When Duan was young, he traveled around with his father, Duan Wenchang (who was my ambassador to Sichuan), and learned about local customs and anecdotes, which broadened his life horizons. Besides, he studied hard and read many books, including Official Secrets. He is fond of books, knowledgeable and well-read. Duan made friends with poets Wen, Li Shangyin and others, and had close contacts. This also had a far-reaching impact on his poetry creation. Because of his father Duan Wenchang, Duan once became a secretary of a provincial school and lived in a government "training center". He himself said: "In the summer of Guihai three years, Wu Zong gave Zhang Junxi a good biography and became an official secretary." This was in 843 AD, when he was about 40 years old. Later, "I was tired of moving to business" and served as the secretariat of Jiangzhou until "Dazhong returned to Beijing, and the official was too common and young." When he lived in Chang 'an, he was "leisurely and comfortable" and "especially deeper than Buddhist books", which was a summary of his later life. He died in Xian Tong in June of four years, at the age of sixty-one.
Among the late Tang writers, Duan's literary achievements are various. He is good at poetry and prose. In addition to the masterpiece "Youyang Miscellaneous Notes", it was spread to later generations. It also includes more than 30 poems of "Complete Tang Poetry" and 1 1 articles of "Complete Tang Poetry". In the field of poetry, he is as famous as Li Shangyin and Wen, and is called "Thirty-six Zi" (Duan, Li and Wen all rank 16th, hence the name). Most of Duan's existing poems are quatrains and metrical poems, which pay attention to the gorgeous style and beautiful style. In the late Tang society, "officials are in chaos and the people are poor, thieves rise in groups, the soil collapses, and they are worried about danger." The emperor still eats and drinks all day and turns a blind eye to political affairs. In such a social environment, Duan believed in Buddhism, read the scriptures, drank and wrote poems, and sang harmoniously to solve his worries. Many of his poems showed negative emotions beyond the secular world. Duan was famous for his literary works at that time, and was also called "three talents" with famous poets Li Shangyin and Wen, but his achievements in poetic art were far less than those of Wen and Li. Youyang Zaju recorded various things in different categories and was listed as a novelist by Xin Tang Shu Yi Wen Zhi. The book has a wide range of contents, which has always been valued by people and cited by many scholars. Ancient Chinese and foreign rumors, myths, stories and legends are rich and colorful, and some chapters reflect the social reality in a tortuous way, which provides extremely valuable information for the study of Tang legends. At the same time, the book also collates a large number of historical materials of the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Tang Dynasty, recording the anecdotes of the ruling class in the Tang Dynasty, the response and etiquette of the envoys in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the folk weddings, customs, exchanges between Chinese and foreign cultures and products. These are either from hearsay or from the secret books of suicide notes, which provide valuable information for us to study ancient history and the history of Sino-foreign relations. In addition, the record of meteorites, fossils and mineral deposits, and the description of the morphology and characteristics of animals and plants also have important scientific value.
Youyang miscellaneous language is also highly valued abroad. American oriental scholar Ralph and British writer Joseph Needham both spoke highly of this book, and Lee even quoted many materials from it. Of course, there are also bizarre stories in the book, which are its dross.
In addition, Duan's poems have also made some achievements, which are as famous as Wen and Li Shangyin, and the time number is "36". Because Duan, Wen and Li are ranked sixteenth, they are called "thirty-six styles". These three are all masters of late Tang literature. The poetry of the research section can be cross-referenced with its notes and novels, which is of great benefit to a comprehensive understanding of the ideology, culture, literature and art of Tang society. Duan's literary achievement lies not in his poems, but in his Youyang Zaju. Twenty volumes of Youyang Miscellanies and ten volumes of sequels. The nature of this book, according to the author's preface, belongs to mystery novel. "People who are not ashamed of hard work will also suppress mystery novels." However, as far as the content is concerned, it goes far beyond the strange theme. The contents of this book are complex, with natural phenomena, literary allusions, social sentiments, real estate resources, plants, insects and fish, Chinese medicine, Buddhist stories, Chinese and foreign cultures and product exchange. For another example, Wang Bin's "Please Wu Zhao" was handed to Wu Zetian: "Then I looked up to heaven and said,' The beauty of a moth refuses people, and being sycophantic can confuse the Lord', and I smiled. When I reached' a handful of soil is not dry, six feet are alone', I exclaimed:' Why did the Prime Minister gain and lose this person?' " This is a genius move. There are also stories such as Li Bai telling Gao Lishi to take off his boots, and Wang Bo writing an article in the quilt to make a draft, which are even more popular and widely circulated. From the perspective of China's novel history, the most valuable part of Youyang Miscellaneous Secrets is the mystery novel. Lu Xun once spoke highly of this book, saying that it "competes with tang legends's novels". In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Pu Songling, a native of Zichuan, wrote the famous Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, which pushed this style to its peak. It should be said that Youyang Za is an important novel that inherited the Six Dynasties, started the Song, Ming and early Qing Dynasties, and had a great influence on later generations. In the Qing Dynasty, Ji Yun and others compiled the Summary of Sikuquanshu, which pointed out: "His book is so bizarre and absurd. The cheater of suicide note is often wrong. Therefore, although critics are terminally ill with their own exaggerations, they can't help quoting each other. Since the Tang Dynasty, they have been promoted to the top of novels.
There is a vivid and tortuous love story in Youyang Magazine Tianzhi, which is quite literary, and it is very similar to the story in Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio: in Yongzhen, people in the East know books, with tens of millions of books and many businessmen. There is a 14-year-old woman who is gorgeous and enlightened. The polyps hanging on the two holes of the nose are like acacia seeds, and the roots are like hemp threads, which are so long that they hurt into the bone marrow. His father broke a million dollars, and the treatment was not bad. One day, a monk begged for food and asked Bu, "I know your daughter has a different disease, but I can stop it as long as I see it." When Bu was asked about his happiness, he saw his daughter. The monk took the medicine, the color was white, he blew it in his nose, and after a while, he took it off. There was little yellow water and nothing bitter. Platinum given. Brahma monk said, "I am a monk, and I am not generous." Only this polyp. " So I took good care of myself and left, flying like a fly. Cloth also means its sage. When monk Ji went to the fifth and sixth square, he found a young man, as beautiful as a crown jade, riding a white horse. He slammed the door and said, "Is there a monk Hu?" Bu Shiyan tells the story of monk Hu. The man shouted unhappily, "Ma Xiao is behind this monk!" Bu was surprised. Why? He said, "God has lost his joy, and people know that they are hidden in your daughter's nose. I'm a natural person, and I've come to get it at the order of the emperor. I didn't expect this monk to take it first. I should be sent! " Cloth as a gift, lift your head, lose.
How simple and interesting such an absurd story is! The structure is complete, the plot is vivid and the image is realistic, which is not inferior to other famous legendary novels in the Tang Dynasty. Youyang Miscellanies established Duan's position in the history of literature and made him a famous writer in the Tang Dynasty.
Duan's literary achievement is mainly his Youyang Zayu. Twenty volumes of Youyang Miscellaneous Notes continue to ten volumes. 198 1 year, Zhonghua Book Company reprinted Youyang Miscellaneous Notes, with a preface and postscript, a bibliography summary and a chronology. The nature of this book, according to the author's order, says: "Those who are not ashamed of hard work will suppress the novel." Miscellaneous Notes of Youyang is an important novel that inherits the Six Dynasties and opens the Song, Ming and early Qing Dynasties, and has a great influence on later generations. For example, many anecdotes in Tian Zhi and Nuo Gao Ji are not inferior to tang legends's novels in terms of complete structure, vivid plot and vivid image. Youyang Zayu established Duan's position in the history of literature. In the Qing Dynasty, Ji Xiaolan and others compiled the Summary of the General Contents of Sikuquanshu, which pointed out: "There are many bizarre and absurd things in his books, and there are many mistakes in the secretaries of his posthumous works. Therefore, although the critics take exaggeration as a disease, they have to quote each other." Since the Tang Dynasty, he has been regarded as the best in novels. "Mr. Lu Xun also praised the book A Brief History of Chinese Fiction, saying:" It covers a wide range, so there are many exotic things. "This book is" against the legendary novels of the Tang Dynasty. "
In the history of China literature, Duan is famous for his note novels. He wrote 20 volumes of Youyang Miscellaneous Notes, with a sequel of 10, covering a wide range of topics, including Shinto, Buddhism, astronomy, geography, culture and art, customs and people's feelings, Huo Zhi, anecdotes, heaven and earth, ancient and modern, at home and abroad. It not only preserves the precious historical materials of snow from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, but also shows the author's superb writing style. The summary of the catalogue of Sikuquanshu said: "Since the Tang Dynasty, it has been useless or useless to be promoted as a novel editor." Mr. Lu Xun's "A Brief History of Chinese Novels" said: "You can record secretaries, tell wonders, talk about immortals, talk about ghosts and gods, talk about people, and even move plants, which will last forever ... It covers a wide range, so you love to play with the world, and love competes with legends." The history of science and technology in China written by Joseph Needham, a British writer, and China, an American scholar, both quoted the materials of Youyang Zayu in many places. This book also contains many records about Shandong's geographical customs, myths and legends, such as Gaoyuan Yujin, Licheng Lianzi Lake (now Daming Lake), Licheng Wei Ming Temple Han Palace Monument, Lishan, Hanyushan and other legends. Most of Duan's existing poems are quatrains and metrical poems, which attach great importance to the floweriness of words, and there are also many excellent works, such as Two Poems of Han Palace:
At the beginning of singing and dancing, Gong Liu learned to draw moths and eyebrows.
The king was tired of the world, but when he heard the song, he cried.
28. I will be honored to choose a song that I can sing.
I am too jealous to sing in front of you.
This kind of poem describing palace grievances is the subject of repeated writing by predecessors, but the paragraph is written with tears, which is thought-provoking and * * *. He combined the sadness of an innocent girl when she entered the palace with the sadness of a dying maid-in-waiting, thinking and feeling deeply, and profoundly exposed the ruthlessness of feudal palaces. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, politics was extremely corrupt, the ruling group headed by the emperor lived luxuriously, bureaucratic corruption prevailed, people's lives became increasingly painful, class contradictions intensified, and the social crisis deepened gradually. Duan Shicheng lived in an era when people were "scattered everywhere, hungry and unable to wear clothes"; "Officials are in chaos and the people are poor, thieves get together, and they are worried about danger when they collapse" (Biography of Liu Ben in Old Tang Dynasty). After Tang Yizong succeeded to the throne, he still feasted all day and turned a blind eye to state affairs. In such a social environment, those who don't want to go with the flow and look down on the powerful have a strong negative feeling of being divorced from the secular. This is also revealed in his poems. For example, his drunken song:
I only like the sound of a bad bed,
Long sorrow can never wake up.
Honor and shame in the world are not always fixed,
Only Nanshan is green.
History books say that when he lived in Xiangyang, he was "leisurely and carefree" and "especially deeper than Buddhist books", which is an excellent summary of his later life. Singing in drunkenness (only love the sound of dripping water on the bed)
Fold seven willows (the branches are horizontally locked in Nagato)
Apes (but remember, this study is worth the sun)
One or eight pairs of couplets in Chang 'an Temple (overlapping the clear sky)
Play the royal seven songs (one person in Baimeicheng)
The topic of Shiquan Lan Ruo (bamboo as fence and door)
Tishangshan Temple (occasionally out of Yunquan to pay homage)
Inscribed monk wall (with monk's cheeks and eyebrows)
Lan Ruo's Three Poems (Clouds in the Wind and Shadows in the Valley)
Peach Garden Monks Enjoy Flowers (Emperor Li visited Spring the year before last)
Send two monks (theory of immortality of form and spirit)
Send Mu Langzhong to Que (hate begets sorrow)
Zhou Qing's Ji Jie drama presents three "Flying Songs" (Introduction to Long-shouldered Calf)
I was afraid of wine and gave it to Zhou Yao.
Niu Zun Shi Zhai sees peony (the fairy in the cave has a longer spring)
Crying about Li Qunyu (once talking about Huangling)
Crying for Li Qunyu (Poetry in Wine for 30 Years)
Crying House Chu Shi (only a few miles in Huangtan)
Sentence (talking about respecting the wind)
Send wenfeiqing stationery (when 36 scales are full)
Send (less orders are better than strong orders)
Glory comes from the river (from Tang Tao)
Meeting Zhou Yao (like fish and eyes)
Chanting sermons and wearing robes with Zhang Xifu (in the cold night of Nanshan)
And Xu Shang He, Mr. Lu, gave Fei a gift (hanging in the cloud language pavilion)
Two Ci Poems of the Han Palace (When Song and Dance Began)
Watching the Mountain Lantern Sacrifice to Xu Shangshu (the wind and shadow are messy)
Watch chess (play chess when you have nothing to do, pour a pot)
Hold the steering wheel (it's not surprising that the tiger walked to the front)
Zhong Cheng, Yuan Chao (selected from Meng Guang's "The Sound of a Warbler Before Flowers")