Li Bai is not an infallible poet. On the contrary, he seems to care about everything. He has experienced and shown a lot of life. Although he can't satisfy his life forever, his passionate feelings and strong personality have left an indelible mark on poems expressing various lives, leaving a strong subjective color of self-expression everywhere. When he wanted to be an official in Beijing, he declared, "Laugh to the sky. Are we Artemisia people? " When politics is frustrated, they will shout, "The road is like the blue sky, but there is no way out before my eyes!" " He wanted to accuse himself of injustice, so he said, "I want to climb the dragon to see the Lord, and Lei Gong plays the drums." He misses Chang 'an, that is, "the wind blows my heart and hangs Xianyang trees in the west." When he climbed Taibai Peak, let Taibai talk to me and open the sky for me. When he asks for immortality, there must be "the immortal caresses me and I become immortal." He wants to drink, including Dongzaoqiu in Luoyang, "Building a restaurant for the south of Tianjin Bridge". He lamented Xuancheng's good wine making and asked, "Without Li Bai at the night stage, who is the wine sold to?" This strong subjective color of self-expression, in terms of artistic effect, adds overwhelming momentum to poetry in some places and takes the lead; Some places make people feel warm and kind when reading. Of course, this subjective color is not limited to poems and poems with the word "I". For example, in many poems, the names of Lu Zhonglian, Yan Ziling, Zhuge Liang, Xie An and others are often regarded as first-person pronouns by Li Bai, which makes the ancients fully incarnate him.
In line with the above characteristics, he did not suppress and converge in the expression of feelings, but gushed and poured thousands of miles. When ordinary language is not enough to express his passion, he exaggerates boldly; When things in real life are not enough to describe, compare and symbolize his thoughts and wishes, he relies on unrealistic myths and all kinds of wonderful and amazing fantasies. From some lyric poems quoted in the last section, we can already feel this feature. Using "but since the water is still flowing, although we cut it with the sword" as a metaphor to "raise a glass to relieve sorrow" is extremely exaggerated, but it makes people feel the highest truth. Another example is "White hair and three thousands of feet, sorrow is like a long beard" in Song of Autumn Pu. With tangible hair, it highlights invisible worries, and exaggeration is extremely bold. Others, such as "Chivalrous Man", said, "Three cups spit infinite, and five mountains are light." Take the five mountains as light and exaggerate the importance of chivalrous promises. "Elegant Ballad": "Speak out of turn, trust a friend, and welcome Jiu Feng's suspicion." Mountain peaks are also used to exaggerate the estrangement and suspicion between friends. In "Popular North", "Yanshan snowflakes are as big as seats, and pieces blow down Xuanyuantai". Everyone is familiar with it, but there are two sentences at the end of the poem: "The Yellow River can hold soil, and the north wind hates rain and snow." It is also thrilling. Without this amazing metaphor that the Yellow River can be blocked, we would not understand the deep despair and sorrow of the wives of fallen soldiers. Bold exaggeration can never be separated from amazing imagination. Here, we also want to focus on his most romantic landscape poems, especially "Difficult Road to Shu", which made Li Bai gain great reputation:
Hey, shh, it's dangerous! Such a trip was more difficult than climbing the blue sky, until the two rulers of this area squeezed in in the foggy age. Second, he is eight thousand years old and has nothing to do with Qin Sai. And Dabaishan, to the west, still has only one bird path, all the way to the peak of Emei. Once it was broken by an earthquake, some brave people lost it, and then the ladder stone pile was hooked. On the high flag, six dragons drive the sun, and far below, the river lashes its twisted channel. Such a height is difficult for a yellow crane, poor monkey, they only have claws to use. The Green Mud Mountain is made up of many circles. For every hundred steps, we have to turn nine times in the middle of its mound. Panting, we passed Orion, passed Jingxing, and then fell to the ground with our arms folded and groaned. We want to know whether this path to the west will never end. The road is too steep to climb, and nothing can be heard except the cries of birds surrounded by ancient forests. The male bird rotates smoothly and follows the female bird. Jathyapple, what comes to us is the melancholy voice of Du Fu, a sad empty mountain. This kind of trip is more difficult than climbing the blue sky, and even hearing it will make people pale! ……
This poem, with a magic pen, rises out of thin air. From Can Cong Yufu to Wuding Mountain, all myths and legends are used to set off a strange atmosphere. Putting high standards in the sky can make "Six Dragons Return to Japan" and also rely on myths to gallop fantasy. The following is an exaggerated embellishment with yellow cranes, apes, sad birds and rules, and then the narrative of threatening, caressing and fading Zhu Yan is inserted as the backbone of the whole poem. The poem "it is hard to go ascended to the sky" appeared three times in the text, which set the tone for these five complicated movements. Li Bai has never been to Jiange in his life. This poem is entirely based on legend. Because of this, his mind and personality have been fully displayed here. Fan Yin's "He Yue Ling Photo Collection" said that this poem is "both strange and strange, and it is rare for a poet to return it." It just reflects the surprise and admiration of contemporaries for this poem. Today, when the Shu Road is unblocked, it is still an immortal masterpiece with historical and aesthetic value. His two poems "Looking at Lushan Waterfall" and "Lushan Ballad" are also well-known works. In the latter poem, he wrote about the view of the great river from the top of Lushan Mountain: "I climbed to the top of the mountain. I look around the world, and the great river is gone forever. The yellow cloud was blown away by the wind for hundreds of miles, and a snow peak was surrounded by a vortex with nine times the current. " He completely got rid of the shackles of the sense of real space and exaggerated it with bold imagination, highlighting the magnificence of mountains and rivers and showing the poet's magnificent mind. Bai Juyi's poem "Climbing to the top of incense burner": "The river is as thin as a rope, and the city is smaller than the palm." Completely realistic. Comparing the two poems, the artistic value is self-evident.
Li Bai's romanticism is based on his rich life. His poems are often full of emotion and changeable characteristics. We have seen this from the first poem of Difficult to Go, Uncle Yun's farewell school book in Xiezhao Building in Xuanzhou, and Tianmu sleepwalking. His masterpiece "Into the Wine" is also a very prominent example in this regard. In the poem, he encourages people to drink to their heart's content: "Oh, let a man with spirit take risks where he likes, and don't point his golden cup at the moon! He seems to be content with a decadent and enjoyable life, but his feelings are as unpredictable as the Yellow River. He suddenly said, "Since God has given talent, let him get a job! , spin one thousand silver, all come back! ! Strong confidence suddenly replaced negative sighs. There is a similar situation in his Liang Yuan Shi Hua. In the first paragraph of the poem, he described the carnival and even lamented the impermanence of fame and fortune with tears in his eyes, but in the end, he suddenly said, "Songs and ballads have far-reaching influence. It is not too late to make a comeback and help the poor. " The poet's feelings were changed in an instant. Only a few poets in the history of poetry have reached this level by handling contradictory and complicated thoughts and feelings so freely and flexibly and achieving a high degree of artistic perfection. From this change, he continued to develop, so in some poems, he used both romanticism and realism. Some poems are both realistic and imaginative, such as those popular in North China and Guan Shanyue. Sometimes ideal wishes and realistic sufferings are combined in a poem, such as Article 19 of Antique:
The fairy shines like a star on the lotus peak in Huashan Mountain. Holding a white hibiscus flower in both hands, curled up into a ball. Dressed in colorful clothes, elegant clouds floated high into the sky. I boarded the rainbow platform and bowed to Wei Shuqing. Anxiously follow them and take Hongyan to Zixuan. Inadvertently, the Luoyang Plain was full of soldiers in the Anshi Rebellion. The bones are bloody, and the traitors turn their backs on the court.
In the beautiful fantasy of ascension, I suddenly saw Luoyang being ravaged and destroyed by An Lushan. We can't help but think of the ending of Li Sao: "I became an emperor and was suddenly shocked by my hometown." The plummeting of feelings and the disillusionment of romantic fantasies profoundly show the poet's extremely painful patriotism.
"Clear water produces hibiscus, and carving is natural." These two poems by Li Bai are the most vivid descriptions and generalizations of his poetic language. Li Bai's poetic language can reach such an ideal simple and natural state, which is inseparable from his careful study of Yuefu folk songs in the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties. According to Quan Deyu's Preface to Wei Qumou's Poems, Li Bai once taught eleven-year-old Wei Qumou the Ancient Yuefu. There are many imitations of ancient Yuefu in his Yuefu poems, which are well known and need not be exemplified. But his most effective place in Yuefu folk songs is language first. The language of his Long March and Midnight Wu Ge is very similar to Peacock Flying Southeast, Midnight Song and Xizhou Song. "I don't know the month for hours, and it's called Bai Yupan. I also suspect that Yao Taijing has flown to Qingyun. " "The breeze and bright moon don't need a dollar to buy, and Yushan is not pushed by people." "Such a trip is more difficult than climbing the blue sky." How vivid and natural it is, it is unforgettable to read. "Don't you see how the water of the Yellow River flows down from the sky into the ocean and never comes back?" Learn Han Yuefu's "Long Songs": "When will the hundred rivers return to the east and the sea to the west?" How it shines on you. At first glance, these places seem to be the most common, but none of the poets who imitated Li Bai in later generations reached such a highly perfect situation. It seems difficult to learn an accent, but it is easy to learn a language.
Li Bai used a variety of poetic styles, but the seven ancient poems and the seven unique poems contributed the most. These two poetic styles were also the newest and freest at that time, especially adapted to his free and bold personality. His achievements in this respect are also very effective in learning Yuefu folk songs. Seven ancient don't have to talk about, here are just a few of his famous four-line:
In the autumn of the first half of Mount Emei, the Pingqiang River reflected. In the evening, Qingxi went to the Three Gorges, but the four gentlemen did not see Yuzhou.
-"Emei Mountain Moon Song"
Early in the morning, I bid farewell to Jiangling city, which is high into the sky, thousands of miles away, and the boat is only one day away. The cries of apes on both sides of the strait are still unconsciously crowing in their ears, and the canoe has passed the heavy green hills.
-"Early Baidu City"
Old friends frequently waved to me, bid farewell to the Yellow Crane Tower, and traveled to Yangzhou in this beautiful spring filled with catkins and flowers. Sailing alone in the blue sky, I can see the Yangtze River flowing in the sky.
-"Yellow Crane Tower Farewell to Meng Haoran on the way to Yangzhou"
Li Bai was just about to leave when he heard a farewell song from the shore. Even if the Peach Blossom Pond is deep, it is not as deep as Wang Lun's sending away my love.
-"To Wang Lun"
Shen Deqian's Three Hundred Tang Poems said: "Seven-character quatrains are close to feelings, and hidden words are more important. Just look at the prospects, talk, and have overtones, which makes people stay away from it, too white and embarrassed. " These characteristics he said are actually the naive natural charm of folk songs. That is to say, as far as the poem "Send Baidicheng Early" is concerned, the meaning of the whole poem comes entirely from the "martial arts" in the Notes on Shui Jing, but the natural language and joyful artistic conception are quite different from the original style. His four outstanding achievements have always been as famous as Wang Changling's, each with its own characteristics. But as far as folk songs are concerned, he surpassed Wang Changling. His Five Laws convey the simplicity and grandeur of ancient poetry in temperament style, which is often eclectic and unique. Such as "Niu Zhu's Night Sleeping Thoughts" and "Farewell to Friends" have always been cited by critics.
Li Bai inherited the rich heritage of the previous generation of poetry in his creation. The traditions he inherited were firstly Chu Ci and Yuefu folk songs in the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties. He was influenced by Qu Yuan in many ways. He carried forward Qu Yuan's patriotism and indomitable spirit of struggle, and also inherited Qu Yuan's romantic creative methods, such as casting myths and legends, boldly exaggerating fantasies, and attaching importance to the inheritance of folk songs. He is exactly the same as Qu Yuan. As far as specific works are concerned, such as Farewell, Fu Liangyin, Tianmu Sleepwalking and even Shu Daonan are similar to Qu Yuan's works in mental outlook, theme, conception and syntax. He also carefully studied the works of literati in the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties. Duan's Youyang Miscellaneous Notes said: "Li Bai's three manuscripts are selected, and if they are unhappy, they will burn." This legend must have some basis. He praised Jian 'an's poems, Ruan Ji, Tao Yuanming, Xie Lingyun, Xie Zhao and Bao Zhao. There are countless examples of his imitating and using the poems and songs of these poets. The poems Du Fu gave him also pointed out that his works were similar to those of Bao Zhao, Yu Xin and Yin Keng. He could not have become a great romantic poet without carefully studying his legacy.
Li Bai's personality is dominated by Confucianism and Taoism respectively, forming his tragic, bold and optimistic personality. His character is embodied in his poems, but in fact, the open-minded character led by Taoist thought is to vent Li Bai's dissatisfaction with politics. All these can be attributed to Li Bai's rebellion, which is Li Bai of the upper class. What is really dominated by Taoism is Li Bai's innocent and simple civilian character.
Li Bai's heroic optimism and open-minded personality left a deep impression on people. All his poems are deeply filled with his personal feelings, so he left a masterpiece that will be told through the ages. However, Li Bai's poems and songs are very emotional, which not only shows his heroic and open-minded, but also shows his sadness and relaxation. Li Bai's poems are a reflection of his personal character, and correspondingly, his character also has diverse and complex characteristics.
As a teenager, Li Bai was a "poet, a hundred schools of thought contend", and his acceptance of the influence of his predecessors' thoughts was quite complicated. Judging from his life's works and behaviors, both Confucianism and Taoism have influenced him, but Taoism has the greatest influence. When he wanted to make use of the world to make contributions, the Confucian thought of "helping the world and reaching it" prevailed; When he was frustrated by political attacks, he wanted to indulge his feelings and seek immortality to visit Taoism. He said, "I'm a madman in the state of Chu, and I sang a crazy song about Confucius", or "it's not surprising about Yao and Shun, but my arrogance is insignificant." Even Confucius and Yao Shun, regarded as saints by Confucianism, scoffed at him. At this time, Taoism's cynicism and returning to the original thought occupied a dominant position in him, and used it to oppose Confucianism, which safeguarded the interests of the feudal ruling class. Taoist thought has a great influence on Li Bai's creation. Some of Zhuangzi's works explore the mysteries of the universe and the relationship between man and nature through great imagination and fantasy, which is enlightening to Li Bai's romantic thoughts.
As a scholar, Li Bai's Confucianism formed his attitude of making contributions to the government. It is precisely because he is full of enthusiasm for birth. As a young man, he is not afraid. He is extremely confident and even conceited, which is his bold side. As a tourist who cares about mountains and rivers, Taoist thought gives him fresh and elegant thoughts, away from the hubbub. This has formed his free, optimistic and bohemian character, which is his open-minded side. Of course, more importantly, Li Bai was endowed with a unique naive personality. Based on these two basic points, his personality has derived many complicated features. His poems often show his complex personality characteristics.
The characteristics of Li Bai's poems are changeable, which can be expressed in many ways, such as "luxury", "strangeness", "sadness" and "escape", and these are often blended with each other.
The greatest feature of Li Bai's poems and songs is "Hao". His boldness can be manifested in two aspects. One is that he is so confident in himself that he is a little arrogant, so he has the capital to rely on his talents to show his lofty. Li Bai was called to Chang 'an by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty on the recommendation of the poet Wu Yun. At this time, he was filled with joy and sang "Going out and laughing in the sky, are we Artemisia people?" ("Nanling children don't go to Beijing"). But he "made friends with princes" with the attitude of "perseverance and inaction". In the dark officialdom of feudal society, this aboveboard style naturally doesn't work. When he realized that he was only a "royal scholar", he left proudly. "Oh, how can I bow and scrape to those high-ranking officials who will never be shown their honest faces" ("Dream of Mount Tianmu"). On the other hand, in his poems, the atmosphere is magnificent and the artistic conception is vast, which is unparalleled. "Well, it's too dangerous! It is difficult to go to the sky! " He praised this poem and was deeply touched by Li Bai's atmosphere. His poems have a wide range of artistic conception, such as "If you don't see it, how can the water of the Yellow River move out of heaven and enter the ocean, and never return" ("I will enter the wine"), "I will cross the Yellow River, and the ice-choked ferry will climb the snow Taihang Mountain" ("Difficult to walk"), "A straight line goes to heaven, and it reaches the sky, reaching the top of five holy peaks and penetrating China". It is here that the ladder mountain range, which is hundreds of miles long, begins to turn to the southeast ("Tianmu Mountain rises in my dream"), which is magnificent.
In a word, the innovation of Li Bai's poems and songs is a "strange" word. It is easy to use the word "strange" when evaluating Li Bai by predecessors, whether it is exciting or depressed. For example, Qian Qi's "Amazing Words"; Yuan Zhen's "Taking Questions with Strange Pen"; Bai Juyi has countless talents; Another example is He Zhangzhi's so-called "fallen immortals", Du Fu's so-called "pretending to be crazy and selling stupidity", and even letting Lux take off his boots and ride a whale to soar. It's not strange, but it's strange. This point focuses on Li Bai's poems and the moon. Scholars of past dynasties, such as appreciating the moon, staying in the moon, seeking the moon, etc. , are not as good as Li Bai's "famous hall". "People travel around the moon and sail in the air" ("Send Wei Wan back to the palace"), which is his "dish moon"; "We both hold high the idea of going far away, and I want to go to the sky to embrace the bright moon" ("Xie Tiao Tower"), which is why he wants to "embrace the moon"; What's even more amazing is that he can "until, holding up my cup, I asked the moon and brought my shadow, which made the three of us drunk the moon" ("Drinking the Moon Alone"); The strangest thing is that he can even "embroider clothes in the past, but drink with you tonight." At present, it is even more unexpected to buy wine on credit, such as "Moonlight in Dongshan Mountain, singing all night to send a bright future" ("Guangde sends a surplus"). Li Bai's novel thought is inseparable from his romantic thought, that is, he is deeply influenced by Taoist thought, thus showing his simple and naive character.
The expression of "sadness" in Li Bai's poems is still because his political thought cannot be realized. For example, he will have "it's hard to walk, it's hard to walk, there are many roads, are you now?" ("it is hard to go"), there will be "if you don't see it, there are many people locked in the mirror of Gao Tingming. Although the morning is dark, the night has turned into snow" ("Going into Wine"). Even in "Difficult Road to Shu" and "Ascending to Heaven in a Dream", we don't just write landscapes, but pour into the depressed mood that the author's political ideal is difficult to realize. But his "sadness" will soon turn into optimism. Therefore, his "sadness" is always associated with his "luxury". Difficult question, he replied: "One day I will ride the wind and waves, sail straight up and cross the deep sea"; He replied, "Oh, let a man with spirit take risks where he wants to go, and never point his golden cup at the moon empty!" " And expressed that "since God has given talents, let them find jobs!" Optimism. In this way, there is sadness and tragic momentum in his bold poems, which makes his poems more attractive; After Sadness, he was able to overcome his difficulties and turn to optimism, which made people see the charm of his personality again. This is the result of his Taoist thought defeating Confucianism.
Li Bai, who travels around the world, is more of an "escape" word. In his poems, he wrote about his leisure, his nostalgia for his hometown and friends, his love for the beautiful scenery of nature and the daily life of ordinary people. These are more of Li Bai's love for life and yearning for a better life. This shows a naive and lovely Li Bai. "Cold wave, time is up. How much do you miss you when you sing a song about this empty Long song? " ("pregnant with a full moon") "I will hang the capital for a month, and I will wash it with a hammer. The autumn wind blew Yi Dao's voice, and every household remembered the people guarding the border. Oh, when will the Tatar army be conquered and when will my husband come back from the long battle! " "The old garden is deserted, and Yang Liuxin and Ling Ge can't sing their oratorios in the spring. Today, there is only Xijiangyue, who once lived in the official residence of the King of Wu (Tai Su Nostalgia). The homesickness, nostalgia of men and women mentioned above are common feelings in people's daily life. The feelings expressed in Li Bai's works are not only common in people's lives, but also approachable and acceptable to everyone, which is enough to represent the naive side of Li Bai's character. " Flying down three thousands of feet, it is suspected that the Milky Way has set for nine days "(Looking at Lushan Waterfall) is the masterpiece of Li Bai's forgetfulness.
"From a pot of wine among the flowers, I drank it alone. No one is with me. Raise my cup, I invite the bright moon, which brings me its shadow and makes us three people. The moon doesn't know how to drink, but the shadow in front of it is behind. I have to mingle with them and enjoy the happiness of spring. The song I sing is bright and wandering, and I dance the shadow before wandering. Wake up and be happy together, and disperse after drunkenness. Will goodwill be guaranteed? I see the long road of the Milky Way. " Drinking the Bright Moon Alone (Part I) shows his track of finding pleasure in life. Generally speaking, Li Bai's drinking poems highlight the word "good" and the poems about the moon highlight the word "easy". Once the two are combined, they present a bold and elegant character, which can be summarized by the word "Qing Kuang" In addition to Four Moons Alone, other masterpieces such as Xiangyang Song and Farewell to Xie Tiao Tower all belong to this category. On the one hand, this crazy personality shows the poet's pride and contempt for dirty reality, and at the same time reveals a deep sense of loneliness. Li Bai also wrote some poems about his return from the moon. He has a peaceful mind and shows a deep sense of loneliness in his spare time.
Summarizing the characteristics of Li Bai's poems, we can see two main lines of Li Bai's character: one is heroism, the other is magnanimity. His heroism is filled with dissatisfaction and sorrow for reality, but by this time, his open-mindedness has been shown. Openness is accompanied by his more love and enthusiasm for life and his optimistic spirit. However, from his loneliness in Escape, there is also a trace of sadness. This is something that Li Bai, as a scholar, cannot avoid.
Li Bai is mainly a political lyric poet who is active in the upper class. The main works are political lyric poems with the basic theme of talent shortage. While protesting against the rulers' suppression of buried talents, these works also exposed and criticized the imperial court's corruption, political darkness and militaristic policy of expanding territory. Li Bai also has other works that do not involve politics, praising immortals, seclusion and landscape tourism. In his spare time, he sometimes reveals the deep pain of "seclusion between heaven and earth" ("Sending Cen up the Mountain"), and sometimes suddenly sings "Oh, how can I solemnly bow and scrape to the dignitaries who will never be shown with sincerity" ("Tianmu Sleepwalking"), and sometimes sends out "I". In addition, Li Bai's poems have a common theme: life is like a dream. This is most obvious in the drinking poems represented by "entering the wine". Li Bai's life is a dream. From the dominant aspect, it is not out of nihilistic views on the meaning of life. Instead, he spoke angrily because his life ideal of actively joining the WTO could not be realized. Like the lyric poems of gifted scholars, it is full of disappointment, pain and rebellious passion, expressing doubts and negation of the existing social order, and has profound social content. These two basic themes run through most of Li Bai's works. From them, we can see that Li Bai is arrogant, worried and angry because he feels that there is no way out. He is unrestrained and dismissive of many recognized sacred concepts. He is a "madman" Li Bai who "everyone wants to kill"-this is Li Bai of the upper class. Everything he says and does shows a distinct rebellious character.
But we often ignore Li Bai from another world. In this world, Li Bai doesn't talk about politics and seldom complains, but mainly praises the magnificent scenery of nature, praises friendship and expresses people's feelings in daily life, such as homesickness, lovesickness, parting and nostalgia. Most of the characters, such as ranger, businessman, geisha, farmer, peasant woman, boatman, craftsman, lotus picker, etc. , belonging to the lower class. The world written by the poet is full of the light and interest of life, from which Li Bai is impressed mainly by innocence and gentleness-this is the civilian character that everyone will feel kind to him in his daily life and contact with the lower classes.
To sum up, in Li Bai's character, although Taoism has a far-reaching influence on him, he can't completely get rid of the shackles of Confucianism. His bohemian, optimistic and open-minded, to a certain extent, is to vent his resentment and dissatisfaction, and it is mandatory to suppress Taoism above Confucianism. Therefore, his poems often reveal political lament. However, it does not mean that Confucianism is Li Bai's dominant thought. He is engaged in fierce confrontation between Taoism and Confucianism, but he has not completely defeated Confucianism. Only when he is a "civilian" can he really forget his political fame and be really dominated by Taoist thought.