选体 – Chinese philosophy and culture

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xuǎntǐ 选体

Xuanti Poetry / Poetry in Prince Zhaoming’s Favorite Style

主要指南朝梁昭明太子《文选》中所收汉魏以来的五言古诗。但这一概念后来超越了单纯的诗歌体式而兼具时代特征与诗歌风格等含义。在体式上,“选体”是与乐府、歌行、律绝并列的概念,在古人眼光中,它几乎就是五言古诗的代名词,是诗家创作五古的范式;在风格上,“选体”有典雅、翰藻、新创三个主要特征;从时代看,“选体”接续风骚,历跨汉魏、晋宋、齐梁。唐代以后,文论家多用“选体”这一术语来评诗、论诗。但“选体”派强调模仿古人,为此受到后来一些锐意创新的文人的批评。

This refers mainly to the five-character-a-line poems of the Han and Wei dynasties in Selections of Refined Literature compiled by Prince Zhaoming of the Liang Dynasty during the Southern Dynasties. Later, this term meant not just a specific type of poetry, but also both the prevailing poetic features of an era and general poetic style. Poems of this style were regarded as in the same rank as yuefu (乐府) poetry, which were folk songs and ballads collected and compiled by the Han government office in charge of musical preservation, or any poetic imitation equally suitable for musical composition, as well as gexing (歌行), which were odes to events or physical objects in free-verse form, and lüjüe (律绝), which were eight-line or five-line poems. To poetic critics in later generations, xuanti (选体) poetry was synonymous with five-character poetry and was a standard way to write poems with five characters per line. In terms of style, it is elegant, richly colorful, and innovative. This type of poetry inherited the poetic tradition all the way from The Book of Songs and Odes of Chu to the Han and Wei dynasties, the Jin Dynasty, and the Song, Qi, and Liang during the Southern Dynasties. From the Tang Dynasty onward, many literary critics used the term “xuanti poetry” as a standard in their comments on poetry. This poetic style was criticized later by some creative-minded poets for its excessive emphasis on following the classical tradition.

引例 Citations:

◎五言诗,三百五篇中间有之,逮汉魏苏、李、曹、刘之作,号为“《选》体”。(刘克庄《序林子显》)

(五言诗在《诗经》中只是间或出现,到汉魏苏武、李陵、曹操、刘桢等人的创作[才得以定形,又因《文选》收录,故而]被称为“《文选》体。”)

Five-character-a-line poems were found occasionally in The Book of Songs. By the Han and Wei dynasties, Su Wu, Li Ling, Cao Cao, and Liu Zhen had written more five-character-a-line poems and established the style. These poems were collected in Selections of Refined Literature and therefore the style is known as the xuanti style. (Liu Kezhuang: Preface to a Poem by Lin Zixian)

◎昭明选古诗,人遂以其所选者为“古诗”,因而名古诗曰“选体”。唐人之古诗曰“唐选”。呜呼!非惟古诗亡,几并古诗之名而亡之矣。(钟惺《诗归序》)

(昭明太子选古诗,后人于是把他所选的诗称为古诗,因此就称古诗为“选体”。唐代人创作的古诗叫做“唐选”。可惜啊!不仅古诗消亡了,就连“古诗”这一名称也跟着消亡了。)

Prince Zhaoming selected ancient poems, which people of later generations would call “ancient poems.” They were also known as xuanti poetry or poetry in Prince Zhaoming’s favorite style. The works by Tang-dynasty poets were called Tang xuanti poetry. But now, alas, ancient poetry has become extinct; even the term itself is sadly forgotten. (Zhong Xing: Preface to The Purport of Poetic Creation)

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