Why should *** cut off the west window candle?
From: "Night Rain Sends to the North" is a lyrical seven-character quatrain written by Li Shang, a poet in the late Tang Dynasty, who lived in the foreign land of Bashu and wrote to his wife (or friend) far away in Chang'an. It is a reply letter from the poet to the other party. .
Original text:
Sending the night rain to the north
Author: Li Shangyin
You asked about the return date but the return date has not yet been announced. The night rain in Bashan swelled the autumn pond.
Why should I cut off the candles from the west window and talk about the rainy night in Bashan?
Translation:
You ask me when I will go back, but I haven’t set a date yet. At this moment, the night rain in Bashan is pouring down, and the rainwater has filled the autumn river ponds.
When can I return to my hometown, where we can have a heart-to-heart talk while cutting candles under the west window? Then I will tell you how lonely I feel as a guest in Bashan tonight listening to the continuous rain. , how much I miss you!
Extended information:
Creative background
This poem is selected from Volume 3 of "Poems from Yuxi" when Li Shangyin was staying in Bashu (now Sichuan Province) This is a tribute to relatives and friends in Chang'an. Because Chang'an is located in the north of Bashu, the title is "Night Rain Sends to the North". In "Ten Thousand Tang Dynasty Quatrains" compiled by Hong Mai of the Southern Song Dynasty, the title of this poem is "Send the Rain at Night", which means that the poem is sent to his wife.
They believe that Li Shangyin went to Dongchuan in July of the fifth year of Dazhong (851) to envoy Liu Zhongying to the Zizhou shogunate. Wang died of illness at the turn of summer and autumn of that year, and Li Shangyin passed away. It took several months to learn of his wife's death. It is now said that each volume of Li's poems is titled "Night Rain Sends to the North". "Bei" refers to people from the north. It can refer to his wife or his friends.
Some people believe after research that it was written after the death of the author's wife Wang, so it was not a poem "sent home" but a gift to friends in Chang'an. Judging from the content of the poem, if you read it as "Send to the Nei", it will be full of emotions and sentiments; if you read it as "Send to the North", it will be too delicate and indifferent.
The word "Qi" appears twice, and one is for his wife's question, and the other is for his answer; his wife's question urges him to return early, and his answer laments that his return date is not accurate. "Bashan Night Rain" reappears, and one is the real scene of the guest, closely following his own answer; the other is talking about helping after returning, and answering his wife's questions from afar. And with "what should be" in between, it connects the past and the future, turns reality into fiction, opens up an imaginary realm, and integrates the loops and contrasts of time and space seamlessly.
In modern poetry, it is generally necessary to avoid literal repetition, but this poem deliberately breaks the convention. The two occurrences of the word "Qi", especially the reappearance of "Bashan Night Rain", just constitute the perfect combination of tone and composition. The wonder of looping back and forth accurately expresses the beauty of the artistic conception of time and space looping back and forth, achieving the perfect combination of content and form.
Introduction to the author:
Li Shangyin (about 813-about 858), whose courtesy name was Yishan and whose name was Yuxisheng, was from Hanoi, Huaizhou (now Qinyang County, Henan). A famous poet in the late Tang Dynasty, he and Du Mu were collectively known as "Xiao Li Du". In the second year of Kaicheng (837), he passed the imperial examination and became a secretary of the provincial school. He moved to Hongnong County and became a staff member of Wang Maoyuan (father-in-law), the governor of Jingyuan.
Involved in the political whirlpool of the "Niu-Li Party Controversy", he was ostracized and struggled throughout his life. In the last year of Dazhong (about 858), he died of illness in Zhengzhou and was buried in his hometown Yongdian, Huaizhou (now Wangzhuang Town, Qinyang County). Li Shangyin was one of the few poets in the late Tang Dynasty and even the entire Tang Dynasty who deliberately pursued poetic beauty. He is good at poetry writing, and his parallel prose has high literary value.
His poems have novel ideas and beautiful styles, especially some love poems and untitled poems, which are sentimental, beautiful and moving, and are widely read. However, some poems (represented by "Jin Se") are too obscure and difficult to understand. There is a saying that "poets always love Xikun and hate that no one writes Zheng Jian."