It's a pity that Wendi moved his seat in the middle of the night to attend the lecture, asking about ghosts and gods rather than human vitality.
Expression meaning: It reveals the fatuous characteristics of the late Tang emperor who sought immortality by medicine and ignored people's livelihood in political famine. While sympathizing with Jia Yi's lack of talent, he expressed his sadness that he was politically excluded and his ambition was hard to pay.
Extended data:
The original Jia Sheng:
Tang Dynasty: Li Shangyin
The propaganda room invited the sages to meet the ministers, and Jia was even more incoherent.
Poor midnight is unprecedented, and Mo Wen people ask ghosts and gods.
Translation:
Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty sought Jia Yi's political views in the propaganda room because of seeking the virtuous, and Jia Yi's talent was unparalleled. Unfortunately, Wendi moved his seat in the middle of the night to listen to the lecture, not asking about people's vitality but about ghosts and gods.
Creative background:
There are two opinions about the writing age of this poem. One is said in Notes on Poems Born in Yuxi, which was written by Li Shangyin when he was appointed as a county magistrate in Zhaozhou at the order of Zheng Ya, the secretariat of Guangxi, in the first month of AD 848 (Dazhong 2). Another view was put forward by Liu Yang, who believed that this poem was written in March and April of the second year of Dazhong, when Li Shangyin left Guilin and stayed in Beijing.
Baidu encyclopedia-Jiasheng