Many people like Li Shangyin's poems very much, but they don't seem to like him very much. At the beginning, I also felt that he lacked some heroic integrity and was sometimes frivolous and impetuous, so he wrote so many sentimental poems. In short, he gave me the impression that poetry is good and people are lacking.
When I read all of Li Shangyin's more than 600 poems and more than 400 articles, I couldn't help feeling that I had misread Li Shangyin before.
So, what kind of person is Li Shangyin? We still put it in a specific life background to study, so as to see a vivid, flesh-and-blood Li Shangyin.
Li Shangyin was born in a small official family. He is less than ten years old. After his father died, he helped his mother get home from far away. A weak and lonely man supports the facade. Booksellers are full of hardships. Poor family, don't neglect your studies. However, the examination room is unfair, and it won the first place in the five exams. The officialdom is dirty and you will never leave the blue robe for ten years.
Due to the political darkness, Li Shangyin was frustrated in the examination hall and his career was bumpy, which led to repeated setbacks in his love life. Li Shangyin has been in love for three times, and the first two failures have dealt a great blow to Li Shangyin, causing him a strong mental pain that he will never forget.
First love: girlfriend is a fan.
Li Shangyin's first love was with Liu Zhi, a girl from Luoyang. It was when he was 23 years old that Ling Huxiu, the son of benefactor Ling Huchu, went to Chang 'an, the capital of Beijing, from the capital of Song Dynasty (now Kaifeng, Henan) to take the imperial examination, and visited his cousin Li Rangshan when passing through Luoyang. Li Rangshan told him that there was a girl named Herry Liu in the neighbor opposite. She didn't like women's needlework, but preferred dancing and writing ink, especially poetry, especially Li Shangyin's.
When Li Shangyin heard this, he found that such a young girl liked her poems and was very interested, so he offered to see what kind of person this girl was. So the two brothers came to Liu Zhiji's door, and Li Shangyin read his poems aloud. Just after reciting a few words, I saw a girl coming out of the room with a beautiful figure, leaning against the door and listening with a smile.
When Li Shangyin recited the whole poem, the girl smiled and asked, "Who wrote such a good poem? Who sings such a good poem? Is it Li Yishan (Yishan: the word of Li Shangyin)? " Li Shangyin immediately replied: "Exactly." Herry Liu said, "I can't talk with someone at home today. Everyone in the family will go out the afternoon after tomorrow. I wonder if Li Gongzi can come and have a chat. " Li Shangyin agreed. The two agreed to meet.
The next day, Ling Huxu was afraid of delaying the time to take the exam in Beijing. She didn't know the special situation of Li Shangyin's side, so she took all the travelling expenses and registration procedures away, leaving only a horse for Li Shangyin to go to the former post office to find him at night. Don't delay. When Li Shangyin saw this letter, he was very uneasy and embarrassed. If you date Herry Liu, you may delay the registration for the Imperial Examination. If you ride according to Ling Huxu's instructions, you will delay your appointment with Liuzhi and break your word. But this is his third exam. Li Shangyin thinks he is well prepared and can't miss the opportunity. It's not too late to propose to Herry Liu after being admitted to fame.
At that time, the literati were most concerned about and yearned for "being the top scholar". If you want to be the first, you don't have to worry about "wedding night". So Li Shangyin asked his cousin to tell Herry Liu about his difficulties and rode his horse to chase the fox.
The following year, Li Shangyin left Sun Shan for the third time. This is a big blow to him. He has no intention to see Herry Liu, and Li Shangyin has no love capital. Liu Zhi is only 17 years old, and there is still time. So Li Shangyin was left in the shogunate by his uncle Cui Rong, the history of defense in Iowa. Cui Rong took special care of him and asked him to go to his Fannan villa to concentrate on reviewing and take the exam again next year. At the same time, I helped Cui Rong's two sons learn. Li Shangyin was able to study and review with peace of mind.
It snowed heavily in winter, and suddenly a man came in the snow, and everyone was white. It was Li Rangshan who came specially for Liuzhi. It turned out that Herry Liu was taken a fancy to by a guard in a buffer region of Shandong Province and wanted to marry him as a concubine. Willow branches don't want to, determined to wait for Li Shangyin. But Liu Zhi's mother has accepted the bride price. So Herry Liu asked Li Rangshan to come to Li Shangyin, and she had to go to Li See Shangyin.
Hearing this, Li Shangyin immediately rode back to Luoyang with Li Rangshan. Sweating all the way to Luoyang, the building was empty, and Liu Zhi had been forced to get married. Li Shangyin's first love failed in this way. The fatigue of the journey and severe mental shock made him seriously ill. And this serious illness delayed his Jinshi exam. This year, he made more preparations. This year's examiner is Li Han, who has a close relationship with Cui Rong. Li Han's younger brothers Li Pan and Li Shangyin are colleagues, both of whom are in Cui Rong's shogunate. Cui Rong and Li Pan have completed all the formalities. As long as Li Shangyin enters the examination room and answers all the papers, he will definitely be the top scholar. Unfortunately, because of the failure of love, Li Shangyin was still seriously ill in early February and missed the best opportunity.
Because the love with Herry Liu was short and there was no substantial progress, Li Shangyin left few poems for this love, the most clear one being Herry Liu's five poems. It is the preface before this group of poems that records the process of this love. To commemorate his love with Herry Liu, Li Shangyin nicknamed himself "Fan Nan" and named his collection "Fan Nan Wen Ji".