This poem by Li Bai "The Dapeng rises with the wind in one day and soars ninety thousand miles." It means the yearning and encouragement for pursuing dreams, being proactive and pursuing freedom. It inspires everyone to move forward, constantly surpass themselves, pursue higher and further goals, and move towards their ideal life path.
Original text
About Li Yong
Li Bai [Tang Dynasty]
The roc rose with the wind in one day and soared ninety thousand miles.
If the wind stops and comes down, it can still blow away the water.
Everyone in the world sneered when they saw my extraordinary tune and heard my eloquent words. (Wen Yi Zuo: Seeing)
Xuan's father is still afraid of future generations, and his husband must not be young.
Translation
The roc will one day fly with the wind, and rely on the power of the wind to reach the sky.
Even when the wind stops, its power is so powerful that it seems to be able to blow away the water in the sea.
People in the world see that I am fond of making strange remarks, and they all sneer after hearing my bold words.
Sage Kong also said that young people are to be feared, and a man should not look down on young people!
Notes
Up: Submit. Li Yong (yōng) (678-747), also known as Taihe, was a calligrapher and writer of the Tang Dynasty. He was a native of Jiangdu, Guangling (now Jiangdu County, Jiangsu).
Shake: A big whirlwind from bottom to top.
Fake order: if, even.
To stir up: to stir up.
Cangming: the sea. Heng: Often.
Special tone: words and deeds that are different from popular customs.
Yu: Me.
Big talk: pretentious talk.
Xuanfu: That is Confucius. In the eleventh year of Zhenguan (637), Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty issued an edict to honor Confucius as Xuanfu. See "New Tang Book: Rites and Music". In the Song Dynasty, "Xuan Fu" was written as "Xuan Gong".
Husband: A common name for men in ancient times, this refers to Li Yong.
Appreciation
The Dapeng is an image that Li Bai often uses to express himself in his poems. It is not only a symbol of freedom, but also a symbol of shocking ideals and aspirations. In the 13th year of Kaiyuan (725), young Li Bai went out to wander in Shu and met the famous Taoist priest Sima Chengzhen in Jiangling. Sima said that Li Bai "has an immortal spirit and a Taoist spirit that can travel with the gods to the eight extremes." Li Bai immediately wrote "Dapeng". "The Poems and Prefaces to the Poems on the Birds of Encounter" (later changed to "Ode to the Dapeng"), which compares itself to the Dapeng bird in Zhuangzi's "Xiaoyaoyou". There is also a "Song on the Road" in Li Bai's poems: "The great Peng flies here to stir up the eight descendants, but the mid-heaven destroys it but it is unable to do anything. The remaining wind is stirring for all ages, and the fusang is hanging on the stone sleeves. Later generations will pass it on, and Zhongni died. Who is crying?" According to Li Hua's "Preface to the Epitaph of Li Jun, a Scholar of the Imperial Academy" of the Tang Dynasty, Li Bai "died after composing "The Song of Death". Later generations believe that it may be this "Song on the Road", and "road" may be a mistake of "end". It can be seen that Li Bai used the meaning of Dapeng to describe himself throughout his life. The tone of this poem is straightforward and disdainful, so some predecessors suspected that it was not Li Bai's author, while others believed it to be Li Bai's work. See the explanation of this poem's title in "Collection and Commentary of the Complete Works of Li Bai" edited by Zhan Yong.
The whole poem begins with a high-pitched tone, and the first four sentences are all compared to "Dapeng". The image of "Dapeng" often appears in Li Bai's works. Dapeng is the divine bird in "Zhuangzi·Xiaoyaoyou". It is said that this divine bird is so big that "it is unknown how many thousands of miles it is" and "its wings are like clouds hanging from the sky". When its wings flap, the water is three thousand miles away, soaring upward. It can be as high as ninety thousand miles. Dapeng is a symbol of freedom in Zhuangzi's philosophical system, and Li Bai was deeply influenced by it. Therefore, Li Bai's works always have the most romantic fantasy, and are always full of disdain for the powerful and the pursuit of freedom.
“The Dapeng rises with the wind in one day and soars up to 90,000 miles. If the wind stops and comes down, it can still blow away the vast water.” Li Bai compared himself with the Dapeng and described the legendary god The majestic scene when the bird Dapeng takes off and falls shows the poet Li Bai's ambition to soar into the blue clouds with great pride at this time. Li Bai wrote in the third and fourth lines of the poem: "If the wind stops and comes down, it can still blow away the water." Even if the strong wind stops and the roc falls, it will still cause waves in the rivers and lakes. If Li Bai compares himself to Dapeng, then Li Yong is naturally the strong wind that Dapeng rides on. Li Bai here shows that even without Li Yong's help in the future, he can still have an extraordinary influence in the political arena.
This extraordinary courage has to be summed up with the word "crazy".
The last four sentences of the poem are a reply to Li Yong's negligent attitude: "Worldly people" refers to ordinary people at that time, which obviously also includes Li Yong. Because this poem is directly addressed to Li Yong, so the measures The words are more tactful, and on the surface they just criticize "the world." "Special tone" refers to extraordinary speech. Li Bai's grand ambitions are often not understood by the world and are ridiculed as "big words". Li Bai obviously did not expect that a famous person like Li Yong could have the same knowledge as an ordinary person, so he retorted with the story of a saint who had knowledge and was reborn.
"The father of Xuan is still afraid of the offspring, but the husband must not be young." These two sentences mean that Master Confucius still thinks that the offspring is fearful. Are you, Li Yong, smarter than a saint? A manly man must never look down on young people! The last two sentences are both teasing and sarcastic about Li Yong, and they are also a reply to Li Yong's scornful attitude. His attitude is quite unruly, showing the spirit of a young man.
In fact, Li Yong himself was a chivalrous, heroic and talented person in history, and he took great care of his younger generations. For such a famous person, Li Bai dared to name him and directly denounce him, which shows the courage and courage of young Li Bai. "Don't give in to yourself and don't interfere with others", being proud of the powerful and equal to the princes, this is the true character of Li Taibai.
Creative background
This poem is a work of Li Bai's youth, and the specific creation time is unknown. Li Yong served as the governor of Yuzhou (today's Chongqing City) from around the seventh to ninth year of Kaiyuan (719 AD). When Li Bai traveled to Yuzhou to visit Li Yong, he displeased Li Yong because he did not adhere to customary etiquette and spoke eloquently. When Li Bai was leaving, he wrote this rather rude poem "Shang Li Yong" to express his gratitude.
About the author
Li Bai (701-762), also known as Taibai, also known as Qinglian Jushi, also known as "Exiled Immortal", was a great romantic poet in the Tang Dynasty. He is known as the "Immortal of Poetry" and is called "Li Du" together with Du Fu. In order to distinguish him from the other two poets Li Shangyin and Du Mu, known as "Little Li Du", Du Fu and Li Bai are also collectively called "Big Li Du". According to the "New Book of Tang", Li Bai was the ninth grandson of Emperor Xingsheng (King Li Hao of Liangwuzhao) and had the same ancestry as the kings of Li and Tang. He is cheerful and generous, loves drinking, writing poetry, and making friends. Li Bai was deeply influenced by Huang Lao Liezhuang's thoughts. The "Collection of Li Taibai" has been handed down from generation to generation. Most of his poems were written when he was drunk. His representative works include "Looking at Lushan Waterfall", "The Road is Difficult", "The Road to Shu is Difficult", "About Wine" and "Morning". "Fa Baidi City" and so on.