It is a profound and poignant satire on the rulers of the late Tang Dynasty who sought immortality and visited Taoism, but ignored the social reality of the people's livelihood. Lamented, and at the same time carried out penetrating satire and exposure of the upper-level rulers who caused this result.
Jia Sheng’s original text and translation
Jia Sheng
Tang Dynasty: Li Shangyin
The Prosecution Office sought talents and visited ministers, and Jia Sheng’s talents improved. Unlucky.
It’s a pity that I sit down at the front table in the middle of the night and don’t ask about the common people or the ghosts and gods.
Translation
Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty sought talents and announced to summon his demoted officials. Jia Yi was extremely talented and unparalleled.
It is a pity that Emperor Wen moved his knees close to Jia Yi in the middle of the night to listen to the lecture. He did not ask about the people's livelihood and only asked about ghosts and gods. The main theme of Jia Sheng
"Jia Sheng" is an epic poem written by Li Shangyin of the Tang Dynasty, which uses the past to satirize the present. It is intended to use the experience of Jia Yi to express the poet's lament that his talent was not appreciated. Its focus is not on personal gains and losses, but on pointing out that feudal rulers cannot truly value talents and make them play a political role.
The poem selects the scene in which Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty summoned Jia Yi and had a late night conversation to describe Emperor Wen's inability to recognize and appoint virtuous people; "not asking about the common people and ghosts and gods" reveals that the emperor of the late Tang Dynasty took medicine to seek immortality, which was absurd. Political affairs, regardless of people's livelihood, are fatuous characteristics. This poem is full of satire, profound and powerful. In its sympathy for Jia Yi's underappreciated talent, it embodies the author's sadness of being politically marginalized and unable to achieve his ambitions.