There are always different opinions about the theme of this poem, and there is no conclusion. Some people think that Li Bai expressed his bumpy life and frustrated feelings through the difficulty of Shu Dao. Others say that it expresses Li Bai's anxiety and worry about the social and political future. In the Ming Dynasty, Hu Zhenheng, Gu and others thought that "singing for Shu is meaningless".
The whole poem can be understood in three levels:
The first floor: from the beginning to "then the ladder is connected with the stone pile", mainly describing the difficulty of Shu Road from the side.
The first four sentences are the general outline of the full text. The first three exclamations are used together, and the strong exclamation rises out of thin air, which is shocking and lays the tone of the whole poem. "It is difficult to get through the Shu Road, and it is difficult to go to the sky."
In the next six sentences, "Until the two rulers in this area", the poet tells the history of Shu State and Shu Dao. Since the legendary silkworm cluster was founded, it has not been in contact with Qin Sai for 48,000 years. Only the "Bird Road" on the top of Taibai and Emei is feasible. The geographical barrier cut off the communication between Shu and the outside world, and seemed to cut off the history.
"Once it was destroyed by an earthquake, some brave people lost it, and then the ladder stone stack was hooked." From history to the origin of Shu Dao today, this paper introduces the fairy story of Wuding mountain opening. "Wuding Mountain" has a "Shu Road" that people can reach. Known as the "ladder" and "stone stack", the degree of danger is self-evident. It can be seen that the steep terrain and difficult roads of Shu Road cast a mysterious color on Shu Road, which set off a dangerous and strange atmosphere.
The second floor: from "high above, like on a tall banner, six dragons drive the sun" to "Wow, people from far away are stupid to come here", it describes the severe obstacles and high risks of Shu Road from the front, showing the difficulty of hiking.
Let's talk about ancient myths first. "Six dragons return to the sun" means that the mountain peak is so high that even the dragon car of the sun god can't pass. In contrast to the steep mountain range, it is the turbulent river below that shows the danger of the road. The mountain is steep, even if you are good at flying like a yellow crane and climbing like an ape, you are worried about it. It's hard to write the Shu Dao with such repeated waves.
The following four sentences, "Green Mud Mountain is formed by many circles", were written by the poet in a different way from the tourists' feelings and concerns about their safety. The mountain road is nine bends, and the danger is endless. Looking up at the stars such as ginseng and well, you can almost touch them, which makes people feel nervous and sigh. There are only a few details of the action description, that is, outlining the dangerous state of the traveler's road, giving people a thrilling feeling.
In the second sentence of "We doubt whether this journey to the west will never end", the poet turns his pen and asks his friend when he will return in the form of virtual question and answer, which causes the traveler's worry of "being afraid of the road".
The next seven sentences, "I can't hear anything except the cries of birds surrounded by ancient forests", describe the cries of sad birds and the cries of the moon in the jungle, which can increase the feeling of sadness and loneliness of travelers and make people feel that the Shu Road is difficult to get through. Using the atmosphere of natural environment to contrast people's subjective feelings is a common expression technique in Chinese classical poetry. Li Bai used it in this poem, but he also wanted to fall from the sky and take it by surprise.
The next six sentences, "Heaven barely one foot below the highest cliff", mainly reveal the hardships of Shu Road from the dangers of mountains and rivers, and strive to render a thrilling atmosphere. "The highest cliff is only one foot from the sky" is an exaggeration of the height of the mountain peak; "Dry and drooping, head down, from the cliff surface" is the risk of cliff breaking. The poet first showed the high risk of the mountain, then turned from static to static, and wrote the thrilling scene of water and stone stirring and valley roaring. Like a series of focal planes: at first, it is a distant view of rolling mountains and continuous peaks; Then gently push out the close-up of dead pine hanging upside down; Then, followed by a group of fast shots, speeding rapids, waterfalls, cliffs and rocks. With the sound of thunder in thousands of valleys flashing before our eyes, it is amazing and dizzying, thus creating an overwhelming momentum, making the description of Shu Road difficult, reaching its peak and receiving excellent artistic effects.
The third layer: from "although the steeple is firm and severe" to the end, write about the danger of the situation and the sinister environment in Sichuan, showing the difficulty of staying.
If the high risk of the mountains above is daunting, then the mountains and rivers here are even more thrilling.
"Although the bunker is strong and steep, one person can guard it, but ten thousand people can't beat it." It is extremely dangerous to write Jiange Xiongguan. Jiange, a fortress in the middle of Shu, is located on a high mountain. There is a 30-mile plank road between Dajianshan and Xiaojian Mountain. The peaks are like swords, the mountains are towering, and the walls are cut like doors, forming a natural fortress. Because of its dangerous terrain, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Historically, there were many people who claimed to be kings here. The poet described a political situation from the danger of Jiange. He used the phrase "If you win, bandits should not be born" in Zhang Zai's Ming of Jiange in the Western Jin Dynasty, and used the tiger and snake to "kill people like hemp" to further highlight the sinister environment.
At this point, the poem comes down to the meaning of "Jun" returning early. Looking at the Western Jin Dynasty from afar, I lament the difficulty of Shu Dao, which is the feeling of the author, the feeling of travelers and the deep affection left by this poem to readers. It also implies anxiety and worry about national affairs. In the early years of Tianbao in the Tang Dynasty, there was a crisis lurking behind the peaceful and prosperous times, and the Anshi Rebellion that happened later proved that the poet's worries were of practical significance.
(3) Appreciation of essence
It is the most important artistic feature of this poem to combine myths and legends, imagination and artistic exaggeration, and to write scenery and express feelings. The three complement each other, vividly portraying the majestic appearance of Shu Dao and its gloomy and profound atmosphere, effectively highlighting the precipitousness and awe-inspiring difficulty of climbing Shu Dao, and also painting Shu Dao with a layer of quaint and desolate, grotesque and psychedelic colors, creating a broad artistic realm full of romantic colors. Through the spectacular scenery of mountains and rivers, I seem to see the tall image of the poet "shaking the five mountains with pen and laughing proudly at Cangzhou".
Flexible sentence patterns and unrestrained language are also a major feature of this poem. Poetry sentence patterns are mainly seven-character sentences, but also mixed with three-character, four-character, five-character, six-character and eight-character sentences, which change frequently and are flexible and diverse; Language is symmetrical and dual, or loose and stretched, or refined and dignified, or popular and light, which breaks away from the phenomenon of unified rhythm and cadence in general poetry, resulting in uneven levels and changeable beauty and charm. This poetic sentence pattern and language feature is the embodiment of Li Bai's bold and elegant personality.
In the poem, he marveled three times that "it's difficult to get to the sky through the Shu Road", and enveloped his strong feelings in the whole poem, with a strong subjective color, giving people the feeling of leaving with three sighs. With the description of the scenery, the sense of wonder is constantly strengthened, and the artistic effect is gradually strengthened, which makes poetry have a shocking artistic power.