The writing background of Han Yi's Cold Food is the system of the Tang Dynasty. On the Qingming Day, the emperor announced that he would take the fire of the elm willow as a reward for his recent ministers. This ceremony has two purposes: first, it marks the end of the Cold Food Festival and can be used for fire; The second is to remind the courtiers and officials, so that everyone can learn from the mesons who have made meritorious deeds and are not rewarded. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, several bad emperors favored eunuchs, so that they had great power, corrupted the court affairs and excluded the court officials. That's why this poem was published.
Appreciation of Poetry
Cold Food is a seven-character quatrain written by Han Yi, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, which depicts the customs during the Cold Food Festival in Chang 'an. Cold food is an important festival in ancient China, which is 15 days after the winter solstice and one or two days before Qingming Festival. The ancients attached great importance to this festival, and according to the custom, every family banned fire and only ate cold food, hence the name cold food.
The first two sentences of the poem describe the scenery of Chang 'an City blooming in spring. The first sentence is about the gorgeous scene of falling flowers everywhere in Chang 'an, and the second sentence is about the swaying posture of willows under the spring breeze. The last two sentences are both realistic and allegorical.
In the system of the Tang Dynasty, the emperor issued an order during the Cold Food Festival to take the fire of elm willow and give it to the near minister as a sign of favor. Cold food in Japan should be banned from fire, but candles can be burned in the palace, and the emperor licensed the burning of candles from the palace to be sent to the house of ministers. The "five marquis" mentioned in this poem is not a state minister, but a lucky person around the emperor, so it has a critical meaning.