Li He was a romantic poet in the mid-Tang Dynasty. He, Li Bai and Li Shangyin were called the Three Lis of the Tang Dynasty. The following is an introduction to Li He's composition. I hope it will be helpful to you. 1
Autumn, 768 AD. On the beautiful Hanjiang plain, Du Fu was sending a distant relative to Sichuan.
This relative’s name is a bit difficult to pronounce, he is called Li Jinsu. How far is the "distant family"? Anyway, Du Fu called Li Jinsu his "twenty-ninth brother", so the specific relationship is unclear. One possibility known so far is that the eighth grandfather of Du Fu's maternal grandfather was Li Jinsu's ancestor.
At this time, Du Fu was in the last two years of his life, very thin and haggard; the relative was still a young man, very simple and sunny.
Du Fu is an emotional person. He was reluctant to leave this super distant relative and wrote a poem to say goodbye:
"Our ship,
is going to be far away from each other.
The geese in the sky also lined up and screamed. "
In the autumn wind, the young man held Du Fu's hand with tears in his eyes: "Cousin, I also like to write poetry. , but when will I be able to write at your level?"
Du Fu patted him on the shoulder and comforted him: "Come on, you can do it. We will talk to each other next time."
The above conversation is my speculation. What is certain is that after this separation, they never met again.
What Du Fu probably didn’t expect was that although Li Jinsu’s poems ended up in obscurity, his son would become a giant of his generation.
In the future, this child will take over the blazing torch from his own hands and illuminate the glorious path of Tang poetry. 2
In 790, the boy was born. He was in poor health, thin and small. His father Li Jinsu loves him very much and hopes that he will be healthy and happy.
"I want to name him with the most auspicious word." Li Jinsu thought. He named his son "Li He" with the Chinese character "Changji", hoping that he would have good luck throughout his life.
Li He’s temperament has been very melancholy since he was a child, he doesn’t like to talk, and his eyes often flash with strange lights.
"Child, what do you plan to do in the future?" the family asked.
"I want to write poetry." Li He said lightly.
“Forget it!” The head of the family was getting big-headed, “It’s hard to find a way out by writing poetry. Those fierce men in your past, such as Wang Wei, Li Bai, and Du Fu, have written all the things that can be written in this world. All the good poems have been written! Look at the "Ten Talents of Dali" who refused to give in and continued to write poems, but they didn't achieve great success. Isn't it fashionable to write prose now?
Li He remained silent. His gaze passed through the clouds and reached the sky.
In the dark, there seemed to be a voice saying to him: "Have you really thought clearly? There is no place for you in the palace of poetry."
Li He Looking around, sure enough, in the glorious temple of Tang poetry, poetry immortals, poetry sages, poetry Buddhas, poetry madmen, poetry demons, poetry heroes, and even poetry prisoners have all taken their places. There is really no room for them.
"There must still be a seat." He said firmly.
"Yes, there is, but...there is only one poetry ghost left."
Li He looked up to the sky and smiled. Let me be this poetry ghost. 3
Slowly, little Li He grew up. His hometown is Changgu, Henan, a mysterious and quiet place. He often rides the donkey given by his father and walks long distances alone.
He will climb the mythical Nvji Mountain and see the ancient temple where the legendary goddess Orchid Hsiang ascended to heaven. He also came to the dilapidated Fuchang Palace, an inaccessible place where dragons and phoenixes haunted.
In this magical place, Xiao Li He solemnly announced that he had determined his writing style.
"Reality? Romance? Martial Arts? Romance?" asked the family.
"No, my main direction of attack is magic." Li He said lightly. The family collapsed again.
In the blink of an eye, I turned eighteen. Li He compiled his poems and prepared to leave his hometown and conquer the outside world. His goal was a great city - Luoyang, the eastern capital.
The family is very worried: "Although you are the grandson of the Tang Dynasty, your family has declined. It is embarrassing to say that you are a rich peasant. Now you have to rely on connections to take exams, and your writing style is so magical. Who can help you? ?"
Li He asked: "Who is the biggest influencer in the literary world now?"
"This... of course is Dean Han Yu."
"Okay, I'll look for him."
"He is a big V and you are just a trumpet. What are you looking for?"
Li He smiled proudly and asked. If a family member faints again: "Push each other!"
Don't misunderstand, the so-called "mutual promotion" does not mean pushing each other down, but recommending each other.
For example, two WeChat official accounts send messages saying good things about each other, and happily increase their followers together. This is called mutual promotion.
Xiao Li He wants to go to Han Yu to promote each other, but it is difficult to reach the sky - no matter in the literary world or the martial arts world, there is an unwritten rule: big players should not engage in mutual promotion with small players, for fear of suffering losses and losing. pink.
My main job is to interpret Jin Yong's novels. For example, in Jin Yong's "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", Huang Rong enthusiastically invites her father, Huang Yaoshi, to engage in mutual promotion with the Seven Eccentrics of Jiangnan: "Dad, I will give you Introduce a few friends. This is the famous Six Heroes of Jiangnan, Brother Jing’s master."
The big-name Huang Yaoshi, who has hundreds of thousands of fans, rudely refused. He "rolled his eyes" and said directly: "I don't see outsiders."
Han Yu’s status in the literary world is equivalent to that of Huang Yaoshi in the martial arts world. At that time, the most powerful original literary account in the literary world was called "Guwen Movement". It was a super account with millions of fans, and its operator was Han Yu. As we have introduced before, Han Yu also writes soft articles for people, because he is very smart and the price is exorbitantly expensive. He writes an epitaph for someone and charges as much as "a horse, a saddle, a bit and a white jade belt." His income from his articles is more than his official salary.
If Xiao Li He wants to impress the great writer Han Yu, he has only one way: to come up with the most powerful poem and shock Dean Han.
According to convention, the first song in the book is particularly important. If you want to quickly attract the attention of the boss within a period of time, you must put the most exciting masterpiece at the beginning of the book. Li He thought for a long time and finally made a decision: "Let's play "Yanmen Prefect's Journey" as the first song." Four
Dean Han Yu is very busy.
Day in and day out, in addition to writing, scientific research, and taking care of students, I also have to deal with school chores, acceptance checks from the education department, and various admirers and female fans...
On this day , Han Yu had just sent away a fan and was very tired and "extremely sleepy". His graduate student came in with a stack of materials.
"I said not to read documents at night..." Han Yu was a little impatient.
“It’s not a document, it’s a contribution from a young man from Henan.” said the graduate student.
"Then...okay."
Han Yu attaches great importance to contributions from young people. He casually unbuttoned his belt and sat cross-legged on the sofa to read. The first song is "Yanmen Taishou's Journey".
After reading the first four lines, Dean Han jumped up excitedly, his pants falling around his ankles. What he read was:
Dark clouds are pressing down on the city, threatening to destroy it,
The light of armor opens towards the golden scales of the sun.
The sound of the trumpet fills the autumn sky,
It is stuffed with swallow fat and turns purple at night.
Of course Han Yu knew his stuff - in the Tang Dynasty, countless powerful people wrote about Yuefu and frontier fortresses, and there were countless famous articles, but there had never been such a poignant and beautiful scene.
He continued reading until the end:
Half a red flag came to Yishui,
The heavy frost could not make the sound of the cold drum.
Report your favor on the golden stage,
I support the Jade Dragon to die for you.
Han Yu shouted excitedly: "Get this person back to me quickly!"
"Yes, I will call the female fan back right now..." the graduate student said .
"How big of a fan are you! It's not a female fan, it's this Li He! Li He!"
Soon, big V Han Yu met the trumpet Li He. He held the 18-year-old young man's hand tightly and said only a few words: "Recommend! Let's recommend each other!" Five
Han Yu meant what he said and recommended on many occasions. Li He's poems gave him a platform. With his help, Li He's popularity greatly increased and his fans began to increase rapidly.
He should have struck while the iron was hot and seized the opportunity to take the Jinshi examination. In the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination was not anonymous. Whether a candidate could pass the examination had a lot to do with his reputation. Li He was already quite famous at that time, and with Han Yu's appreciation, he had a good chance of getting admitted.
However, an unexpected incident disrupted Li He's plan - bad news suddenly came from his hometown. His father died of illness and he had to return to his hometown to observe mourning for three years.
For the first time, fate played tricks on him. He had to watch helplessly as his three good friends Wang Canyuan, Yang Jingzhi, and Quan Zhu were all admitted to Jinshi, and he could only wait in his hometown.
Han Yu did not forget this young man, and wrote a letter to Li He, enthusiastically encouraging him to start over.
After waiting for more than a thousand days and nights, Li He's watchdog period expired and he left the world again. After meeting again, Han Yu was shocked: Why is your hair turning white?
It turns out that Li He was born with premature aging and turned gray before he was 20 years old. Time is particularly precious to him. "This time, I can't fail no matter what."
The first round was the Henan Prefectural Examination. Li He did very well and passed easily. He was qualified as a "Rural Tribute Scholar" and got a ticket to Chang'an. .
The next stop is the imperial capital. He was full of ambition: "You have a big eye and an ambitious heart. Don't forget that the songwriter's surname is Li."
He did not notice that behind the scenes, many competitors were looking at him with jealousy and wanted to get rid of him. . It was difficult for these people to beat Li He in terms of literary talent, so they resorted to the most powerful trick - filing a complaint.
After repeated digging and multiple investigations, these people finally discovered a loophole in Li He.
Please hold your breath and listen to the crime they found for Li He:
"Li He's father's name is 'Jinsu', which is homophonic to 'Jinshi'. Li He came to take the imperial examination, which is a great insult to his father and a serious act of unfilial piety!"
Did you almost faint after hearing this? This is also true?
Answer Yes: Yes. This one crime was enough to sentence Li He's future to death. In our ancient times, a lot of things were pretty fucked up. For example, Bai Juyi's grandfather's name is "锽", which is similar to the character "Hong", so he cannot take the "Erudition and Hongci" exam. This is a rather hypocritical side of our traditional culture.
Han Yu became angry when he saw Li He being accused. He wanted to vindicate Li He. This emotional writer wrote a sharp and heroic essay called "Taboo".
In the article, he asked the famous question:
"If the father's name is Jin Su, the son cannot be promoted to Jinshi; if the father's name is 'Ren', the son cannot be a human being?" "
Meaning: "If the father's name is 'Jinsu', the son cannot be admitted as a Jinshi; if the father's name is 'Ren', can the son not be a human being?"
This is a great article, shining with the light of those eight words: "Emancipate the mind and seek truth from facts." Every time I read it, I am moved by Han Yu's personality.
As a side note, I personally don’t like Han Yu’s poems very much, but he is indeed a great person. In the literary world, many poets of his generation, such as Li He, Zhang Ji, Jia Dao, Meng Jiao, Li Ao, and Huangfu Shi, received his sincere help. He is a true mentor.
Unfortunately, Han Yu’s support could not save Li He. The so-called "literature can change customs" is often used to praise literary figures, but sometimes it is really just a good wish.
20-year-old Li He returned to his hometown sadly. He did not keep a diary, so we can only read his later mood from his poems:
There was a man in Chang'an,
Twenty hearts are dead.
Li He also described his panic, "Etiquette is lost, and he is as haggard as a dog." Finally, he shouted: "When will the eye of heaven open, the ancient sword will roar!"
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In the days that followed, he went out several times to pursue his future, but failed. When he came back, he only saw his family declining day by day. My elder sister is married and my younger brother is traveling far away to make a living. Only he and his old mother depend on each other at home.
He once found a position: "Fenglilang", with a grade from ninth grade, equivalent to deputy section chief, and could not be lower. But even this position cannot be held because of poor health.
At the age of 26, Li He made the last effort in his life - I couldn't take the exam, but I could still join the army and make contributions.
The Tang Dynasty at that time was no longer the idyllic Tang Dynasty where Wang Wei and Meng Haoran lived. Warlords rebelled all day long. Li He came to Luzhou and wanted to join the counter-rebellion army and get a job. There was a man named Zhang Che, Han Yu's niece-in-law, and Li He planned to defect to him.
Zhang Che was a good friend. He entertained Li He with fine wine and asked him to help him handle official documents. They "recited poems all night long and the East was white", preparing to put down the rebellion together and serve the country.
The happy days did not last long. The Tang Dynasty was in decline, and rebellions became more common. Even the prime ministers of the main war faction were assassinated in the streets. Li He's unit was isolated and helpless, and its personnel were scattered. Li He had no choice but to return to his hometown. 6
Li He still wanted to fight, but there was no time.
He kept coughing, had a high fever, and began to hallucinate. The poet is not willing to die, hoping that the sky will open his eyes and keep the fleeting time:
Flying light, flying light,
Persuading you a glass of wine.
I don’t know how high the blue sky is and how thick the yellow earth is.
I can only see the cold moon and warm sun, which make people live longer.
But he knew instinctively that he didn’t have long to live. In his poems, ghost lanterns, autumn graves, hateful blood, decaying orchids, rotten grass, cold candles, cold toads, paper money appear frequently... They are extremely poignant, but also make people feel hairy. Each poem seems to be for himself. of memorial.
Just like the poem "Su Xiaoxiao Tomb" in which he misses the famous prostitute in Qiantang:
The orchid dew,
Like crying eyes.
Nothing is concentric,
Fireworks cannot be cut.
Seeing that his body could no longer hold on any longer, Li He compiled his poem manuscript and solemnly handed it over to a friend named Shen Ziming, entrusting him to pass it on:
My poem, Yin Feng It is full of ghosts, has a unique charm, and its shortcomings are also obvious.
However, I had Li Du in front of me, and I was surrounded by countless fierce men such as Han Yu, Bai Juyi, Yuan Zhen, Jia Dao, Meng Jiao, Du Mu, etc. at the same time, and I carved a ground-breaking path.
Whether you call it horror poetry, fantasy poetry, underworld poetry, or fairy and ghost poetry, anyway, they are unique and beautiful poems in China.
By the way, this guy named Shen Ziming was a bit unreliable, so I forgot about it later. It wasn't until fifteen years after Li He's death that this guy got drunk and went through the box, only to find that the manuscript of Li He's poems buried underneath was probably moldy.
Shen Ziming was probably a little ashamed: Brother, I’m sorry for you. I will publish a collection of poems for you and find the most powerful person in the literary world today to write a preface for you.
At that time, Han Yu, the older generation of literary giants, had passed away, and the new generation of powerful people he hired to write the preface was called Du Mu. That's right, he's the one who "stopped and sat at Aifenglinwan".
Li He’s death is full of legend. Later, the great poet Li Shangyin recorded such an incident:
When 27-year-old Li He was seriously ill, suddenly there was a man in red clothes, riding a red dragon, holding a hand full of ancient inscriptions. A letter from Zhuan Wen came to him and said: "The Emperor of Heaven built a white jade tower and asked you to write an article and praise it. Come with me. Life there is very good and not bitter at all."
Li He Thinking of my mother, I kept crying, but it was too late. Witnesses saw smoke rising and heard the sound of wheels and music. Li He died.
I don’t know whether Li He went to the White Jade Tower that day.
But the recorder Li Shangyin believed it deeply and solemnly stated: This is what Sister Li He said personally. She is very honest and will not lie.
Really.