"Song of Qiupu: Three thousand feet of white hair"
Tang Dynasty? Li Bai
"Three thousand feet of white hair, with sorrow like a long man."
I don’t know where to find the autumn frost in the bright mirror.
Appreciation
"The white hair is three thousand feet long, and the sorrow is as long as a man." The two sentences use exaggeration to express the depth of sorrow. The first sentence says that his white hair is three thousand feet long, which gives people a very unexpected feeling; the second sentence explains the reason, because his hair turns white due to worry, and when worry grows, the white hair naturally grows to a thousand feet. These two sentences reverse cause and effect, putting the result in the front, giving people a strong shock, and then explaining the reasons, giving people deep sadness. The start of writing is abrupt and weird, and the end of writing is shocking and appropriate, which is very consistent with the poet's psychology at that time. There are many shocking exaggerations in Li Bai's poems. Lines like "Snowflakes in Yanshan Mountain are as big as mats" are very rough and bold, but only writing like this is the real Li Bai.
For people with ideals and ambitions, the sadness is particularly strong when they see themselves getting old and frail but still accomplishing nothing. Li Bai is like this, and so are thousands of people. Facing the growing gray hair, so many past events come to mind, which may be worthy of regret, sadness, or remembrance... But all these emotions have now disappeared. The word "sorrow" is so special that it "remains chaotic after cutting and sorting it out".
"I don't know where the autumn frost is in the bright mirror." I don't know where the white hair like autumn frost is in the bright mirror. I asked knowingly and unwilling to admit it, but I had to admit it. Although the poem describes the sadness of old age and gray hair, there is strength in the sadness, free and easy and heroic. The use of exaggeration and metaphor is extremely vivid and impressive.
Extended reading: Introduction to Li Bai’s early life
In the first year of Chang’an (701), Li Bai, courtesy name Taibai. His birthplace is generally believed to be Qinglian Township, Changlong (later changed to Changming to avoid Xuanzong's taboo) in Mianzhou (Brazil County), Jiannan Road, Tang Dynasty. His ancestral home is Tianshui, Gansu. His family background and family are unknown. According to the "New Book of Tang", Li Bai is the ninth grandson of Emperor Xingsheng (Liang Wuzhao King Li Hao). According to this view, Li Bai has the same clan as the kings of Li and Tang Dynasty, and is the younger brother of Tang Taizong Li Shimin. It is also said that his ancestor was Li Jiancheng or Li Yuanji.
In November of the first year of Shenlong (705), Wu Zetian passed away. Li Bai is five years old. Enlightenment reading began in this year. "The History Book of Pei Chang of Shang'an Prefecture" says: "Recite Liujia at the age of five." Liujia, a primary school literacy textbook in the Tang Dynasty, Changshi, the second official of the state.
In the third year of Kaiyuan (715), Li Bai was fifteen years old. He has written many poems and poems, and has been praised and rewarded by some celebrities, and he has begun to engage in social activities. He also began to accept the influence of Taoist thought. He was good at swordsmanship and liked to be a knight. It is Nian Cen Shensheng.
In the sixth year of Kaiyuan (718), Li Bai was eighteen years old. He lived in seclusion in Daitian Dakuang Mountain (in today's Jiangyou County, Sichuan Province) to study. Traveling to and from neighboring counties, he traveled to Jiangyou, Jiange, Zizhou (the state is governed in today's Sichuan Province) and other places, and gained a lot of experience and knowledge.
Extended reading: Li Du's acquaintance
The third year of Tianbao (744 years, note: the period from the third to the fifteenth year of Tianbao and the Zhide reign was called " In the summer, Li Bai arrived in Luoyang, the eastern capital. Here, he met Du Fu who was naughty. Two of the greatest poets of Chinese literature met. At this time, Li Bai had become famous throughout the country, while Du Fu was in his prime, but he was trapped in Luocheng. Li Bai is eleven years older than Du Fu, but he is not arrogant in front of Du Fu because of his talent. And Du Fu, who was "a sexual tycoon who was also addicted to alcohol" and "all his friends were old", did not bow his head in praise in front of Li Bai. The two of them established a deep friendship as equals. When they were in Luoyang, they made an appointment to meet in Liang and Song Dynasties (today's Kaifeng and Shangqiu area) next time to visit Taoism and seek immortality. In the autumn of the same year, the two came to Liang and Song Dynasties as promised. The two of them expressed their feelings and emotions here, and used the past to comment on the present. They also met the poet Gao Shi here, who did not have a salary at this time. However, the three of them have their own ambitions and the same ideals. The three people had a great time traveling, commenting on articles and poems, and talking about the general trend of the world. They were all worried about the hidden dangers of the country. Li and Du were both in their prime at this time, and their creative discussions would have a positive impact on them in the future.
In the autumn and winter of this year, Li and Du broke up again. Li Bai went to Ziji Palace in Qizhou (today's Jinan, Shandong) to ask Taoist priest Gao Tianshi Rugui to teach him the Taoism. From then on, he officially performed Taoist rituals and became a Taoist priest.
Later, Li Bai went to Anling County, Texas, and met Gai Huan, who was good at writing talismans in this area, and made a real talisman for him. This time, Li Bai achieved perfect results in his quest to seek immortality.
In the autumn of the fourth year of Tianbao (745), Li Bai and Du Fu met for the third time in Donglu. In just over a year, they met twice and met three times, and their friendship continued to deepen. Together they searched for the hermit master, and also went to Qizhou to visit Li Yong, a world-famous essayist and calligrapher at that time. In the winter of this year, Li and Du broke up.