Wang Shizhen's main achievements

Wang Shizhen explicitly mentioned the retro thought in his literary theory. Wang Shizhen's advocacy of retro theory and some specific views are embodied in Art Garden. Art Garden is an important work that embodies the poetry theory of the "later seven poets" and is the theoretical support of this school. In the face of the literary depression, Wang Shizhen once pointed out: "When the Tang Dynasty was prosperous, it was poetry, its breath was exhausted, its voice was loud and flat, its color was elegant and beautiful, its power was heavy and its meaning was harmonious, so it was called the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Today's pranksters, ignorant in the morning, stole Yuan for the Spring Festival, but expressed their feelings, making their songs silent and their eyes colorless. They are powerless to suppress it, but they still don't think about repentance. They hold their eyes high and look around and say, "Why do I prosper in the Tang Dynasty? This theory is in the same strain as the literary proposition in Art Garden. Through this sentence, Wang Shizhen fully explained why he should take the prosperous Tang Dynasty as the research standard. It is because the poetry in the prosperous Tang Dynasty is vigorous, elegant in rhetoric and long in meaning, which conforms to all the characteristics of poetry aesthetics. Therefore, the poems in the prosperous Tang Dynasty have become a model for poets to learn. Wang Shizhen advocated imitating the prosperous Tang Dynasty, but his highest poetic ideal was the naturalness and simplicity of ancient poems in Han and Wei Dynasties. He pointed out: "Xijing and Jian 'an seem elusive. After a long period of study and concentration, God and the environment will suddenly come, without any ambiguity or silent color to refer to. This sentence points out that the poems of Han and Wei Dynasties can't be imitated, and their natural creation process comes naturally without carving, which shows Wang Shizhen's unique and precise vision in the creation of specific poems. In Yi Yan Yuan Yan, Wang Shizhen severely criticized the bad style of writing in the Song Dynasty, and repeatedly mentioned his dissatisfaction with the style of poetry in the Song Dynasty. He attached great importance to the pure literary nature of poetry. When talking about the preparation of Yuefu poetry, he said: "There is no vulgarity in the near things, and there is no fiber in the near feelings. Stupidity shows no signs, but cleverness shows no signs. Near is better than far, simple is better than empty. There are divisions, committees and realities. When it comes to discussion, it is a ghost road. " When talking about the materials of the seven-character rhyme, he pointed out: "Don't generalize by partiality, don't be rational, don't be partial, don't use words written by the Six Dynasties, and don't use things after the Dali period. The poet's evil influence is cautious. " Wang Shizhen called this writing method which ignored the literariness of poetry "ghost way" and "poet's evil spirit". Judging from the severity of his description, Wang Shizhen criticized the shortcomings of Song poetry, such as attaching importance to reason, learning and language. Since the Ming Dynasty, Tage's rigid and mediocre style of writing, with the Taoist style of poetry commenting on Taoism, has flooded the poetry circle, resulting in a depression in the poetry circle. Their common shortcomings are false plagiarism and lack of true feelings. Therefore, Wang Shizhen put forward the theory of "true feelings", which played an important role in correcting the false writing style of the poet Pu Hu at that time.

Wang Shizhen not only played the role of "the last seven sons" in literary theory, but also played a leading role in later generations. His specific literary creation has also become a model for people to learn. The Summary of the General Contents of Sikuquanshu points out: "Since the Collection of Shizhen, scholars have plagiarized Shizhen. Therefore, there is a saying in Ai Nanying's "subset of heavenly servants": teenagers don't have to read or write, but there are four manuscripts on the bookshelf, which can be cut off instantly every time they meet with social parties. At first glance, they are all rich in fields, dazzling letters of appointment, and rotten detailed examples. It can be said that Chen' s abuse can be cut. " Although, this evaluation is negative and biased for Wang Shizhen. However, from another aspect, we can see Wang Shizhen's important influence in the literary world at that time. It is conceivable that what he said about the retro theory had an impact on the literati at that time. It can be said that only four manuscripts of Yizhou Mountain Man, the continued migration of Yizhou Mountain Man and artistic poetry are enough to establish Wang Shizhen's outstanding literary position. Because in these works, he showed the ability to control different genres of works, which was enough to become a model for future generations. Wang Shizhen is an outstanding collector of calligraphy and painting in Wumen area, and has a deep friendship with many literati painters. As far as calligraphy is concerned, his official seal calligraphy view praises the calligraphy of Wen Zhiming and his disciples and despises the previous generation of calligraphers; Although his view of seal script is biased, his appreciation and evaluation of seal script in the Ming Dynasty, when its creation declined, is precious and beneficial to the rise of seal script creation and evaluation in later generations.

Wang Shizhen is good at books, but the title is not obvious. Zhan Jingfeng, a Ming scholar, said: "Yuan Mei (Wang Shizhen) was not named after one word. Although all the calligraphers in Wuzhong, only Yuan Mei knew the ancients." This evaluation is not low; Wang Shizhen not only can write, but also has profound research and opinions on the theory of calligraphy and painting. He is an accomplished critic of calligraphy and painting, and has written Wang Shu Shu Shu, Hua Yuan, Yi Zhou Shan Min Inscription and Postscript, Yi Zhou Ink Painting Inscription and Postscript, Three Inscriptions and Postscripts, etc. Wang Shizhen's calligraphy, like his literary thoughts, should not be imitated by people after the Tang Dynasty. He said in Four Drafts of Yizhou Mountain Man (Volume 133) and Ten Postscripts of Chunhua Pavilion Post: "Calligraphy has reached the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and the imitators carved stones three or four times, which is enough to overwhelm Yu Zi. When poetry involves Jian 'an and Wen Xijing, it is a dust-free world, and I am also a cloud in the book. "There is a saying in the Ming Dynasty:" Shizhen calligraphy is not a master, but it is eloquent and elegant. The word "quaint" is one of the standards of Wang Shizhen's usual writing. Wang Shizhen's method of managing history is roughly to argue unofficial history and Jia Cheng with national history; Compare unofficial history and his family history, and choose the credible one; Take personal experience and personal news as the basis of historical investigation; Taking imperial edicts and other original materials as an important basis for textual research; Make sense and reason an important criterion for writing history. Wang Shizhen used these methods to conduct in-depth textual research on the historical facts of the Ming Dynasty, which was rare in the Ming Dynasty and achieved good results. Wang Shizhen's application of these textual research methods is embodied in Shicheng Kaoru. The evaluation of this book in the catalogue of Sikuquanshu is: "Everyone can distinguish the essence, which is conducive to textual research", "There are many things, no small mistakes ... but its big end is credible, which can't be a disease". Xia Xie, a Chinese also said: "The official history (Ming history) has many victims, but it is hard to say that it is Zhou. "... thus, Wang Shizhen's historical achievements should not be underestimated.

The retro atmosphere in the literary world of the Ming Dynasty caused people to imitate their predecessors, which may be the so-called overcorrection. At this time, historiography was influenced by this retro atmosphere in the literary world. However, judging from the achievements of Wang Shizhen, a great literary master at that time, it may be because of this thought that historiography got the essence of some previous historians, or it may be that Ming Dynasty historiography made brilliant achievements in another world. Wang Shizhen's theory that "there is nothing between heaven and earth except history" is an innovation of historical theory under the trend of restoring ancient ways in the middle of Ming Dynasty. It is the first time to discuss the academic value and social value of historiography directly from historiography itself. He regards the Six Classics as a description of ancient historical events, which is a deeper understanding of historical theory and promotes historians' thinking on history since then. Wang Shizhen's historiography thought should represent a major feature of Ming Dynasty historiography. Although official historiography showed signs of decline during this period, the rise of private historiography, represented by Wang Shizhen, made the position of Ming Dynasty historiography in the history of ancient China not be lost because of its wasted efforts. The historical achievements of this period are not limited to this, but also have a far-reaching impact on later historical research.