Here is a story about Song Zhiwen's encounter with King Luo Bin.
Luo Binwang, a poet in the early Tang Dynasty, took part in fighting against Wu Zetian, but failed. He had to remain anonymous and become a monk.
On this day, a young tourist came to Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou. It was Song Zhiwen. In the evening, Song Zhiwen strolled along the corridor between temples, and when he saw the bright moon in the sky and the wild mountains rolling, he was full of poetry, and he sang two poems, "The vulture ridge is dead and the Dragon Palace is lonely", which consciously meant something, but the following two sentences could not be picked up at the moment. At the end of the corridor, Song Zhiwen suddenly saw an old monk meditating. He came forward to say hello. The old monk raised his eyes and said, "I have two words-",so he sang slowly, "Watch the sea day from the floor and listen to the tide in Zhejiang." Hearing this, Song Zhiwen was deeply impressed.
Song Zhiwen went back to his room to savor, and found the old monk's two sentences wonderful. Early the next morning, he rushed to visit the old monk, but there was no one there. While wandering in despair, a young monk passed by, and Song Zhiwen hurried up to ask. The monk said, "Oh, he is King Luo Bin."
The story of the poem
Song Zhiwen was once exiled by the imperial court to Luoding County, Guangdong Province, and later secretly fled back to his hometown from there. This poem was written when he passed the Han River on his way to escape, and his feelings were sincere.
When I was exiled to Guangdong, I not only had a hard life, but also didn't get any news from my family. This situation lasted for a long time. The words "broken" and "complex" are well used, showing the pain of the poet's isolation in Guangdong.
The last two sentences describe the ambivalence when a fugitive approaches his hometown: on the one hand, the poet misses his family day and night, on the other hand, he is always worried that his family will suffer misfortune because of his own tie. Moreover, the closer this ambivalence is to his hometown, the stronger it becomes, which leads the poet to be particularly afraid of meeting acquaintances and fearing that his fears will come true.
This poem describes the development of psychological contradictions of the ancients under the special circumstances of exile. Readers can appreciate the poet's mood. This kind of description is real, emotional and intriguing.
The words "now, nearing my village, meeting people, I dare not ask a single question" have been widely circulated in later generations.