Poetry on walls began in the Han Dynasty and flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties. After the Han Dynasty, there was no shortage of inscriptions on the walls. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, more and more poems were written on walls. In the Tang Dynasty, the number of poems written on walls suddenly increased and began to form a trend. In the Song Dynasty, the trend of inscriptions on walls was on the rise. There were many inscriptions on postal pavilions, post walls, temple walls, etc., which made people dizzy.
As far as the carrier is concerned, although the wall poems are all inscribed on the wall, it does not mean that any wall can be used. Walls can be divided into temple walls, stone walls, postal pavilion walls, palace walls and building walls. The inscription on the temple wall is like Su Shi's "Inscription on the West Forest Wall" of the Song Dynasty: "Viewed horizontally, it forms a ridge and peaks on the side, with different heights from near and far. I don't know the true face of Mount Lu, just because I am in this mountain." The inscription on the stone wall is like one of Tang Hanshan's An untitled poem: "When I live in the cold mountain, everything is at rest, and I have no distractions to worry about. I write poems on the stone wall when I am free, and I am not tied to the boat." The inscription on the wall of the postal pavilion is like: "The moonlight is still there in the mountains, and the cool breeze in the forest is endless. . Diligence is like being sentimental, and melancholy makes people feel different." (Volume 10 of Wei Qingzhi's "Poet's Jade Chip") The inscription on the wall of the palace is: "Everyone is suffering from the heat. I love the long summer breeze, which makes the palace feel faint." "Cool." ("Old Book of Tang Dynasty: Biography of Liu Gongquan") The title on the wall is Song Jiang's "anti-poem" in the 37th chapter of "Water Margin": "My heart is in Shandong and I am in Wu, and the floating rivers and seas are full of sighs." If you are so ambitious, you dare to laugh at Huang Chao as your husband. "During the Tang and Song Dynasties, out of the need to protect the walls and to facilitate those who wrote poems, many temples and inns had poetry boards (poetry boards) for passers-by to write poems. , according to Volume 13 of Wang Dingbao's "Tang Zhayan": "There is Feiquan Pavilion on the road to Shu. There are more than a hundred poem boards in the pavilion, but they were not written by the author. Later, Xue Nengzuo and Li Fu passed by this place on the road to Shu and wrote: 'Jia How can it be easy to compose poems when the rafters are empty? 'All the boards have been removed, leaving only one piece of "Wushan Gao" by Li Duan. "According to Volume 11 of Wei Qingzhi's "Poet's Jade Chips": "There is a sweet spring beside Liyang Road. Because Lai Gong and Ding Wei once left travel notes in the temple, many people wrote poems and chanted them, and the steles were all over the house. "It can be seen that there were many poetry tablets at that time.
As far as content is concerned, the poems on the wall are all written with feelings and have some sustenance. They can be roughly divided into the following types: First, political ambition. Most of these poems are dissatisfied with reality and complain about injustice. A poem by an unknown person in the Song Dynasty titled "Tibi" goes: "Land sutras are sold by the White Pagoda Bridge, and the long pavilion and short post are the most obvious. How can we only talk about Lin'an Road, but it is not as far as the Central Plains!" It satirizes some people in the Southern Song Dynasty who lived in peace and had no intention of regaining the Central Plains. The cold reality of "considering Hangzhou as Bianzhou". Second, if life is difficult, beg for social support, write poems on walls, and advertise them widely. Some of them are even commercial in nature, and the poets can use them to make profits. According to Volume 7 of "Chronicles of Song Poems" written by Li E of the Qing Dynasty: "Xu Dong was famous in Wu for his literary skills, especially in Zuo's Spring and Autumn Annals. He was addicted to alcohol and tried to borrow money from hotels. He wrote hundreds of songs in one day, and the villagers They came to see it and sold it several times, and donated all their money." Xu Dong was creative and held an exhibition of poems on the wall, which earned him a financial income. Third, hobbies. Some poems are quite philosophical and can be called aphorisms. According to Volume 96 of "Chronicles of Song Dynasty Poetry": "Xuanhe Guimao was traveling in the middle courtyard of Mount Songshan. There was a poem on the eaves behind the Dharma Hall: 'A ball of thatch is matted, suddenly burning up the sky and the earth. It's like a full furnace.' The ground is warm with simmering rice. The four-character official script next to it says: "Don't destroy this poem." The monk said: "This four-character poem was written by Sima Xianggong (note: refers to Sima Guang)." The two metaphors of burning thatch and simmering corn illustrate a truth: the nouveau riche often come and go like wind and rain, but those who are honest and step-by-step can reach their destination smoothly. Fourth, I think about the past, reflect on the present and recall the past, and feel a lot of emotions. Wang Bo, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, was poor since he was a child and once lived in Mulan Academy of Huizhao Temple in Yangzhou to study. The monk disliked the poor and loved the rich, so he looked down upon him. There is a rule in the temple: ring the bell to start the meal. But one day, when Wang Bo heard the bell and went to have dinner, he saw that the canteen was full of dishes. Wang Bo realized that someone was deliberately teasing him, so he wrote a poem on the wall of the temple and left angrily. Twenty years later, Wang Bo was appointed governor of Yangzhou and decided to revisit Huizhao Temple. There was panic in the temple, and the monks hurriedly covered Wang Bo's poem on the wall with blue gauze. When Wang Bo came to the temple, he saw at a glance that the poem on the wall that year was covered with blue gauze. He laughed secretly and wrote another poem on the wall: "I have already gone to the hall, and I am ashamed of the bell after dinner. For twenty years, the dust has hit my face, and now I have a green sarong." (Volume 7 of Wang Dingbao's "Tang Yan" ) The poem uses the method of comparison before and after, and sharply satirizes the monk's behavior of being arrogant at first and respectful at the back, with the two incidents of "bell after meal" and "blue sarong".