Aristocratic Wit Zhao Changqing And His "xi Xiang Yue"

Zhao Changqing, calling himself Xianyuan Hermit, lived in SongDynasty. Nearly 339 Ci poetry was written by him in The CompleteCollection of Song Ci Poems and few people exceeded him. Mao Jinyunof Ming Dynasty commented: the Ci poems of Changqing could comparefavourably with Huizong Emperor. However, little life story of him wasrecorded and few studies on his Ci poems have been conducted.Considering this, this paper emphatically explores the life story of ZhaoChangqing and the times he lived. Then this paper makes a tentativeanalysis of the content and the artistic style of his Folk-song-styled-versecollection of Ci poems Xixiangyuefu. According to one appendix inVolume 3 of the collection and his other works, we can preliminary inferthat Chao Changqing lived in the late Northern Song and early SouthernSong. During that period, Zhao spent his ambitious youth, frustratedmiddle age and peaceful later years and left behind his collectionXixiangyuefu that was included in The Ci Poems of 60 Famous Artists ofSong Dynasty.According to the postscript written by Maojin, we canknow thatXixiangyuefu was first sorted out by jinshi Liu Ze. Thecollection is divided into Spring Scenes, Summer Scenes, Autumn Scenesand Winter Scenes and birthday congratulations and supplement. Itincludes 362 Ci poems in ten volumes, among which nine is included inThe Complete Collection of Song Ci Poems (compiled by Tang Guizhang)and some mistakes are deleted and altogether there are 339 Ci poems. Asfar as the content is concerned, it can be divided into six categories: thePraise Thing Ci mainly about flowers, traditional subjects such as thedescriptions of beauty and love stories, chant for the journey, descriptionsof the affluent life, sentimental verses about the change of the seasons,Festival Ci of festival folklore and many others. As for the artistic style, itis quiet and beautiful as well as flowery and coquettish. In the collectionmost of the Ci describe the love stories about partings and reunions, andthere are many Praise Thing Ci made amidst flowers and in the moonlight.In addition, some flowery words are used. Hence, his Ci is somewhatpretty and coquettish. At the same time, many his erotic works and othersubjects are sort of quiet and beautiful. However, attention should be paidto the secular tendency of the collection, as when describing thetraditional subjects such as beauty and love, some secular words are used.Under the influence of the political condition that the former capitalmoved to the south, Ci poetry gradually became elegant in the earlySouthern Song Dynasty. While some of Ci poems in the Xixiang yuefushould present a vulgar tendency drifting away from the main stream.What is the reason? This paper explores the explanation of such aphenomenon and three factors are introduced: a) the influence of thesecular tendency of Ci poetry in the late Northern Song Dynasty. Thistendency rose among common people then expanded to men of lettersand a fashion was formed. b) The influence of the rap literature such as theopera style of the Court Play. Such an opera form appeared in Bianjing in the lateNorthern Song and then spread all over the country. When Southern Songmoved its capital to Hangzhou, the northern entertainment wasaccordingly brought to the south. Some books such as Wulin jiushi (Things of Pastfrom Wulin (i.e. Hangzhou)) recorded that the entertainment of telling stories inopera form had already been very popular. Belonging to the same musicliterature, this kind of opera had a certain effect on the composition of Ci,especially on the diction. Such an increasingly flourishing musicliterature exerts an imperceptible influence on Zhao Changqing. Hencesome folk adages are employed in his works. C) His own reason. Beingan offspring of the nobility, Zhao Changqing should compose some Cipoems with strongly tendency of secularization contrary to the mainstream. The inseparable factors are his living surroundings and lifeexperience.