Yuan Zhen (779-83 1) was born in Luoyang, Henan. He lost his father when he was a child and his family was poor. At the age of fifteen, I took part in the imperial examination, knowing the classics and doing it. At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, Tang Xianzong put policy first, left as a gleaner and overseer of the empire. He was once demoted as the champion of Jiangling Cao to join the army because of the illegal behavior of others to fight against Jiannan Dongchuan. After this blow, he turned to compromise with eunuchs and dignitaries, and was recommended by eunuchs Cui and others, and was reused as a prime minister. Soon, he was transferred to the same state secretariat. When Wenzong was in Taihe, he served as our ambassador to Wuchang Army and died at the age of 53.
Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi are good friends and both advocates of the New Yuefu Movement. His literary thought is similar to Bai Juyi's, and he advocates Du Fu's spirit of "being successful and having nothing to rely on", which promotes the development of the New Yuefu Movement. He wrote some ancient Yuefu poems and new Yuefu poems, borrowed from Yuefu genre and made innovations to "satirize what happened at that time and influence future generations". He also wrote many ancient poems and rhymes, some of which satirized reality, called "ancient satire" and "rhyme satire". In addition, he also wrote many ancient and modern colourful poems and mourning poems. These poems were simple and affectionate and made great achievements in art. At that time, they were as famous as Bai Juyi and were known as "Bai Yuan".
Yuan Zhen's poems reflect the sufferings of people's livelihood to a certain extent and expose the corruption of the upper ruling class, but the depth and breadth are not as good as Bai Juyi's. The style of poetry is similar to Bai Juyi's Introduction to Yuan Zhen, and both have the characteristics of shallow language and deep feelings.
Expanding Reading: Appreciation of Yuan Zhen's Spring Dawn
original text
Spring Morning
Half eager for dawn, half ignorant,
Drunk to smell the flowers, sleepy to smell the warbler,
Yan Zi rang the bell,
Twenty years ago, Xiao Temple fell in love.
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This is a seven-character quatrain to miss my former lover.
At the dawn of a spring day, the sky is hazy and unclear. The author smelled flowers and orioles in his hometown, and his mood was very quiet. Suddenly, a puppy jumped over and bumped into the bell, which reminded him of a memory in the temple twenty years ago.
What was the situation twenty years ago? There is no explanation in the poem, but we know something from a novel written by the poet.
As we all know, the poet once wrote a famous legendary novel Hui Zhen Ji, which tells the love story of Zhang Sheng and Cui Yingying. Cui Yingying is a beautiful, gentle and affectionate woman. Zhang Sheng loved her very much, but in the end, she was abandoned, because her humble background was not conducive to her fame and fortune. In fact, this is an autobiographical novel of the poet. The poem "Spring Dawn" is a copy of this novel, and Zhang Sheng is the poet himself.
After the poet abandoned his original lover, he soon married Wei Cong, a famous lady. It can be seen that he is a heartbreaker. But on the other hand, he is obsessed with his former lover, misses her very much, and feels deeply guilty about his misfortune. "Twenty years ago, Xiao Temple fell in love." In the memory of the past, his mood became uneasy again.
This poem is written in beautiful circles. The first sentence uses the word "half" to describe the hazy scenery at dawn in spring; The second sentence, "I am drunk smelling flowers and sleeping smelling warblers", describes the quiet environment and sets off the author's leisure at this time. The third sentence "The swallow rings the bell"
Make a turning point and suddenly make waves, reminding the poet of his 20-year trip. The turn of this sentence is beautiful, and the ups and downs in the poem are caused by the bell that the dog shakes in the sentence. A short poem with only four sentences can be written so ups and downs, which shows the poet's artistic skill.
Yuan Zhen is very good at writing ancient and modern colorful poems, which are shallow and affectionate and charming. The poem "Spring Dawn" is particularly striking. The History of China Literature compiled by the Academy of Sciences also specifically pointed out: "This poem is a copy and deserves to be highlighted in the history of literature."