古文运动
Classical Prose Movement
指唐代中期至北宋时期提倡用古文创作的文学革新运动。其特点是反对 六朝以来的骈文创作，兼有思想运动和社会运动的性质。这一运动的代表者，有唐代的韩愈、柳宗元，以及宋代的欧阳修、苏洵、王安石、曾巩、苏轼、苏辙等人。“古文”相对于“骈文”而言，这一概念由韩愈最先提出， 指先秦两汉的散文，其特点是句式长短不限，不追求声律和对偶，在内容上 注重表达思想、反映现实生活。“骈文”指六朝以来讲究排偶、辞藻、声律、 典故的文体。骈文中虽有优秀作品，但大多形式僵化、内容空虚。韩愈倡导 继承两汉的文学传统，文以明道，得到了柳宗元等人的大力支持并形成声势 浩大的“古文运动”。韩愈提倡古文的实质是将改革文风与复兴儒学道统结 合起来，把文章写作引向为政教服务。但骈文并未就此绝迹，晚唐以后还在 流行。北宋欧阳修凭借其政治地位，大力提倡古文，他的同辈苏洵，学生王 安石、曾巩、苏轼、苏辙，苏轼门下又有黄庭坚、陈师道、张耒、秦观、晁 补之等人，都是古文能手，各树旗帜，最终使宋代古文运动达到波澜壮阔的 地步。
It refers to the literary reform movement in the mid-Tang to the Northern Song period. It opposed rigidly rhythmical prose featuring parallelism and excessive elegance that had been popular in the Six Dynasties, and advocated a return to writing in “truly” classical Chinese. This movement was both intellectual and social in nature. Its representative figures included Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan of the Tang Dynasty and Ouyang Xiu, Su Xun, Wang Anshi, Zeng Gong, Su Shi, and Su Zhe of the Song Dynasty. In this particular context, the notion of classical prose stood in contrast to rigidly rhythmical prose. Classical prose, first proposed by Han Yu, referred to the prose of the Qin, Western Han, and Eastern Han dynasties. It featured poetic lines of flexible lengths with no particular regard for metric pattern and parallel structure. In terms of content, classical prose aimed to express ideas and reflect real life. Rigidly rhythmical prose, on the other hand, was a style of writing popular in the pre-Tang period which had rigid requirement about the use of parallelism, elegant wording, prosody, melody, and allusions. Although there were good works in this genre, most were rigid in form and hollow in content. In view of this, Han Yu called for a return to the literary tradition of the Western and Eastern Han dynasties to reform literary writing. He gained the strong support of eminent men of letters such as Liu Zongyuan. Together, they launched what was later widely known as the Classical Prose Movement. Han Yu took this initiative to combine the reform of literary writing with the revival of Confucian moralism so as to enable literary writing to promote better governance. But rhythmical prose did not die out altogether; it continued into the late Tang period. Northern Song writer Ouyang Xiu, with strong political influence, championed the revival of classical prose. His contemporary Su Xun, as well as his students Wang Anshi, Zeng Gong, Su Shi, and Su Zhe all wrote classical prose with distinctive styles. Influenced by Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Chen Shidao, Zhang Lei, Qin Guan, and Chao Buzhi also became prominent prose writers. Thanks to the efforts of these literary figures, the Classical Prose Movement flourished in the Song Dynasty
引例 CITATIONS
时时应事作俗下文字，下笔令人惭。……不知古文，真何用于今世也，然 以俟知者知耳。 （韩愈《与冯宿论文书》） （我经常为应付世事而写平庸的应酬文章，下笔时令人惭愧。……不知古文 对今世真的有什么用啊，那么还是等待懂你的人赏识你的文章吧。）
So often, I have to write just for the purpose of socializing. This makes me feel ashamed. …What good can classical prose do for today’s world? I just hope that there will be people who can truly appreciate our writing. (Han Yu: Letter to Feng Su on Prose Writing)
苏子瞻曰：“子美之诗，退之之文，鲁公之书，皆集大成者也。” （陈师道《后山诗话》引） （苏轼说过：“杜甫的诗、韩愈的文章、颜真卿的书法，都是集合了各家的优 点而达到最高成就的。”）
Su Shi said, “Du Fu’s poems, Han Yu’s prose, and Yan Zhenqing’s calligraphy, by drawing on all that is best in great poets, prose writers, and calligraphers, have reached the highest level of artistic attainment.” (Chen Shidao: Houshan’s Understanding of Poetry)
