Creation year: Tang Dynasty
Author: Li Bai
Work genre: Seven-character quatrains
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Original works
Hakka works (1)
[ Poetic paintings of Hakka works ]
Hakka works.
But to make the host drunk, (3)
I don't know where is the foreign land. [1]
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Annotated translation
Notes to the work
(1) Among the guests: it refers to living in a foreign country.
(2) Lanling: Lanling Town, Cangshan County, Shandong Province.
tulip: fragrant turmeric. Curcuma aromatica, a kind of herb, is used to soak wine, which turns golden yellow after soaking.
(3) but make: as long as. [2]
Translation of works
Lanling is really a good place, rich in fine wine, golden in color and fragrant.
The tulip wine should be filled in a jade bowl, and its color is like amber, and it shines spontaneously.
As long as the host treats me with this wine and makes me a stranger in a foreign country drunk,
then I only feel extremely happy and no longer feel that any place is a foreign country. [2]
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Creative background
After a trip to Chang 'an in the early days of Tianbao (note: Tianbao was 742-756), Li Bai moved to Donglu. This poem was written in the Lanling of Donglu, and taking Lanling as a "guest" should be the poet's work before he entered Beijing (during the Kaiyuan period). In the prosperous social background, Li Bai pays more attention to friendship, loves wine and loves to visit the rivers and mountains of the motherland. These are full of beauty in his heart. This poem shows Li Bai's uninhibited personality and prosperous scene in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. [1]
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Appreciation of works
This poem is an anti-wanderer's tradition of ancient poetry and prose, and expresses the optimistic feelings of the poet who is a guest, but he is happy and unaware of being in a foreign country. [1]
It is a very common theme in ancient poetry creation to express the sadness of parting and the worry of being a guest in another country. However, although this poem is entitled as a guest's masterpiece, it expresses the author's other feelings. "Lanling wine tulip, jade bowl filled with amber light." Lanling, a place to visit, is named, but when it is associated with fine wine, it sweeps away the sadness of a foreign land that depresses the poet, and it has an emotional color that fascinates the poet. The famous Lanling wine is made of tulips, with a strong fragrance, and it looks as bright as amber in a crystal-clear and moist jade bowl. In the face of fine wine, the poet showed pleasure and excitement.
"But make the host drunk, and I don't know where is the foreign land." These two poems are both in people's minds and unexpected. It is in people's mind, because it conforms to the natural trend of the previous description and emotional development; It's surprising to say that "making a guest work in the middle", a topic that seems to imply writing about guest worries, is completely another expression in Li Bai's works. This makes the poem particularly intriguing. The poet is not unaware that he is in a foreign land, and of course he does not want to miss his hometown at all. However, these have been diluted in front of Lanling wine. A feeling of lingering, even being happy to get drunk in front of guests and friends, completely dominated him. From being a guest to being happy without realizing that this place is a foreign land, it is precisely this poem that is different from the general travel. [3]
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Author's brief introduction
[ Portrait of Li Bai ]
Portrait of Li Bai
Li Bai (71-762), with the word Taibai, claimed to be the same clan as the royal family in Li Tang, and his ancestral home was in Longxi (now Tianshui, Gansu). When I was a teenager, I lived in Sichuan and studied Taoism. At the age of twenty-five, he traveled far from Sichuan and lived in Anlu and Lujun successively. During this period, he went west to Chang' an to seek fame, but he was frustrated and returned east; Later, he was sent to Beijing by imperial edict to worship the Hanlin. Soon after, he went out of Beijing because of slanders and wandered around. Since the Anshi rebellion, in order to counter the rebellion, he joined the staff of Yongwang Li Jun; Later, Yong Wang was killed by Tang Suzong and exiled to Yelang because of his involvement. In case of forgiveness, he went to Li Yangbing, the county magistrate of Dangtu (now Anhui), and died soon. He was famous for writing poems, and was greatly appreciated by people at that time, praising his poems for "making ghosts cry". He reflected the reality with romantic poems, described mountains and rivers, expressed his lofty aspirations and chanted lofty sentiments, thus becoming a great poet who illuminated ancient and modern times. [4][5]