Appreciation of the Ancient Poem "Letter to Xue Tao in Shu"

Wan Li Qiaobian girls' school books, loquat flowers in closed doors.

nowadays, there are few talented people who sweep eyebrows, but it is better to manage the spring breeze.

Translation

There lived a talented geisha by the bridge in Wan Li, where loquat wreaths surrounded her house. Among the loquat flowers, she lived in seclusion.

There are few talented women like her today. Even those who can fully appreciate the artistic conception of literature are always a little behind her.

Note

(1) Xue Tao: a poetess in the Tang Dynasty. Word flood. Chang' an people, with their father's official in Shu, died and could not return, so they lived in Chengdu and became famous musicians. Jiào book: that is, the school book lang, an official in charge of collating ancient books. It is said that Wu Yuanheng once invited Tao to be the school book boy, and it was said that Wei Gao Town was appointed as the school book boy. Xue Tao was widely known as a "girls' school book" at that time. And "Shu people call prostitutes as school books, since Tao began" ("biography of talented people in Tang Dynasty").

(2) Wan Li Bridge: south of Chengdu. In ancient times, Shu people entered Wu by this route. During the Three Kingdoms period, Fei Yi sent an envoy to Wu, and Zhuge Liang sent him here. Fei said, "The road to Wan Li begins with this bridge." Hence the name.

(3) Loquat (pí pá): the name of the tree is also called Loquat. According to Liu Ting Shi Hua, this is a kind of flower similar to azalea, which is produced in Luogu. Its real name is Pipa, but later generations don't know it, so it is changed to "loquat".

(4) Eyebrow-sweeping talents: refers to female talents since ancient times. Sweep your eyebrows, thrush. The biography of Zhang Chang in Hanshu contains Zhang Chang as Jing Zhaoyin, and "as a woman thrush, Chang 'an passes on Zhang Jingzhao's eyebrows. A secretary asked him openly, and said to him,' I heard that in the boudoir, there are people who are too thrusting'. Love it, and be responsible. "

(5) Take charge of the spring breeze: the words of Judah lead the way. Spring breeze, refers to the spring breeze word pen, romantic literary talent.

Appreciation

Yuan Zhen has a poem saying, "Jinjiang is slippery and beautiful in Emei, which conjures up Wen Jun and Xue Tao. Words steal parrots' tongues, and articles get phoenix hair. Many poets stopped writing, and all officials wanted to dream of knives. After parting, acacia is separated by smoke and water, and calamus flowers are five clouds high. " The poem compares Xue Tao to Zhuo Wenjun, but in terms of popularity and practical talent, Xue Tao is really above Wen Jun.

Wang Jian's gift is an excellent one among many gallant hymns. Xue Tao lives in Chengdu, and has a house in Baihuatan, a suburb. "Wan Li Qiaoxi House, Baihuatan Beizhuang" was originally the place where poet Du Fu lived. "Wan Li Bridge Girls' School Book" comes straight to the point, honouring Xue Tao's identity, looking clearly and solemnly. According to reports, when Xue Tao lived in Shu, he planted calamus, which rarely blooms and bears fruit. Sometimes flowering is regarded by the ancients as a kind of auspicious, such as five-color clouds, so Yuan Zhen's poem has the sentence that "the flowers of cattail bloom with five clouds high". After living in Bijifang, I don't plant loquats. The phrase "loquat flowers are closed in the door" has a beautiful image, and people can imagine the prosperity and beauty of loquat flowers through the scene of azaleas blooming. The girls' school books are among them, and they are like fairies. The word "closed door" not only has the charm of elegance and tranquility, but also means "peaches and plums are speechless, and the next sentence is closely related to it."

If the first two sentences have implicit praise in the quiet narration, then the last two sentences are extremely enthusiastic praise: "How much a talented person knows, it is better to lead the spring breeze." "Wits who sweep eyebrows" refers to the story of using Zhang Chang as his wife to thrush, and those women talents from ancient times serve as a foil for the heroine in the poem. In fact, it is not only the female talents who can't compare with Xue Tao. At that time, there were many talented people who admired Xue Tao. To the point where the so-called "all officials want to dream of knives", the talents of these men rarely surpassed those of Xue Tao. "It's better to lead the spring breeze", that is, Yuan Zhen's meaning of "more words and more people stop writing". This evaluation seems to be a compliment, but it is not all a compliment. Xue Tao is not only good at poetry, but also good at calligraphy. "The beauty of his running script is quite comparable to that of Wang Xifa." Therefore, he invented the "Xue Tao's Note" with skillful hands and wisdom. Wei Zhuang praised it with a poem: "I also know that the price is heavy on Lian Chengbi, and I don't hesitate to pay a million dollars." In the history of Bashu culture, it left a story.