Appreciation of Cen Shen's "Nine Days' March to Think of My Hometown in Chang'an"
I wanted to climb high, but no one brought me wine.
The chrysanthemums that take pity on my hometown should bloom near the battlefield.
Appreciation
There are many good poems in the Tang Dynasty with the theme of climbing on the Double Ninth Festival on September 9th, and each has its own characteristics. This poem by Cen Shen does not express ordinary holiday homesickness, but concerns about state affairs and concern for the suffering of the people during the war. On the surface, it appears to be plain and simple in writing, but in fact it is exquisitely conceived and has infinite charm. It is a simple, profound and thought-provoking lyrical masterpiece.
The original annotation of this poem said: "Changan has not yet been captured." In the 14th year of Tang Tianbao's reign (755), Anlushan rebelled, and Chang'an was captured the next year. In February of the second year of Zhide (757), Suzong marched from Pengyuan to Fengxiang, accompanied by Cen Shen. In September, the Tang army recaptured Chang'an, and the poem may have been written in Fengxiang during the Double Ninth Festival of that year. Cen Shen was from Nanyang, but he had lived in Chang'an for a long time, so he called Chang'an his "hometown".
The ancients had the custom of climbing high to drink chrysanthemum wine during the Double Ninth Festival on September 9th. The word "climbing" in the first sentence closely links to the "nine days" in the title. The word "strong" at the beginning expresses the poet's desolate situation during the war. The second sentence uses an allusion from Tao Yuanming. According to "Southern History." "Hermitage" records: Tao Yuanming once celebrated the Double Ninth Festival and had no wine to drink, so he sat alone among the chrysanthemums beside his house for a long time. Later, Wang Hong happened to bring wine, so he returned drunk. The opposite meaning here is to say that although I reluctantly wanted to go up to the heights to drink according to the custom, but during the war, there was no one like Wang Hong to bring wine to cheer up. This sentence follows the previous sentence, has a natural connection, and is written clearly as words, so that people do not realize that it is an allusion. It has reached the highest requirement of "using things" put forward by the predecessors: "Using things does not make people realize that it is just like speaking from the chest." (Xing Shao language) It is precisely because of the clever use of allusions here that it can arouse people's various associations and speculations: What is the reason for "no one brings wine"? This implies the specific environment of the "march" in the title.
The word "yao" at the beginning of the third sentence exaggerates the distance between myself and my hometown, Chang'an, and makes me feel homesick. When the author writes about homesickness, he does not write in general terms, but particularly emphasizes missing and pity for the chrysanthemums in his hometown in Chang'an. Written in this way, not only individual representatives are used to represent the general, but the "Hometown Chrysanthemum" is used to represent the entire hometown of Chang'an, which is vivid and concrete. Moreover, it is a natural development from the description of climbing high and drinking, and is the result of the above-mentioned Tao Yuanming's death due to lack of alcohol. The allusion of sitting sullenly among the chrysanthemums evokes associations that have the characteristics of the Double Ninth Festival. It still sticks to the "Nine Days" in the title, and also points out the "Chang'an Hometown". It can be said that it is timely and closely tied to the title of the poem. Up to this point in the poem, it seems relatively plain, but it is written like this to force out the crucial last sentence. This sentence follows the previous sentence and is an imaginary word. Originally, one could have various imaginations about the chrysanthemums in the hometown. The poet did not write anything else but imagined that they should "bloom near the battlefield." This kind of imagination captures the word "march" in the title of the poem and combines the Anshi Rebellion and Chang'an. The characteristics of the trapped era are written in a novel and natural way with real images, making us seem to see a clear picture of the war: the city of Chang'an is raging with war, the streets are stained with blood, and among the broken walls, clusters of chrysanthemums are still growing lonely. open. The imaginative words here have obviously gone beyond the simple cherishment of flowers and homesickness, and instead express the poet's sympathy for the war-torn people and his desire to put an end to the Anshi Rebellion as soon as possible. This concluding sentence uses narrative language, which is simple and unpretentious, but it is more clever than simplicity, has profound meaning and is worthy of chewing. It suddenly makes a leap in the ideological and artistic realm of the whole poem.