| With its unique literary aesthetic charm, the classical narrative poetry, Song of Unending Sorrow, has affected millions of people. In fact, the influence of Song of Unending Sorrow has reached beyond literature into multiple facets of culture. As an outstanding text case, the poetry is an incisive illumination of the most important turning point of the history of Tang Dynasty, and even the history of Chinese feudal society. It also sets a cultural atmosphere in the second half of Chinese feudal society, the atmosphere of sentimentalism, secularism and romanticism. Therefore, it plays an important role in the history of ancient Chinese culture.The preciseness in narrating history and the extensiveness of the cultural contents involved, as well as the characteristics as a poetry:beautiful poetic languages, profound artistic conception and free imagination, are the features of Song of Unending Sorrow that has been inspiring people with great enthusiasm of research. In the beginning of the advent of the poetry, there was a saying that "Even a little boy can recite and understand Song of Unending Sorrow", which indicates its great social influence at that time. Since over a thousand years, Song of Unending Sorrow has never failed to draw people’s attention. Scholars of previous dynasties have made plenty of interpretations and explanations from various aspects, yielding extremely fruitful academic results. Presently, the academic researches mainly emphasize the discussion of its theme. Based on the research method,"the mutual proving of poetry and history", an influential method raised and completed by the great historian Chen Yinque, these researches undertook comprehensive verifications and analysis on the historical cultural background, phenomena and connotation that the poetry reflects, acknowledging its significant historical value.In Song of Unending Sorrow, the poet elaborated the soul-stirring tragic plot that are full of twists and turns, and expressed his intense and infinite sadness and sorrow towards human life and history. Besides, in a delicate and exquisite style, Bai Juyi wrote lots of details concerning multiple aspects of palace culture life in the Tang Dynasty, including profound information about the dressing up of the aristocratic women, the royal palace banquets and tours, the "Colorful Plumage Dance", etc. This is the firsthand information about the palace lifestyle in Tang Dynasty, as well as the condensation of the deep cultural connotations of social outlook, cultural atmosphere and aesthetic taste, etc. at that time. Based on the previous research results on Song of Unending Sorrow, from the perspective of its historical value, this thesis cites historic literatures and archaeological findings about Tang Dynasty, and gives a comprehensive textual analysis on the palace culture life in the Tang Dynasty described in the poetry. Through the mutual proving study, the real image of the life in the royal palace of Tang Dynasty can be further restored, and the realism of this epic can be better understood. Furthermore, this helps to analyze the evolving process of the palace living habits and aesthetic tastes mapped out in the poetry. Therefore, on the basis of previous understanding, the value of Song of Unending Sorrow as historical material will be further recognized and identified.This dissertation takes various details of the royal lives of Tang Dynasty as referential resources, then among which selecting the most typical items:"yun bin"(lady’s thick and beautiful hair),"cui qiao"(green jade hairpin),"jin que"(gold-hair bird),"yu nao tou"(jade hairpin),"dian he"(cosmetic container),"jin bu yao"(gold ripples),"hua guan"(the chaplet hairstyle),"feng dai"(cosmetic powder&ladies in the palace),"hua yan"(petal-like cheek),"yu rong"(jade-like face),"emei"(long slender eyebrows),"liu mei"(arch eyebrows),"xian mei"(fairy skirt),"shi yan"(feasts),"chun you"(springtime excursion),"The Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat", etc. And the dissertation classifies them into five parts:"hair style, jewelry and ornamental Hairpin,""cosmetic style,""dress sleeve" and "feast and springtime excursion," and "the music and dance of The Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat, then makes an overall analysis of the relative poetry, historical text and archeological data.1. Study of the women’s hairstyle, jewelry, and ornamental hairpinsSong of Unending Sorrow mentioned the hairstyle of Yang Guifei as Yunbin (lady’s thick and beautiful hair) in "The cloud of her hair, petal of her cheek, gold ripples of her crown when she moved ". Yunbin refers to a hairstyle, coming into fashion in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It is also named as chan bin, which is found employed by the female figure in the wall painting in the tomb of Li Xian and the painting of Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang. Yunbin in "Her cloudy hair-dress hung on one side because of her great haste," probably refers to the bun of a lady. According to the historical texts---The New Tang Book and The Records of Tang Xuanzong, Yang Kwei Fei prefers to employ Yizan (chignon) for the bun in her hairstyle. The fashionable employment of Yizan by women during Tang Dynasty can also been found in unearthed artifacts----the physical Yizan and the pottery women with it in the tomb of Tang dynasty near Turpan Aspen, and the maid images in the frescoes and line-engravings on the stone coffin in the tomb of Tang dynasty. There is conspicuous portrait of jewelry of women in Song of Unending Sorrow, including the items such as jade hairpin, gold hairpin and the gold waving ornamentals on hairpin, etc. At the same the poem employs "cui qiao"(green jade hairpin) and "yu nao tou"(jade hairpin) to stress their material quality and weaken their ornamental patterns. As for the gold hairpin,"jin que"(gold-hair bird) is employed to stress its design pattern. All these description is in conformity with the result of archeological discovery that "with simple ornamental patterns, jade hairpin’s functional quality was stressed, while with complicated patterns, gold hairpin’s ornamental function was stressed.""Dianhe" mentioned in the ending lines of Song of Unending Sorrow refers to a cosmetic container which its cover and bottom have the same pattern and can be used as two identical containers without circular leg. Based on archeological research, this type of cosmetic container was popular in the period of time from the late Tianbao Reign of Tang dynasty, and not popular in the middle Tang dynasty. So, the description by Bai Juyi in the poem is conformity with the historical reality, and embodies his artistic technique of "Pursue experience," portraying the pattern of cosmetic container of the middle period of Tang dynasty. Huaguan refers to the chaplet hairstyle. And according to the archeological resources, it came in fashion during the middle or late Tang dynasty, but there is little authentic material to verify the non-existence of Huaguan in the mid-Tang dynasty, therefore leaving the question open.2. The study of women’s makeup in Song of Unending SorrowThe description of female makeup in Song of Unending Sorrow can be classified into four types---powder makeup, red makeup, decoration makeup, and penciling eyebrow makeup. Chinese traditional way of using powder to make up dates back to Warring States Period. But, using white powder was much less popular in Tang Dynasty, and only women in the court occasionally used it, like Yang Guifei and lady GuoGuo, to achieve a new sense. Red makeup was the main style among women in Tang Dynasty. The description of Yang’s makeup in Song of Unending Sorrow embodies pure and elegant style called "Hua Zhuang", which was consistent with historical documents and archaeological discoveries, and fit for the sentimental tune created by the whole poem. The shape of floral twinkle in Tang Dynasty is mainly categorized into three types---point shape, flower shape, and animal shape. The colors are mainly red, emerald green, and golden. The image of "fall twinkle" appeared in the poetry is usually used by poets in Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty women’s eyebrow makeup style on the whole is from thin to broad and from broad to thin. The types of women’s eyebrow makeup in flourishing Tang were diverse in an explosive way. Yang’s eyebrow makeup was respectively described as "delicate eyebrows" and "willow eyebrows" in Song of Unending Sorrow, which conforms to not only the historical facts, but also the situation.The styles of women’s sleeves were abundant during Kaiyuan Tianbao Period (713-755A.D). Small sleeve, influenced by Hu clothing style, belongs to the style of "females wearing males’clothing". There is a poem by Bai Juyi saying "Capitulum shoes with tight clothes... Makeup in last years of Tianbao tries to be in the swim." Thus, small sleeve clothing was the most popular informal dress in Tang society, while big sleeve style was more common in concubines’dress and palace dancers’garments. Sometimes small sleeve and big sleeve were mixed. In Song of Unending Sorrow,"A light wind filled her cloak and fluttered with her motion" is used to describe Yang’s fabulous posture in the fairy land. Apparently, here, the dance garment with big sleeve does not conform to Yang’s Yan Ju dress sense described as "Her cloudy hair-dress hung on one side because of her great haste." But this kind of imaginary image description belongs to "the authenticity of art," and very important for the establishment of artistic meaning4. The study of feasts and springtime excursion in court in Song of Unending Sorrow "And (the Emperor) lavished all his time on her with feasts and revelry, His mistress of the spring, his despot of the night" indicates the fact that "Emperor’s favours to Six Palaces were concentered in one body." Palace feasts or revelry and springtime excursion are important cultural activity in Emperor’s palace in Kaiyuan and Tianbao Periods of Tang dynasty. According to Old Book of Tang, Anecdotes of Kaiyuan and Tianbao Periods, Notes on the Poetry Style of Tang Dynasty, and Notes on the Rules and Regulations of Tang Dynasty, the thriving palace feasts or revelry and springtime excursion in the flourishing period of Tang dynasty are related to the great promotion by Tang Xuanzong. Furthermore, by checking relative historical material and Bai Juyi’s poems, one can find that Bai Juyi knows much about the cultural activity in the palace such as feasts and springtime excursion through what is heard and seen, in which he shows much interest. All of this can prove the truthfulness of what he portraits in Song of Unending Sorrow.5. The study of dance and music of The Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat in Song of Unending SorrowThe dance and music of The Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat is the most important image in Song of Unending Sorrow. At the same time, it is a line of vital significance in combining the artistic meaning of the whole poetry with the telling of the love story between Mr. Li Longji and Miss Yang Guifei."The Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat" is mentioned three times, namely,"Soft song and slow dance, of string and bamboo music,""Broke the tunes of The Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat," and "As though she danced The Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat." They describe respectively three different images---the scenery of prosperous time, the first appearance of beacon, and the reminiscence of the past, which remain key in conveying the theme of the whole poetry.The dance and music of The Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat is one of the most excellent representatives of the flourishing Tang Dynasty culture, with its music style, dancing posture, and dancers’costumes conveying thoroughly and deeply the elegant and beautiful Tang flavor. There is no doubt that Bai Juyi was especially proficient in and crazy about the dance and music of The Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat. His The Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat, He Wei Zhi is the most important first hand document in ancient for the study of dance and music of The Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat. The image of "the Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat" in Song of Unending Sorrow not only conveys the hate of love tragedy between the emperor and concubine, but also carries that of the past of the flourishing Dynasty. Furthermore, it bears the Mid-Tang literati’s complex of prosperity represented by Bai Juyi, and is the punch line of the whole poetry.By cross-validation and comprehensive analysis and research of Song of Unending Sorrow, historical documents, and archaeological data, the content about court life in Dang Dynasty described in Song of Unending Sorrow can mainly be supported by historical documents, and confirmed by archaeological data. Thus, it is fully demonstrated that the narration and description are accurate, objective, and loyal to history. To a large extent, they reflect the transforms of culture pattern from the flourishing Dang to Mid-Tang.We can say with certainty that Song of Unending Sorrow is a great epic combining vividness of literature and art with authenticity of history. When we realize this, our recognition to the historical and cultural information in Song of Unending Sorrow will have more to rely on. Our understanding of the aesthetic sense in it will be more harmony. Also, we have further conditions to really understand it. |
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