Duan Chengshi

Duan Chengshi

Duan Chengshi (803-863) was written as KEGU. He is a famous novelist of the Tang Dynasty. His masterpiece is Youyang Zazu, a collection of short stories.

He has successively served as secretary of the province, governor of the province, governor of Jizhou, governor of Chuzhou and governor of Jiangzhou, and Minister of Taichang. In his later years, when he lived in Chang'an, he was "comfortable with leisure" and "especially deep in Buddhism".

His father was Duan Wenchang, Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty, and his son was from Fenyang, Shanxi Province. In Tang Dynasty, Duan Chengshi, Du Mu, Li Shangyin and Wen Tingyun were equally famous. Duan Chengshi believed in Buddhism, read scriptures, drank wine, wrote poems and sang in harmony, in order to solve his worries and transcend the secular world.

Personage introduction

appearance

Duan Chengshi was the son of an official in his youth. He was handsome, polite and lively. In his poem "ridicule Duan Chengshi" written by Zhou you, a man who forgets his old age, he wrote: "it's better to play Cuju than to watch it off. Revenge is a shame to choose (timid), but it is too late to hate. When talking, hold your head sideways to avoid touching each other with your breath, and take a cup with your mouth bulging. I've never been able to look at my beauty. It should be difficult to seize the beauty, but it is not necessary to say goodbye to the spirit. " This poem describes the style of his youth.

Youth

Since childhood, I have studied mechanics hard, learned a lot and memorized a lot. He was admired by many people for his understanding of Zen. He said to himself, "it's a shame for a gentleman to be established, and I don't know anything.".

In the fourth year of emperor Mu Zong's Changqing reign (824), Duan Wenchang, a good friend of Wen Tingyun's father, visited the Minister of punishment in Yunnan Province and helped the Wen family. He took Wen Tingyun to duling (now the south of Sanzhao village, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province) and read with his son Duan Chengshi.

Youth

Duan Chengshi moved to different places with his father Duan Wenchang (once served as Xichuan Jiedushi, Huainan Jiedushi, Jingnan Jiedushi, etc.) to learn about local customs, anecdotes and anecdotes, broaden his vision of life. In addition, he studied hard and read a large number of books including official secrets. He is fond of reading and has a strong memory of erudition. Duan Chengshi became friends with poets Du Mu, Wen Tingyun, Li Shangyin, Li qunyu and Zhou you at that time. This also had a profound impact on his poetry creation.

In 826, Duan Chengshi and his good friend Wen Tingyun went out of Huainan town with his father Duan Wenchang to Wuzhong area of Jianghuai.

In 830, Duan Chengshi and his good friend Wen Tingyun were transferred to Jingchu as Duan Wenchang, the father of Jingnan Jiedushi.

In 835, Duan Wenchang, the father of Sichuan governor for the second time, died in Xichuan. Not long after, his good friend Wen Tingyun bid farewell to Duan Chengshi and left Xichuan for Chang'an (today's Xi'an, Shaanxi). Duan also returned to his hometown Chang'an a few years later.

Middle age

Duan Chengshi once came to Chang'an city because of his father Duan Wenchang. He became the Secretary of the provincial school, and lived in the family "practice". He himself said: "in the summer of the third year of Guihai reign of emperor Wuzong of Tang Dynasty, Yu and Zhang Junxi were restored to be good successors and secretaries of the same officials." This was 843, when he was about 40 years old.

Later, he moved to shangshulang and served as the governor of Jizhou, Chuzhou and Jiangzhou. He returned to Beijing in Dazhongzhong (around 851-856 AD) and served as Shaoqing of Taichang.

In his later years

When he lived in Chang'an, he was "comfortable with leisure" and "especially deep in Buddhism", which is the summary of his later life. He died in June of the fourth year of emperor Yizong's Xiantong reign (863 AD) at the age of 61.

When Duan Chengshi was an official, he built a seven hole arch bridge for his hometown, which connected the north and South roads. In order to record Duan's merits and virtues, the villagers changed the name of the four neighboring villages Duan, Jia, Ma and Qiao to Duanqiao, and set up stone steles.

Literary achievements

Among the writers in the late Tang Dynasty, Duan Chengshi's literary achievements are various. In addition to Youyang Zazu, his representative collection of strange tales, he also collected more than 30 poems in quantang poetry and 11 articles in quantang literature. In the world of poetry, he is as famous as Li Shangyin and Wen Tingyun, and is known as "thirty six" (Duan, Li and Wen rank sixteen, so he is called "thirty six". Most of the existing Duan Chengshi poems are quatrains and metrical poems, which pay great attention to the gorgeous style of CI. In the late Tang Dynasty, "the officials were in disorder, the people were poor, the thieves were together, and the earth was collapsing. The emperor was still dining all day and ignored the government. In such a social environment, Duan Chengshi believed in Buddhism, read scriptures, drank wine, wrote poems and sang in harmony, in order to solve his worries.

His father, Duan Wenchang, was once known as "Duke of Zouping County". He was the prime minister at the end of Yuanhe period. He wrote poems and had a literary name. Less achievement means painstaking study and intensive study, erudition and strong memory, especially deep Buddhism. He served as secretary of the Provincial Academy. He was appointed governor of Luling, Jinyun and Jiangzhou, and finally Shaoqing of Taichang temple. His main work Youyang Zazu is 20 volumes and his sequel is 10 volumes. The discovery of meteorites, fossils, minerals and the morphological characteristics of animals and plants are of great scientific value, especially precious. The Chinese and foreign legends and fairy tales are rich and colorful, which are of great historical value. "Since Tang Dynasty, tui has been the leader of novels" (the words of Siku Quanshu Zongmu) In a brief history of Chinese novels, Lu Xun commented that it "covers a wide range of subjects, so it has many treasures. It is the world's favorite to play with, competing with legends." His poems are as famous as Wen Tingyun and Li Shangyin. There are more than 30 existing poems, among which 11 are collected in the whole Tang poetry.

evaluate

There are more than 30 poems in the whole Tang poetry, many of which are gorgeous and many of which are beautiful. His literary achievement is not in poetry, but in his masterpiece Youyang Zazu. The content of this book is complicated, including natural phenomena, literary allusions, social and folk sentiment, real estate resources, plants, insects and fish, herbal medicine, Buddhist stories, Chinese and foreign cultures, exchanges of products, etc. it can be said that it is of great historical value. Among them, stories such as Li Bai's asking Gao Lishi to take off his boots and Wang Bo's writing in the quilt are very popular. From the perspective of the history of Chinese novels, the most valuable part of this book is the ghost novels. Lu Xun once spoke highly of this book and thought that it was "on a par" with the Legendary Novels of Tang Dynasty. Pu Songling's Liaozhaizhiyi is the inheritance and development of this style. It should be said that this book is an important work which inherited from the Six Dynasties, the song and Ming Dynasties and the early Qing Dynasty. The outline of the general catalogue of Siku Quanshu compiled by Ji Yun and others in the Qing Dynasty points out that for this book, "although the commentators are sick of exaggeration, they have to quote each other. Since the Tang Dynasty, they have been regarded as the leading novelist."

contribution

Duan Chengshi was famous at that time. He was known as "three talents" with famous poets Li Shangyin and Wen Tingyun, but his artistic achievement was far inferior to Wen and Li. Youyang Zazu, a novel written by Youyang Zazu, recorded all kinds of strange things, and was listed as a novelist by Yiwenzhi, a new book of Tang Dynasty. The book, with its extensive content, has always been valued by people and cited by many scholars. The ancient Chinese and foreign legends, myths, stories and legends are rich and colorful. Some chapters reflect the social reality tortuously, which provides valuable information for the study of Tang legends. At the same time, the book also collects some historical materials of the southern and Northern Dynasties and the Tang Dynasty, which records the secret anecdotes of the ruling class of the Tang Dynasty, the responses and rituals of the envoys of the southern and Northern Dynasties, as well as the folk weddings and funerals, local customs, as well as the exchange of Chinese and foreign cultures and products. These are either obtained from the hearsay, or collected from the posthumous secret books, which provides valuable information for us to study the ancient history and the history of Sino foreign relations Information on the project. In addition, the records of meteorites, fossils and mineral deposits, as well as the descriptions of the morphology and characteristics of animals and plants, are also of great scientific value.

Youyang Zazu is also highly valued abroad. Both the Chinese Iranian edition by American Oriental scholar raufer and the Chinese history of science and technology by British writer Joseph Needham have highly praised this book. Li Geng quoted many materials from the book. Of course, the book also has weird, absurd nonsense, is its dross.

In addition, Duan Chengshi's poems and essays also have certain achievements. They are as famous as Wen Tingyun and Li Shangyin. They are called "thirty-six style" because Duan, Wen and Li all rank sixteen. All of them were masters of the late Tang Dynasty. The study of Duan Chengshi's poems and essays can refer to his notes and novels, which is of great benefit to a comprehensive understanding of the ideology, culture, literature and art of the Tang Dynasty.

Hometown

Duan Chengshi's hometown is Duanqiao village, Mingji town. Zhang Shiju, a famous poet of Zouping in the Qing Dynasty, wrote in his "Changbai Zhuzhi CI · 15": "in the past few years, drought and green waves have disappeared, and we can see Pinghu growing wheat seedlings. If you want to find Ke's hometown, you can find Duan Jiaqiao from afar. " Wang Yuyang annotated "hometown of Duan Taichang" after the word. "Play Lake top" poem: "more memories of broken bridge Ke monuments, the setting sun a far red fragrance Zhang Erkui, who was later than Zhang Shiju and was also the grandson of Zhang Yandeng, had four volumes of kegutang poetry. It is obvious that poets Zhang Shiju and Zhang Erkui all admire Duan Chengshi, a famous writer of Tang Dynasty, and prove that Duan Chengshi's hometown is Duanqiao village, Mingji Town, Zouping County.

Youyang Zazu

introduce

Duan Chengshi's literary achievements mainly lie not in his poems but in his Youyang Zazu. Youyang Zazu has 20 volumes and 10 sequels. The nature of this book, according to the author's own preface, is that it belongs to the novels of supernatural beings. "Those who are not shameful in their servitude are also the books of suppressing supernatural beings." However, as far as the content is concerned, it goes far beyond the theme of supernatural beings. The content of this book is complex, including natural phenomena, literary allusions, social and folk sentiment, real estate resources, plants, insects and fish, folk medicine, Buddhist stories, Chinese and foreign culture, product exchange, etc. Another example is that the writing of King Luo Binwang's "a call for martial arts" spread to Wu Zetian: "Zetian LAN and" the moth eyebrow is not willing to let people, but the fox can confuse the Lord. "It's just a smile. To "the soil is not dry, six feet alone."

Chinese PinYin : Duan Cheng Shi