazing. After the "Yi" is strange, the history is too long, and the "Southland" is strange, gathering in Changli. " Li Qing clearly saw the origin relationship among the oddity of essays, the oddity of Han and the oddity of Yi in the late Ming Dynasty. ?
Yuan Hongdao's Answer to Li Yuanshan said: "The article is novel and has no fixed format. As long as the sender can't pronounce it, syntax, spelling and intonation flow out of his chest one by one. This is really novel. " ("Yuan Hongdao Ji Jian School", Volume 22) Shen Shouzheng's "Lingshi Zhong Xiao Cao Yin" also said: "Ning is flat; It is not so much right as biased. " ("Wen Ming Qi Shang") is also "strange".