回到现场:明前期台阁文人刘定之诗歌初探

Back to the Scene:Preliminary Study of Liu Dingzhi’s Poetry

刘定之是明朝前期典型的台阁文人,以“颂圣”“鸣盛”为主题的台阁体诗歌创作贯穿其一生。在明朝景泰到成化这一台阁体衰落时期,刘定之创作的台阁体诗歌有着重要的历史地位;但受其理学家的身份和同乡陶渊明的影响,平易冲淡的题画诗创作又约占到刘定之诗歌创作的三分之一。这类诗蕴含刘定之对隐居生活的向往,这与刘定之为人熟知的台阁大臣身份格格不入。在“土木堡之变”后,忠君爱国的刘定之心灵受到重击,他把自己对国家政治的忧虑和对英烈的敬慕融入奇崛悲凉的咏史诗创作中,这也是刘定之作为明朝前期台阁文人以国家乐观主义面貌示人的独特一面。

Liu Dingzhi,a typical Taige school literati in the early Ming dynasty,wrote Taige school poetry with the theme of“eulogy”and“prosperity singing”throughout his life.The composition of his Taige school poetry has an important historical role in the period of decline of Taige school poetry from the year of the reign of Ming Jingtai to Chenghua.Because Liu Dingzhi was a neo-confucianist in the early Ming dynasty and was also influenced by his fellow villager Tao Yuanming,his plain and natural poems with inscriptions account for one-third of his poetry.This type of poem contains his desire to live in seclusion,which is different from his well-known identity as a cabinet minister of the Ming Dynasty.The Coup of Tumu Bao dealt a heavy blow to the loyal and patriotic Liu Dingzhi.He incorporated his worries about imperial politics and his admiration for the martyrs into his peculiar and sorrowful poems,which is also a unique aspect of Liu Dingzhi’s national optimism as a Taige school literati in the early Ming Dynasty.