Whether poetry is popular or niche has been debated since the birth of new poetry. Among them, one of the focus of debate is civilianization or aristocraticization.
For the same poet, popular tendencies and niche tendencies often "coexist". Li Bai has "Silent Night Thoughts" and "The Road to Shu is Difficult"; Lao Du has "Three Officials and Three Farewells" and also "The Northern Expedition". Wen Yiduo, who published the popular "Dead Water", also published the niche "Red Candle"; Dai Wangshu, who wrote the niche "Rain Alley", also wrote the popular "New Year's Blessing". Misty poetry seems to be a niche, but famous lines such as "Despicableness is the pass for the despicable/Nobility is the epitaph for the noble" and "The night gave me black eyes/I use them to find light" are widely recognized. spread. Of course, a poet always has his main aesthetic tendencies. In addition, among some poets, the main aesthetic tendency will change.
Poetry is, after all, a social phenomenon. Therefore, popularization and niche tendencies are closely related to the external environment of poetry. When survival concern becomes the basic concern of poetry, such as in times of war, revolution, and disaster, there will be more popular poems. When concern for life becomes the basic concern of poetry, such as in an era of peace, harmony, and stability, there will be more niche poems.
Both popular and niche poetry have their own aesthetic values, and it is not necessary or possible to eliminate any of them. However, art always has a tendency to be mediated, and poetry ultimately aims to be widely disseminated. Mass communication has two dimensions: space and time. Not only the spatial popularization of "spreading to the world", but also the time popularization of "lasting fame through the ages" is also a manifestation of popularization. Li He and Li Shangyin had few close friends during their lifetimes, but their poems have continued to circulate for thousands of years and have become part of the cultural tradition. This isolation effect of poetry is also a common popular phenomenon. Tang poetry and Song lyrics are the peak of Chinese classical poetry and the era of poetry with the highest degree of popularity. Most Chinese people can recite several excellent works. Tang poetry and Song lyrics have become one of the cultural identities of the Chinese people. Bai Juyi and Liu Yong are representatives worthy of study by future generations.
When Hu Shi advocated new poetry, he highly praised Bai Juyi and the New Yuefu he led. Bai Juyi, who "but hurts the people and suffers from illness", promoted the realism pioneered by Du Fu. "It first got its name from the article, but finally offended the article." From "Farewell to the Ancient Grassland" to "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" and then to "Pipa Xing" which was relegated to Jiangzhou, Bai Juyi had a clear pursuit of popular art, and many of his poems also maximized the popularization effect. Bai Juyi's poems were widely spread among the people and spread to the deep palaces. At that time, Bai Juyi's poems were inscribed everywhere in rural schools, Buddhist temples, general tours and boat trips. Some singing prostitutes "increased their prices" because they could recite "Song of Everlasting Sorrow". The preface written by Yuan Zhen for "Bai's Changqing Collection" contains this description: "There are all writings on the walls of forbidden provinces, temples, and post offices; the words of princes, concubines, cows, boys, and horses are all written." New Yuefu uses spoken language, but it only has the name of Yuefu, and actually has little to do with music. However, Liu Yong's lyrics make full use of music as a means of communication. He is familiar with folk music and cooperates with singers and musicians to give the lyrics the wings of music. Ye Mengde said: "Anyone who has a place to drink from a well can sing Liu Ci."
New poetry has modern communication methods that were not available in the Tang poetry and Song Ci era. The survival of poetry on the Internet is a condition that the ancients did not have. . However, new poetry is actually quite niche. Compared with Tang poetry and Song lyrics, there are many difficulties in popularizing new poetry. 1. Young new poetry is immature and has not even formed a recognized aesthetic standard. It is difficult for poets to write and difficult for readers to remember. It has not been transformed into a national cultural tradition like Tang poetry and Song lyrics. It is still outside family education, school education and social and cultural life. 2. The emergence of new poetry draws more from foreign sources. It does not come from folk, tradition, or music. It mainly relies on silent reading. The disconnection from recitation, especially music, has become a big problem in communication. Returning voice to poetry is a top priority; 3. Different from Bai Juyi's "writing for the times" and "writing for the things", some poets nowadays believe in the "private language" tendency, which makes the public stay away from poetry. Gorky's saying still makes sense: "A poet is the echo of the world, not just the nanny of his own soul."
Whether it is a niche or a public, new poetry needs to continue to inherit and innovate, and strive to achieve the popular effect of communication in a diversified pattern.