In literature, he and Yuan Zhen are both advocates and backbones of the New Yuefu Movement, advocating that "articles should be written in time, songs and poems should be written for things" and opposing the works of "playing with snow to make flowers and plants" without other sustenance. His satirical poems "Qin Zhongyin" and "New Yuefu" widely and sharply exposed the political darkness at that time, attacked the abuses in reality, and showed a progressive tendency of clear love and hate. In addition to satirical poems, the long narrative poems "Song of Eternal Sorrow" and "Pipa Travel" are also unique, and they are the swan song of the ages. The language of Bai poetry is popular, unpretentious, simple and natural, and there is no trace of carving. His poems depict vivid characters, touching people's hearts and high artistic attainments.
He actively advocated the new Yuefu movement in literature, arguing that articles should be written in time and poems should be written for things. He wrote many poems lamenting the times and reflecting the sufferings of the people, which had a great influence on later generations.
Bai Juyi, like Li Bai and Du Fu, is a heavy drinker.
Zhang Wenqian said in Tiaoxi Fish in Conghua: Although Tao Yuanming loves to drink, he can't drink often because of his poor family. Drinking with him are farmers who collect firewood, catch fish and farm land, and the location is also in the Woods and fields. Bai Juyi makes wine at home, and every time he drinks, he must be accompanied by silk and bamboo and served by prostitutes. All the people who drink with him are social celebrities, such as Pei Du and Liu Yuxi.
At the age of 67, he wrote a biography of Mr. Drunk Sound. This drunken Mr. Yin is himself. In his biography, he said that there was a man named Mr. Zuiyin, and he didn't know his name, hometown and official position. He only knew that he had been an official for 30 years and retired to Los Angeles. He lives in ponds, bamboo poles, trees, pavilions, pontoons and so on. He likes drinking, reciting poems, playing the piano, and playing with drunkards, poetry space clubs and piano lovers. This is also the case. Bai Juyi has been to temples, mountains and rivers and spring stones inside and outside Luoyang.
Whenever the weather is beautiful, or it snows, he invites guests to his house, first painting the jar, then writing poems, and then holding silk and bamboo. So while drinking, I recited poems and played the piano. There is a boy playing "wearing a dress and feathers" and a little prostitute singing "Yang Liuzhi", which is a great pleasure. It didn't stop until everyone was drunk. Bai Juyi sometimes went to the wild on a whim, put a piano and a pillow in the car, hung two hip pots on bamboo poles on both sides of the car, drank with the piano and came back happily.
According to Poor You Ji, Bai Juyi has a pond where he can row a boat. He entertained guests, and sometimes on the boat, he ordered people to hang more than 100 empty bags beside the boat, which contained wine and delicacies, and went with the boat. When he wants to eat or drink, he pulls them up, and when he finishes eating or drinking, he pulls up another one until he finishes eating or drinking.
In this way, it must be different from Tao Yuanming's predicament.
Fang Shao's Zhai Bo Discriminations says: Of the 2,800 poems written by Bai Letian, 800 were drunk. This number is not small.
When he drinks, he sometimes drinks alone. For example, when he was a secretariat in Suzhou, he was busy with official business and dismissed him with wine. He drank wine all day to relieve his nine days' hard work. He said: don't underestimate a day of drunkenness, that is to eliminate nine days of fatigue. If you are not tired for nine days, how can you cure the people of the country? How can you entertain yourself if you are not drunk for a day? He combines work and rest with wine.
More is drinking with friends. He said in the poem "Drunk with Li Eleven and Remember Yuan Jiu"; When you are drunk, you will break your spring worries, and when you are drunk, you will make wine. In the poem "To Yuan Zhen", it is said: Flower swimming on the pommel horse, a glass of wine in the snow. In the poem "Drinking, Drinking, Dreams and Late Period", he said; * * * Put 10,000 in a bucket and 70 in three years. In his poem "Recalling Yuan Jiu and Li Yi Drunk", he said: There is a ray of green in the old bottle and a touch of red in the static furnace. With dusk and snow coming, how about a glass of wine? Wait, wait.
Bai Juyi was 75 years old. Buried in Longmen Mountain. Luzhen, a native of Yining, Henan Province, carved a biography of Mr. Zuiyin on a stone and stood beside the tomb. Legend has it that Luoyang people and tourists from all over the world know that Bai Juyi has been addicted to alcohol all his life, so they all come to toast the grave. The wide place in front of the tomb is often wet. When it is not dry, it can be seen that he is loved by future generations.