Drinking Alone under the Moon (Part 1)
Explanation of the Problem
"Drinking Alone under the Moon" is one of four poems. "Wine" is mostly attributed to Li Bai when he was in Chang'an. The poem expresses the pain and loneliness of political frustration, but it still retains its bold and open-minded attitude.
Original text
A pot of wine among the flowers, drinking alone without any blind date.
Raise your glass to the bright moon, and look at each other as three people.
The moon does not know how to drink, but its shadow follows me.
For now, the moon will be shadowed, and we must have fun until spring.
My singing moon lingers, my dancing shadows are scattered.
They make love together when they are awake, but they separate when they are drunk.
We will travel together forever, and we will meet each other in Miao Yunhan.
Li Bai’s five-character ancient poems have a wide range of themes and colorful styles. Earlier we introduced two poems, "Saurus Love" and "Changgan Xing", which he wrote after learning Yuefu folk songs. The song "Drinking Alone under the Moon" is a full display of Li Bai's elegant and romantic poetic style as well as his personal spiritual world. The whole poem consists of 1 to 14 lines, the first eight lines have flat tone rhyme, and the last six lines have oblique tone rhyme. As far as the genre of five-character ancient poetry is concerned, "Drinking Alone Under the Moon" is not very long, but it contains the pursuit and yearning of a lonely and lonely soul. The only character appearing in this poem is Li Bai himself, but through the monologue, he stirs up layers of emotional waves in the depths of the soul. It is both ups and downs and willful and natural. It has always been considered the most important poem of Li Bai. A masterpiece of passion.
Wine and the moon were Li Bai’s most loyal companions who never left him for even a moment in his life. No matter where he went or where he was, he would always leave behind touching works about wine and the bright moon. For example, "Lanling has fine wine and tulips, and jade bowls hold amber light" ("Gu Zhong Zuo"); such as "Let's borrow the moonlight in Dongting on credit, and buy wine on the boat beside the white clouds" ("Pai Clan Uncle Xingbu Shilang Ye and Zhongshu Jia" "Five Poems on a Tour of Dongting"); such as "When will the moon come in the blue sky? I will stop drinking and ask now", "I only hope that when I sing and drink, the moonlight will always shine in the golden bottle" ("Asking the Wine to the Moon") ; Such as "If you are proud of life, you must have all the fun, and don't let the golden bottle stand empty against the moon" ("Jinjinjiu"). Through these popular poems, Li Bai created a unique realm that is both romantic and a little sad. The song "Drinking Alone under the Moon" is the one that takes this wine-moon complex to its extreme.
At the beginning of the poem, our poet is in a very pleasant environment under the moonlight among flowers, "a pot of wine among flowers", a pot of wine among flowers, drinking happily , get drunk and then rest. But unexpectedly, these flowers and this fine wine made Li Bai feel unhappy. What was the reason? It's because "there is no blind date when drinking alone"! Li Bai has a famous saying that can be used as a footnote to this poem, "When two people drink together, the mountain flowers bloom, one cup after another" ("Drinking with a Hidden Man in the Mountains"). With the company of like-minded "youthful people", we can go to the drunken land among the flowers and share the endless fun of drinking. But now I have no one to keep me company and I have to drink alone. But he had an idea and created a new realm for himself: "Toast a glass to the bright moon, and look at the shadow to become three people"! From the lonely "no blind date" to the chatting and laughing "three people", Li Bai completed it in one move and one shot. Look at him, when he raises his glass, the bright moon is with him, and when he lowers his head, his figure is with him. How natural and unrestrained, how comfortable, and so vividly like an "exiled immortal" that is hard to find in the world. How can others imitate him? The moon in the sky is Li Bai's eternal confidant in the spiritual world, and is also a frequent visitor in Li Bai's poems. He once recalled his first understanding of the moon when he was a child: "I didn't know the moon when I was young, and I called it a white jade plate" ("Gu Lang Yue Xing"); when he was away from home, the moonlight evoked his nostalgia as a wanderer: "The moonlight shines brightly in front of the bed, and I doubt it." It's frost on the ground. I look up at the bright moon and look down at my hometown" ("Thoughts on a Quiet Night"); in the autumn moon, he once expressed endless lovesickness: "Looking at the exquisite autumn moon under the crystal curtain" ("Resentment on the Jade Steps"); Under the moonlight, he can become close friends with the ancients: "I have been meditating under the moon for a long time and have not returned, and my eyes have been so close to each other since ancient times" ("Yin under the Moon on the West Tower of Jinling City"). So when we read "Toast a glass to the bright moon, and look at the shadow to form three people", we are not surprised or puzzled at all. Instead, we believe that this is the real Li Bai, the pure and romantic person who lives in his own spiritual world. Li Bai, the "immortal of poetry" who doesn't eat fireworks from the world! Only he could do such an incredible move, and only he could write such elegant and graceful poems.
"The moon doesn't know how to drink, and its shadow only follows me. I will accompany the moon for a while, and have fun until spring." Although Li Bai invited the moon to accompany his figure, it is a pity that the moon is far away in the horizon. , it can only hang in the high sky and cannot drink wine with Li Bai; although the shadow is close at hand, it will only follow silently and cannot have real communication. At this moment, in this situation, the poet is still lonely in his heart. Perhaps there is a considerable gap in the ideological realm between geniuses and ordinary people, and their pursuit and exploration are often misunderstood.
For example, because Li Bai's ideal of making contributions could not be realized, he refused to be a royal scholar and paved the way for the drunken life, dreams, death, singing and dancing of Emperor Ming of Tang Dynasty and Concubine Yang, so he did not enjoy the glory and wealth of the capital, and did not want the fine clothes and fine food. If you want to wander around the rivers and lakes, but also say that you "want to cross the Yellow River, which is blocked by ice, and you will climb the Taihang Mountains covered with snow" ("Traveling is Difficult"), isn't this asking for trouble and trouble? Perhaps it was this lack of knowledge in practice that the world regarded as the reason why he eventually ended up as a "Changliu Yelang". The great poet Du Fu, who had a close acquaintance with Li Bai, wrote poems many times to express his admiration and concern for Li Bai: "The capital is full of crowns, but this man is alone and haggard" ("Dream of Li Bai, Two Poems"). However, even if Li Bai fell into the situation of "alone and haggard", he would never regret or bow to the world. One of his poems "Sitting Alone on Jingting Mountain" wrote: "All the birds are flying high, and I am alone." The clouds are alone. I never tire of looking at each other, only Jingting Mountain. "Whether it is a living bird or an inanimate cloud, as long as it can move, it will move away from Li Bai without hesitation. The only one left is motionless. Even so, Li Bai could still sit in the mountains with peace of mind, cultivate his moral character, enjoy himself, and refused to join the world. Therefore, when Li Bai failed to persuade the moon to drink wine and failed to communicate with the figure, he then thought about it. Being able to drink wine and compose poems under the moon among the flowers, away from the distractions of the world, wasn't it the pleasure that he dreamed of when he was drunk in Chang'an? , then on this beautiful spring night, together with the bright moon in the sky and the figures on the ground, have fun in time and never stop getting drunk. But the word "temporary" shows that Li Bai also clearly knows that this kind of relief is only temporary. However, perhaps it is precisely because of its short duration that it is even more precious and cannot be let go easily.
"My songs wander around the moon, and my dancing shadows are scattered. We make love together when we are awake, and we are separated when we are drunk. We will travel together forever, and we will see each other again." The following poems have changed from flat tones to oblique tones. , and the mood became more intense. At this time, Li Bai was already half drunk and was gradually getting better. He was singing and dancing, and he was so naive. He looked up with drunken eyes. The moon in the sky seemed to be dancing to the rhythm of his singing. He looked down drunkenly. It seemed that the figure on the ground was swaying as he danced. All of this seemed to show an inexplicable desolation and loneliness, and he felt that it was not easy to have them as companions. The word "sexual intercourse" showed that the poet was satisfied with this. Indeed, wine made Li Bai forget the troubles of the world. , the bright moon brought spiritual comfort to Li Bai. In this unaccompanied "coitus", the poet finally became intoxicated, and at the last moment before becoming intoxicated, Li Bai also realized that as soon as he was drunk, the moon and the figures would all return to their original forms. , this temporary combination centered on him will no longer exist. However, he was not discouraged at all, because his relationship with the moon and the figure was long-term and stable. From this we can know that this is not Li Bai's first time drinking alone under the moon, nor will it be the last, because the life path Li Bai chose under the circumstances at that time was destined to be accompanied by loneliness and downfall. , so he has no one to rely on except himself. This is probably the reason why he admired the most solitary heroes like Lu Zhonglian of Yibu Emperor Qin in his life. Therefore, he said, "I have been brooding under the moon for a long time and will not return, and my eyes have been so close to each other since ancient times." Therefore, he can only introduce "heartless" things like the moon in the sky and the figures on the ground to be his lifelong confidants. This is really the victory of heartlessness at this time. Feeling in love. Making love with ruthless things naturally shows the harshness of the world and the warmth of human relations at that time. It can be imagined that when Li Bai was in Chang'an, waiting for imperial edicts, many people praised him and boasted about him. However, when he left the capital and was imprisoned, he suffered from the harshness of the world. However, through this drinking and monologue among flowers and under the moon, people can clearly feel that Li Bai still has gone through setbacks and never changed his original intention. As a representative poet of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Li Bai is highly praised by later generations precisely because of the innate broad-mindedness and superb romance shown in his poems. Emperor Qianlong also affirmed "Drinking Alone under the Moon" from this perspective, "The wonders of the ages can be seen in front of the eyes. Although the situation at that time was depressing, it was not as broad-minded as it was."
"Under the Moon" "Drinking Alone" is famous for its emotional ups and downs and straightforward innocence. Throughout the whole poem, the emotional waves can be clearly divided into several levels of ups and downs. The first sentence starts with "Yang", "a pot of wine among the flowers", and the second sentence follows closely Then suppress, "Drinking alone without a blind date." But the next two sentences: "Toast your glass to the bright moon, and look at each other to form three people." This kind of neglect and loneliness without a blind date is swept away. The situation that appears at the end of the first part of the poem is a scene that changes from deserted to lively after ups and downs and hard work. This first emotional ups and downs can be seen as the beginning of the prologue, the arrangement of the "under the moon" scene and the appearance of "characters" (including the virtual moon and figures). Although there was a little trouble, it still followed the trajectory envisioned by the poet relatively satisfactorily.
The second part of the poem also has four sentences. The poet also experienced another emotional cycle from sadness to joy. From lamenting the unsatisfactoriness of the two invited drinking companions, the moon and the figure, to the selfless state of completely disregarding and enjoying themselves.
The second ups and downs of the poem are the formal unfolding of the plot and the implementation of "drinking alone". At this stage, the poet relies on his enthusiastic but lonely state of mind to persistently pursue a kind of perfection that is impossible, because in In a lonely situation, there are only the moon that "doesn't know how to drink" and the shadow that "takes you alone". It can no longer be perfect, but it is at least an ideal state, although the sentence "accompanying the moon for a while" is more or less "accompanying". It reveals the helpless regret in the author's heart, but "having fun in spring" shows that the poet has adjusted his mentality, thus realizing the self-satisfied "drinking alone" that no longer needs the help of any external factors.
The third wave of poetry is the climax and sublimation of drinking alone. At this stage, the poet has been completely intoxicated by the realm of "drinking alone under the moon" created by himself, with chaotic dance steps and wandering. The moonlight seemed to be drunk and awake, everything and I were one. After the poet had had fun, he was about to fall asleep in the land of wine under the moonlight among the flowers. But at the last moment of his consciousness, he did not forget to meet him again. The two moons and figures who achieved "drinking alone" with him made a long-term agreement. "We will never be together without love, and we will meet again in Yunhan". Only after we have a preliminary understanding of Li Bai's life experience and pursuit can we truly understand this kind of persistent feeling.
The second success of this poem is the simplicity and innocence of the whole poem, without any artificiality. In this regard, Shen Deqian commented like this: "It comes out of the mouth, it is pure nature. This kind of poetry is not easy for people to learn" ("Tang Poetry"). Indeed, after Li Bai became famous, many literati wanted to follow in his footsteps, but in the end they always gave up halfway. Therefore, for thousands of years, people can only express sincere admiration for Li Bai's artistic realm of "hibiscus emerges from clear water, and the natural carvings are removed".