诗话 – Chinese philosophy and culture

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shīhuà 诗话

Criticism on Poetry / Shihua (Story-telling with Song and Speech)

主要含义有二:其一,指评论诗人、诗作、诗派及记载诗人逸事及相关考订的著作,是中国古代诗学文献的一个组成部分。诗话肇始于南朝梁代钟嵘(?—518?)的《诗品》,第一部完整意义上的诗话是北宋欧阳修(1007—1072)的《六一诗话》,南宋严羽(?—1264)的《沧浪诗话》是宋代最负盛名、对后世影响最大的诗话。此后,诗话成为评论诗作、发表诗歌创作理论的主要著作形式,明、清两代诗话作品数量巨大,其中以清代王夫之(1619—1692)的《姜斋诗话》和袁枚(1716—1798)的《随园诗话》成就最大。明清时期还刊行了《历代诗话》《历代诗话续编》《清诗话》等,辑集了历代重要的诗话著作。诗话的一般特点是,不追求系统严密的理论体系,主要以评论者的细腻感悟为特色,以若干短句为一则,对诗歌创作中的具体问题或某些艺术规律提出自己的感受和意见。诗话具有较强的文学性和文学欣赏价值。中国诗话以其鲜明的文化特色,有别于西方思辨式的文学理论体系建构和科学严密的语言表述。其二,指中国古代的一种说唱艺术。有说有唱,韵文、散文并用,韵文多为七言诗赞,用于唱;散文即“话”,用于说。现存最早的作品是宋元时期刊印的《大唐三藏取经诗话》。

This term has a two-fold meaning. First, it refers to any work that contains critiques or commentaries on poets, poems, schools of poetry, anecdotes about poets, and textual research. This type of work is a constituent part of scholarly inquiry into classical Chinese poetry. The tradition of offering commentaries on poetry had its origin in “The Critique of Poetry” by Zhong Rong (?-518?) of the Liang Period of the Southern Dynasties. The first somewhat complete commentary on poetry and poets was Ouyang Xiu’s Criticism of Poetry, by Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072) of the Northern Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty’s most renowned work of poetry commentary, which also had the greatest influence on scholars of later generations, was Canglang’s Criticism on Poetry by Yan Yu (?-1264) of the Southern Song Dynasty. After that, notes of this kind became a principal medium through which to offer commentaries on poetry and propose theories of poetry composition. The Ming and Qing dynasties boasted the largest number of works of poetry commentary. The best of such works were Desultory Remarks on Poetry from Ginger Studio by Wang Fuzhi (1619-1692) and Suiyuan Remarks on Poetry by Yuan Mei (1716-1798), both from the Qing Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing periods, Commentaries on Poetry from Past Dynasties, A Sequel to Commentaries on Poetry from Past Dynasties and Qing Dynasty Commentaries on Poetry were also published, all of which contain important works of poetry critiquing of all dynasties. Commentaries/critiques on poetry essentially shun a comprehensive and elaborate theoretical system and focus instead on articulating the critic’s personal, nuanced appreciation and evaluation of poetry. Each of them contains only a few terse remarks, airing views on finer points in poetic composition and revealing personal feelings and thoughts on rules governing artistic creation. Commentaries on poetry are themselves highly literary and deserve to be appreciated from that perspective. Such commentaries on poetry, with their distinctly Chinese cultural features, distinguish themselves from Western scholars’ obsession with systematic construction of literary theories and strictly scientific modes of expression.

Second, the term shihua may also refer to a kind of age-old art of theatrical performance that intersperse singing with narrative, and verse with prose. Rhymed verse, which normally consists of seven characters to a line, is employed for singing. Prose, on the other hand, is used as in vernacular speech. The earliest extant work of this kind is Tales of Xuanzang’s Journey to the West compiled and published during the Song and Yuan periods.

引例 Citations:

◎诗话者,辨句法,备古今,纪盛德,录异事,正讹误也。(许(yǐ)《彦周诗话》,见何文焕辑《历代诗话》)

(诗话的作用是为了辨析诗歌文法,细述古今流变,记载朝廷盛德,实录奇闻逸事,辨正创作讹误。)

Commentaries on poetry serve to expound rules guiding the composition of poetry, detail the evolution of poetry from past to present, note the imperial court’s meritorious deeds, record anecdotes and hearsay, as well as to rectify malpractices in poetic composition. (Xu Yi: Yanzhou’s Commentaries on Poetry)

◎诗话之源,本于钟嵘《诗品》。(章学诚《文史通义·诗话》)

(诗话的源头,来自于钟嵘的《诗品》。)

The tradition of offering commentaries on poetry is traced back to Zhong Rong’s “The Critique of Poetry.” (Zhang Xuecheng: General Principles of History)

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