The Breakthrough and Innovation of the Ci Poetry of Ouyang Xiu

Wang Huidan，Zhang Guiqin

(1.School of Foreign Studies Oxbridge College Kunming University of Science and Technology，Kunming Yunnan 650106;2.Department of Grammar Dalian Radio and Television University，Dalian Liaoning 650106)

Ⅰ.Introduction

Ouyang Xiu is known for his identity as the leader of poems and articles’innovation movement in the Northern Song Dynasty.Nowadays scholars also pay much attention to the research upon his works.Every dynasty has its focus on literature，and the Northern Song Dynasty is known for the Ci poetry.Judging from the critics made by previous scholars，Ouyang Xiu occupies an important place in the history of Ci poetry，at least in the Northern Song Dynasty.However，his great talent in writing poems and articles overshades his genius in composing a poem to a given tune of Ci，and a result，later generations neglect the research on his Ci poetry.Appreciating his Ci po-etry，we can find that Ouyang Xiu plays a vital role in the exploration of Ci poetry in the Northern Song Dynasty in terms of both ideological contents and artistic aestheticism.

Ⅱ.Development to expressing emotion

Later Han Dynasty and Five Dynasties witness the initial prosperity of Ci poetry，most of which are romantic songs prevalent in banquets and parties.Despite that those works might reveal some anguish caused by unfair fate and conquered nation，they are mainly limited to personal concerning.

The Ci poetry circle in the early stage of the Northern Song Dynasty inherits the soft and gorgeous style of the Five Dynasties，and meanwhile，the frivolous and coquettish parts are got rid of.Literati pay more attention to the emotion of characters instead of depicting the pretty appearance of women，thus revealing their sentimental nature.

Ouyang Xiu is also a romantic person of his time;however，there is major difference between his romantic manner and that of the pervious literati and his contemporaries.He doesn’t limit his sentiment to love affairs or pretty ladies，but instead，he projects his feelings to daily life and nature，which expands the expression range of Ci poetry.

Thanks to the prosperity of the Song Dynasty，men of letters have enough time and energy to enjoy natural beauty and travel around.However，since Ci poetry is not taken seriously enough in the Northern Song Dynasty，and literati and officialdom prefer to describe natural beauty and enjoyment of travel by poems and articles instead of Ci poetry.However，Ouyang Xiu is keen on nature and expresses his joy of traveling by writing Ci poetry，unconsciously promoting the innovation of Ci poetry.His master works include Cai Sang Zi and Yu Jia Ao.

Literati of the Northern Song Dynasty are fond of holding banquet and expressing their feelings by writing poems.Zhang Xian took the lead in chanting with Ci poetry.However，he is not well-known in the literary world，and the form of chanting with Ci poetry has not been widely accepted at that time.Inspired by his conduct，Ouyang Xiu chooses to express the vicissitudes of life by writing Ci poetry，earnestly expanding the practical function of it.Thanks to his vital influence，the status of Ci poetry has been elevated to the same level of poems and articles，and at the same time，the expression range of emotion has also been expanded.

The range of subjects of Ci poetry，according to Ouyang Xiu，is not limited to“flowers”and“wine”，but the colorful realistic world with various abundant feelings.By chanting natural scenery and personal relations，we can see the sentimental quality of the writer and his emotional pursuit and understanding of life.Judging from the verbal level，these works seem to be soft and elegant.However，the bold and unrestrained spirit can be tasted when reading between lines.Unique characteristics have been manifested due to the expansion of the emotion in Ci poetry，as Feng Xu remarked that“Ouyang Xiu took the lead in starting the change of Ci poetry”in Hao An Lun Ci.

Ⅲ.Development to the artistic conception

The change of natural scenery is very likely to bring up the fluctuation of mind of literati.They tend to associate the unmerciful change of natural scenery with their ideal that cannot be realized in reality，thus feeling blue.Therefore，the majority of Ci poetry prior to the Northern Song Dynasty are sad and soft.However，Ouyang Xiu integrates his personality，experience，learning and ambition into the writing of Ci poetry，contributing to a broader style and conception of Ci poetry.Thus，Ci poetry are full of authentic feeling，profound implication and remarkable artistic attraction，such as one of Ouyang Xiu’s master works，Ta Sha Xing.

Ouyang Xiu is good at discovering the beauty of ordinary life，and he can even find natural beauty and philosophical beauty in the wretched and run-down scenery.That is to say，the subject and realm of his Ci poetry have transcended the romantic and gentle style of that of the Five Dynasties，presenting a positive and optimistic mental outlook，such as Cai Sang Zi.

Ouyang Xiu depicts the typical scenery of the end of spring in Cai Sang Zi.At the sight of fallen blossoms and leaving tourists，most people would feel down.However，unlike others，Ouyang Xiu discovers the beauty of the West Lake after the prime of spring.Despite of various obstacles and suffering in life，one can enter a new realm after putting oneself through the mill.It is different from the traditional line of thinking of grieving over spring，but expressing beauty and philosophical enlightenment through placid narration.

People tend to believe that Ci poetry of Ouyang Xiu belong to the Soft Ci School due to the elegance and gentleness of his works.However，it can be found that his“elegance and gentleness”is different from that of the previous works by other literati if we read between lines.Many of his works，which are supposed to be depicted as sorrowful situation，however，show no sadness but instead，a bold mind full of optimism，such as Yu Zhong Hua.

There are mainly two reasons accounting for the Ouyang Xiu’s style of both boldness and softness.First，the Soft Ci School has become the mainstream in the development of Ci poetry in Ouyang Xiu’s time，he accepts this style，and meanwhile，his own mature creation concept of poems and articles will definitely influence the creation of his works.The romantic and reserved style of his works has come into being after combining his characteristics of“stressing emotion and momentum”in the creation of poems with the soft and flamboyant features of Ci poetry.Second，due to the upright and candid personality of Ouyang Xiu，he suffers many ups and downs in his official career.As a result，the Taoism thought of“having broad perspective”has gradually become his predominant idea.Being sick of official career，Ouyang Xiu tries to seek comfort in nature and exclude difficulty and anxiety in traveling around.Influ-enced by this thought，his works possess the inexplicable sorrow and reminiscence，thus showing his broad，unconstrained spiritual outlook.

Ⅳ.Attempt of integrating poetry into Ci

According to Li Qingzhao，Ouyang Xiu attempts to integrate poetry into Ci，which lays foundation for the open of the Unconstrained Ci School.

Opinions about the criteria of“integrating poetry into Ci”vary，and the focus is on the thematic function of Ci.Traditional concepts hold that“poems should be solemn and Ci charming”and“poems express ambitions and Ci emotions”.At the end of the Southern Tang Dynasty，the state is on the verge of collapse，the Ci poets，with the representative of Li Yu，integrate the haunted feeling about the ruined country and lost home into their works.“These works are infused with the emotions of literati，thus combining with the tradition of‘poems expressing ambitions.’…it is their life experience and background of Li and Feng that they produce such works instead of‘integrating poetry into Ci’purposely.”

In the Song Dynasty，“most literati realize their integration of social responsibility and personal freedom.They use poems to show the serious problems concerning politics and society，while Ci to express personal feelings.As a result，poems and Ci have distinctive tasks:poems are for the expression of ambitions，while Ci for the entertainment.”However，Ouyang Xiu attempts to innovate the style of Ci，which is unconscious though，integrates the seriousness of poems with the peculiarity of Ci，expressing one’s feelings and thoughts by Ci.The changes of time and society and relevant thoughts are included in the writing of Ci，such as Sheng Wu You，from which we can see that willing to speak one’s mind is the typical style of poetic creation.

Ouyang Xiu experiences ups and downs of career in his life.He“makes great life investment so as to gain the profound inspiration of life”，and the sigh that“suffering a lot but gain nothing”can often be witnessed in the works of his late life.Meanwhile，he expresses a bold and unconstrained mind，which manifests his unique life experience and attitude toward the inexplicable changes of life and the hardship dotted in the career life.The typical example is his work，Yu Lou Chun.

The characteristic of expressing emotion by Ci is not only manifested in his works which are willing to speak his mind，but also in many works that depict scenery and objects.He skillfully integrates his feelings in these works and expresses feelings by means of the depiction of scenery，voicing his thoughts on the limited life when enjoying beautiful scenery.

The characteristic of“integrating poetry into Ci”is the necessary result of the development of Ci as well as the development of Ouyang Xiu’s writing style.Ouyang Xiu writes quite a few“romantic Ci poetry”in his early years，but these works feature far-reaching conception and reserved emotions as he focuses on the prospect and feeling of the character.With the increase of his life experience and the change of personal ideological level，he begins to show the tendency of“integrating poetry into Ci”.Confucian feelings and the contradiction between aspirations and wishes to be realized can be perceived in his works，which adds misery to the boldness of his works.Ouyang Xiu returns to the West Lake in his old age，and the peaceful perception of the world affairs is often revealed in his depiction of natural scenery.At his time，he no longer hides his instinct and personality and instead，expresses them directly.As a result，the majority of his works in his later life are unconstrained and straightforward with the increasingly evident characteristic of“integrating poetry into Ci”，such as his work Yu Lou Chun.

Yu Lou Chun was finished in the spring of 1072，and Ouyang Xiu also died in July of this year.Another old man referred to in this work is Zhao Gai.They got together in Yin Zhou when Ouyang Xiu was 66 and Zhao Gai was over 70.Being old and slow，they had the rare chance of getting together in the festival.The willow catkin all over the sky implied that the good days of spring would be leaving.Despite that they were both aged，they spoke eloquently and boldly.Their broad mind is really inspiring.

Ⅴ.Conclusion

Ouyang Xiu can be called the leader who continues with the past and opens up the future in the development history of ci poetry.He follows the traditional style while keeping change，and inherits the fine essence while making innovation.He gains remarkable achievement by writing ci poetry based on trivial matters，serving as the bridge between the Soft Ci School and the Unconstrained Ci School.Gu Sui remarked that“Ouyang Xiu has laid the foundation of ci poetry.Therefore，it is the ci poetry rather than articles or poems that constitute the immortal status of Ouyang Xiu.”in Tuo An Ci Hua.He gives a pertinent comment on the ci poetry of Ouyang Xiu and confirms the historical status of him.However，it is noteworthy that current academic circle pay less attention to the ci poetry of Ou yang Xiu than his articles and poems.

Notes:

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〔3〕袁行霈:《中国文学史:第3卷》，北京:高等教育出版社，1999年。

〔4〕宋生贵:《艺术家的人生体验与艺术再现》，《内蒙古大学学报(哲学社会科学版)》2008年第4期。