One smile can conquer a city, and two smiles can conquer a country.
Among the many concubines favored by Emperor Wu, the most unforgettable one was the beautiful and good-dancing Mrs. Li; and Mrs. Li’s success was due to her brother Li Yannian’s famous song that moved the capital. Beauty Song: In the early days, Madam (Li)’s brother Yannian was a close friend, good at singing and dancing, and Emperor Wu loved him. Every time the tune is changed to a new sound, everyone who hears it will be moved. The minister Yannian danced and sang: "There is a beautiful woman in the north, peerless and independent. Once you look at the city of Qingren, you will look at the country of Qingren. Would you rather not know the city and the country? It's hard to find a beautiful woman again!" The emperor sighed and said: "Good! Is there such a person in the world?" Lord Pingyang said that Yannian has a female brother. The superior summoned her, and she was really beautiful and good at dancing, so she was lucky. ("Book of Han·Biography of Wife's Wife") A short song could actually make the talented Emperor Wu fall in love after hearing it, and he immediately felt yearning for his beloved. This is probably a unique example in the history of ancient Chinese poetry. Why does it have such moving charm?
At first glance, the beginning of this song is ordinary. The praise of the "beautiful woman" is straight to the point, without any exaggeration or foreshadowing. But its meaning is extraordinary. The land is beautiful, and its beauties are mostly apricot-eyed and willow-waisted, clear and charming; the northern country is vast and vast, and its ladies are mostly snow-skinned and icy, with light makeup and deep affection. This song begins with the word "North", and the opening line brings a crystal clear and pure wind spirit to the beauty sung to that is different from the south. There are more than tens of thousands of beauties in the north, but what this song focuses on is just one "peerless and independent" among the thousands of beauties. "Peerless" praises her beauty of appearance, which is simply unparalleled; "independent" describes her The elegant nature of the secluded place is even more transcendent and outstanding. Not only that, "peerless and independent" also faintly reveals that this beautiful lady disdains to be in the company of other women, and no one knows her and is independent of the railing. That is not only otherworldly, but also more pitiful. This is Pingzhong Pregnancy. With just two sentences at the beginning, I am afraid that Emperor Wu took the lead and felt longing for the beautiful woman.
Since the northern beauty is so refined and lovely, what kind of beautiful demeanor should she have while looking at her? It is not easy to express this. What's more, before Li Yannian, there had been exquisite descriptions in many poems and poems. "Wei Feng·Shuo Ren" shows the beauties of the harem, with "hands like catkins, skin like gelatin, collar like a cricket grub, teeth like gourds and rhinoceros, cocoon head and eyebrows. A clever smile, beautiful eyes are looking forward to", once said Yao Jiheng, a native of the Qing Dynasty, lamented that "there is no other person who has praised beauty throughout the ages, and this is the last song" ("The Book of Songs"). The romantic and elegant Song Yu sings about the woman next door to the east. She also has the following verses: "If you increase it by one point, it will be too long; if you decrease it by one point, it will be too short." The beauty of posture and longing ("Ode to Dengtuzi's Lust"). Under such circumstances, if Li Yannian wanted to praise the beauties from the north, he would probably have to stop dancing and singing if he didn't have something special to say. However, this talented musician unexpectedly sang the strange line "Look at the charming city, then look at the charming country" - she only needed to take a look at the soldiers guarding the city wall, and she could make people move. The soldiers abandoned their weapons and the walls fell; if they "turn their eyes" towards the ruler who is coming to the world again, the disaster of ruining the country and destroying the clan will befall him! It’s really incredible that the beauty of looking forward to a beautiful woman can be used as the fearsome words of “beautiful city” and “beautiful country”! But if it wasn't so exaggerated, how could it show the shocking beauty of this beauty? And it is precisely because this figure is so frighteningly beautiful that it makes people even more fascinated and fond of her. If beautiful things were so close and easy to obtain, I'm afraid they wouldn't be so attractive. This is the philosophy of life of "What is not to be feared? Yi can be conceived" ("■Wind·Dongshan").