Xuanzong was forced to slap the imperial concubine under the pear tree in front of the Buddhist temple. This scene was very eye-catching and made many scholars sigh. But the tone of literati is different from that of historians. There are also different attitudes towards Xuanzong and Yang Guifei in the chanting of literati. Generally speaking, the main theme of works that emphasize historical facts is satire; In works with many elements of literary imagination, the main tone is sympathy and sentimentality.
Among Bai Juyi's poems, Song of Eternal Sorrow is the most concerned and controversial. In the first half of the 20th century, Yu Pingbo's query on Song of Eternal Sorrow and its biography and Chen Yinque's annotation on Song of Eternal Sorrow are two important articles to study this poem.
The debate about Song of Eternal Sorrow began in the 1920s and didn't end until the 1980s and 1990s. The focus of the debate is mainly on the theme of the work, and there are four main theories: love theory, fable theory and fable theory, love dual theme theory and sentimental theory of the times. In addition, there are some disputes about the whereabouts of Yang Guifei and the skills involved in her works.
Excerpts from related discussions:
As for "Song of Eternal Sorrow", the author commented that "Song of Eternal Sorrow has amorous feelings". Claiming that Song of Eternal Sorrow is his "masterpiece".
In a poem commemorating Bai Juyi, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty said, "Teenagers can hate Long song, and Hu er can sing the pipa.".
Chen Yinque's Annotation on Bai Yuan's Poetry: ... "Song of Eternal Sorrow" ... is actually his own masterpiece, and it was also very appreciated and widely circulated at that time. No wonder it's been so long. Today, it is still remembered in Chixian Shenzhou and ... prince, concubine, wife, cow, boy and horse.
On the understanding of the theme of Song of Eternal Sorrow, People in Love thinks that Song of Eternal Sorrow leaves readers with an unforgettable love emotion instead of a moral lesson of "punishing stunners". Although the first half is dissatisfied and sarcastic about Li Yang's dissolute life, the whole poem mainly describes Li Yang's love experience and praises the innocence of their love, which has certain typical significance. For example, Chu Binjie pointed out in his On the Theme and Evaluation of Eternal Sorrow that Bai Juyi "praised the loyalty and singleness of love" through Li Yang's love story. It is also believed that the author, through the description of Li Yang's love tragedy, "praised the pure and flawless love that is consistent with people's life and feelings. Li Yang's misfortune can also be encountered by ancient men and women, so it has universal significance. " After the author's description, Li Yang's case transcends its own limitations and has universal significance. Some critics believe that Li Yang's puppy love in the poem is just a color of love, which has been sublimated into love with the changes of the times and characters.
The satirist pointed out that according to Chen Hong's Biography of Song of Eternal Sorrow, Bai Juyi's original intention in writing Song of Eternal Sorrow was to "punish the stunner, restrain the disorder and hang down on the later generations", which can be said to have the meaning of "allegory". Through Li Yang's story, The Song of Eternal Sorrow reveals the dissolute and shameless life of the rulers, and shows the life features of the feudal ruling class in China in the middle Tang Dynasty, the dissolute and decadent ruling class and the corruption of political morality. The purpose of Bai Juyi's poem is to expose and satirize Li Yang's debauchery, delay the national politics and eventually lead to the Anshi rebellion. As a result, the two people are in a foreign land, and the supreme ruler should take this as a warning.
According to the dual theme theory, this poem satirizes the dissolute life of Li and Yang on the one hand, and gives great sympathy to the death of Yang Guifei and their sincere love for love on the other. Ming Taizu's indulgence in womanizing has caused great disaster, which must be satirized and learned from it. People who hold this view believe that the dominant aspect of this poem lies in the second half, and in order to organically combine the front and back, the satire in the first half has kept a certain limit and there are many taboos. It is inappropriate to regard this poem as a pure satire or love poem.
In the 1980s, some scholars thought that the rigid mode of single theme theory should be abandoned, and the tragic meaning of Song of Eternal Sorrow should be grasped from three levels: the tragedies of Li and Yang were regarded as love tragedies, political tragedies and times tragedies respectively, so that the themes of love, political satire and times sentimentality were interdependent and interdependent. The triple theme at different levels constitutes an internally related whole.