original work
Youzhou tower
I can't see the past before, and I can't see the future.
Only the boundless universe, boundless, can't stop the tears full of sadness.
This is a sad song that mourns the past and hurts the present life. The word "independence" in this article can express the poet's lonely and independent feelings.
This poem expresses the poet's pent-up grief and indignation, profoundly reveals the depressed situation of those intellectuals in feudal society, and expresses their lonely and depressed mood when their ideals are shattered, which has profound typical social significance. The language of the whole poem is vigorous, infectious, compact and coherent, leaving a lot of room: the first two sentences are long; The third sentence is to look at the building and write a vast space; The fourth sentence depicts the poet's lonely and depressed mood in the vast space-time background, which is particularly touching, refreshing and lingering.
Annotation translation
(1) Youzhou: One of the twelve ancient states, now Beijing. Youzhoutai: Huang Jintai, also known as Jibei Building, is located in Daxing District of Beijing today. It was built by Yan Zhaowang to recruit the world's wise men.
(2) before: in the past. Ancient people: Ancient sages could respect respectable men and women.
(3) After: the future. Newcomer: a wise monarch who attaches importance to talents in later generations.
(4) reading: I remember. Youyou: describes a long time and a large space.
⑸ Ran: A sad look. Snuff: refers to tears in ancient times.
Vernacular translation
We can't see the ancient holy king who accepted talents, nor can we see the wise king who was thirsty for talents in later generations.
Only the world is boundless, and I can't stop crying with sadness.
Creation background
This poem was written in the first year of Wu Zetian's longevity (696). Chen Ziang is a scholar with political knowledge and talent. He is outspoken and dares to protest. He often criticized many disadvantages of Wuhou dynasty, which was not adopted by Wu Zetian and was imprisoned for "betraying the party". His political ambition was not realized, but was hit, which made him very depressed. In the first year of Long Live Tian Tong, Li Dezhong and Sun Wanrong, the Khitans, captured Yingzhou. Wu Zetian appointed Wu Yousi to lead the army to conquer, and Chen Ziang served as a staff officer in Wu Yousi's shogunate and went out with the army. Wu Youyi is reckless and has no strategy. In the second year, defeat was imminent. He asked to send 10 thousand men as pioneers to attack the enemy, but Wu refused. Later, Chen Ziang talked to Wujin again, refused to listen, and reduced him to sergeant. The poet was frustrated one after another, and his ambition to serve the country failed. So, he boarded Jibei Tower and wrote poems such as Youzhou Tower and Qiu Ji's Seven Visits to Ancient Times for Lu Jushi's Tibetan Use.
Literary appreciation
The short poem "Youzhou Tower" profoundly expresses the poet's incompetence and loneliness. The language is vigorous and powerful, full of appeal, and has become a famous article that has been passed down all the time.
"Before me, where was the past era? Behind me, where are the future generations? "The ancients here refer to wise monarchs who were kind to virtuous corporal in ancient times. Qiu Ji's Visit to the Ancient Tibetan Land-dweller and Youzhou Tower are works of the same period, and their contents can be used for reference. Seven songs, "Qiu Ji visited the ancient times and gave it to Lu Jushi for hiding", expressed infinite admiration for Yan Zhaowang's courtesy to Le Yi and Guo Kun and Yan Taizidan's courtesy to Tian Guang during the Warring States Period. However, like Yan Zhaowang, the sages of the previous generation are no longer visible, and the sages of later generations have no time to visit them. They are really out of place; When I stepped onto the stage and looked out, I saw the vast universe, which was eternal. I can't help feeling lonely, and my sadness comes from it, and I burst into tears. Therefore, "the mountains and rivers are still the same, and the characters are different" to express their "unfortunate birth" lament. It is inevitable that there is sorrow of the times here, but there are also poets' hatred of the dirty poetry world. Poets can't see the ancient sages, and the ancients didn't have time to see poets; The poet can't see the future Yingjie, and the future Yingjie can't see the poet. What poets can see, what they can see, is only the present era. This poem expresses the poet's frustrated situation and lonely and depressed mood in a generous and sad style. This kind of sadness is often shared by many talented people in the old society, so it is widely read.
This poem does not describe Youzhoutai in a word, but only expresses the feeling of coming to power, but it has become a masterpiece through the ages. The style of this poem is beautiful and vigorous, and it is the pioneering work of Tang poetry in the style of Han and Wei Dynasties. It has the power to expand the territory and open the way for clearing the flashy and delicate formalistic poetry style of Qi and Liang Dynasties. In art, its artistic conception is vigorous and its vision is broad, which makes the poet's self-image more vivid and touching. The language of the whole poem is unrestrained and infectious. Although it is only four short sentences, it shows a magnificent and vast artistic picture in front of people. The first three sentences of the poem are outlined with thick lines, with the vast universe and the vicissitudes of ancient and modern personnel as the profound and magnificent background. The fourth sentence is full of emotion, which makes the self-image of the lyric hero-poet stand on the theme of the picture, and the picture suddenly flies with charm and shines. From the perspective of structural context, the first two sentences are pitching ancient and modern, writing for a long time; The third sentence is to look at architecture and write about the vastness of space; The fourth sentence is the poet's lonely and painful mood. This set each other off, especially touching.
In terms of diction, this poem is deeply influenced by Songs of the South, especially Farewell. "Travel" has a cloud: "Only the infinity of heaven and earth is sad for the long diligence of life. I can't smell the past. " The sentences of this poem have changed since then, but the artistic conception is more boundless and vigorous.
At the same time, in the aspect of sentence pattern, the syntax of Chu Ci style is adopted. The first two sentences have five words each and three pauses. The sentence pattern is:
Before-no ancients, after-no newcomers;
The last two sentences are six words each, with four pauses. The sentence pattern is:
Thinking of heaven and earth, alone, sad, crying.
The first two syllables are urgent, conveying the poet's untimely life and anguish; An empty word ("zhi" and "er") was added to the last two sentences, and a pause was added, which made the syllables more fluent, showing his helplessness and deep sigh. The syntax of the whole article is uneven and the syllable changes are coordinated, which enhances the artistic appeal.
Brief introduction of the author
Chen Ziang (659 ~ 700) was a writer in the Tang Dynasty. Apollo was born in Zizhou (present-day Sichuan). Little Ren Xia. Wu Zetian appreciates all the above books on politics, worships Lin Taizheng, and picks them up from the right. Later generations inherited Chen's legacy. Dare to state the disadvantages of the times. I used to sign the Khitan with Wu Youyi. After being dismissed from office, he returned to his hometown, was falsely accused by the county magistrate Duan Jian, went to prison, and died of anger. He cited the style of Han and Wei in his poems, emphasizing prosperity and opposing softness. He was a pioneer of poetry innovation in Tang Dynasty. There is a collection of Chen Boyu's works handed down from generation to generation.