Looking at the history of the Tang Dynasty for nearly three hundred years, I am afraid that no poet can be found who is more low-key than Zhang Ruoxu.
How low-key is Zhang Ruoxu? After looking through various historical materials, all I can find is a summary of his life and deeds in one or two sentences. Other than that, there are no records.
You may suspect that it is not Zhang Ruoxu who keeps a low profile, but that historical materials are lost. But this possibility is too low, because Zhang Ruoxu was a famous scholar in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, he was as famous as He Zhizhang, Zhang Xu, and Bao Rong, and they were collectively known as the "Four Scholars in Wuzhong". Except for Zhang Ruoxu, the other three were all famous celebrities. , has a lot of unrestrained deeds recorded in the annals of history. Only Zhang Ruoxu has no record of his deeds, so in the context of these three celebrity friends, he almost looks like a character who never really existed.
Even though he is not public, few of his poems have been circulated. There are only two poems in "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty". However, it was these two poems that helped Zhang Ruoxu become famous throughout the ages. His life does not require exaggerated performance art, he really relies on poetry to decide the outcome.
One of the two poems, "Spring River Flowers and Moonlight Night", has won the reputation of "a single poem that dominates the entire Tang Dynasty".
In other words, in the Tang Dynasty, an era famous for poetry, among the numerous poetry works of the Tang people, Zhang Ruoxu's "Moonlight Night on the Spring River" is qualified to stand out among the others, ranking first. Today, even entry-level poetry lovers will be familiar with the name Zhang Ruoxu and the famous poem in "Moonlight Night on the Spring River".
The title "Moonlight Night on Spring River" is the name of Yuefu's "Wu Sheng Songs". It was originally created by Chen Houzhu and is one of his erotic songs. Unfortunately, the original lyrics have long been lost.
Because Empress Chen was born in an imperial family and received a true aristocratic education. Fortunately or unfortunately, he was cultivated with a first-class artistic temperament, and his majestic vitality quickly immersed him in In the world of women and music, from then on, he embraced each other, wrote poems and composed music, and lived like a modern rock star. Chen Houzhu's two most famous creations, one is "Flowers in the Backyard of Yushu" and the other is "Spring River Flowers and Moonlight Night", opened up the source of beautiful imagination for future generations.
Influenced by Empress Chen, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty also wrote two poems "Spring River Flower Moonlight Night", which are quite short. The more outstanding one is:
The Dusk River Ping Bu Move, spring flowers are in full bloom.
The moon will go away with the current, and the stars will come with the tide.
Poetry critics often criticize people because they hate this mediocre last emperor who is just like Empress Chen, and they also criticize his "Moonlight Night on the Spring River" as a short, shallow and empty poem.
In fact, to be fair, in these short twenty words, spring, river, flower, moon and night are all written. The images are complex but harmonious, and the realm is quite broad. What a nice little piece. However, the reason why those senior poetry critics looked down upon it is not only for the reasons mentioned above, but also because with the reference of Zhang Ruoxu's work of the same title, any reader with a little bit of aesthetic taste will quickly forget what Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty actually wrote. What.
Zhang Ruoxu's "Spring River with Flowers and Moonlight Night" adopts the form of seven-character rhythm:
The tide of the Spring River reaches the sea level, and the bright moon on the sea rises with the tide.
The twinkling waves follow the waves for thousands of miles, but there is no moon on the spring river.
The river flows around Fangdian, and the moonlight shines on the flowers and forests like sleet.
The frost is flying in the sky unknowingly, and the white sand on the pavilion cannot be seen.
The river and the sky are completely dust-free, and there is only a solitary moon in the bright sky.
Who by the river sees the moon for the first time, and when does the moon on the river shine on people for the first time?
Life is endless from generation to generation, and the moon and river look alike every year.
I don’t know who Jiang Yue is waiting for, but I see the Yangtze River sending flowing water.
The white clouds are slowly disappearing, and the green maple pond is full of sorrow.
Who is going to be a boatman tonight? Where can I miss the moon tower?
The poor moon wanders upstairs, it should be seen away from the makeup mirror.
The jade door curtain cannot be rolled away, and it will come back when it is smashed and brushed on the anvil.
At this time, we look at each other but do not hear each other, and I hope that the moonlight will shine on you.
Swan geese fly long and fast, and fish and dragons dive and leap into the water.
Last night I dreamed of falling flowers in the pond, and it was a pity that I didn’t return home in the middle of spring.
The spring water in the river is gone, and the moon has fallen in the river pool and is setting in the west again.
The slanting moon hides the sea fog, and the Jieshi and Xiaoxiang roads are endless.
I don’t know how many people will return home by the moon. The falling moon shakes the trees all over the river with love.
In this poem, Zhang Ruoxu compares the eternity of the bright moon with the metabolism of the human world, because the bright moon has witnessed all the vicissitudes of life, birth, old age, illness and death, and when we look up at the bright moon, we think of "this moon once illuminated the ancients", and The ancients and past events have become a thing of the past. Suddenly, I feel that life is passing by like a white horse. I see my own insignificance under the cold moonlight. I can't help but feel sad and cannot cut it off. The water of the Yangtze River flows eastward around us, reminding us that "the passing of people is like a river, and they don't give up day and night." What passes away is not the river, but our history, today and future. It is an endless and helpless sadness. .
Human beings are neither bamboos nor geese. When they come to the world, they always want to leave their own mark on this world. The humble ones left their names on the thousand-year-old monuments "I came here", while the noble ones left their names in the annals of history with their splendid poems, articles or moral achievements. Although high and low are very different, they also stem from the same nature in human genes.
Zhang Ruoxu has kept a low profile all his life, but this song "Spring River Flower Moonlight Night" made his life stand on the top of the Tang Dynasty in a high-profile way.
A poem like this is already a high-profile luxury for a person's life.