About the author
Wang Wei (701-761), courtesy name Mojie, was a famous poet in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. He was an official and minister Youcheng. He was originally from Qi (now Qi County, Shanxi). He moved to Puzhou (now Yongji, Shanxi), believed in Buddhism, and lived in Wangchuan Villa in Lantian in his later years. He is Han nationality. He is good at painting figures, bamboos, and landscapes. People in the Tang Dynasty recorded two types of landscape features: one is similar to that of Li and his son, and the other is painted with broken ink. His famous work "Wangchuan Picture" is the latter. Unfortunately, no authentic work has been handed down to this day. The "Snowy Stream Picture" and "Jinan Fu Sheng Statue" that are said to be his are not authentic. Wang Wei obviously had higher achievements in the field of Tang poetry. He was a representative of the landscape pastoral school in the Tang Dynasty. Ranked first in the Jinshi department in Kaiyuan (i.e., the number one scholar). He served as Dalecheng, Youshiyi and other officials. During the Anlushan rebellion, he was forced to take a pseudo-post. His achievements in poetry and painting were both very high. Su Dongpo praised him for "when you taste Mojie's poems, there are paintings in the poems; when you look at Mojie's paintings, there are poems in the paintings." He was especially accomplished in landscape poetry, and together with Meng Haoran, he was known as "the king". Meng" had no intention of pursuing an official career in his later years and dedicated himself to worshiping Buddhism, so later generations called him the "Poetry Buddha". He is the author of "The Collection of Wang Youcheng" and has 400 poems.
[Edit this paragraph] Author's life
Wang Wei was rich in literary talent in his youth. In the ninth year of Kaiyuan (721), he was awarded the rank of Jinshi and became Lecheng. For some reason, he was relegated to Sicang, Jeju to join the army. Later he returned to Chang'an. In the 22nd year of Kaiyuan, Zhang Jiuling was appointed Zhongshu Ling. Wang Wei was promoted to the position of Youshiyi. At that time, he wrote the poem "Xian Shi Xing Gong", which praised Zhang Jiuling's political ideas of opposing party establishment for personal gain and indiscriminate use of honorary rewards, which reflected his mood at that time demanding something to be done. In the twenty-fourth year (736), Zhang Jiuling resigned as prime minister. The following year he was demoted to the governor of Jing. Li Linfu was appointed Zhongshu Ling, which was a turning point in the politics of the Xuanzong period from being relatively clear to becoming increasingly dark. Wang Wei was very frustrated by Zhang Jiuling's demotion, but he did not withdraw from officialdom. In the twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan, he was sent to Hexi Province to serve as deputy ambassador Cui Xiyi. Later, he was appointed as the imperial censor Zhi Nanxuan. In Tianbaozhong, Wang Wei's official position was gradually promoted. Before the Anshi Rebellion, when officials were in trouble, he was tired and worried about the officialdom at that time, but on the other hand, he was still attached to his family and could not leave decisively. So he followed the customs and lived a semi-official and semi-hidden life for a long time. He originally believed in Buddhism, but as his thoughts became increasingly negative, his Buddhist beliefs also developed. When he was young, he lived in the mountains and forests. After his middle age, he once lived in Zhongnan Mountain. Later, he got a job in Lantian and Wangchuan in Song Dynasty, so he and his friend Pei Diyou traveled there and had fun writing poems for each other. In the fifteenth year of Tianbao (756), Anshi's rebel army fell into Chang'an, Xuanzong entered Shu, and Wang Wei was captured by the rebels. He took medicine and pretended to be suffering from a silent illness, so he was sent to Luoyang and made a fake official. After the two capitals were recovered, those who received false posts were sentenced in equal measure. He was praised by Su Zong for his poem "Ningbi Pond" in memory of the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, his brother Wang Jin had already reached a high official position and asked to be demoted to atone for his brother's sins, so he was only demoted. He was appointed Prince Zhongyun, and later moved to Gishizhong after Fu Lei, and eventually became Minister Youcheng.
[Edit this paragraph] Original poem
The strong wind and the sound of bows and horns,
The general hunts for Wei City.
The grass is dry and the eagle's eyes are sick,
The snow is gone and the horse's hooves are light.
Suddenly passed Xinfeng City,
returned to Xiliu Camp.
Looking back at the place where the Condor Shooting is taking place,
The clouds are flat at dusk for thousands of miles.
[Edit this paragraph] Notes
1. The title of the poem is "Hunting and Riding". "Yuefu Poetry Collection" and "Ten Thousand Tang Dynasty Quatrains" took the first four lines of this poem to create a five-quatrain poem, titled "Rong Hun". "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty" also included "Rong Hun" in Volume 51 and Zhang Hu in the collection, but they were all wrong.
2. Weicheng: Xianyang City in the Qin Dynasty was renamed Weicheng in the Han Dynasty. It is northwest of Xi'an City and north of the Weishui River.
3. Xinfeng City: The former site is located in the northeast of Lintong County, Shaanxi Province. It was a place rich in fine wine in ancient times.
4. Xiliu Camp: In today's Chang'an County, Shaanxi Province, it was the place where the famous general Zhou Yafu of the Han Dynasty stationed his troops. "Historical Records·Jianghou Zhoubo Family": "Yafu is the general, and the army is thin with willows to prepare for the wild." This refers to the military camp where the hunting general lives.
5. Horn bow: a bow decorated with animal horns.
6. Eye disease: keen vision.
7. Muyunping: The evening clouds are connected to the earth.
8. Condor Shooting: Hu Luguang of the Northern Qi Dynasty was proficient in martial arts. He once shot a vulture and was known as the "Vulture Shooter". This incident is used to praise the general.
[Edit this paragraph] Translation
The arrow on the horn bow was shot out, and the strings sounded and the strong wind roared together! The general's hunting horse was galloping in the suburbs of Weicheng.
The withered weeds cannot hide the sharp and agile eyes of the eagle; the snow has melted, and the galloping horse's hooves are more like the wind chasing the leaves.
In the blink of an eye, the hunting cavalry passed through Xinfeng City, and when they stopped their horses, they had already arrived at Xiliu Camp.
Looking back, I saw that the hunting place was a vast expanse of land, and the dusk clouds shrouded the wilderness in silence.
[Edit this paragraph] Appreciation
The year this poem was written is unknown, and it must not have been written in his later years. Starting from the climax of hunting, a series of flying scenes unfold, and the last two sentences are used as a gentle contrast, making the scene of galloping just now seem to be still vivid in the mind. The style is light and refreshing, and the conclusion is memorable.
Volume 1 of Huang Sheng's "Updated Excerpts of Tang Poems": "The starting line is majestic and steep, and the third and fourth notes are strong and exciting again, so the fifth and sixth notes are transferred with melodious tunes, and the seventh and eighth notes should be transferred again, but It's like the tail of an eagle is folded, and it rises several feet.
"
Qing Shen Deqian's "Shuo Shi Yu Yu" says: "The starting point is expensive and abrupt." Wang Youcheng's "The wind is strong and the horns are bowing", Du Gongbu's "The mountains are vast", "The sky and the earth are covered with armor", Cen Jiazhou's "Seeing off guests and flying birds outside" and other chapters, it is surprising that there are rocks falling from the mountains and no one knows where they are coming from. "Also: "One piece by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, "The sword pavilion is towering over the clouds," and one piece by Wang Youcheng, "The wind is strong and the horns are ringing," are full of spirit and energy, and their composition, syntax, and calligraphy are all top-notch. These poems are in the correct style. "
Shi Runzhang of the Qing Dynasty said: "Shang Shu Bai used Hu to view hunting poems, saying that Zhang San did not dare to compare with Wang Youcheng. It seems that it is not a definite conclusion. Hu's poem says: At dawn, we came out of the east of the forbidden city and surrounded Qiancao. The red flag flies toward the sun, and the white horse suddenly faces the wind. He draws the golden arrowhead with his back hand and turns over to control the angle bow. Thousands of people pointed at the same place, and a goose fell into the cold sky. If you read it carefully, it is completely different from You Cheng's style" ("Poetry Talk of Li Zhai").
"Guan Hui" is Wang Wei's early poem describing the general's hunting scene. The whole poem is divided into two parts. The first four sentences are the first part, describing the process of hunting.
The first couplet is "The wind is strong, the horns are bowing, the general is hunting Weicheng", using an inverted sentence structure, cleverly clarifying the identity of the hunter - general, The location of the hunt - the countryside of Weicheng, the weather conditions - the strong wind and the way of hunting - shooting with a sharp bow and a sharp arrow, are quite abrupt, and the poem "takes the lead". The reader follows the sharp sound of the horn bow string in the strong wind to look for the heroic image of the person holding the bow, which creates a kind of suspense for the reader. Here, the word "jin" exaggerates the strong and fierce wind; The word "ming" reflects the "power of the wind" and the power of the bow. The five words that start the sentence are very "emotional", successfully creating a typical atmosphere for the general's appearance, and adding to the atmosphere of the general's appearance. Later, the heroism of the general's posture, the agility of his movements and the cheerfulness of his mood were foreshadowed like a "setting poem", showing the general's ability to "draw the bow to draw strength", dare to gallop proudly, and have the courage to fight tenaciously against difficulties. The images in Wang Wei's poems often have the form and movement of paintings, and absorb the essence of music, so they can combine the comprehensive charm of poetry, painting and music, which is particularly profound and touching.
The chin couplet "The grass is dry and the hawk's eyes are weak, and the snow is gone and the horse's hooves are light", which mainly describes the scene of hunting. Here, "the grass is dry" and "the snow is gone" convey to us the feeling of late winter and early spring while painting the scene. Seasonal information; "Eagle's eye is quick" and "Horse's hoof is light" on the front depicts the movements of war horses and falcon hunting. It does not directly describe the general's expression, but "quick" and "quick" are the general's inner feelings, thus accurately describing the general's expression. The side view exaggerates the general's agility and high fighting spirit as he rides an eagle and a horse to chase his prey.
The last four sentences: "Suddenly passed Xinfeng City and returned to Xiliu Camp. Looking back at the shooting place, the clouds are flat at dusk for thousands of miles. "It describes the scene of the general collecting hunting and returning to camp in the evening. The symmetrical appearance of "passing by" and "returning" not only portrays the image of the general's superb riding skills, magical hunting skills, and energetic image of the general who has been hunting for a day, but also shows the general's superb riding skills and magical hunting skills. I feel joyful and happy when I return home with a full load. Xiliu Camp: In today's Chang'an County, Shaanxi Province, it is said that it was the place where Zhou Yafu, a famous general during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, stationed his troops. "History of the North" records: "Hu Luguang tasted hunting at Huanqiao School." A large bird is seen on the surface. Shoot it and hit it in the neck. It looks like a wheel and spins down. It is an eagle. Xingzi sighed and said, "This is the hand that shoots the vulture." '" Here, the poet uses the two allusions of "Xiliu Camp" and "Shooting the Condor", which not only praises the generals Zhou Yafu and Hu Luguang for their talents, but also hints at the glorious results of this hunting activity. In When entering the military camp, the general's "looking back" has a unique charm. On the one hand, it shows the general's unfinished excitement and hope to return to another day. On the other hand, it also makes the end of the poem unique. The subtle beauty of the lingering sound is endless. This poem is very good at using artistic means such as preemption, side effects and allusions to depict the characters, so that the image of the poem is vivid and vivid, and the artistic conception is grand and implicit.
Looking at the whole poem, half of it is about hunting, and half is about returning from hunting. It starts abruptly and ends happily. The two couplets in the middle flow together, and they can be transferred freely. It has an momentum that cannot be restrained by rhythm, and can be reflected from beginning to end. Combining the five rhymes, this is the beauty of composition. The names of three places are hidden in the poem so that people are not aware of it. The allusions are clear and traceless, and the description of the scene can convey emotions. Three or four sentences are both physical and emotional. This is the beauty of syntax. "Withered", "End", "Ji", "Light", "Suddenly", "Return", the wording and wording are precise and can be responded to. This is the beauty of all these calligraphy techniques. It can express the spirit and heroic spirit of the people in the poem. Therefore, this poem is fully worthy of being praised as a masterpiece of the Tang Dynasty. Although this poem is about daily hunting activities, it vividly depicts the bravery of the general. Heroic and appealing. The thoughts and feelings Wang Wei wants to express in this poem are his desire to serve on the battlefield and to make achievements.
Appreciation:
The title of the poem is "Hunting and Riding". Judging from the powerful style of the poem, it must be Wang Wei's early work. The content of the poem is just an ordinary hunting activity, but it is written with passion and excitement. As for its artistic technique, Shen Deqian of the Qing Dynasty was amazed: " The composition, syntax and calligraphy are all superb. It is also rare in the poetry of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. " ("Tang Poems")
The poem begins with "The strong wind and the sound of the horn bow". Before writing about the person, we first try our best to write about its impact: the wind blows and the strings sing. The sound of the wind and the horn bow (using horns) The sounds of the decorative bows correspond to each other: the force of the wind is heard by the vibration of the strings; the sound of the strings is vibrated by the wind.
The three words "horn and bow sound" already bring out the meaning of "hunting", which can make people imagine the hunting scene where "the horse is so fast and the bow is like a thunderbolt". What kind of hands and eyes you need to shoot in strong wind! This again evokes suspense in the reader about the hunter. When the momentum is strong, the protagonist of the hunting game is introduced: "General Hunting in Weicheng". The appearance of the general meets the readers' expectations. The success of this initial stroke lies entirely in its abruptness, which can seize others first. "It's like a rock falling from a high mountain, and you don't know where it's coming from. It's astonishing" (Fang Dongshu). Two sentences: "If it is reversed, it is an ordinary pen" (Shen Deqian).
Weicheng is the ancient city of Xianyang during the Qin Dynasty. It is northwest of Chang'an and on the north bank of the Weishui River. At that time, the grass on the plains was withered and the snow had disappeared. There was a hint of spring in the depression of late winter. The four characters "grass withers" and "snow ends" are as simple, vivid and picturesque as a sketch. The "Eagle's Eye" is particularly sharp because of the "withered grass", the "Horse's Hoof" is absolutely unobstructed because of the "end of snow", and the chin joint is extremely delicate. Instead of saying "sharp" the eagle's eyes are "sharp" in the three sentences, it means the prey will be discovered quickly. The words "horse's hooves are light" are immediately followed by the words "horse's hooves are light", which means that the hunting horse is following quickly. The words "disease" and "qing" are both wonderful. These two sentences are reminiscent of Bao Zhao's famous hunting sentence: "The beasts are fat and the grass is short in spring, and the flying eagle crosses the flat land." However, the meaning of finding prey and pursuing it is clearly written on the paper, but Wang Wei made the same meaning implicit The sentence below makes people think about it, and they will feel that the poetry is meaningful. At first reading, the three or four sentences seem to express the same meaning, and the two antitheses are called baht. After careful interpretation, I realize that the meanings are consistent, and they are indeed "liquid pairs". Such exquisite couplets are rare.
The above description of hunting only touches on the three details of "the sound of horns and bows", "sickness of eagle's eyes" and "lightness of horse's hooves", and does not describe the hunting scene. Firstly, the opinion of hunting is implicit; secondly, the pleasure of hunting is far from being measurable by actual utility. I only write about the heroic appearance and influence of hunting and riding.
The neck couplet comes immediately after "the horse's hoof is light", but the meaning turns to stop hunting and return. Although there are twists and turns, it keeps the same meaning as above and flows away naturally. The former site of "Xinfeng City" is in Lintong County, Shaanxi Province today, and "Xiliuying" is in Chang'an County, Shaanxi Province today. The two places are more than 70 miles apart. These two place names are both found in the "Book of Han". The poets gathered there at the time of the meeting. They are elegant and interesting, so there is no need to refer to them. When you say "passed by suddenly" and "return back", you can see the speed of the return to camp, and it really feels like "thousands of miles" in an instant. "Xiliu Camp" was originally a place where Zhou Yafu stationed troops in the Han Dynasty. The name has an additional meaning. It seems that the hunting protagonist in the poem also has the demeanor of a famous general. It is consistent with the image of the previous one who was high-spirited and heroic when hunting. These two sentences in a row not only vividly describe the hunting and riding scene, but also truly express the protagonist's light feeling and joyful mood.
Writing about returning from hunting, the poetic essence is exhausted. The last couplet concludes with a description of the scene, but it is not the scene of the camp, but "looking back" at the distant view of the hunting place, which is already "thousands of miles away and the clouds are level". This scene is far away from the beginning of the chapter. The beginning and end not only echo each other, but also form a contrast: at the beginning, the wind was turbulent, corresponding to the tense atmosphere of the hunting trip; at this time, the wind is calm and the clouds are calm, commensurate with the hesitant and contented mood after returning from hunting. The description of scenery is all about expressions, and seeing the ebb and flow of emotions in the changes of scenery is a wonderful pen. The seven sentences are found in the classic "History of the North." "The Biography of Hu Luguang" records that when Hu Luguang of the Northern Qi Dynasty was hunting in school, he saw a big bird in the clouds and shot it in the neck. It was shaped like a wheel and spun down. It was an eagle, so he was called the "eagle shooter". The word "shooting vultures" implies that the general has strong physical strength and excellent archery skills. The ending of the poem is far away and full of aftertaste.
Looking at the whole poem, half of it is about hunting, and half is about returning from hunting. It starts abruptly and ends happily. The two couplets in the middle flow together, and they can be transferred freely. They have an momentum that cannot be restrained by rhythm, and they can The beginning and end of the circle are reflected, and the body is integrated with the five laws. This is the beauty of the composition. The names of three places are hidden in the poem so that people are not aware of it, the allusions are blurred without trace, and the description of the scenery can convey emotions. In three or four sentences, it is both physical and emotional. This is a wonderful syntax. "Withered", "finished", "disease", "light", "suddenly passed", "returned", the wording and wording are accurately tempered, and Xian can take care of them. This is the beauty of calligraphy. All these techniques are wonderfully able to express the vivid mood and heroic feelings of the people in the poem. Therefore, this poem is fully worthy of being praised as a masterpiece of the Tang Dynasty. ... ...
[Edit this paragraph] Author's accomplishments
There are currently less than 400 poems by Wang Wei. Among them, the most representative of his creative features are poems depicting natural scenery such as mountains, rivers and pastoral areas, and singing about hermit life. Wang Wei's high achievements in depicting natural scenery made him unique in the poetry circle of the prosperous Tang Dynasty and became a representative figure of the landscape pastoral poetry school. He inherited and developed the tradition of writing landscape poetry initiated by Xie Lingyun, and also absorbed the freshness and nature of Tao Yuanming's pastoral poetry, which brought the achievement of landscape pastoral poetry to a peak, and thus occupied an important position in the history of Chinese poetry. Together with Meng Haoran, he is a representative figure of the landscape pastoral school in the Tang Dynasty. "Old Book of Tang·Biography of Wang Wei" says that during the reign of Emperor Daizong, Wang Jin compiled more than 400 poems by Wang Wei. Wang Jin's "Jin Wang Youcheng Ji Biao" also compiled 10 volumes of Wang Wei's poetry and prose. Shugutang originally had 10 volumes of the Southern Song Dynasty's Ma Sha version of "Collected Works of Wang Youcheng", which were later returned to Lu Xinyuan's Songlou. The Beijing Library has 10 volumes of the Song and Shu editions of "Collected Works of Wang Mojie", which were photocopied and published by Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House in 1982. In the Yuan Dynasty, Liu Xuxi commented on "The Collection of Wang Youcheng" (Collected Poems) in 6 volumes, and the "Sibu Congkan" was copied based on it, which included works by Qian Qi, Lu Xiang, Cui Xingzong and others. Gu Qijing of the Ming Dynasty has 10 volumes of "Collected Poems of Tang Dynasty King Youcheng" with 10 volumes and 4 volumes of attached essays. This is the earliest existing annotated version of Wang Wei's poems. "Wang Youcheng's Collection of Notes" by Zhao Diancheng of the Qing Dynasty is by far the better annotated version.
In addition to explanatory notes on all the poems, it also includes comments, explanations of the poems whose authors are doubtful, and occasional textual research. It also collects information about Wang Wei's life and poetry and painting criticism as an appendix. In 1961, the Shanghai Editorial Office of Zhonghua Book Company revised and revised Zhao's annotated version, typed and published it. In addition, Zheng Zhenduo used the "Sibu Congkan" edition as the base, revised it with Zhao Diancheng's annotated edition and other four editions, and included it in the "World Library". Deeds can be seen in the new and old "Tang Shu" biography. Both Gu Qi Jing's annotated version and Zhao Diancheng's annotated version are accompanied by Wang Wei's chronology written by the annotator. Today's Chen Yi has an article "A Preliminary Study of Wang Wei's Life and Deeds", followed by a "Brief Chronology of Wang Wei" (contained in "Tang Poetry Series").