Long live the motherland Xue Haoyin’s singing and writing background

This is a collection of recited poems. To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

From October 1, 1949 to 2009, the Republic of China has gone through a difficult and magnificent 60 years. In the land of China, mountains and rivers are renewed; people's lives are getting richer and richer; more importantly, people's spiritual outlook is becoming freer and more high-spirited. The extraordinary journey of 60 years is worthy of the writings of writers with huge pens and deep feelings.

For this reason, Anhui Literature and Art Publishing House decided to publish this anthology of recited poems.

2

"Recitation" literally means reciting aloud.

The reason why we need to "recite loudly" and "recite loudly" is because we need to spread these poems, let them stand up from the flat books, fly out, and take advantage of the artistic charm of language. Open the emotional doors of millions of people. Let poetry find its ultimate destination and return to the people; it also allows readers and listeners to enjoy the art of poetry more effectively.

Excellent poetry should live in the mouths of the people and should not be sealed in yellow paper. This is the same desire of poets and readers.

Three

In fact, oral communication has never stopped since the beginning of poetry.

The "national style" of "The Book of Songs" begins with folk songs; paper books are only passive records. It is a nest where folk songs rest, not a grave where they are buried.

Although "Ya" was written by scholars, most of it was spread through singing.

"Ode" is used for temple sacrifices and court history recording. Reciting it aloud is the basic form.

"Wind", "Ya" and "Ode" are mostly combined with music; those that are separated from music are called "Tu Ge", that is, ballads, which are also spread orally.

Since the Han Dynasty, there have been many ancient songs that can be chanted and sung.

After the Jin and Sui Dynasties, five-character, and then seven-character, works could be sung. Although Tao Yuanming was not familiar with music, he still had to touch the seven-stringed harp every time he chanted five words.

The lyrics and music have pushed poetry to the forefront, allowing it to take root among the people and be spread and broadcast.

The emergence of new poetry has greatly absorbed the freedom of prose and the characteristics of spoken language. The popularity of drama laid the foundation for modern poetry recitation.

Hu Shi's vernacular poems and Guo Moruo's furious poems are more suitable for reciting on the stage and in the crowd.

Throughout the revolutionary period, poetry recitation has almost become an important means of propagating the revolution and mobilizing the people. Poetry, with the poet's grief, joy, will, ideas and emotions, goes deep into the bottom of life and awakens the entire land of China.

IV

In fact, poetry recitation is not the quintessence of China. In foreign countries, poetry recitation is a very common thing.

In those days, Mayakovsky recited his poems almost wherever he went.

In the 1980s, when the Soviet poet Yevtushko visited China, he held a personal recital. He said that he could recite thousands of lines of poems he had written and could recite them aloud.

The poet's recitation makes the dull text come alive. Those places that are easily overlooked when reading will become full of meaning due to the emphasis of the tone of the recitation and the cadence of the voice.

The perfect combination of beautiful sounds and beautiful verses will refresh the soul of the poems and create new charm.

Five

Compiling and selecting an anthology of poems dating back 60 years is not an easy task. Wandering among the vast collection of poems and anthologies, it is as difficult to choose as a film director choosing actors.

Of course, the first thing to focus on is the theme and subject matter. This is necessary. Because this is a sacramental gift dedicated to the 60th birthday of the motherland. Special emphasis should be placed on praising the motherland, praising the mountains and rivers, praising the people, praising the new life, and praising the developing and changing world.

Therefore, the first poem we start with is "Time Begins" by Mr. Hu Feng.

In just three months after the founding of New China, Hu Feng wrote a 4,600-line free-style lyric poem "Time Begins" in one go. It includes five pieces: "Ode to Joy", "Ode to Glory", "Youth Song", "Heroes" and "Ode to Victory". It is considered to be "a magnificent piece of writing by a revolutionary intellectual that praises the Chinese people's victory and praises the people's heroes" (Wang Yao: "Manuscript of the History of New Chinese Literature").

We chose "Time Begins" and excerpted a chapter from "Ode to Joy".

The poet allows us to relive the high-pitched singing caused by the burning emotions in the boiling ocean in Tiananmen Square.

Poetry can be an emotional witness to the historical process of human society. In Mr. Hu Feng's poems, it has been verified again.

Perhaps, because of the carnival and emotional excitement, this poem still bears all the era stamps of the early Japanese and Chinese literature and the roughness of the writing.

With the quietness of social life and the progress and development of people's lives, poetry has entered the calm and peaceful period of construction. But this period is short-lived. What followed was a chaotic political struggle, which seriously hindered the development of poetry and dampened the poet's passion.

After the 1970s, the ideological liberation movement marked by the fall of the "Gang of Four" and the reform and opening up marked by the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee in 1978 opened the door to the development of new poetry. .

Ai Qing's "Hymn of Light" is a peak. At that time, when this poem was recited, it almost became a grand event in the literary world.

I still remember the huge response caused when my "The Grass Is Singing" was recited by an actor in 1979. Young reciter Qu Xianhe took six consecutive curtain calls before the waves of applause subsided.

Recitation can be a road that allows poetry to flow smoothly to readers;

Recitation can be a bridge that allows poets to reach their own people.

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In addition to the same poetic requirements as ordinary poetry, recitation poetry should also have its own characteristics:

1. The theme should be relatively clear and positive ; 2. The emotion, whether sad or joyful, should be clear and full, simple and cordial; 3. The language should be smoother, clearer, and easier for the public to accept; 4. The rhythm of the poem, or the ups and downs, constitutes an inherent musicality.

Confucius talked about the functions of poetry in four words: "Xing, Guan, Group, and Resentment". "Xing" refers to the origin of the poem and the emotional fluctuations it causes in the readers' hearts. "View" is the real and illusory world that readers understand from poetry. "Group" uses the inherent power of poetry to organize and unite readers, uniting people's spirits together. "Resentment" is a cathartic function. Not only for the poet, but also for society. "Xing and Guan" mainly talk about the reader's acceptance; "Qun and resentment" talk about the poet's subjective intention.

Recitation is the best way to communicate between poets and readers.

With the development of new poetry today, lyrics have to be composed to music for the singing of professional actors, and a new genre has been established; prose-style poetry has been rejected by ballads and is difficult to spread. In this way, only "reading" and "reciting" are left in the new poetry.

Seven

It is quite difficult to choose a poem suitable for recitation from the vast sea of ??poems.

According to the criteria we mentioned, there were more songs suitable for recitation from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. Because it was an era of rapid progress, shouting, enlightenment, ambition, rebuke, and talk were often expressed directly from the heart; in addition, the opening up of literariness and changes in literary concepts in the new era made these poems very different from the previous dull poems. Edifying poems and false praising poems have strong appeal and inspiration.

Later, poetry became freer, and poets created more personalized and personal creations, which made the theme of poetry become dark or narrow, the imagery of poetry became complicated, and the language of poetry became Westernized or By twisting the tongue, the poem's subject matter and details become trivial or menial. If these poems are limited to textual interpretation, repeated deliberation, or careful chewing, it is possible to taste some poetic flavor. But if it is given to actors and recited in public, it will be difficult to achieve good results. Because, as the writer Lao She said: "The ears are more impatient than the eyes." If you are impatient, you can't listen and you can't sit still.

However, we cannot but regret another type of work. The poet chose some grand themes, or praised leaders, or sang about mountains and rivers, or intervened in some new major events, such as the 30th anniversary of reform and opening up, the "5.12" earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan, etc., but they were extremely simple. and casually uses some news or policy language into the poem. It seems to stand tall and have a loud tone, but it is very empty concept. Many poems are almost written in separate lines. This kind of conceptual poetry that lacks poetic flavor is often referred to as "political lyric poetry" and often contains hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of lines. Extremely spoiling readers' taste.

Political lyric poems are certainly more suitable to be recited in public. But political lyric poetry must first be poetry, and politics is only the origin and emotional background of poetry.

It is really an illusion to think that news language and empty shouting are "political lyricism".

As early as 1939 during the Anti-Japanese War, Mr. Hu Feng criticized the poetry creation at that time in two aspects: on the one hand, there was "no content but 'new' form, and the form was used to save the content. The emptiness makes people seem to understand but not understand when they see it, and it seems to be very mysterious." On the other hand, it is a "conceptual tendency", which is "just conceptual or conceptual things, just slogan-type works." (See "Hu Feng's Theory of Poetry")

This kind of writing is more trouble-free. Because that language does not come from life; those writings are not the writings of poets. What's even more frightening is that this kind of writing also causes negative effects, making young readers think that "political lyric poetry" has such a ferocious face and stay away from it; on the contrary, some writers with ulterior motives can use power or money to produce whatever they want. Such works worsen the poetry environment.

“Poetry is not analysis, reasoning, or news chronicles. It should be the crystallization of the ripples stirred up by specific life images in the poet’s emotions.” These conclusions of Mr. Hu Feng, Still instructive today.

Eight

In any case, we still have an anthology of recited poems from the founding of New China to the present. We hope that it can be "read" by readers and appreciate the poetry while silently reading at their desks; we also hope that they can recite it, or provide a "text" for recitation artists, so that they can use their own beautiful recitation to make these poems More perfection.

It has been 60 years since the founding of New China. The 60th birthday is worthy of celebration and praise for a country as well as for a person.

We would like to sing with the voice of a poet and wish our motherland a more prosperous and better tomorrow