诗之"尊唐抑宋"辩——从《沧浪诗话》说起

《沧浪诗话》"尊唐抑宋"的理论对后世影响很深,但始终没有对"诗变"与"世变"的关系作深层的剖析,仅从消极方面指出苏黄诗风和江西诗派的某些弊端,未尝全面检视当时业已形成的宋诗的艺术特质,更未及探究这种艺术特质之所以形成的种种原因.严羽的批评与事实不尽相符,不能反映宋诗的实际成绩和真实面貌,理论上亦具片面性.由唐诗至宋诗是必然的发展道路.宋代士人长时期充当了"政体"的精英,他们成功地左右整个政局的发展,宋诗议论化的突显与宋代"议论煌煌"之士风的渗透息息相关;宋代文化理性精神的突显又与其时哲学思辨风气的促动相关;而创作主体集诗人、散文家、词人三重角色的独特性,也造成了创作思维的多元化,加诸文学演变的规律等方面,遂共同造就了宋诗独特的风貌.

The Poetic Theory "Tang Better than Song" Questioned A Case Study of Cang Lang Shi Hua

The poetic theory of "Tang better than Song" advanced by Yan Yu in his Cang Lang Shi Hua (Cang Lang's Notes on poets and Poetry) has had a profound and significant influence in China since the Song (Dynasty). However, it is a pity that Yan did not have an in-depth analysis of the interrelations between the "poetic change" and the "change of the times". He just pointed out the drawbacks of the (poetic) styles of Su Shi and Huang Tingjian and the School of Jiangxi. Thus, two problems about Yan's poetic theory occur: First, he failed to state the achievements and the real picture of the Song poetry. Second, his theory is one-sided so that his critique is not completely correct. Poets, as the subject in composing poetry, had entirely different attributes in terms of "cultural (characters)" of the Tang and the Song Dynasty. Such attributes had dominating and fundamental effects on the (poets)' creativity. Scholars of the Song Dynasty had been the elite in the (political) arena, manipulating the (political) development of the Dynasty effectively. However, literati of the Tang Dynasty played a relatively weak political role. The transformation in the role of the Song literati indicated that they, playing a duel role ((political) and scholastic), were more complicated than those in the Tang. In this case, it is necessary to (interpret) the style of the Song poetry on a multi-level basis. In terms of the style of study, The Song culture featured notable rationality. It was characterized by the Confucian school of idealist philosophy that combined Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and the heated contentions between numerous schools. The underlying reason for the rational spirit of the Song poetry was that it was attributed to the climate of academic reasoning at that time. The heated debates enhanced the vigorous development of rational thinking of Song poets, whose poetry obviously tended to be argumentative. In terms of political factors, the mid Northern Song Dynasty witnessed the "heated theoretical (discussions)" in composing poetry, which culminated in the complete victory of the revolutionary movement of poetry and prose. Poetry, which performed a major function in the political struggle, became a weapon used in satire or even to attack political opponents. As the divergence in political views widened, argumentative poetry reached its peak. In terms of literary style, prose could be used for both the expression of one's emotion and (argmentation). Like the Song poetry, the Song prose, intertwined with political struggles, was highly argumentative. In terms of the progressive change of poetry from the Tang to the Song, Yan failed to understand the (evolutionary) rule of "literature distinct from generation to generation". Last but not least, in terms of the esthetic standard of poetry, Yan's vision was rather narrow in the (discussion) of poetry. The "artistic mood or conception" that prevailed in the Tang was replaced by such (concepts) as "tune", "tone", "interest", and "charm" in the Song. The traditional esthetic values of the Tang being absorbed by the new ones of the Song, a new fashion thus came into being. In conclusion, the development from the Tang poetry to the Song poetry was historically inevitable. Both the Tang and the Song poetry had their pros and cons. The latter might not be better than the former, but did show its unusual splendor.