How to understand Li Shangyin and his poems?

1. Li Shangyin Li Shangyin (813-858), courtesy name Yishan, was a poet of the late Tang Dynasty. He was famous at an early age and could write ancient prose. At the age of 17, he entered the sect of Linghuchu, the governor of the Tianping Army, and studied with Linghuchu's son, Linghuxuan. After completing his studies, he drafted memorials in Linghu Chumu. At the age of 25, he won the Jinshi title due to Linghu Chu's recommendation. At that time, the two major parties, Niu and Li, were in charge of the government. Linghu Chu is an important figure in the Niu Sengru Party, so Li Shangyin should be a loyal member of the Niu Party. However, Li Shangyin defected to Wang Maoyuan, the governor of Jingyuan, and married the king's daughter the next year. Wang Maoyuan was a figure in Li Deyu's party. For this reason, Linghu Xuan believed that Li Shangyin was ungrateful, and Li Shangyin fell into the vortex of crony struggle from then on, from which he could not escape in his life. After Li Deyu's death, the Li Party was gone. In 850, Linghu became prime minister, and Li Shangyin had to endure the oppression of the Niu Party. He was not reused and lived in poverty all his life.

Many of Li Shangyin's erotic poems expressing worry and anger were written for the ruthless revenge of the Niu Party. In 851, when Li Shangyin was 39 years old, his wife died of illness. From then on, he was even more sad and sad. Some of his sad poems were written in mourning for the death. In 858, when Li Shangyin was 46 years old, he died in depression and poverty amid the strife of cliques. His talents and experiences constitute the unique style of his poetry. He has read extensively and collected a wealth of information. The information he obtained must be classified and compiled for reference and reference. It is precisely because of his rich accumulation of materials and careful use of materials that his poems are very precise and unparalleled. His poems are exquisite in form and profound in emotion. Due to his dangerous situation, his poetry is mostly in the vague presence and absence, with deep sustenance and tactful words. His writing is lingering and pathos, unique, and has always been praised and spread by people.

2. Li Shangyin's poems can often be seen in Chinese textbooks. For the purpose of this article’s analysis, three songs are selected here.

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The words came and disappeared, the moon slanted upstairs at five o'clock; the dream was far away and it was hard to call it out, the book was rushed into ink and the ink was not thick; the wax shone half-cage Gold and jade, musk smoke and slightly embroidered hibiscus; Liu Lang already hated Pengshan for being far away, and even more separated it by 10,000 layers of Pengshan.

This poem writes about the feeling of longing after parting. The first couplet describes the protagonist's feeling when he wakes up from a dream. "Come as empty words and disappear without a trace" is the memory of the dream. The words spoken by the person in the dream have disappeared, leaving only the company of the setting moon and the sound of the bell. The second couplet "Dreams are far away but difficult to recall" still reminds me of the dream I just had. Now that the rooster has crowed at midnight, it is difficult to recall this dream, so I quickly wrote a letter to express my eagerness to miss you. The third couplet describes the scene in the boudoir. Gold jade refers to the brocade quilt embroidered with gold threads, hibiscus refers to the hibiscus tent, the half-cage illuminated by wax describes the dim light, and the slight smoke of musk makes the room feel desolate and lonely. Liu Lang in the fourth couplet is an allusion. During the Han Dynasty, Liu Chen went to Tiantai Mountain to collect medicine and met a fairy. Later, when Liu Chen went to the rooftop again and met the fairy, she was no longer there, and he was extremely melancholy. The last sentence points out the theme of this poem. The farther I (the author) is from the person I miss, the more sadness and hatred there is.

Duanju

Returning to dreams from distant books is a long time. There is only an empty bed, so it is plain autumn; moss and mangroves under the steps are sparse in the rain, and the moon is sad.

Duanju means living leisurely. This poem expresses emotions through the use of objects, turning everything seen into emotions. The beginning is about the lover's letter from afar and the protagonist's homesick dream, both of which are hopeless. Only the empty bed matches the bleak autumn, and "enemy" means "confrontation." This sentence deepens the feeling of boredom. Look at the moss and mangroves in the courtyard. They feel the same sense of loss and sadness in the wind and rain, and in the lonely moonlit night.

Chu Yin

Leaving the palace on the mountain and going upstairs, the dusk river flows by the palace in front of the building; the Chu sky is long and short, and it rains at dusk. Song Yu has no worries but also worries about himself.

Chu Yin means chanting in the Chu land. This poem also expresses emotion through scenery. The mountain refers to Wushan, and the Ligong refers to Chu Palace. There is a palace for the King of Chu built on Wushan Mountain on the bank of the Yangtze River. Mujiang refers to the Yangtze River in the evening. At that time, Song Yu visited the Chu Palace in Wushan and was lucky enough to meet the goddess. The goddess claimed that "during the day is the clouds, and at dusk is the rain." The dusk rain in the poem is exactly the dusk rain. The author went to the place where Song Yu had been and met Mu Yu again. It was the same situation where Song Yu met the goddess. This situation and situation are enough to make people sad even if Song Yu is not worried.

3. Comments on Li Shangyin's poems by poets of the past dynasties. The "Dictionary of Appreciation of Tang Poetry" contains detailed explanations and comments on Li Shangyin's poems by many experts, which can be summarized as follows:

First, Li Shangyin's poems are delicate in emotion and profound in artistic conception. The subject matter described has extremely detailed analysis and profound grasp. The deeper the exploration of life phenomena, the broader the generalization, the more universal the work will be, and therefore the more it can arouse various feelings and associations among different readers. Zhou Ruchang said: Li Shangyin experienced unspeakable pain in his life, and his extremely painful emotions were so depressed that he turned them into poems. His sadness made him noisy, and he wandered back and forth, which deeply infected others.

The second is that Li Shangyin is good at expressing some subtle poetic feelings in daily life, and is good at integrating the wonderful feelings of psychological activities into poems. For example, his love poems seldom have too many narrations or detailed descriptions of events. Instead, they are mainly lyrical, focusing on describing the protagonist's subjective feelings and psychological activities, and expressing the protagonist's rich and complex inner world. Therefore, poems often break the certain order of time and space, but instead show large jumps as psychological activities are intertwined.

Third, Li Shangyin’s poems have a hazy beauty. His poetic imagination is very rich, and he can transcend objects and reach a misty realm. He uses metaphors, symbols, associations and other techniques to give his poems a suggestive and uncertain artistic conception.

In terms of expression techniques, he often uses a brisk and flowing style to express the suppressed and tortuous emotions, and uses beautiful language to render a misty and sad environment, making the reality virtual and blurring the switch between reality and reality. He also likes to use allusions and draw materials from previous novels and mythological stories. And the allusions are used skillfully and just right, blending reality and myth together to form a special novel and romantic mood. But this also resulted in the multi-interpretation of his poems, making it difficult for people to grasp the meaning and even difficult to understand.

Experts’ comments help us understand and analyze Li Shangyin’s poems, which is very necessary to understand the inherent beauty of Li Shangyin’s poems. The following will focus on analyzing the physical beauty in Li's poems.