Speaking of poetry, we will immediately think of the glorious ancient poetry of our country. The Book of Songs and Songs of Chu in the pre-Qin period, the Yuefu poems in the Han Dynasty, Sancao and Tao Yuanming in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, as well as the more brilliant Tang poetry and the meaningful Song poetry. Sometimes we also think about whether it was very simple and easy for the ancients to write poetry!
Cao Zhi could write the famous "Seven-step Poetry" in just seven steps. Li Bai could write an eternal masterpiece for Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty after waking up drunk. Lu You could write tens of thousands of poems in his life. Emperor Qianlong wrote nearly 50,000 poems in his lifetime. From these examples, it seems that it was very easy for the ancients to write poetry, and they could write poetry casually.
However, the actual situation is not like this. Writing poetry for the ancients is not as simple as we imagine, and it is not as simple as us posting on WeChat Moments. When the ancients wrote poetry, they also had to think carefully and deeply consider the choice of words and sentences.
Among the 50,000 ancient poems written by Emperor Qianlong, only a few have truly been handed down. Mr. Qianlong is not writing poetry, but posting it on WeChat Moments. What he writes can only be called jingle, not poetry. In ancient society for thousands of years, Cao Zhi was the only one who could write a poem in seven steps. Even the poem in seven steps has different versions, so it is debatable whether there is a poem in seven steps. Cao Zhi's "Seven-step Poetry" is not recorded in official history, but is recorded in the novel "Shishuoxinyu".
How many Li Bais were there in ancient China? For five thousand years, China has been a "poetry fairy". Li Bai's talent was absolutely second to none in ancient times. He lived for sixty-one years and ultimately left more than a thousand poems. Li Bai also did not really achieve "taking things at his fingertips".
"Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty" contains the poems of more than 2,200 poets during the three hundred years of the Tang Dynasty, with a total catalog of more than 48,900 poems. On average, there are twenty-two poems per person, and on average, each poet will only write one poem every year, which is more than ten years. If we add in the poems that have not been included, there are 100,000 Tang poems per year, and it will ultimately take several years to write one. Judging from this ratio, the output of Tang poetry is very low, which means that writing poetry is not that simple.
The talent of the poet saint Du Fu is definitely no less than that of Li Bai. Du Fu left more than 1,500 poems in his life. The output of Li Bai and Du Fu was similar. Li Bai thought that he wrote poetry very quickly, much faster than Du Fu, but the output of the two was about the same. Du Fu, the poet sage, wrote poems relatively slowly and had to carefully consider every word and sentence. Li Bai once joked like this: I met Du Fu on the top of a mountain, wearing a hat on my head, and the sun was shining brightly. I'd like to ask, don't be too thin. I always suffer from writing poems in the past. Du Fu was indeed very serious about writing poems, and he would think over every sentence and word over and over again.
There is an allusion to "thinking" about whether writing poetry is easy. Jia Dao repeatedly "considered" whether "the bird stayed on the tree beside the pond, and the monk knocked on the door under the moon" or "the bird stayed on the tree beside the pond, and the monk pushed on the door under the moon". Han Yu was also very positive about Jia Dao's behavior. It can be seen that poets at that time would think over and over again when writing poems instead of just picking them up at random.
In addition to the allusion of "examination", Jia Dao also has a good line of "two sentences are obtained in three years, and one chant brings tears". From here we can also see Jia Dao’s attitude towards writing poetry.
When Wang Anshi created "Boating at Guazhou", he also went through repeated "deliberation". The "green" in "The spring breeze turns green on the south bank of the river" was revised more than ten times before it was finally settled on the word "green". Historical title:
Wang Jinggong's quatrain goes: "Between Jingkou and Guazhou, Zhongshan is only separated by several mountains. The spring breeze is green again on the south bank of the river. When will the bright moon shine back?" Zhongshi Wu's family hid his grass. It goes "Arrived to the south bank of the Yangtze River again". Circle the word "to" and note "bad" and change it to "pass". Circle it again and change it to "enter". Turn it around and change it to "man". If there are ten words like this, it will be designated as "green".
Wang Anshi was also a famous talented man in ancient times. He was so cautious when writing poems, which can also reflect to a certain extent that the ancients did not just write poems "at the drop of a hat."
The ancients attached great importance to writing and the quality of their works. Ancient literati looked down upon each other, and if they wrote poorly, they would be ridiculed by other literati. Therefore, many poets also consider their words and sentences to try to write masterpieces that will last through the ages. Sometimes, some poets are famous not for the quantity of their poems, but for the quality of their poems.
Zhang Ruoxu only left two poems in "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty", but they have an absolute status in the history of Tang poetry. Zhang Ruoxu's "Moonlight Night on the Spring River" is said to be "a single piece that surpasses the entire Tang Dynasty". A poem established its position in Tang poetry.
Wang Zhihuan is also a famous poet. However, there are only six ancient poems in the "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty", and one of them, "Climbing the Stork Tower", achieved Wang Zhihuan's status.
Cui Hao has forty-two ancient poems in "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty", but we seem to only be able to remember "Yellow Crane Tower".
The ancients had a very strict attitude towards poetry, and they did not just post it on Moments. Many poems are the result of repeated "refinement".