Literature
嶺南三大家
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屈大均 (1630-1696)
屈大均 (1630-1696)
圖片摘錄自：
葉衍蘭：《清代學者象傳》（上海：上海書店出版社，2014年）。
屈大均，字介子，號翁山、萊圃，是廣東番禺縣人。他為明末清初，廣東著名的詩人，為「嶺南三大家」之冠。屈大均的詩學以盛唐為主：五、七言古詩繼承屈原和李白浪漫主義的基礎，並且吸取了漢代樂府詩的表現手法；律詩和絕詩則師承李白、杜甫，再采諸家之長，自成一派。當中，屈大均最擅長、成就最高為五言律詩。
在創作實踐方面，由於屈大均積極接觸社會現實，因此其題材與當時的鬥爭息息相關。他寫了不少反映民間疾苦的詩，如：
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19歲所寫的《菜人哀》，真實地紀錄了1648年廣州的一次大饑荒中悲慘的情景，「人自賣身為肉於市」。
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《雷女織葛歌》慨嘆農村婦女終日織作，辛勞地密密工作，卻養活不了自己。
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鞭韃貪官污吏的《民謠》「白金乃人肉，黃金乃人膏，使君非豺虎，為政何腥臊？」運用接近於民間口語的質樸語言，尖銳地揭示了貪官的豺狼本性。
這些作品皆體現了詩人嫉惡如仇的性格，以及對人民疾苦的關注和同情。然而，屈大均這一類作品大都寫於後期，即在他結束了遊俠式的漫遊生活，回到廣東鄉間定居之時。這個時候的大均思想比較成熟，觀察社會也比年少時更細緻深刻。
此外，屈大均致力於收集和編纂廣東文獻、方物、掌故的工作。他花了數年時間，編成《廣東文選》，及後又在此基礎上擴大篇幅，增加內容，編纂《廣東文集》，使到嶺南文化得以發揚光大。他所撰寫的《廣東新語》是通過實地考察，掌握大量一手資料後而成，是一本史料價值很高的廣東方物專著。在屈大均的作品中，也有著大量反映廣東天文、地理、山川、草木、民族和習俗等方面的故實。例如：《珠江春泛作》、《西樵作》、《舟經金利作》。
The Three Great Masters of Lingnan
1. Qu Dajun (1630-1696)
Qu Dajun (1630-1696)
Image is taken from:
Ye, Yan Lan. Qing dai xue zhe xiang chuan (The Biography of Scholars in the Qing Dynasty). Shanghai: Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, 2014.
Qu Dajun, courtesy name Jiezi, and his art name are Wengshan and Laipu. He was from Panyu district, Guangdong. Qu was a famous Guangdong poet in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the most prominent one of the "Three Great Masters in Lingnan". Qu's poetics was mainly based on the prosperous Tang Dynasty: the ancient five-and seven-character poems inherited the basis of the romanticism of Qu Yuan and Li Bai and absorbed the expressive techniques of the Le fu poems in the Han dynasty; the rhythm poems and the Jueshi poems were taught by Li Bai and Du Fu, and then borrowed the strengths of various families. In a group of its own. Among them, Qu is the best at and has achieved the highest achievement in five-character lyric poetry.
In terms of creative practice, Qu actively gained access to social reality, so his subject matter is closely related to the social problems at that time. He wrote many poems reflecting the suffering of the people, such as,
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At the age of 19, the "Cai Ren Ai " truly recorded the tragic scene of a great famine in Guangzhou and the hawker’s sorrows in 1648, "people sell themselves as meat in the market".
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“Lei Nǚ Zhi Ge Ge”: lamenting that rural women weave all day long, work hard, but cannot support themselves.
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The "Folk Ballad" is written to describe the corrupt officials and corrupt officials, "Platinum is human flesh, gold is the human ointment. If the ruler is not a tiger, why is there much fishy shame about being in government?" Using the simple language close to the folk colloquialism, it sharply revealed the nature of corrupt officials.
These poems all reflect the poet's hatred against evil, as well as his concern and sympathy for the suffering of the people. Most of Qu's works were written in the later period when he ended his wandering life as a ranger and returned to settle in the countryside of Guangdong. At this time, Qu's thinking was more mature, and his observation of society was more detailed and profound than when he was young.
Qu devoted himself to collecting and compiling Guangdong documents, antiques, and anecdotes. He spent several years compiling "Anthology of Guangdong Literature", and then expanded the length and content on this basis, compiling "Anthology of Guangdong Literature", so that Lingnan culture can be carried forward. "Guangdong Xinyu" written by Qu is a monograph of Guangdong Fangwu with high historical value. In Qu's works, there are also a lot of facts that reflect Guangdong's astronomy, geography, mountains and rivers, vegetation, ethnicity, and customs. For instance: “Zhujiang Chunfan Zuo”, “Xi Qiao Zuo” and “Zhoujing Jinli Zu”.
2. 陳恭尹 (1631-1700)
陳恭尹 (1631-1700)
圖片摘錄自：
葉衍蘭：《清代學者象傳》（上海：上海書店出版社，2014年）。
陳恭尹，字元孝，號羅浮布衣，晚號獨漉子，生於廣東順德縣龍山鄉，是清初廣東詩人，有《獨漉堂全集》行世。陳恭尹與屈大均相交是源於其父陣邦彥為屈大均的老師，加上二人對時局看法相近，故此建立了深厚的友誼。
對於文學，陳恭尹抱有比較創新的見解，他認為文學的創作不應是固有不變，或是盲目崇拜崇古及擬古。如《次韵答徐紫凝》提到：「文章大道以為公，今皆何能強使同？只寫性情流紙上，莫將唐宋滯胸中。」他認為文學正如朝代更替，是處於不斷變化的狀態，所以詩歌必須保持創新，探求思想內容的進步。
陳恭尹一生多次與清政府有所牽連，這些經歷不但激發了陳恭尹的反清意志和晚期明哲保身的思想轉變，亦塑造了他筆下文學作品的創作，分為前後兩個階段。其父陳邦彥為著名抗清志士，他在1646年清軍攻打廣州之時起兵抗清，後來抗爭失敗，全家除了陳恭尹一人均被殺害。兩年後，南明永曆王朝遷移肇興，陳恭尹被授世襲錦衣衛指揮僉事之職位。至1650年，清軍再次攻打廣州，陳恭尹在戰亂中逃難，不再受任永曆朝廷的官職，此後不入仕途。他抱以國破家亡的悲痛，決心參與反清活動，視拯救民族為己任。陳恭尹在這階段創作的作品多數與國難家仇有關，藉著詩詞抒發傷悼故國、憂慮世局、感懷身世之情。正如在《擬古三首 其三》寫道：「猛士不帶劍，威武豈得申？丈夫不報國，終為愚賤人。」，表達了抗清復仇之志。而在《西湖》詩中，詩人提到南宋的歷史，控訴南明歷朝統治者的昏庸無道是清軍得以節節勝利的原因，表達了對當時政局的憤慨之情：
《西湖》陳恭尹
山中麋鹿若為群，嶺外雙魚杳不聞。
貧甚獨存馮客劍，雪深持上岳王墳。
西湖歌舞春無價，南宋樓臺暮有雲。
休恨議和奸相國，大江猶得百年分。
後來在1659年，永曆帝逃亡緬旬，代表了南明的終結，清朝統治亦已成定局，陳恭伊有見及此，決定返回家鄉居住。其後，他抗清意志消極，尤其在1678年間，陳恭尹被清政府懷疑曾參與三藩之亂而將他一度逮捕入獄，至此陳恭尹秉持明哲自保的態度。他在後期階段的作品可窺見陳恭尹已對清朝統治抱持不反對的態度，作品主題多為唱和酬贈，以詩歌自娛。如下圖是陳恭尹奉送虹亭先生歸去吳江的詩稿：
陳恭尹 (1631-1700)
《奉送虹亭先生詩》
約1698年
5000 x 944毫米
何創時書法藝術基金會
圖片摘錄自：
何創時書法藝術基金會：《陳恭尹《奉送虹亭先生詩》》（取自https://www.hcsartmuseum.com/projects/12102/，2022年）。
但其部分作品仍流露出前朝遺民意識。在《九日登鎮海樓》一詩中，陳恭尹記錄在重陽節登上鎮海樓看到的景色，慨歎山河久已易色，復明之志無成，往事不堪回首，可見詩人對以往反清失敗抱有遺憾之情：
《九日登鎮海樓》陳恭尹
清尊須醉曲欄前，飛閣臨秋一浩然。
五嶺北來峰在地，九州南盡水浮天。
將開菊蕊黃如酒，欲到松風響似泉。
白首重陽唯有笑，未堪懷古問山川！
與屈大均相似，陳恭尹的許多文學作品也呈現了嶺南的地方色彩，以簡略的詩句勾勒出嶺南風景。如上文提及的《九日登鎮海樓》詩句：「五嶺北來峰在地，九州南盡水浮天」，描繪了從鎮海樓方向眺望的廣東地形特徵。在《端州閱江樓》中，以詩句「牂牁之江千里來，羚羊峽口一線開。長波鼓蕩氣不泄，沙邊吼怒成風雷……」來描寫西江磅礡的氣勢。在明末清初之時，陳恭尹用詩句寫景、抒情、議論，創作出具有嶺南該時該景特色的文學作品。
2. Chen Gongyin (1631-1700)
Chen Gongyin (1631-1700)
Image is taken from:
Ye, Yan Lan. Qing dai xue zhe xiang chuan (The Biography of Scholars in the Qing Dynasty). Shanghai: Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, 2014.
Chen Gongyin, his courtesy name was yuan xiao, luo fu bu yi for his art name, and du lu zi for his later art name. He was born in Longshan Township of Shunde County of Guangdong. He was an early Qing Cantonese Poet and was famous for his masterpiece “du lu tang quan ji”. Chen and Qu met because Chen’s father was Qu’s teacher, and both of them had similar views on the political situation, thus, they established a deep friendship.
Regarding literature, Chen had a relatively innovative view on it. He believed that the creation of literature should not be inherently unchanged, or blindly imitated the ancients. As he mentioned in “Ci yun da xu zi ning”: “Writing articles must follow the objective laws of the internal development and change of articles. How can we force ancient and modern writing to be the same? The important thing is to pursue the natural expression of true feelings, and not use the framework of Tang and Song people's articles to restrict their thoughts." He believed that literature, like the fall and rise of dynasties, is in a state of changing. Therefore, poetry must remain innovative and seek the progress of ideological content.
Chen Gongyin was involved with the Qing government many times in his life. These experiences not only inspired Chen's anti-Qing willingness and his ideological change in the late period, but also shaped the creation of his literary works, which can be divided into two stages. His father Chen Bangyan was a famous anti-Qing fighter. He fought against the Qing when the Qing army attacked Guangzhou in 1646. Later, the resistance failed, and the whole family except Chen Gongyin was killed. After two years, the Yongli Dynasty of the Southern Ming Dynasty moved to Zhaoxing, and Chen Gongyin was assigned the post of commander of the hereditary Jinyiwei. In 1650, when the Qing army attacked Guangzhou again, Chen fled in the war and was no longer an official of the Yongli court. With the grief of the country's ruin and the loss of his family, he was determined to participate in anti-Qing activities, and regarded saving the nation as his duty. Most of the works created by Chen at this stage are related to national disasters and family feuds. Through poetry, he expressed his mourning for his motherland, his worries about the world situation, and his feelings of life experience. As written in “Ni gu san shou No. 3”: "It a warrior did not carry a sword, how could he be mighty? If men did not serve the country, he would end up being a fool." In the poem “West Lake (xi hu)”, the poet referring the history of Southern Song, and accused the incompetence of the rulers of the Southern Ming Dynasty as the reason for the success of the Qing army and expressed his indignation at the political situation at that time.
“West Lake (xi hu)” Chen Gongyin
If the elk in the mountains are in a herd, the fishes outside the mountains cannot hear.
I took the sword that was gifted by Fung guest and went to Yue Fei tomb (a Southern Song Chinese who was famous for defending the Jurchen Jin dynasty) on a snowy day.
The song and dance in the West Lake are priceless in spring, and there are clouds gathering at dusk in the towers of the Southern Song.
We need to remember the hate of the agreement with the nearby country (Treaty of Shaoxing agreement between the Jin dynasty and the Southern Song dynasty), which caused the hundred years separated of Da Jiang (Qinling Huaihe Line, marked the situation of North and South Partition in Song and Jin Dynasties)
In 1659, Emperor Yongli fled to Burma, which represented the end of Southern Ming, and the rule of the Qing Dynasty was a foregone conclusion. Chen saw this situation and decided to return to his hometown. After that, his will to resist the Qing was decreased. Especially in 1678, Chen was arrested and imprisoned by the Qing government for suspected involvement in the Revolt of the Three Feudatories. Since then, Chen maintained an attitude of self-preservation. In his later works, it can be observed that Chen has no objection to the Qing Dynasty ruling. The themes of the works are mostly celebration, present to others and entertaining self. The figure shows below is the poem presented by Chen for farewelling Hongting back to Wujiang:
Chen Gongyin (1631-1700)
Farewelling Hongting Back to Wujiang (feng song hong ting xian sheng shi)
c.1698
5000 x 944mm
HCS Calligraphy Foundation
Image is taken from:
HCS Calligraphy Foundation. Chen Gongyin “feng song hong ting xian sheng shi” (Chen Gongyin “Farewelling Hongting Back to Wujiang” Poem), 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2022, from https://www.hcsartmuseum.com/projects/12102/
However, some works still reveal the consciousness of the remnants of the previous dynasty. In the poem “Visit Zhenhai Tower on Double Ninth Festival (jiu ri deng zhen hai lou)", Chen recorded the scenery he saw when he climbed to Zhenhai Tower on the Double Ninth Festival. It showed the regretful feeling about the failure of the anti-Qing activities.
“Visit Zhenhai Tower on Double Ninth Festival (jiu ri deng zhen hai lou)” Chen Gongyin
Drinking in front of the railing with a wine bottle, no nostalgia when flying to the top floor.
The peaks from the north of the Five Ridges are on the ground, and the south of Kyushu is full of water and sky
The yellow chrysanthemums that are about to bloom are like wine, the sound of the wind is about to reach the pine tree is like spring water.
Only I could laugh when I was an old man during the Double Ninth Festival, only could ask the hill and river when I could not miss the past.
Similar to Qu, many of Chen's literary works also presented the local features of Lingnan and outlined the scenery of Lingnan with simple wordings. For example, the above-mentioned verse of "Jiu ri deng zhen hai lou": "The peaks from the north of the Five Ridges are on the ground, and the south of Kyushu is full of water and sky", which depicts the topographical features of Guangdong viewed from the direction of Zhenhai Tower. In "Duan zhou yue jiang lou", the verse "the shop of Yajiang is a thousand miles away, and the mouth of Antelope Gorge is open. The long waves are full of breath, and the sand is roaring like thunder..." to describe the majestic momentum of the Xijiang. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Chen used poems to describe scenes, lyrical feelings, and argumentation, and created literature with the characteristics of Lingnan in that particular time and scene.
3. 梁佩蘭 (1629-1705)
梁佩蘭 (1629-1705)
圖片摘錄自：
葉衍蘭：《清代學者象傳》（上海：上海書店出版社，2014年）。
梁佩蘭，字芝五，號藥亭，廣東南海縣人，清初廣東詩人，有《六瑩堂集》行世。他與屈大均及陳恭尹相交，二人曾爲《六瑩堂集》寫序，形容梁佩蘭的詩是「雄奇光怪，能開鑿自成一川嶽」、「雄邁滔莽，精警卓拔」。梁佩蘭的文學作品受到明代前後七子的復古主義所影響，在詩歌創作上呈現了以往漢魏古詩及盛唐近體詩的特色。與屈大均、陳恭尹相比，梁佩蘭的作品少見具有強烈民族意識和反清意志的主題，多是以反映民生疾苦及記錄旅途所見所聞為題。
一如部分明末清初士大夫共同的特徵，梁佩蘭亦流露出對清朝統治矛盾的態度。他從未參加過任何反清活動，對清朝統治表現出順從的姿態。而且他生平中多次參與清朝科舉，自二十九歲時參加鄉試獲得舉人後，梁佩蘭數次繼續赴京考進士，均無所獲，在三十年後一度擔任翰林院庶吉士，可見梁佩蘭不抗拒朝廷，願意迎合清朝統治下的政治制度。然而，他筆下部分的作品反映出民族受到壓迫的事實，揭示民生的苦難，如《養馬行》中，以「馬日齕水草百斤，大麥小麥十鬥勻」的句子描寫清朝藩王如何在戰亂後悉心照料馬匹，將百姓難以負擔的糧食供給馬匹；並在文末以一句「百姓乞為王馬王不應！」評擊清朝統治階層的不仁。另外，梁佩蘭其他反映民生疾苦的作品包括《采珠歌》、《採茶歌》、《樵父詞》等等。總括而言，梁佩蘭雖無忤逆清朝之意，卻對受其苦難的民間抱有憐憫、不忿的心，呈現出對清朝較為矛盾的態度。
梁佩蘭多次赴京應考，為他帶來豐富的遊歷經驗，亦成為他詩歌創作的主題，如有《韓莊早行》、《聞雁》、《端州道中望峽口積雪》等。他在這類作品的描寫比較工整，抒發較為直接的情懷。
《韓莊早行》梁佩蘭
土店燈在壁，出門心轉孤。
星光連馬眼，冰氣上人鬚。
沙路紛難辨，天河澹欲無。
直行三十里，始覺樹飛烏。
3. Liang Peilan (1629-1705)
Liang Peilan (1629-1705)
Image is taken from:
Ye, Yan Lan. Qing dai xue zhe xiang chuan (The Biography of Scholars in the Qing Dynasty). Shanghai: Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, 2014.
Liang Peilan, courtesy name Zhiwu, art name Yaoting, was a native of Guangdong Nanhai. Liang was a Guangdong poet in the early Qing Dynasty and famous for his book "Liu Ying Tang Ji". He was the friend of Qu Dajun and Chen Gongyin. Qu and Chen wrote the preface to "Liu Ying Tang Ji", describing Liang's poems as "magnificent, bizarre and capable of excavating and forming a mountain of its own", "majestic and reckless, and excellent ". Liang's literary works were influenced by the revivalism of the seven sons before and after the Ming Dynasty (ming dai qian hou qi zi). In his poetry creation, the characteristics of the poetry (Gushi) of the Han and Wei Dynasties, and the regulated verse (Jintishi) of the prosperous Tang Dynasty were presented. Compared with Qu and Chen, Liang's works were rarely themed with strong national ideology and anti-Qing consciousness. Most of them are about reflecting the suffering of people's livelihood and recording what they saw and heard during the journey.
As some of the common characteristics of scholar-officials in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Liang Peilan also showed a contradictory attitude towards the ruling of the Qing Dynasty. He never participated in any anti-Qing activities and showed an obedient attitude towards the Qing government. In addition, he participated in the imperial examinations of the Qing Dynasty many times in his life. Since he participated in the triennial provincial exam at the age of 29 and was listed "recommended man" (juren), Liang continued to go to Beijing court several times to take the "advanced scholar" (jinshi) examination, but he did not succeed. It can be seen that Liang did not resist the court and was willing to cater to the political system under the Qing Dynasty. However, some of his works reflected the fact that the people were being oppressed and revealed the suffering of the people's livelihood. For example, in the poetry "Horse Raising" (yang ma hang), he used the sentence "the horse per day was fed with hundred catties of water and grass; ten buckets of barley and wheat" (ma ri he shui cao bai jin, da mai xiao mai shi dou yun) to describe how the seigniors' act of the Qing Dynasty after the war, which took good care of the horses and provided the horses with food that the people could not afford; and at the end of the article, Liang criticized the inhumanity of the Qing Dynasty ruling class with the sentence "The emperor is not answering the begging of people!" (bai xing qi wei wang ma wang bu ying!). In addition, Liang's other works that reflected the suffering of people's livelihood include "Pearl Picking Song" (cai zhu ge), "Tea Picking Song" (cai cha ge), "Poetry of Woodman Father'' (qiao fu ci), and so on. To sum up, although Liang Peilan had no intention of disobeying the Qing Dynasty, he had compassion and resentment towards the people who suffered from the ruling class, showing a contradictory attitude towards the Qing Dynasty.
Liang Peilan went to Beijing many times to take the exam, which enriched his travel experience, which also became the theme of his poems, such as "Early Journey to Hanzhuang" (han zhuang zao hang), "Heard from Wild Goose" (wen yan), "Snow Covering the Gorge in Duanzhou Road" (duan zhou dao zhong wang xia kou ji xue) and so on. His descriptions in such works are relatively neat and express relative direct feelings.
"Early Journey to Hanzhuang (han zhuang zao hang)" Liang Peilan
A lamp is placed on the wall of the shop. I feel lonely when going out.
The light reflects from starlight and the eyes of horses, and the mustache becomes icy.
The sandy roads are indistinguishable, while the Tianhe (a district in Guangzhou) is quiet and restful.
Until going straight for thirty li (Chinese mile), I hear the birds flying out from the trees.
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References
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陳永正（1993）。《嶺南文學史》。廣東：廣東高等教育出版社。
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葉衍蘭（2014）。《清代學者象傳》。上海：上海書店出版社。
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