Because judging a poem depends on the angle.
Poetry is of course artistic. In that case, from an aesthetic point of view, Moonlit Night on a Spring River can not only overwhelm the Tang Dynasty, but also rarely confront it for thousands of years.
Life consciousness, cosmic consciousness and calm inner feelings mentioned by the academic circles can be found in similar works in classical poetry, but if it is based on the "moon aesthetics", especially the "moon aesthetics", A Moonlight Night on a Spring River is so unique and original.
Qu Yuan, Li Bai and Su Shi have done nothing about the themes of life perception, cosmic consciousness, space-time thinking, personal feelings, accommodating the moon and so on.
Therefore, the evaluation of "Moonlit Night on a Spring River" has always been underestimated rather than overestimated. It's just that most people who "flatter" this poem don't praise the idea and don't realize its truly unique value and significance, that is, the aesthetics of the moon and many propositions cast in the aesthetics of the moon.
Only the comparison and evaluation based on this point is meaningful. Otherwise, simply separating words, thoughts and consciousness as a separate evaluation factor is to look for fish in the fog.
The following is the original text
The reason why Zhang's "Moonlit Night on a Spring River" is praised as "an orphan over the whole Tang Dynasty" is related to the comments of the latter two scholars.
Wang Kaiyun, a scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, commented on this:
"Zhang's" Moonlit Night on a Spring River "is a" Xizhou "style, and it is a lonely article for everyone. Li He and Shang Yin are fresh and moist; Song poetry and Yuan poetry are its tributaries. The palace is also huge. "
Later generations often quote the phrase "the solitary article is absolutely unique, but for everyone", which comes from here.
This is the first time that someone has recognized Zhang's position in classical poetry, and the title of "everyone" has raised Zhang's position to a very high level.
In other words, his poems were written by four outstanding poets and four outstanding poets.
In modern times, Wen Yiduo called it "the poem in the poem, the peak on the peak" in the book "The Salvation of Palace Poetry".
There is another sentence behind Mr Wen Yiduo's comments:
"As for the darkest sin left by the four dynasties of Liang, Chen, Sui and Tang dynasties in the past century, isn't it washed away with palace poems like" Moonlight on a Spring River "? Advance to atone for the sin of the century-old palace poem, therefore, retreat will also clear the way for the prosperous Tang Dynasty with another peak, Chen Ziang. -Zhang's achievements are immeasurable. "
In fact, Wang Kaiyun's "solitary poem" refers not to the whole Tang poetry, but to the palace-style poems popular since the Qi and Liang Dynasties.
And Wen Yiduo's "there is a poem in the poem, and there is a peak on the peak" also refers to the palace poems since the Qi, Liang, Sui and Tang Dynasties.
Therefore, the statement that "a solitary poem overwhelms the whole Tang Dynasty" is actually a misunderstanding and out of context of "a solitary poem is absolutely unique to everyone" and "the poem in the poem is the peak on the peak".
Of course it's not that simple.
Teacher Cheng thinks that it is a misunderstanding for Wen Yiduo to classify "Moonlit Night on a Spring River" as "Palace Poetry".
There is no basis for calling Zhang's "Moonlit Night on a Spring River" a "palace poem".
His apprentice Chen Zhaokui interpreted this sentence as:
"Wei Xiao case: five words in Hasega are not as good as seven words, and seven words in Yishan are not as good as five words. One is curiosity about astringency, and the other is skillful technique. I thought of it myself, but it was all original. Palace style originated in Geyan and Longxi. Zi Jian, Da Lang, Liang and his son, just to make a plan. The phase is eternal, and the longer it is, the newer it is. It is superior to others because it is easy to understand and express its feelings. Later scholars have long lost their foundation. "
If so, it is obvious that the origin of love poems is regarded as the origin of palace poems, which has neither literary basis nor historical facts.
Wen Yiduo claims that Zhang's "Moonlight Night on the Spring River" is an atonement for "palace-style poetry", while Cheng believes that moving the "turning point" of palace-style poetry to the era of Lu, Luo, Liu and Zhang will obliterate the efforts from Yu Xin to others, and at the same time put Lu, Luo, Liu and Zhang's works into the category of palace-style poetry.
If we say that "palace poems are redeemed", then the poems of Yang Guang, Zhuge Ying, Zhang Zirong and other poets at that time were earlier than the early Tang Dynasty, which opened up a new style of poetry.