On the value of ancient poetry

This topic originated from a lecture I attended last month. The lecture was held in Sichuan Library, and the keynote speaker was Peng Min. Speaking of this talent, many people who like China's ancient poems and culture must know him. He won the championship of CCTV Idiom Conference and the second place in Chinese Poetry Conference. He is a cultural worker, and now he plays the role of runner-up in the poetry conference more than the champion. Judging from the last scene in the library, his fans are indeed quite large and have a wide age coverage.

At that time, his topic was "The Beauty of Poetry Lightens Life", and the live speech was really humorous. Unfortunately, he couldn't listen to it halfway and left. I think the cultural value and power of China's ancient poems have not been conveyed and explained except that he told his own story and quoted some seemingly interesting but tasteless materials. I am quite disappointed and sorry about this speech, and I think some contents are misleading.

At that time, I even had some extreme ideas, and I might speak this topic better than him. I know that Mr. Peng's profound knowledge of Chinese is beyond my reach, and his memory and accumulation of ancient poetry are very rich, far above me, but this does not mean that he has a deeper understanding of the beauty of poetry.

China's ancient poems have been circulated for thousands of years, and not everyone can appreciate her beauty. It takes some thinking and understanding of life to understand that feeling. Those catchy sentences are not moaning without illness, but an epiphany at a certain stage of life, an understanding of a certain realm, an inspiration for generation, and a concretization of this feeling, so that when reading these works, everyone will have an empathetic aesthetic experience.

I once heard several articles about The Book of Songs written by Mr. Liushahe, and found them very good. The scene can really feel the strength and value that an old man who is over 80 years old has learned from this culture after so many vicissitudes. We can feel the power given to him by poetry from his words and deeds, and let him face the unbearable experiences of ordinary people in life with optimism and openness. I think this is the cultural power of ancient poetry.

I once heard the host of Zhaojue Temple talk about the beauty of Zen. He quoted many ancient poems and couldn't help reciting the classics on the spot. The audience sang along with him, and the voice of body and mind was really infectious. "The wind has exhausted the fragrant flowers, and I am tired of combing my hair at night." You can even see many white-haired grandmothers take off their glasses and wipe their tears when reciting Li Qingzhao's words. This kind of beauty is touching.

I have read some works by Jiang Xun, and I agree with his views and interpretations of beauty. Why some things are beautiful, or why we can find beauty in them, is because you feel "upward power" from them. Jiang Xun wrote a poem "Wish" and gave a speech "Give yourself 18 minutes" at TED, which I thought was very good. This poem is also very textured and its voice is very infectious. After listening, I feel very calm, but I feel that there is a kind of power in my heart, which makes me change in a better direction.

I have always felt that the greatest value of ancient poetry is to convey beauty, which is natural and humanistic.

"Butterflies have been dancing and songbirds are singing freely." We saw the vitality of life, and we were infected and moved by the vibrant scenes of nature, which were recorded in poetic rhythm. This beauty organically combines many elements. In just a dozen words, the picture depicted is very rich. There are static and dynamic, visible and audible. Everything in this system is equal, creating and experiencing this kind of beauty. A thousand flowers are low and the flowers are quiet, attracting a group of butterflies. Butterflies are playing with butterflies and dancing from time to time. Flowers are the stage for butterflies, and butterflies "perform" on the stage, so they are playing butterflies. Their show is dancing, which means "keep dancing". The oriole is singing. It flies freely in the Woods. The author may not have seen it, but its voice is beautiful and feminine. This painting is harmonious and full of vitality. Every word is very accurate and contains rich images. Even if the child comes to read this poem, she may remember that although she can't understand every word, she will find this sentence very interesting. These poems show us that our ancestors had a very unique way in observing, describing, discovering the beauty of nature and talking with nature. The beauty thus "burned" can be spread for thousands of years.

"Don't laugh when you are drunk on the battlefield. How many people fought in ancient times? " In this poem, we see the heroic and fearless spirit of people. Today, many of us have never experienced a war, but after reading this sentence, we will still feel the same. Life is short, and wars are constant. "Grapes, wine, luminous cups, you need to drink pipa at once", the good time is so short. This is how life is pushed forward, even if it is a knife, a mountain and a sea of fire, we must fight. Why not get drunk on the battlefield and kill the enemy bravely on the front line, even if you die on the battlefield, what is there to be afraid of? Although sad, but fearless. The process of life is a battle, and life itself is also a battlefield, so this spirit will stimulate the fighting spirit of life, give people upward strength and convey beauty.

"Wildfire never completely devoured them, but they grew taller in the spring breeze." Because of this sentence, Bai Juyi took root in Chang 'an. The original grass is ordinary, withers every year, withers and germinates, and its life form will touch people's hearts. Repeated defeats and battles, the more frustrated and brave, everyone is an ordinary mustard among all sentient beings, and the spirit of grass will inspire you and let you see the upward power of life.

Such sentences are numerous in China's ancient poems, and every scene has a very interesting flavor. If you taste them carefully, you will gain a lot. A thousand readers have a thousand Hamlets. Similarly, the value of China's ancient poems will convey different messages to everyone. Anyway, if you are more active, happier, more peaceful and more open-minded, I think this is the value of ancient poetry.

I even have an immature idea that I can hold a series of lectures through crowdfunding to share the beauty of poetry with more people.