Lang Tao Sha: Appreciation of Poppy Writing Background Translation Introduction to the Author (all written by Li Yu)

"When are the spring flowers and autumn moon, how much do we know about the past!" The flowers bloom in spring, the moon is full in Mid-Autumn Festival, and the years are constantly changing. How beautiful life is. But when will my miserable years as a prisoner end? Looking back on the past, as a king, how did you do many things in the past? How did you get to where you are today? According to historical records, when Li Yu was the king, he indulged in sensuality every day, ignored the government affairs, and killed remonstrating ministers in vain... Through this poem, it is not difficult to see that this late master of the Southern Tang Dynasty, who was reduced from a powerful king to a prisoner, At this moment, there is not only sorrow and indignation in my heart, but also some regret.

"The east wind blew again in the small building last night, and the motherland cannot bear to look back in the moonlight." The small building that lives quietly is blown by the spring breeze again, and the spring flowers will bloom again. Recalling the dynasty of the Southern Tang Dynasty and the Li family's country - my homeland had long been destroyed. The poet lives in a prison cell, listening to the spring breeze, looking at the bright moon, feeling emotional about the scenery, full of melancholy, and unable to sleep at night. The word "again" indicates that this situation has occurred many times. This mental pain is really unbearable, revealing how much sadness and helplessness he feels in his heart! It's late at night and everyone is quiet. I lean on the building and look into the distance. I see only the moonlight like water. Everything he saw in front of him aroused his deep nostalgia for his homeland in the Southern Tang Dynasty.

“The motherland cannot bear to look back in the bright moonlight”! What the poet issued here was not only a deep sigh, but also a heart-wrenching cry. "The carved railings and jade masonry should still be there, but the beauty has changed." Although "the motherland cannot bear to look back," it cannot but "look back." These two sentences specifically write about "looking back" and "the motherland" - the gorgeous palace in the old capital Jinling is probably still there, but the beauty of the palace ladies who mourned the country has changed. This implies Empress Li's emotion about the land changing its surname and the mountains and rivers changing color! The word "just" is extremely heavy, conveying the infinite regret that things are right and people are different. The word "beauties" here certainly refers to the pink beauties in the palace in the past, but it is also a symbol of all the beautiful things and beautiful lives in the past.

In the above six sentences, the poet strives to integrate the contrast between beauty and sadness, past and present, scenery and human affairs, especially through the strong contrast between the eternity of nature and the vicissitudes of human affairs, to express the feelings contained in his heart. Sorrow and regret pour out in twists and turns, condensing into the final eternal song - "How much sorrow can you have? Just like a river of spring water flowing eastward." Sadness is like a torrential river rushing out of a canyon and rushing towards the sea. Once you send it, you can't take it back. The poet is full of indignation and makes a thorough inquiry into life: "How much sorrow can you have? It's like a river of spring water flowing eastward!" Life, life, doesn't it mean endless sorrow? "A river of spring water flows eastward" is a famous saying that uses water as a metaphor for sorrow, showing that sorrow is like the spring water of the ocean, pouring out unrestrainedly; it is also like the spring water that persists day and night, flowing continuously and endlessly. These nine words really express the depth and intensity of the rising and flowing emotions. The nine-character sentence has five characters in oblique tones, four characters in flat tones, alternating between oblique and oblique, and finally ends with two characters in flat tones. It reads like the waves of a spring river rising and falling in an endless stream. It is really full of sounds and emotions. The last two sentences are also based on questions and answers, doubling the emphasis on the word "sorrow", so that the whole word echoes back and forth in tone and flows freely.

This song "Poppy Beauty" was written by Li Yu, the empress of the Southern Tang Dynasty, two years after he was captured. According to legend, after writing this poem, he ordered the singing prostitutes to sing it repeatedly on the night of the Chinese Valentine's Day. When Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty found out about this, he immediately gave him wine and poisoned him to death. ?

The author is capable of poetry and painting, but unfortunately has no political achievements. He was originally the king of a country, but because of a traitorous minister from the Later Zhou Dynasty who wore a yellow robe, he ended up "undressed" and became a prisoner of a certain rank. On the night of Chinese Valentine's Day, seeing the busy traffic in Bianjing and being imprisoned in my apartment, how can I look back on the past and not sigh, "How much sorrow can you have?"?

When did the spring flowers and autumn moon come? This is the author's sigh. Time is too slow. Perhaps it was the flashy life in the palace before he was captured that made him unwilling to make progress

His death poem, he was born on the Chinese Valentine's Day in 937 for 42 years and was poisoned to death by Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty on the Chinese Valentine's Day in 978.

When will the flowers in spring and the bright moon in autumn night end? Who knows how many past events will occur as time goes by?

The east wind blew again from the small building in Bianjing last night. The past events of my motherland were so melancholy that I couldn’t bear to recall them, especially in the bright moonlight.

The carved fences and jade pavilions should still be there, but the youthful and handsome appearance has completely changed.

I ask you how much sorrow you can have? Just like a river of spring water flowing slowly eastward.

Li Yu (yù) (AD 937--978), named Chongguang, originally named Congjia, also named Zhongyin, Lianfeng Jushi, etc., was the monarch of the Southern Tang Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, so he was also known as As the empress of the Southern Tang Dynasty or the empress of Li. When he came to the throne, Zhao Song had replaced Zhou Jianguo, and the situation in the Southern Tang Dynasty was in danger. He lived a peaceful and enjoyable life for fifteen years while compromising the Song Dynasty. In 975 AD, the Southern Tang Dynasty was wiped out by the Song Dynasty. Li Yu became a prisoner and was taken from Jinling, the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty (today's Nanjing, Jiangsu Province) to Bianjing, the capital of the Song Dynasty. He lived as a prisoner for more than two years and was finally poisoned by someone sent by Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty. .

Li Yu was good at calligraphy, good at painting, and had a good understanding of music and rhythm. He was proficient in poetry, poetry, and writing, and his achievements in poetry were the most outstanding. Due to the huge change from the monarch of the Southern Tang Dynasty to the prisoner of the Song Dynasty, his Ci is divided into two periods. The early poems mainly describe the luxurious life in the original palace and the love between men and women. The later poems almost all express the nostalgia for the past life and the deep sorrow and pain after becoming a prisoner.

Li Yu’s status in literary history mainly depends on his artistic achievements. His artistic achievements in lyrics are very high. He is good at using line drawing to express his feelings, and he is good at using appropriate metaphors to visualize abstract feelings. The language of his Ci is clear, beautiful and vivid. In terms of subject matter and artistic conception, it breaks through the narrow artistic conception of the "Huajian Ci" school of engraving gold and carving green and focusing on writing about erotic love, which played an extremely important role in the development of Ci. Modern scholar Wang Guowei spoke highly of him in his "Human Words".

Li Yu's poems are collected together with those of his father Li Wangjing (the later master of the Southern Tang Dynasty), and are called "Two Master Ci of the Southern Tang Dynasty".