The flavors of life in ancient poems - "Three Ancient Poems"
Ancient literati liked to use poems to record their lives, so the poems contain the ups and downs of their lives. In fact, poetry is more than just a tool for recording life? Sometimes, it is a spiritual "life-saving straw" for literati when they are frustrated in their career. Sometimes, it is a "stumbling block" for literati's career.
1. When Meng Haoran met Tang Xuanzong
When the poet Meng Haoran met Emperor Tang Xuanzong, what kind of reaction would he have? Can he win the favor of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, find an official position for himself, and start an official career from then on?
"Tang Zhayan", a collection of classical Chinese anecdotes in the late Tang Dynasty, once recorded the interesting story of Meng Haoran meeting Tang Xuanzong: Wang Wei lived in the palace waiting for Tang Xuanzong to pass the edict. In the morning, Tang Xuanzong summoned him Wang Wei discussed reciting poems and writing poems. One day, Tang Xuanzong came to Wang Wei's residence. Meng Haoran, who was visiting Wang Wei at that time, was so frightened that he hid under the bed when he heard that the emperor was coming. Wang Wei did not dare to conceal the matter, so he reported the truth to Tang Xuanzong. Tang Xuanzong said happily: "I have heard of this person." So he summoned Meng Haoran and asked him: "What poems did you write? Can you read one to me?" Meng Haoran recited his own poem "Returning to Nanshan at the End of the Year" ”, when he recited the poem “If you are not talented, you will abandon me, but if you are sick, your old friends will be sparse.” Tang Xuanzong interrupted him and asked angrily: “I never abandoned you because you didn’t seek to make progress and didn’t ask me for help.” Why did you slander me when you asked for an official position?" So Tang Xuanzong sent Meng Haoran back to Nanshan, and Meng Haoran never served as an official for the rest of his life.
This story is not recorded in the "New Book of Tang", so some people think that it is just a legend and may not have actually happened. There are many interesting comments from later generations about this story.
Some people say that Meng Haoran, a commoner, was able to enter the palace and said things that made him angry in front of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. In the end, he was only released to Nanshan without being punished. This shows how tolerant and benevolent the emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was. ah!
Some people say that Wang Wei privately invited Meng Haoran to the palace. When Tang Xuanzong saw Meng Haoran, he not only did not punish him, but also invited him to recite poems. This was a rare and elegant event.
Some people say that if Wang Wei sincerely recommended Meng Haoran to be an official, he should strongly recommend Meng Haoran's merits to reduce Tang Xuanzong's anger. The reason why Wang Wei didn't do this was because he was worried that Meng Haoran's talent would surpass his own.
We have no way of knowing what happened in history, but Meng Haoran did not become an official in his life. After being frustrated in his career, Meng Haoran turned to the poetic nature, purified his soul in the embrace of nature, and created many pastoral poems with tranquil artistic conception, winning a world for himself in the world of poetry.
2. Poets whose destiny is influenced by poetry
Since ancient times, our country has attached great importance to scholarly family status and heirlooms of poems and books. Reading is the only way for most people to enter official careers and display their talents. However, it is a misunderstanding to think that as long as a person is good at reading and has extraordinary talent in poetry and articles, he will be successful in officialdom.
Li Bai is not willing to be a royal scholar
Li Bai is known as the "Immortal of Poetry". The so-called "Li Bai's Hundred Poems on Drinking Wine" is indeed true. Li Bai's good poems are all in Wild and bold imagination in a drunken state. This kind of drunk poetry made Li Bai successful, but also banished Li Bai, making Li Bai unable to have an official career. A poet who loves to drink and gets drunk every day may be a good poet, but it will be difficult for him to become a prime minister.
In the first year of Tianbao, on the recommendation of Princess Yuzhen and He Zhizhang, Tang Xuanzong saw Li Bai's poems. He appreciated Li Bai's talent very much and summoned Li Bai to the palace. Xuanzong personally welcomed him and asked Li Bai about some contemporary affairs. He valued him very much and finally let Li Bai serve in the Hanlin Academy. Li Bai, who felt he was talented in managing the world, did not get the power he imagined. He became a decoration in the palace, writing poems and essays to the emperor and making him happy. Whenever Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty had an entertainment banquet, he would ask Li Bai to compose poems. He just wanted to use Li Bai's poems to add to the entertainment and decorate the flowers of the Tang Dynasty. Li Bai, who was favored by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, aroused strong jealousy among his colleagues.
In 743, Li Bai was 42 years old. In the late spring of that year, the peonies were in full bloom. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Concubine Yang watched the peonies with great interest. Li Bai was ordered to create the "Qingping Diao" that has been passed down through the ages, and he praised Concubine Yang's beauty. Although the poems he wrote were very successful, he was bored by the life of a royal literati, and he began to drink and have fun with He Zhizhang and others. Once, Li Bai drafted an edict when he was drunk, and asked Gao Lishi, the eunuch favored by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, to take off his boots, which aroused Gao Lishi's dissatisfaction. Later, Gao Lishi and the people in the palace spoke ill of Li Bai in front of Emperor Xuanzong, and Emperor Xuanzong was confused. , gradually alienated Li Bai. Some people also say that Li Bai leaked palace secrets after drinking, which caused dissatisfaction with Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. Later, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty expelled Li Bai from Chang'an.
Wang Bo, a talented man who was convicted of literary crimes
Wang Bo is one of the "Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty". His representative work "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng" has the following words: "Three rivers and five lakes, controlling the barbarians" It has the momentum of "the thorns lead Ouyue", and also has the beauty of "the setting clouds and the solitary swans fly together, the autumn water lasts for a long time and the sky is the same color". It is a well-known masterpiece through the ages. This is a magnificent article written by Wang Bo when he was 25 years old. It can be said that he is extremely talented and illuminated the literary world of the early Tang Dynasty.
For Wang Bo, he cannot even be described as becoming famous at a young age, because he was called a "child prodigy" when he was very young.
When he was 14 years old, Wang Bo was recommended and given an official position; when he was 16 years old, Wang Bo was called by a prince to write articles and was highly regarded. However, the smooth sailing in life made Wang Bo despise the darkness of officialdom. When he was 18 years old, due to the popularity of cockfighting in the country, while watching the prince's cockfight, he wrote an article "Criticizing the King of England's Chicken" to "denounce the King of England's Chicken". This made Tang Gaozong furious, thinking that not only did he not persuade He admonished the prince to fight cocks, but instead wrote articles to support him, so he was ordered to be expelled from the palace.
After leaving the palace, Wang Bo traveled to Sichuan. He wandered around the mountains and rivers, made greater progress in poetry, and created many well-known masterpieces. Later, he was appointed as an official again, but his arrogant character did not change. In addition, because of his high talent, he attracted jealousy and had a tense relationship with his colleagues. Later, because he killed a criminal official slave, Wang Bo was caught and almost died, and his father was demoted as a result. After that, Wang Bo became discouraged, gave up his official career, and returned home to write. On his way to visit his father at the age of 27, he unfortunately drowned and died. The fate of a generation of talented people has made future generations lament.
3. Su Shi dared to “false” the imperial examination?
When he was 20 years old, Su Shi and his younger brother Su Che went to Beijing to take the imperial examination. They passed the Jinshi examination together and became famous ever since. Su Shi wrote an article in the examination room called "On the Perfection of Honesty in Punishments and Rewards." I heard that there are two interesting stories behind this article.
At that time, the examiner of the imperial examination was Ouyang Xiu, a leading figure in the literary world. When he saw Su Shi's examination article "On the Perfection of Honesty in Punishments and Rewards", he loved it deeply. However, since the examination papers are anonymous, Ouyang Xiu does not know who the author of this article is. He guessed: Such good writing style probably came from my disciple Zeng Gong? In order to avoid suspicion, he did not dare to give his apprentice the first place, so he ranked second, and the first place was given to a Fujian candidate named Zhang Heng. After the results were announced, the students who passed the exam came to thank the examiner. Ouyang Xiu discovered that the second place was not Zeng Gong, but a Sichuan candidate named Su Shi. Ouyang Xiu praised his good friend Mei Yaochen: "I'm sweating now. Come on, come on! I'll get out of the way and let him out." Because of Ouyang Xiu's misunderstanding, Su Shi's name quickly spread throughout the world, and everyone was I admire this great talent who is "full of poetry and calligraphy", and the idiom "to get ahead" was born because of Ouyang Xiu's words.
When Ouyang Xiu met Su Shi, he humbly asked him for an allusion from "The Theory of Loyalty in Punishments and Rewards". This allusion says that in the face of the same criminal, Gao Tao, who strictly enforced the law, sentenced him to death three times, while Yao, who was cautious and generous, changed the sentence and pardoned him three times. Ouyang Xiu had never heard of this allusion, and he was afraid that if he deducted points rashly, he would appear ignorant, so he was merciful. When he asked about the source of Su Shi's allusion, Su Shi smiled and said, "I take it for granted," meaning that he made it up.
In fact, although this is a "made-up" allusion, it is not completely unfounded. Su Shi was very flexible in reading and was good at drawing inferences and drawing inferences. When reading "Three Kingdoms·Biography of Kong Rong", he thought that when Cao Cao gave the wife of Yuan Shao's son Yuan Xi to Cao Pi, Kong Rong said to Cao Cao: "When King Wu conquered Zhou, King Wu of Zhou also gave King Zhou's beloved concubine Daji Give it to Duke Zhou." Cao Cao, who was well-read in poetry and literature, had never heard of this allusion, so he asked Kong Rong about the origin of the allusion. Kong Rong said: "Based on what happened today, I think King Wu of Zhou would do the same." It turned out that this allusion was also made up by Kong Rong. What Su Shi meant was that Song Renzong, who was prudent and generous, would pardon criminals and let them improve their self-discipline; if it were placed in the period of Emperor Yao, Yao would have done the same thing, because they were all equally tolerant and virtuous wise kings.
Su Shi was good at thinking when he was studying and could learn and apply it in conjunction with history. His reputation as a great writer was not for nothing!