"The Peacock Flying Southeast" and "Mulan Ci" of the Southern and Northern Dynasties are both known as "the two treasures of Yuefu" and "the two treasures of narrative poetry". Later, "The Peacock Flies Southeast", "Poetry of Mulan" and "Qin Women's Song" by Wei Zhuang of the Tang Dynasty were collectively called the "Three Wonders of Yuefu".
It is based on a marriage tragedy that occurred in Lujiang County (Zhishu County, moved to Wan County at the end of the Han Dynasty, both in today's Anhui Province) during the reign of Emperor Xian of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Sung by generations, it has become an inexhaustible source of artistic creation.
"Peacock Flies Southeast" is the first long narrative poem in the history of Chinese literature. Shen Guiyu called it "the first long poem in ancient and modern times", so it is also called the longest narrative poem in ancient Chinese history. , is one of the glorious poems in ancient Chinese folk literature.
Extended information
"The Peacock Flying Southeast" is the longest narrative poem among Chinese Han Yuefu folk songs. It was first seen in "New Odes of Yutai" by Xu Ling of the Southern Dynasty, titled "Ancient Poetry" "Written for Jiao Zhongqing's wife".
Guo Maoqian's "Collection of Yuefu Poems" of the Song Dynasty included it in "Miscellaneous Songs" and titled it "Jiao Zhongqing's Wife". "The Peacock Flying Southeast" was written roughly during the Jian'an period of Emperor Xian of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The author is unknown. The poem has more than 340 sentences and more than 1,700 words. It mainly tells that Liu Lanzhi married into Jiao's family because Jiao's mother did not tolerate it and was sent back to her parents' home. Her brother forced her to remarry. .
On their wedding night, Lanzhi drowned herself. From the late Han Dynasty to the Southern Dynasties, this poem was widely circulated among the people and continuously processed, and eventually became the most outstanding long narrative poem among the Yuefu folk songs of the Han Dynasty.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Peacock Flying Southeast