The Study On The Myth Of The Sun And The Moon In The Tang Poetry

Myth is the source of poetry.Myth provides a lot of materials for poetry creation and expands the range of poetry materials.Influenced by the unique way of thinking of mythology,many poets use and absorb the mythological factors to create,so that poetry and mythology are perfectly integrated.A large number of myths and allusions in Tang poetry not only play a role in preserving myths,but also enhance the romantic effect of poetry.The Tang people integrated the myth story,the myth image,the myth thought and the poem,and created the unique artistic realm.This thesis,which is divided into eight chapters,chooses the myth of the sun and the moon in Tang poetry as the research object.The first chapter mainly discusses the God of the sun and the myth of the access of the sun in Tang poetry.The Sun God in Tang poetry is not only known as "Yao Ling","Dong Jun","Zhu Ming" and "Da Ming",but also as "Sun Ling","Yang Ling","Ling Hui" and "Yu Yi".In the under ordered poetry written by the Tang people,the sun is often compared with the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty,and it is integrated with the allusions of "holding the sun" to express the loyalty,service and protection of the king."Astronomy training of Huainanzi" describes the appellation of track and the place where the sun goes.In Tang poetry,there are common sunrise places such as "mingu","Xianchi","Fusang" and "Panmu" and sunset places such as "Gugu","Yuyuan" and "Sangyu".There are two meanings of "Ruomu" in Tang poetry,that is,Fusang in the East and Ruomu in the West.In addition,the appellations of day time in each period time in �Huainanzi�,such as "Fuchen","Zhengzhong","Shishi","Gaochong" and "Xiachong",can also be seen in Tang poetry,which mostly express time by their original meaning.The second chapter mainly discusses the myth of Yangwu and Houyi shooting at the sun in Tang poetry.Tang people take " the crow in the sun " as the poetic image,chanting both the sun and the crow,or integrating them,or referring it to the sun.Because ancient books such as �Huainanzi� recorded that "Yi shot ten suns,but nine of them are down,and Wu died in sun",and the myth of "Yi shot for nine suns" came into being.The images of Yi in ancient books can be classified into three kinds: "real historical figures","'archery target' figures " and " mythical figures ".What Yi of myth did is closely related to Yi of history.Yi in Tang poetry is inseparable from the above three images.Yi shot nine suns and fell into the sea which was called for Wojiao,also known as Weilu and Guitang.These images also appear in Tang poetry to express different poetic meanings.The third chapter mainly discusses the myth of Xihe and controlling sun in Tang poetry."Xihe" has three meanings in ancient books: " the mother of the sun ","calendar official" and " the coachman of the sun ".They are related to each other,reflecting the historicity of myth and the evolution of myth itself.And the meaning of " the coachman of the sun " is the mainstream of Xihe myth in Tang Dynasty.In the Tang Dynasty,Xihe mythological image was fused with the image of chariot,wheel,whip,bridle and martingale,and the allusion of "Xihe dominating sun" was extended to various poetic expressions.In Tang poetry,"Xihe" and its related images refer to the sun as well as the turning of the year,which embodies the continuous and fleeting of time day and night,expresses the poets' sigh of old age and the sigh of life caused by the fleeting of time,conveys the pursuit of success and the desire to break through the life limit.In addition to the time implication contained in the " sun chariot " and "six dragons",the " sun chariot " also sets off the height and danger of things,"six dragons" also has the meanings of "the emperor drives six horses" and "the six trigrams of the Qian Diagram in the � Book of Changes' ".The fourth chapter mainly expounds the myth of Kua Fu chasing the sun and the myth of Lu Yang preventing the sun from setting in Tang poetry.The two myths embody the indomitable spirit of struggle.However,in the process of using the two codes,the Tang poetry not only starts from the moral meaning of the struggle of the myth itself,but also combines the poet's own understanding to carry out a variety of interpretations.The myth of Kua Fu chasing the sun has multiple meanings,such as "great ambition" and "overrating his capacity".The Tang people used it in poems from different perspectives and expressed many different emotions.In Tang poetry,the myth of Lu Yang preventing the sun from setting is used as the code of chanting the Ge,the army and the sun.It not only shows the prosperity of military power,but also implies the power of returning to the heaven and the hope of staying in the scenery.However,in Li Bai's "sunrise into the line",Lu Yang's "power to return to the sky" is denied,and the poet's view of nature and universe is displayed.The fifth chapter mainly discusses the myth of Chang'e and the moon.Chang'e is also known as heng'e.At present,there are some records about the myth of running to the moon in such documents as Guimei in �Qinjian�,�Wenxuan� from �Guicang�,�Huainanzi� and so on.The plot of the story is completed in the records of �Lingxian� by Zhang Heng in the Eastern Han Dynasty.The image of Chang'e is becoming more and more vivid through the spread and modification of literary works.The three themes in the myth of Chang'e running to the moon,i.e.immortality,widowhood,and absence from return,were included in the poems by the Tang people to express their emotions and aspirations.Chang'e in these poems is the image of the goddess and sublimates into the image of beauty.Chang'e is not only used to describe beauty and set off beautiful things,but also appears in the poem as a substitute for the moon.In the Tang Dynasty,the story of Chang'e stealing medicine was explained from different perspectives,showing various attitudes.The sixth chapter discusses the "toad" and "eclipse poetry" in Tang poetry.Because of the ancient people's intuitive understanding of the dark part of the moon's outline,the implied meaning of toads,and the myth of Chang'e running to the moon into toads,the ancient people believed that there were toads in the moon.Therefore,it is called "toad eating the moon" by imagining that the moon is incomplete at the time of lunar eclipse.The moon has the meaning of the courtiers in the palace.Therefore,the moon eating poetry in Tang poetry is often used as a tool for poets to express their political feelings.Lu Tong's poem of eclipse of the moon is a representative work of this aspect,and has a profound influence on later generations.There are a certain number of poems about toads in Tang poetry,most of which refer to the moon.The seventh chapter is the cultural interpretation of "moon rabbit" in Tang poetry."Gu Tu is in the belly" in �Tianwen,the Poem of Chu�.Wang Yi explains it with "the rabbit which is viewing in the middle of the moon" and the myth of the moon rabbit comes into being.In the Tang Dynasty's poetry about the moon,there is a saying that the moon rabbit is called "Gu rabbit","Xuan rabbit","white rabbit","Jade Rabbit","Yin rabbit" and "golden rabbit" etc."Gu Tu" in academics means "moon rabbit","toad","toad rabbit" and "moon tiger".In Tang poetry,there are two interpretations of "moon rabbit" and "toad".The name of "Xuan rabbit" explains the origin of the mid moon rabbit,that is,"shadow theory"."White rabbit" means longevity,so the Tang people use the myth of "white rabbit making medicine" into the poem to express their emotions."Jade Rabbit" is not only the metaphor and nickname of "white rabbit",but also implies that it is the rabbit in the sky.Moreover,the names of "Jade Rabbit","Yin rabbit" and "golden rabbit" are related to the theory of Yin Yang and five elements.Because the rabbit refers to the moon,Tang poetry uses "rabbit wheel","rabbit hook","rabbit shadow" and "rabbit brightness" to describe the passage of time.The different appellation of the moon rabbit in Tang poetry is the result of the diversity of Chinese traditional culture,from which we can also see the origin of the myth of the moon rabbit.The eighth chapter is to analyze the image and moral of "laurel" in Tang poetry.�Huainanzi� records that "there are laurels in the middle of the month",and "An Tian Lun" also says that "there are celestial and laurels in the moon".In the Tang Dynasty,"Wu Gang attacked the laurel" and "osmanthus falling in the moon" further enriched the myth of laurel.In the Tang Dynasty,the allusions of the laurel trees were used to describe the moon,chant the laurel,praise the beauty,praise the sage,or refer to the moon with "Gui".It also combines the myth image of laurels in the moon with the moral of imperial examination,which makes it a symbol of fame.In Tang poetry,especially in the middle and late Tang Dynasty,there are many people who use laurel to describe their fame,and because of the theory of "toad Palace",the idiom "toad palace wins laurel" is derived.With its unique symbolic meaning and rich emotional connotation,the middle laurel tree was favored by the Tang people to express their pursuit of fame.