Drinking the Song of the Eight Immortals
Du Fu of the Tang Dynasty
Zhizhang was riding a horse as if riding a boat, and fell into a well and fell asleep under the water.
The three battles in Ruyang began to face the sky, and the mouth of the road met Qu's chariot, salivation, and the desire to seal it to Jiuquan.
The left prime minister spends tens of thousands of money every day, drinks like a long whale sucking in hundreds of rivers, holds a cup in his mouth, enjoys the sage and calls him a sage.
Zong Zhi, a handsome and handsome young man, raised his glass and looked at the blue sky with his white eyes, which was as bright as a jade tree before the wind.
Su Jin often likes to escape to Zen when he is drunk in front of embroidering Buddha in Changzhai.
Li Bai wrote hundreds of poems about drinking wine and slept in a restaurant in Chang'an City. The emperor couldn't get on the boat, so he claimed that he was a wine-drinking immortal.
Zhang Xu's three-cup grass sage takes off his hat and tops his head in front of the prince, swiping paper like clouds of smoke.
Jiao Sui fought five battles with Fang Zhuoran, and his eloquent talk shocked the four feasts.
Interpretation
Zhizhang: He Zhizhang, a native of Yongxing, Yuezhou (today's Xiaoshan, Zhejiang), was an official and went to the secretary's post. It is called "Secretary Supervisor". Li Bai's "Exiled Immortal" was his earliest title.
Ruyang: King Li Jing of Ruyang was the nephew of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty.
Chaotian: meeting the emperor.
麴车: Liquor cart.
Transfer: change the fiefdom.
Jiuquan: The name of the county, in today’s Jiuquan County, Gansu Province. Legend has it that there is a spring under the county city that smells like wine, hence the name Jiuquan.
Left Prime Minister: refers to Li Shizhi, the Prime Minister of the Left. In August of the first year of Tianbao (742), he was the Prime Minister of the Zuo. In April of the fifth year of Tianbao (746), Li Linfu squeezed out the Prime Minister.
Long whale: whale. The ancients believed that whales could drink water from hundreds of rivers, so it was used to describe Li Shizhi's drinking capacity.
Holding a cup: greedy for wine. Saint: the name for wine.
Zongzhi: Cui Zongzhi, the son of Cui Riyong, the Minister of Civil Affairs. After succeeding his father, he was granted the title of Duke of Qi, and he was promoted to the imperial censor. He was also Li Bai's friend.
Goblet: Large wine glass.
White eyes: Ruan Ji can have blue eyes and white eyes. He can look at friends with blue eyes and look at ordinary people with white eyes.
The jade tree faces the wind, and Cui Zong’s wind is so beautiful that the jade tree is used as a metaphor.
Su Jin: Jinshi of Kaiyuan. He once served as the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu and the Ministry of Officials.
Long fast: long-term fasting. Embroidered Buddha: Painted Buddha statue.
Escape from Zen: This refers to not observing Buddhist precepts, and Buddhists prohibit drinking alcohol. Su Jin Changzhai believed in Buddhism but was addicted to alcohol, so he was called "Escape Zen".
Li Bai: Famous for his heavy drinking and quick thinking in writing. He often used wine to help his poems flourish.
Zhang Xu: A famous calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty, he was good at cursive calligraphy and was known as the "Sage of Cursive Calligraphy" at that time.
Take off your hat and reveal your top: write about Zhang Xu’s wild and uninhibited drunkenness. Known as "Zhang Dian" in the world.
Jiao Sui: A commoner, a commoner. He is famous for his alcoholism and his deeds are unknown.
Zhuoran: Looking full of energy.
About the author
Du Fu (712-770): courtesy name Zimei, self-named Shaoling Yelao, known as "Du Gongbu", "Du Shaoling", etc., Han nationality, Henan Prefecture A native of Gong County (now Gong County, Henan Province).
Du Fu is a great realist poet in the Tang Dynasty. He is respected as a saint of poetry by the world. His poems are called the history of poetry. Du Fu and Li Bai are collectively called Li Du.
He was concerned about the country and the people, had a noble personality, and superb poetic skills. He was highly respected in Chinese classical poetry and had a profound influence. About 1,400 poems have survived in the world.
From 759 to 766, Du Fu lived in Chengdu, which is commemorated by Du Fu's Thatched Cottage in later generations.
Appreciation
This poem was written by Du Fu when he first arrived in Chang'an. Li Bai, He Zhizhang, Li Jing, Li Shizhi, Cui Zongzhi, Su Jin, Zhang Xu, and Jiao Sui all lived in Chang'an, and they were all famous for their fondness for drinking. Du Fu's poem painted a vivid and interesting portrait for each of the "Eight Drunken Immortals", capturing the charm of each person, with outstanding characteristics, and the personality of the characters vividly reflected on the page. Everyone's state of intoxication is different.
He Zhizhang was the oldest, so he felt dizzy after drinking. He swayed on the horse and carried him to the well. He didn't realize it and actually fell asleep in the well.
Li Jing, the king of Ruyang, was the nephew of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. Relying on the emperor's favor, he dared to drink wine and go to see the emperor. His attachment to wine has reached the point of obsession, and his mouth watered when he saw the truck transporting wine. That's not all, because he is a relative of the emperor and can inherit the fiefdom hereditary. He can't wait to "move the fiefdom" to Jiuquan and get drunk all at once. The poet's description of Li Jing's heart is very delicate, which is consistent with his royal status.
Li Shizhi, the prime minister of Zuo, had an astonishing drinking capacity. It would not be an exaggeration to describe his drinking capacity as a whale. Prime Minister Li feasted lavishly and spent a lot of money, but this reflected Prime Minister Zuo's lonely mood after being squeezed out by Li Linfu. The word "avoid virtuous people" is used cleverly and has a profound meaning.
After describing the official dignitaries, he began to write about the literary celebrities. First, there is the dashing Cui Zongzhi, drinking and looking at the sky with his white eyes, acting as if there is no one else around, not sticking to trivial matters, and looking arrogantly at everything. After being drunk, the posture is graceful, like a jade tree facing the wind, with endless charm.
Then there is Su Jin. This Kaiyuan Jinshi is also a high-ranking official. He eats fast and chants Buddha's name on weekdays, but he is addicted to alcohol and is often drunk. He has to wander back and forth between "fasting" and "drunk". In the end, I couldn't get rid of the temptation of the wine, so I drank it first. Every time he was drunk, he had to "escape from Zen", which really made people laugh. It humorously showed Mr. Su's helpless and complacent character, indulgent but wanting to restrain himself.
The climax comes next. Li Bai, the "immortal", made a brilliant appearance. The first two sentences were written in an exaggerated way. After "fighting for wine", Li Bai, who was very popular in poetry, wrote "hundred poems" and was often drunk. Lying in a restaurant in Chang'an City, Li Bai's alcoholism and poetic talent are fully revealed. After drinking until he got excited, the emperor issued an edict and refused to board the ship, and said with great pride: "I am the immortal of wine!" Of course, this is not necessarily true, but it vividly portrays Li Bai's character of contempt for the powerful.
Du Fu admired Li Bai very much. In just a few words, he used exaggeration to create an extraordinary, distinctive, and unruly romantic artistic image. It is this poem that makes Li Bai's portrait vivid and vivid, unforgettable and passed down through the ages!
After Li Bai, another madman appeared. He was the "Grass Saint" Zhang Xu. After being drunk, in front of the princes and nobles, he took off his hat and opened his head without restraint. He splashed ink and words poured out on the paper like clouds and smoke. How cool and unrestrained!
After the climax, it calmed down, and the eighth "Drunken Immortal" was unexpected. It was a commoner named Jiao Sui. After he drank five glasses of wine, his talent flourished. He spoke eloquently at banquets and often amazed everyone with his eloquence.
This poem captures the personality characteristics of each of the "Eight Immortals in Drinking" and echoes each other. The language is humorous and the rhythm is bright. It is ups and downs and very enjoyable to read. Only Du Fu, who "will never stop until his words are astonishing", had such profound writing skills and left us these lifelike statues.