Meaning: Just empty talk for half the night, which makes people sigh. Emperor Wen only asked about ghosts and gods, but did not mention anything about national affairs and people's livelihood.
From: "Jia Sheng" by Li Shangyin of the Tang Dynasty
Original poem:
Jia Sheng
Tang Dynasty: Li Shangyin
< p>The propaganda office seeks talents and visits ministers, but Jia Sheng's talents are even more unmatched.It’s a pity that I sit down at the front table in the middle of the night and don’t ask about the common people or the ghosts and gods.
Interpretation:
Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty sought talents and announced to summon his demoted officials. Jia Yi's talent is truly brilliant and unparalleled.
It’s just empty talk half the night, which makes people sigh. Emperor Wen only asked about ghosts and gods, but said nothing about national affairs and people's livelihood.
Extended information
Creative background:
This poem was written by Li Shangyin in the first month of the second year of Dazhong (848), who was ordered by Zheng Ya, the governor of Guizhou, to go to Zhaozhou Made when he was the county governor. Because Li Shangyin was the head of a county at that time, he had to take charge of major sacrificial events, so he used the theme to create this poem. Another theory put forward by Yang Liu is that this poem was written when Li Shangyin left Guilin and went north to Jingba in March or April of the second year of Dazhong.
This poem uses Jia Yi’s experience to express the poet’s emotion about not being able to appreciate his talent. Its focus is not on personal gains and losses, but on pointing out that feudal rulers cannot truly value talents and make them play a political role. The poem selects the plot of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty summoning Jia Yi in his office and having a late night conversation, and writes that Emperor Wen was unable to recognize and appoint virtuous people.
"The Prosecution Office seeks talents and visits ministers, but Jia Sheng's talents are even more unparalleled." The first picture is written purely from the front, without any derogatory meaning. The first sentence is specially marked with "seeking" and "visiting", which seems to warmly praise Emperor Wen's eagerness and sincerity to seek talents, and his sincere and humble attitude towards talents. "Seeking talents" leads to "visiting and chasing ministers", which shows that his net of talents has reached the level of "nothing is left in the wild". The second sentence implicitly contains Emperor Wen's words of admiration for Jia Yi.
The third sentence is intertwined with inheritance and transfer, which is the hub of the whole poem. Cheng, the so-called "middle of the night banquet", vividly depicts the situation of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty who humbly inquired and listened attentively to the point of "unknowingly sitting at the table in front of his knees", turning historical traces into a vivid and vivid image full of life. Touchable images.
The combination of "pitiful" and "virtual" enhances the tone. Although it is only slightly, it makes the readers fundamentally doubt the Han Wen Emperor's "midnight banquet" attitude of respecting the virtuous. It can be said to be a heavy lifting. Ruo Qing.
The last sentence is full of words, closely following the words "poor" and "empty", and hits the mark in one sentence - "Don't ask about the common people, ask about ghosts and gods." Solemnly seeking talents, humbly asking questions, admiring and admiring them, and even sitting in front of the table in the middle of the night are not to inquire about the way to govern the country and bring peace to the people, but to "ask the ghosts and gods" the fundamental question.