中国文化概况之中国诗歌文化

The Ancient Chinese Poetry

Introduction

"Poetry is as universal as language and almost as ancient.Throughout history and across national and cultural boundaries."(Selected Cannons of British and American Poetry,2009.10)

"Poetry is the refinement of human language,composed in regular rhymed forms.It is used like other literary genres to express human thoughts and feelings,and reflects almost all the aspect of social life.It has in it the beauty of language,of artistic conception and music."(Appreciation of the Quintessence of Chinese Classical Poetry,2008.9 )

"classical Chinese poetry is a type of poetry which is written in classical Chinese.It is typified by certain traditional forms,or modes, and certain traditional genres."(Talk about China in English,2011.11)

In my own eye sight,poetry is one way of spiritual and philosophical expression.Nowadays,poetry is still a quite popular way to express one's feeling inside.To a large number of people ,in a lot of places,poetry is the language of emotions,the medium of expression,they use it when they want to express their inner feelings.I think Chinese poetry has held a very important role in the development of Chinese literature and art.in ancient china ,poetry was prized above all the else.At the same time,the modern society has also retained a lot of ancient poetry.Such as ,Book of Poetry,The Songs of Chu,Lisao,and The Poetry of Tang Dynasty.Obviously,they are a great wealth to our country.

1.The Origin of Ancient Poetry

Poetry first appeared in china can date back to several thousands years ago,it is said that the concept of "poetry"first appeared in the " Nineteen Old Poems",namely,northern and southern dynasties era.And I think ,all poems that previous in 1840 can be called "ancient poetry".

Since a long time has been elapsed,some detailed origins is very difficult to describe,and some poetry researchers have a variety kind of insights on this issue.It is

difficult to know which is the right answer,but what we know is that:our contemporary society has retained a large number of ancient outstanding poetry,and we can get a lot of inspiration from these poetry.

Poetry originated in ancient social life,came from daily production,someone fell in love with a boy or a girl,or some original religion,or simple feel unhappy someday,so they express these inner feelings by singing it aloud.then the later generations compiled these songs and soon became a popular way to express one's feeling inside.there is an old saying in the book of ShangShu:poetry,express ones ideals;songs,chant the sounds;and dance make its content moving.

In early times,the poems,the songs,the music,and the dance are together.The poetry which also can be called lyrics,are singed out by the people,and always been performed together with music and dance.

Later,each of them get their own development,and the poetry in modern times means poem together with the music.poetry is the oldest literature in our history,it comes from ancient times,It also reflects the development of ancient Chinese culture.

2.The Content of The Poetry

Because the creation of poetry is come from the real social life,so many of the poems involved in our daily life,they may about the filed work,about the psychology of love and friendship ,about the bureaucratic frustration,about life ambition and so on.in addition,since poem has its own rhyme,so it is easy to read.Also,the poetry has a variety kind of types,such as pastoral poem ,love poems,friendship poems,landscape poems,inspiration poems,patriotic poems and so on.

2.1 Types of Poetry

Chinese poems can be classified into different categories,most of the time ,they are divide into pastoral poem ,love poems,friendship poems,landscape poems,inspiration poems,patriotic poems and so on.No matter what the theme of poetry,they all expressed their true inner feelings.

"Poetry does not only treat love,actually it takes all life as its province,its primary concern is not with beauty,not with philosophical truth,not with

persuasion,but with experience."(Selected Cannons of British and American poetry,2009.10)

2.2 The Images of Chinese Ancient Poetry

The ancient Chinese poets like to use images to express the emotions,the so-called images is some object that are used to express a certain ideological,to reflect the poet's true feeling inside.For example,using a flying bird express the freedom of the soul;water express a kind of sadness emotions;the crow express melancholy and dark;the plum blossom,the orchid,the bamboo,the chrysanthemum express elegance and faithful;the fallen flowers express the pass of time;the moon on behalf of missing,and red beans on behalf of love.

When you read a poem,if we see these things,we can suppose the poet's inner feeling,happy or sadness,comfortable or worried?"People away from home are wont to recite LiBai's famous poem line:I raised my head,the splendid moon I see;Then droop my head and sink to dreams of my hometown.Others who are hopeful for their future prefer Su Shi's line:My one wish for you,then,is long life; And a share in this loveliness(the moon)far, far away."(A Glimpse of Chinese Culture,2007.3)So through the images the poet use in the poems,we can know what the poet thought in that time.

2.3 Rhyme of Poetry

"poems yearn to be read aloud,much of their energy,charm,and beauty comes to life only when they are heard."(Selected Cannons of British and American Poetry,2009.10)

If you have read a large number of poems,it is not difficult for you to find that:in most of Chinese ancient poetry ,they are best read with you lips,teeth,and tongue just because of the rhyme.Also ,a lot of foreign poems draws on this feature of Chinese poetry .Such as the poem come onto these yellow sands,written by William Shakespeare,in this poem ,he said:

Come onto these yellow sands,

And then take hands

Does they heard very beautiful and you can also read it very fluently.In this

regard,I think that Chinese poetry is better than foreign poetry,Chinese poetry can not be translate into English,in my own eye sight,once a Chinese poem is translate into English,it will lost its original beauty,just like the poem:seven or eight stars stay outside the sky,two or three drops of rain in front of the mountain,the foreigners will feel very and can not understand what the poet want to express,but can you just use several sample figure to describe a beautiful scene.The imagination is in dispensable to understand the Chinese poetry.if you can image the things in the poem,you will see a beautiful scenery in your mind.

3.The anguage skills of chinese poetry

In the poems,most of the poets would like to use a noun as a verb,use something that have no life compared to something lively.just like the poem The Willow:

The slender tree is dressed in emerald all about,

A thousand branches droop like fringes made of jade,

But do you know by whom these slim leaves are cut out?

The wind of early spring is sharp as scissor blade.

In this poem, the poet compared the wind of spring to the scissor blade,It sounds very vivid.

Conclusion:

As far as I am concerned,that the total impression which the Chinese poems make upon us is that the poems are very "gentle",which I mean is that:A Chinese poem can use very simple words to express very sharp feelings.we can use a poem to express our different thoughts,or our complex feelings,or just our best wishes to someone else.

I think that the Chinese poetry is very beautiful, no matter what a long time has past away,there isn't any other kind of literature can replace of it.as it is to me:when I concentrate on reading a poem,my inner wellbeing is stimulated.There is a sense of harmony, a sense of happiness in the deep of my heart.

A good poem can cultivation one's taste, and also can improve one's self-cultivation.The poem talks about the vicissitudes of life,and I think life is also

like a poem, very fulfilling, at the same time, very interesting.

Reference

1. 廖华英等. A Glimpse of Chinese Culture [M].外语教学与研究.2007(3).

2. 王勇等. Selected Cannons of British and American Poetry[J].武汉大学.2009(10).

3. 邢全臣译. Appreciation of the Quintessence of Chinese Classical Poetry [M].科 学.2008(9 ).

4. 高黎等. Talk about China in English[M].中国水利水电大学.2011(11).

5. 李颜磊. 最美不过诗经[M].石油工业.2010(5).