Translation:
The flute played in the sky is played by oneself. This kind of fun is really enjoyed. A good poem should be close to the characters and write true feelings.
Zhang Wentao was born in Guantao County, Shandong Province (now Guantao Town, guanxian City, Shandong Province). He was born in Xiaogan Township, Macheng County, Huguang Province (now Macheng, Hubei Province) on May 27, 2009, and traveled with his father to Zhou Jun, Jingzhou, Huangzhou and Hanyang since childhood. In the forty-third year of Qianlong (1778), his father was promoted to Yunnan satrap and asked Tao to stay in Hanyang to reunite with his mother and family. Soon after, my father was implicated in Jingmen's "lost contact" case and left his job. His property was exhausted and his house was confiscated by rich officials. The whole family is in trouble and often runs loans. "It hasn't gone too far in a few days."
Influenced by my family since childhood, under the direct instruction of my father and greeting my brother, I angrily depend on my study. His sister-in-law, Chen, is a poet and is called "female academician". Wen Tao read many books, studied famous paintings, studied hard and practiced hard. When he was a teenager, he showed his talent and was named "Violet Near-re-embodiment". When I was fifteen, I wrote a poem "Top Gun" to express my feelings: "... Duh, a young boy is like a piece of jade in the park. Before phosgene rose to the sky, it cried ... "Young people are ambitious and have extraordinary spirit. Although life at home is difficult, I still stubbornly insist on studying. "Cloth is not suitable for hunger and cold, and an inch of ambition is the enemy." In the forty-ninth year of Qianlong (1784), in March, Wen Tao was twenty years old and married Zhou Xingdai's eldest daughter (Dongping, then Zanshan official) in Fuling and Sichuan in Beijing. In August of the following year, Mrs. Zhou returned to Sichuan by boat and gave birth to a daughter on the way in October. Mrs. Zhou stayed in Fuling to accompany her daughter because of illness. Tao Hui wrote many poems in Suining. In May of the following year, Mrs. Zhou died of illness in Fuzhou, and my daughter died soon after. At this time, his family is even more difficult, sometimes to the point of "just asking for food and clothing." That autumn, I asked Tao and my brother to greet me and go to Chengdu to take the provincial exam. Because the poems written by Tao are widely copied, the title of the poems is very loud. The salt tea ceremony in Chengdu is Lin Chan (NO. Xi Chen)
In the fifty-third year of Qianlong (1788), in March, Wen Tao went to the capital to take the Shuntian township examination and won the prize. At the beginning of the following year, he returned to western Sichuan, stopping in Chengdu and Suining, and went to Beijing at the end of the year. During this period, he was very keen on singing. Wherever he went, there was bound to be a poem, or wandering around historical sites, or wandering around mountains and rivers, with magnificent words, which showed his outstanding talent. In the fifty-fifth year of Qianlong (1790), he was a scholar, and the Imperial Academy ordered Jishi Shu. During this period, he wrote the most poems, almost one or several poems a day, forming a unique style. In the same year of Hanlin, Shi Yuyu, Hong and other celebrities made friends and praised his poems very much. In March of fifty-eight years (1793), it was awarded the evaluation by the Hanlin Academy. In 59 years, he wrote 8 essays and 12 poems, which reflected Wen Tao's poetic style and theoretical system.
In the autumn of the second year of Jiaqing (1797), I was still at home. During this period, he traveled between Suining, Chengdu and Beijing, witnessed the reality and wrote poems to expose it. For example, in Eighteen Poems on the Wall of Subaoji County, there are sentences such as "eyeing up" and "scorched earth and clouds passing away", which profoundly expose the atrocities of officials plundering the people and the sad scene of a society with no bones left. In the fifth year of Jiaqing (1800), he passed the provincial examination in Shuntian in August and was sent to teach in Jishi Shu in September. In September of the 10th year of Jiaqing (1805), he was appointed as the suggestion of Jiangnan Road and sent to Cheng Nan for inspection. In the spring of the 14th year of Jiaqing (1809), he served as an examiner, and in July, he served as a doctor in the official department. In July of the 15th year of Jiaqing (18 10), he became the magistrate of Laizhou, Shandong Province. After taking office, Wen Tao has gone through many hardships, gone deep into seven cities under his jurisdiction to understand people's feelings, clear up the backlog, test young students and won numerous awards. He is honest and honest, and hears cases in time. Unlike bending the law, he won the hearts of the people. His judgment was concise and thorough, and later generations regarded it as a model. Edited and published many times. The agricultural production in Ye County and Jimo County under the jurisdiction of Laizhou has been reduced, and the five counties of Pingdu, Changyi, Gaomi, Weifang and Jiao Jiao have been seriously flooded, the countryside is depressed and people's livelihood is poor. Facing this reality, Tao is very painful. He submitted a report calling for reducing the deferred tax rent and distributing the accumulated grain to help the hungry. I didn't reach an agreement with Shangguan on this matter. Seeing pleading for the people, I can't do anything. I have been depressed for years and fell ill.
In the seventeenth year of Jiaqing (18 12), he resigned due to illness. Before he left, he thought that the harvest in Laizhou was poor in recent years and the people were hungry and cold, so he donated 700 stones from his savings over the years to help the hungry people in seven cities. After he resigned, he wrote a poem saying: "It is too early to be an official in twenty-three years." ..... Yi Yun would have gone into battle lightly, and it's not hard to get away. "When he left Laizhou, he wrote a poem, saying:" Never talk about business, and reorganize the old poetry madness. "These poems reflect his resentment and heavy heart towards the official life. He wrote in the poem "Feeling at Pingdu Changyi Road": "God's will is boundless and there is no way to save the country, so he is ashamed of coming to the people, and he has a plan to resign and go into exile in a county. "This is really the people's regret. When I arrived at the noon gate, my condition worsened, and I lived in Huqiu apartment, calling myself "Yao 'an closed door". Its residence is located near Qingshan Bridge in Shantang Street, Suzhou, adjacent to Baijuyi Temple, hence the name "Lotte Neighborhood House". There is a poem entitled "Happy Days with Neighbors", and there is a saying: "It is difficult to delete allegorical poems by leaning on the bar", which reflects his interest in life in his later years. Wen Tao spent the rest of his life worrying that the treatment failed. In the 19th year of Jiaqing (18 14), he applied for the job on the fourth day of March (3-5 pm on April 23rd of Gregorian calendar) and died in Suzhou apartment at the age of 5 1. When Wen Tao died, his family was depressed, and his three daughters (unmarried) could not help the coffin to go home. Instead, the coffin was sent to Xuanmu Mountain in Guangfu Town, Suzhou. A year later, they were funded by Bao Xunmao (Zishutang) and others and buried in their ancestral graves in Lianghekou, their hometown (now Lianghekou, Hanlin Village, Jinqiao Township, Pengxi County, Sichuan Province). The inscription of "Zhang Wentao Chuanshan Tomb" is still clearly visible. Mrs Zhou and Mrs Lin are also buried here.