As the ancient saying goes: "It's easy to get the same good, but it's hard to find a bosom friend." "In the field of music, it is not easy to know the inner thoughts and intentions of the creator of the music just by listening to the melody of the music. If there are people who can immediately communicate with the creator's heart and mind just by listening to the music, and can also fully understand the meaning of the melody, then such a listener is a once-in-a-lifetime bosom friend who is often admired by the music creator. In fact, whether it is music or literature, everything that can be called an artistic work, between the creator and the viewer, if it can reach the level of "bosom friend" in the above-mentioned music field, it may really be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As a result, people can't help but ask: "Why is it that the world often laments the rare encounter?" Leaving aside the most abstract aspects of music in culture, let's just focus on the problem of "hard to find soulmates" that is also common in the field of literature, and help you identify the reasons through examples.

As mentioned above, the topic of "hard to find friends", although it originated in music, is generally present in all fields of art, and in the literary world, it is indeed more accessible and understandable; In other words, it is a common phenomenon for writers and their literary works to be hard to find. From ancient times to the present, in the field of literature, those who dare to claim to belong to the "bosom friends" of such and such a work, that is, those who have openly talked about literary works, some of them are only ordinary readers and appreciators, some are mostly writers or professional art critics, and some are precisely the powerful class, such as emperors and generals. However, in terms of identity, status, education, and knowledge, although there are significant differences between them, without exception, they inevitably have shortcomings, deficiencies or misunderstandings in the following three aspects.

The first is "how cheap and think about the ancients". How do you understand what this means? For example, there is a saying at the beginning of "Guiguzi Neizhen": "The affairs of the monarch and the ministers are far away and close, close and sparse; Don't use it, go and ask for it; The sun is not in advance, and the sound is lovesick when you hear it. To explain this paragraph simply, that is, even the emperors and generals in the palace and the officials, they do not know how to cherish and respect the virtuous and capable people who live in the same era, or even the virtuous and capable people around them, but they not only envy and eagerly look forward to the legends, especially the so-called famous masters who are particularly far away, and even spare no effort to praise them. For another example, after Han Fei's work "Chu Shuo" came out, Qin Shi Huang read it and hated to meet the author immediately; In addition, just as Sima Xiangru's "Zi Xuan Fu" was famous, after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty read it, he immediately sighed that he could not live at the same time as the author. However, Han Fei's fate turned out to be poisoned in the prison of Qin Shi Huang, and as for Sima Xiangru's fate, he was always regarded as an advocate by the emperor. At the root of it, as Ge Hong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty said in "Hug Puzi, Outer Chapters, and Broad Words": "Those who are far away and cheap are also used by ordinary people." ”

The second is "reverence for oneself and suppression of others". For example, Ban Gu and Fu Yi, the two of them are equally talented, and Ban Gu criticized Fu Yi for "not being able to take a break from writing". In fact, among writers, things like this are natural and commonplace. Like Cao Zhi in the article "Book with Yang Dezu", when Chen Lin was mentioned, he said: "With Kong Zhang's talent, he is not idle in resignation." In addition, because Ding Hui (a native of Peijun and a writer of Wei when he saluted the Three Kingdoms in ?-220 AD) once asked Cao Zhi to revise the manuscript, he said to the effect that "the reputation of my manuscript is always borne by me, who cares if someone has revised the manuscript for me." For this reason, Cao Zhi especially praised Ding Hui and commented that Ding Hui's previous words were "reasonable". However, at that time, Liu Xiu (birth and death unknown, Ji Xu, Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao's son, Guan Zhi Dong'an, Taishou, and left poems and poems, etc.) was compared by Cao Zhi to Tian Ba, a "broken mouth" who was keen to belittle the sage emperor in ancient times (the eloquent person of Qi during the Warring States Period was once refuted by Lu Zhonglian). From this, it is not difficult to see that Cao Zhi's evaluation of others is obviously prejudiced with personal likes and dislikes. Therefore, Cao Pi said in the "Classics and Treatises" that "literati are inferior to each other, and it has been since ancient times." It's not groundless.

The third is "believing in the false and the true". At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, there was a debater named Lou Hu (the year of birth and death is unknown, the words Junqing Qi people's ancestors practiced medicine for generations, and had followed his father to practice medicine in Chang'an and went in and out of the noble relatives' house) I don't know what occasion, he once commented on the article and said that Sima Qian was able to write the "Historical Records", all because of consulting Dongfang Shuo. However, Huan Tan, who heard this, even said that the "Taishi Gongshuo" in the "Historical Records" is Dongfang Shuo's original words. Such a kind of boring nonsense of an idler in the market can even be quoted by celebrities as a factual comment. Therefore, if a professional writer or celebrity re-evaluates an article, not only should he not be dishonest, but he should also understand why he should be cautious about commenting on the article.

By citing the above examples, it is clear that looking back at the history of judging literary works and their authors in the past, when we are in a secular society and step into the threshold of literary criticism, the first thing we encounter is eminent figures like Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Secondly, there are celebrities such as Ban Gu and Cao Zhi, although they are extraordinary, but they are too self-righteous and often judge others based on their personal biases. Moreover, some commentators are laymen themselves, and they comment on books and jokes, but they are just gags; Despite this, some experts and scholars even quote gossip and even regard it as real evidence; The former is the building protection, and the latter is Huan Tan. Therefore, after Yang Xiong wrote the "Taixuan Sutra", when he asked Liu Xin, Liu Xin bluntly said to Yang Xiong: "Empty self-suffering!" Today's scholars have benefits, but they can't understand "Yi", and what is "Xuan"? I'm afraid that future generations will use the sauce jar also. "Similar to Liu Xin, in order to treat the literary works of his predecessors as the household goods that he has worked hard about in the future, it is similar to the excessive worry of abandoning the jar, but instead of pure superfluous gossip or unfounded jokes, he even said it in one sentence, and it has become an endless scene reproduction and telling the truth in the world.

What is the root cause of the difficulty in evaluating articles or criticizing literature today? Between the human world, like the unicorn and the fawn, or the phoenix and the pheasant, it is said that between the two, it is not an exaggeration to say that there is a world of difference, and it should not be difficult to distinguish the difference. As for the difference between pearl and gravel, even under the bright light, even if it is discerned with the naked eye, it can be easily distinguished. However, according to the record of "The Legend of the Ram: The Fourteenth Year of Mourning Gong", there is a deer named "Roe Deer", but some people in Lu have become the legendary beast unicorn. In "Yin Wenzi on the Avenue", it is mentioned that some people in the Chu State mistakenly think of pheasants as phoenixes; In the same book, it also tells about a Wei man who was deceived by others and threw away Meiyu as a stone. In the book "Kan Zi" (Kan Zi or one of the twelve families of Que Zi to be examined), it is said that he was a native of the Song Dynasty who always treasured the stones of the Yan Kingdom as pearls and jade. Therefore, even if there are two items that are very significant in appearance, there will be people who can't distinguish them, so like articles that imply different temperaments and many feelings, who dares to say that it is very easy to distinguish between good and bad?

From ancient times to the present, the sea of books is vast and full of sweat cows. In terms of distinguishing, comparing or evaluating the works of articles, it is not only a simple division of "either/or" such as good and bad, good and bad, and right and wrong in terms of quality, but it is necessary to give key analysis and hierarchical explanations for the variety and intricacy of form and content. In the meantime, all writers and readers, especially those who review articles, even if they are professional literary critics, will come to very different conclusions because of their different levels of knowledge and the conditional factors of personality preferences, and it is impossible to be exhaustive. For example, those who have a generous temperament read passionate rhetoric and can't help but dance with moderation; A person with a subtle personality, contemplating delicate and meticulous sentences, will be happy if he can't bear it; Those who are enthusiastic and festive and lively, when they see the magnificent and colorful words, they will inevitably be excited; Like to hunt for the winner, when you encounter grotesque and weird articles, you will immediately concentrate. Therefore, for those who suit the mind, there will generally be habitual praise and praise; For those who are not satisfied, they will often be critical of rejection, similar to this kind of often relying on one's own opinions, to comment on the words, deeds and psychological patterns of various articles, as "Huainanzi Bian" said, "Look at the east, but not see the west wall; Look to the south, not to the north. "It's exactly the same!

The so-called experience of the world is that those who have personally practiced a thousand pieces of music will surely understand the fun of music, and those who have seen a thousand swords will naturally not be difficult to distinguish the true and false advantages of the sword. Therefore, if one has a relatively comprehensive analysis of the merits and disadvantages of an article and the ability to judge and criticize, the so-called method of attaining the Tao, or the only way, lies in the need to read a very wide range of literary books and accumulate life knowledge in advance. This is just like having seen the majestic and handsome mountains and dangerous mountains, and you will immediately understand the dwarf and thin hills and mounds; It is also like experiencing the vastness of the waves of the sea, and then knowing the subtlety of the ripples of the river. Only with such an experience can it be possible to overcome the bias of individuality and selfishness; Only with such a well-informed practice can we get rid of the shackles of human affection and dislike. Then, it is possible to truly measure the fairness like a rod scale, and also reflect it as truly as a mirror. After having the above ability foundation, if you start to evaluate the article, you only need to start from six aspects: the first is to see what the format of the work is chosen, that is, the category of style and genre; The second is to examine the wording and sentence formation of the work to see whether it is standardized, appropriate and colorful; the third is to compare the degree of inheritance, change and development of the work; the fourth is to distinguish between the good and the evil and the right and wrong that lead the theme of the work; the fifth is to analyze the accuracy of the quotations or allegories of the work; The sixth is to weigh the level of harmony of the rhythm of the work. In fact, after in-depth thinking in these six aspects, the judgment of the merits of a work will be revealed.

From ancient times to the present, any article is the product of the author's feelings, and literary criticism is to find out all the feelings and feelings of the writer at the time of creation through the work itself. It's like following the waves of water to find the source of the water, and even though the source is far and deep, there must be signs to be found. Although the time interval or the distance is far away, in the ever-changing dimension of time and space, the idea of being able to talk to the author anytime and anywhere is almost fantastical. However, in any dimension, as long as there is enough insight through the article, the emotional connotation of the author's creation can be comprehensively analyzed...... This is the level of competence of a "literary critic". Therefore, there is no need to complain about the profundity of the work, but only to worry about the whip of the critics. For example, in the story of "Lü's Spring and Autumn Festival: True Flavor", when Yu Boya was aiming for the drum and piano in the landscape, Zhong Ziqi listened to the response: "It is good as the drum and qin, and it is majestic as Ruotai Mountain." And when Yu Boya's melody was connected to flowing water, Zhong Ziqi heard the music and shouted: "It is good as the drum and piano, and the soup is like flowing water." "Just as invisible music can still have a soulmate, why should tangible articles be sad and difficult to criticize? In fact, the distant echo between the heart and the heart is just like the eyes observing everything in the world, and the more detailed the eyes are, the clearer and clearer the inner can distinguish. However, the mediocre observer of the world, obsessed with the external appearance of things, often tastes and enthusiastically touted only some superficial and inferior products without in-depth and meticulous discernment. Therefore, Zhuang Zhou once ridiculed the vulgarity of people who love "Folding Yang" and "Huanghua", while Song Yu is the most sad and less enthusiastic about the elegance of "Yangchun and White Snow". Moreover, there was Qu Yuan's sad song in "Chu Ci, Nine Chapters, Huaisha": "The literary quality is sparse, and everyone does not know the rest of the differences." And the implication of the strings is that whoever can know the brilliance of his songs is his bosom friend; Later, Yang Xiong declared in "Answer to Liu Xinshu": "I have a good heart and Shen Bo's beautiful writing." The implication of this is to emphasize that he himself particularly dislikes superficial words and phrases. Therefore, only those who are knowledgeable and able to appreciate and discern the deep meaning of other people's works can obtain the joy and pleasure of being well-informed. This is like the time when the spring flowers are blooming, all those who climb the high platform to enjoy the beauty of the season will inevitably have feelings of joy; Just like the truth that as long as there is a restaurant with delicious food, it will definitely be able to gather diners, which is originally so simple and simple. People know that the orchid is fragrant in the country, and if you wear it on anyone, the whole person will be filled with a refreshing fragrance; In the same way, excellent literary works are the essence of national, regional, and national characteristic cultures, and they must be savored carefully to understand their long-standing unique charm and stunning charm. All those who aspire to become confidants of art, all those who are willing to devote themselves to the ranks of literary and artistic criticism, and all those who consciously pursue civilized character and elegance and nobility, please be cautious about the above facts and analysis.

All in all: Hong Zhong Wanjun is easy to forge, and it is difficult to set the tone without Kui Kuang; There are thousands of good books on the shelves, and I don't know how to evaluate them. The sound and lust are extravagant and misleading, and Jin Shengyu revitalizes civilization; Familiar with the affairs of this chapter, worthy of the writers of the world.