background
Metaphysics became popular in Zheng Shi's time. Metaphysics contains a spirit of poverty, which leads to a rational and sober attitude towards social phenomena and breaks away from the way of thinking obsessed with superstition. At the same time, the spiritual freedom emphasized by Zhuang Zi is also valued by metaphysical scholars. At that time, there was a school that advocated "teaching beyond the name and letting nature take its course", that is, worshiping sincere morality from the heart and opposing artificial external codes of conduct; There are also those who advocate the integration of Buddhism and Taoism with nature, that is, they demand that individual freedom cannot transcend and destroy social norms. But at least the premise of "nature" is recognized by people.
However, the political reality in this period was extremely harsh. From Sima Yi's killing of Cao Shuang by coup to his sons Sima Shi and Si Mazhao's coming to power, a great change of dynasties has been brewing for more than ten years. They killed a large number of dissidents and created a terrible political atmosphere. "There are fewer celebrities in the world and fewer overall." Many famous literati died in this cruel power struggle. On the other hand, in order to cover up their behavior, Sima Group created a public opinion to seize power and strongly advocated Confucian etiquette, resulting in a serious moral vacancy. Facing the horrible and hypocritical reality with sober and rational thinking, the mental pain of the intellectual class is particularly acute and profound.
2 literary style
In this context, great changes have taken place in literature. The high-spirited tone of Jian 'an literature is the desire and self-confidence to establish immortal achievements. However, there is another aspect, that is, doubts about whether individual life can achieve its due value. Ruan Yu's poems have such content, and some of Cao Zhi's later works are more prominent. Facing the harsh reality, the literati in Zhengshi naturally developed the "life-worrying" side of Jian 'an literature, and concentrated on expressing their personal sorrow under the strong oppression of external forces. In other words, the leading, high-spirited and enterprising spirit in Jian 'an literature has basically disappeared in Zhengshi literature.
Due to the crisis of the surrounding environment and the prevalence of philosophical thoughts, scholars at the beginning rarely expressed their opinions directly on the political situation, but avoided reality and observed things and discussed problems from a broad space-time perspective with a philosophical eye. In other words, they extend their feelings from real life to thinking about the life and history of the whole human society. This makes Zhengshi literature present a strong philosophical color.
Deep rational thinking and sharp life sorrow constitute the most basic characteristics of Zhengshi literature.
3 representative literati
The famous literati in Zhengshi period are the so-called "Zhengshi celebrities" and "bamboo forest celebrities". The representatives of the former are Yanhe, Wang Bi and Xia Houxuan. Their main achievement is in philosophy. The latter, also known as "Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest", refers to Ruan Ji, Ji Kang, Ruan Xian, Dan Tao, Xiang Xiu, Wang Rong and Liu Ling. Among them, Ruan Ji and Ji Kang have the highest literary achievements.
I know there are Jian 'an literature, Zhengshi literature and Taikang literature. What is "literature" before and after that?
Yongjia literature, Yuanjia literature, Yongming literature