Dynasty: Tang Dynasty Author: Du Fu
Poetry is sentimental and indifferent. Li Guinian was a famous singer in the early years of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, who often sang in the aristocratic giants. Du Fu's talent was outstanding when he was a teenager, and he often went in and out of the gates of Li Longfan, the king of Qi, and Cui Di, the supervisor of Chinese calligraphy, and he was able to appreciate the art of singing. The first two sentences of the poem are to recall the past and communicate with him, and express the poet's concern for the prosperous times in the early years of Kaiyuan. The last two sentences are feelings about the decline of state affairs and the erratic artists. Only four sentences sum up the vicissitudes and life changes of the whole Kaiyuan period (note: the Kaiyuan period is 7 13-74 1 year). The language is extremely plain, but the connotation is infinitely rich.
Li Guinian was a famous singer in Kaiyuan period. Du Fu met Li Guinian for the first time in his high-spirited youth, when it was the "golden age of Kaiyuan". Du Fu has long been appreciated by Li Fan, King of Qi, and Cui Di, the secretary supervisor, and can enjoy Li Guinian's singing in their mansion. In Du Fu's mind, Li Guinian is closely connected with the prosperous Kaiyuan era and his romantic youth life. Decades later, they met again in Jiangnan. At this time, the Tang Dynasty, which suffered from the eight-year Anshi Rebellion, has turned from prosperity to decline, and the evening scenery of the two of them is also very bleak. This encounter naturally leads to Du Fu's pent-up sense of infinite vicissitudes. This poem spans several decades in Cang Sang. The changes of society and the description of scenery convey the poet's feelings about the decline of the world. The whole poem has profound rhymes, rich connotations and high artistic achievements.
"It's a common thing in Qi Wang's family, and Cui has heard it several times before." I often watch your performances in the Qi Palace. In front of Cui, I have also appreciated your art many times. Although the first two sentences are reminiscing about past contacts with Li Guinian, they reveal deep nostalgia for the flourishing age of Kaiyuan. The following language seems light, but it contains heavy emotions. "King of Qi", the younger brother of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and Li Fan, the son of Tang Ruizong (Li Dan), was named King of Qi, who was famous for his love of learning and talents and elegant temperament. "Cui Jiu" named Di is the younger brother of the secretary of China Academy of Sciences. He frequented the palace, was a favorite of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and served as a secretary supervisor. He ranks ninth among his brothers, so he is called Cui Jiu. "Qi Wangzhai" and "Cui" seem to blurt out, but in the eyes of the parties, the names of these two literary celebrities in the heyday of Kaiyuan are enough to evoke good memories of the past. In those days, it was common to meet an art star like Li Guinian, but in retrospect, it was an impossible dream. When two poems are repeated, it seems that they want to prolong the aftertaste. The feelings of heaven and earth contained here need to be combined with the following two sentences to taste.
"It's the beautiful scenery in the south of the Yangtze River, and it's the season of falling flowers." Now is the beautiful scenery in the late spring of Jiangnan. I didn't expect to meet your old acquaintance in the falling flower season. The past has passed, and dream-like memories can't change the helplessness in front of me. The last two sentences' feelings about the decline of state affairs and the wandering artists summed up the vicissitudes of the whole Kaiyuan period. Jiangnan, with beautiful scenery, was originally a place where poets yearned for a visit in peacetime. Now, I'm really in it, but what I'm facing is a wandering artist covered in withered flowers and hoary heads. Autumn is not only an impromptu work, but also a kind of intentional or unintentional interest. Readers who are familiar with the times and Du Fu's life experience will definitely think of the declining world, social unrest and the poet's decline and illness, and will not think that the poet is deliberately making metaphors. Therefore, this writing seems a bit muddy. The two function words "exactly" and "you" have ups and downs, but also between the lines, which contain infinite feelings.
Four poems, from Village of Emperor Qi's "Smell" song to Cui's face, and then to the emphasis on "Hui", "Wen" and "Hui" in the south of the Yangtze River, connect the vicissitudes of the times and great changes in life in the past 40 years. Although no poem directly relates to the life experience of the times, through the poet's recollection and regret, it shows the shadow of the great turmoil that brought havoc to the material wealth and cultural prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, as well as the great disaster and trauma it caused to people. It can be said that "the chaos of the world, the rise and fall of the New Year, and the desolation of each other are all among them" (Sun Zhu's comment). Just as there is no set on the stage of an old play, the audience can imagine a very broad spatial background and event process through the singing performance of the actors; Also like a novel, it often reflects an era through a person's fate. The successful creation of this poem shows that a short genre like quatrains can have a great capacity for a great poet with high artistic generalization and rich life experience, and when expressing such rich content, it can reach an effortless and seamless artistic realm.