The road is full of pride,
The pommel horse shines in the dust.
May I ask why?
People are called internal ministers.
Zhu Fu is a doctor,
Zi Fu is a general.
Praise for going to a banquet in the army,
Go on horseback like clouds.
The nine treasures are overflowing with respect,
The eight treasures of land and water.
Break the Dongting orange fruit,
Cut the Tianchi scales into pieces.
Eat with fullness and feel at ease.
Drinking wine will revitalize you.
It was a drought in the south of the Yangtze River.
People in Quzhou were cannibals.
Appreciation of Bai Juyi’s Poems
This is the seventh of the ten poems in "Qin Zhongyin". Since the middle period of the Tang Dynasty, eunuchs have become extremely powerful. They not only usurp the government, but can even dethrone the emperor. Tang Shunzong was deposed because he rejected eunuchs, and then Xianzong died tragically at the hands of eunuchs. They were extravagant and tyrannical. The poet has boldly satirized and exposed their shameful behavior of preying on the common people and plundering civilian property in chapters such as "Su Zige Shanbei Village" and "The Charcoal Seller". This poem focuses on exposing the luxurious and decadent life of the eunuchs, in sharp contrast with the suffering of the common people, and shows the poet's strong realism spirit and concern for the country and the people.
The beginning of the poem describes the demeanor of a group of wealthy nobles, saying that they were arrogant and arrogant along the way, and their beautiful saddles illuminated the dust clearly. "The road is full of arrogance and arrogance" vividly reflects the arrogance of this group of people, while "the light of the pommel horse and the dust" exaggerates their luxury and nobility. These two sentences only have ten words, and the poet will think that this group of people is extraordinary. They are either relatives of the emperor or important ministers of the public officials, so he continues: "May I ask who they are? They are called internal ministers." It turns out that they are a group of eunuchs. It is a common method in Tang poetry to use "borrowing" and "personal pronoun" to point out the person referred to. It is indirect and implicit than speaking directly from the poet's point of view. After reading this, readers will naturally ask, why are these eunuchs and ministers so proud? "Zhu Fu is a doctor, and Zi Shou is a general" answered. Wearing Zhu Fu and Purple Ribbon is a sign of status and rank. According to the Tang Dynasty system: those who are above the third rank wear purple, and those who are above the fourth or fifth rank wear scarlet. It can be seen that they are either doctors or generals, almost all of whom have occupied civil and military power. The next two sentences: "Kuai went to a banquet in the army and rode away like clouds."
"Kuai" means to show off one's power, and "junzhong" refers to the imperial army stationed in Kyoto.
During the reigns of Dezong and Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty, the control of the imperial army was in the hands of eunuchs. "Going as fast as the clouds" is an exaggeration to exaggerate its large number of people and domineering attitude. They have a lot of troops, their official positions are so high, and there are so many people, so you can imagine how luxurious this banquet is.
The poem then focuses on describing the treasures at the banquet. They drank the most expensive and mellow Jiu Ling wine, and ate rare delicacies from the world, including Dongting tangerines. The luxury of the banquet can be said to be at its peak. Such a high-end and luxurious banquet made all the eunuchs well-fed and well-fed. "The food is full and the heart is at ease, and the wine is invigorating." It also shows that this group of people is full of ambition and looks like no one else is around.
Ordinarily this poem could end here, but the poet actually had a sudden stroke of genius: "It was a drought in the south of the Yangtze River, and people in Quzhou were cannibals." He wrote about the drought in the south of the Yangtze River that year, and some people cannibalism. On the surface, it seems that the severe drought in the south of the Yangtze River has nothing to do with this banquet. In fact, it is not difficult to understand that the drought in the south of the Yangtze River and the suffering of the people are directly related to the actions of the eunuchs. It was precisely because these eunuchs, who held great military and political power, did not care about the sentiments of the people, and still levied excessive taxes and plundered cruelly when the people were suffering from natural disasters, that led to the tragedy of cannibalism in Quzhou. Therefore, these last two sentences actually imply a causal relationship with the previous description. At the same time, it also makes a strong and sharp contrast between the luxury of the ruling class and the miserable life of the victims, making the readers hate the eunuchs who drink and have fun more, and have infinite sympathy for the misfortune of the common people.
In terms of poetry writing, the main artistic feature is first of all the successful use of fu technique. Fu means "telling the story and speaking directly". The poet's love-hate feelings and political tendencies are very clear, but these naturally overflow in the narrative; especially the use of contrastive narrative methods to objectively put two completely different social pictures together without any explanation. , from the sharp contrast, the meaning of the inner relationship emerges, which further enhances the appeal of the poem.
The second is to use the writing method of peeling bamboo shoots in the narrative, from the general to the specific, in depth. The poem first describes the eunuch's arrogance and the sideways glances of passers-by, and then writes about the eunuch's wearing of Zhu Fu and purple ribbons, which points out his status as a high-ranking official. Then he writes about going to the army for a banquet, explaining the purpose of running away like a cloud, and finally lists the list. The sumptuous banquet with nine treasures and eight delicacies shows their luxury and extravagance. This kind of narrative makes the characters and things more and more rich and concrete, and gives people a profound image.
Finally, the language of the poem is bright and fluent, the syllables are harmonious and sonorous, and it reads very powerfully. In particular, the use of words such as "Yi", "Luo", "昘" and "Qie" makes the description dynamic from the static, which is the poet's subtle precision in wording and sentence making.
This is an ancient poem, mainly composed of two similar rhymes: Zhen and Wen, mixed with vibrating rhymes, making it catchy to read.
To depict the eunuchs' arrogant demeanor, the words "Jiaomanlu" are used to turn abstract things into concrete images, making them appear real and tangible; "Guangzhaochen" is used to exaggerate the luxury of their pommel horses; "Going like clouds" is used to express The large number of people is an exaggeration to describe it appropriately. At the end, contrasting techniques are used, and the theme is revealed suddenly and vividly, creating a thrilling and strong artistic effect.