Literature arises out of productive labor, and its original form is market ballads. People shouting chants in the process of labor and singing folk songs and minor tunes in their spare time are all literary activities, but they are more vulgar and unsophisticated. Most of the literature developed later has become the literature of literati and doctors, and has moved towards a refined and elegant way. So, after the market folk songs are squeezed out of the palace of elegant literature, do they really not have the attributes of literary elegance?
Of course not. Literary vulgarity and elegance exist relative to each other, and the vulgar exists relative to the vulgar, there is no vulgarity, and there is no elegance. Although many officials above the temple are writing poems and expressing their emotions, the emotions expressed are the same as those expressed in folk songs in the market, but they are described in more exquisite language, and they are not expressed in emotions. There’s too much digging in there. Judging from the language alone, it seems that the exquisite language is more likeable. Of course, it is only liked by some people with cultural knowledge, but not by ordinary people who are illiterate. After all, they cannot read. And those popular market folk songs are more likely to be liked by the common people. Although they are illiterate, they can understand what they mean when they hear them, and they can sing them as soon as they learn them. Of course, they will get a lot of enjoyment from popular literature. If they were asked to read palace-style poems or the works of graceful poets with more exquisite language, I am afraid they would not understand.
Of course, the advanced level of literature cannot be measured by understanding or not, nor by the number of words in a work, nor by The vulgarity and elegance of literary works are measured. Many literary works were not understood by the people at the time, and could only be hidden in the mountains and passed down to later generations, and later became widely circulated masterpieces. There are also literary works with a large number of words, with millions of words, but they are not high-quality products, and they cannot be passed down for a long time. However, when the ancients wrote an ancient poem, only 20 words can be passed down for thousands of years and immortalized. Some literary works are just folk songs, but they can be passed down for thousands of years, and there are still records and sings. However, many of the so-called elegant literatures have been lost, and they have even been put on the shelf by some people.
Market folk songs maintain the connotation of the original form of literature, have certain aesthetics, and are conducive to singing. Of course, not all of them are fine, and some of them can be taken out and loaded into literature. history. Art is often like this, and the vulgar is the elegance. The same is true of literature. The more advanced you are, the more you must pursue the return to the basics, which is simple and unpretentious. When many writers reach their old age, they no longer pursue Chinese words and beautiful sentences, but make their language simple and refined, like a folk song in the market. People can understand it at a glance, but they clearly feel that there is a deep meaning hidden in it, and the aftertaste will be endless. . The late works of Shen Congwen, Lao She, and Ba Jin all have the image of great success, and they have the characteristics of great elegance and great vulgarity.
Feng Menglong of the Ming Dynasty composed folk songs, collected folk songs such as hanging branches, folk songs, oleanders, etc., ordered by Wang Tingshao during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty In “The Sequel to Neon Clothes”, Hua Guangsheng in the Jiaqing period compiled five kinds of “Sounds of Baixue”, collecting and arranging the minor tunes of citizens, geishas, and musicians. It was hard work and a lot of effort. Feng Menglong and Wang Tingshao are separated by half a century, but their experiences have a lot in common: failure in imperial examinations, frustration in officialdom, debauchery in life, informality, love of vulgar culture, and dislike of vulgar words. Feng Menglong was a magistrate, and Wang Tingshao was the head of the Criminal Department, but his official position was not large. Feng Menglong is familiar with the people and advocates “learning Taoism without being too strict”, advocating nature, and respecting folk songs. He believes that “true love” is the soul of folk songs in the market. Wang Tingshao compiled the “Sequel to the Neon Dress” before the jinshi. At that time, he was on the side of the stable and made a couplet to laugh at himself: “The horse’s bones are hollow, eating beans, noodles and grass; Pull money.”
Fortunately, there are only these arrogant cultural people who are so poor that they can save thousands of songs of the people at the bottom of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The singing allows us to see something completely different from the orthodox feudal culture, and it is these folk songs in the market that are full of the yearning for freedom and the expression of bold and unrestrained emotions. There is a folk song called “Laughter”: “The southeast wind blows and slants, so many flowers and leaves are blooming, and the young lady’s family doesn’t want to laugh and laugh, and she laughs a lot.” There is also “Cow Girl”: “When boredom comes , I passed by the moon and stars alone. I raised my head sharply and saw a Tianhe. The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl were sitting on both sides. There was no Amitabha Buddha in the south. The advocates of new poetry during the May Fourth period also began to write fresh and small poems. Hu Shi’s “Butterfly”, Guo Moruo’s “The Street in the Sky”, etc., all have the temperament of market folk songs, but they are not the best. It’s just that intellectuals deliberately write some vulgar folk songs, or they can be called poetry. Mr. Hu Shi once said: “Why is there no literature that represents the times in the history of Chinese literature? But we should not look in the history of the ancient literature tradition. Because it is not worthy of the ancients, it can represent the current world.” The literati chapters are more than enough to see the spirit of the times and the living conditions of society.
Of course, some folk songs in the market are not all as beautiful as the hibiscus from clear water, and some are also vulgar and minor, which can only be popular in a certain range, but cannot be circulated. For thousands of years, it may have been strangled by feudal Taoists.