Throughout the ages, most poetry appeared in the Tang Dynasty. The famous poet Li Shen was also born in the seventh year of Dali in the Tang Dynasty. Li Shen was not only a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty, but also a good official in the Tang Dynasty. He spent his life in the officialdom. He held many official positions, ranging from local magistrate to prime minister of the DPRK. However, the most glorious part of his life was not in officialdom, but in writing poetry and lyrics.
Portrait of Li Shen
Li Shen was born into a family of officials. He was the great-grandson of Zhongshu Ling Li Jingxuan, and his father was a local county magistrate. But his father passed away when he was a child, and he has always been dependent on his mother. He suffered a lot when he was a child. It was precisely because he witnessed the hardships of farmers' life when he was young that he later wrote the famous poem "Compassion for the Farmers" and was known as the poet of compassion for the farmers. He had close contacts with Tang Dynasty poets Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi, and together they created the "New Yuefu" poetry style.
Li Shen was the advocate of the "New Yuefu" poetry anthology in the Tang Dynasty. His talent for writing poetry can be seen in his "Compassion for the Farmers". The reason why the two poems "Compassion for the Farmers" have been circulated to this day is not only because the poems express the author's feelings. At the same time, these two poems use methods of contrasting and echoing each other, leaving a strong impact on the world.
Li Shen may have been influenced by his family since he was a child. He wanted to gain fame and seek an official position, but he failed in the first few exams. It was not until the age of twenty-seven that he passed the Jinshi examination and officially entered the officialdom as a Hanlin bachelor. Later, in the 14th year of Yuanhe, he was promoted to Youshiyi. However, he was involved in party strife in the later period and was demoted to Duanzhou as Sima. Li Shen has been ups and downs in the officialdom. He is dedicated to doing things for the country and the people, but the officialdom is as fierce as a battlefield. Later, he resigned from his official position due to physical illness and stroke, but his heart was with the imperial court, and he later served as the military governor of Huainan. It can be said that he spent his whole life in official circles. He finally died of illness in Yangzhou in the sixth year of Huichang at the age of seventy-four.
Li Shen’s Compassion for the Farmers
Li Shen, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, was born in Wucheng County. He was the great-grandson of Li Jingxuan, the official secretary of the Tang Dynasty. He was diligent and studious since he was a child. . When he was young, he also wanted to gain fame and serve the imperial court. At first, he failed in the exams, but he passed the Jinshi exam at the age of twenty-seven and entered the official career.
Portrait of Li Shen
He held countless official positions, but the most glorious part of his life was not in officialdom, but in poetry. He had close contacts with famous poets such as Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen. Later, he wrote two poems "Compassion for the Farmers" that have become famous throughout the ages.
Poetry 1 of Li Shen's "Compassion for the Farmers": "Plant one grain of millet in spring and harvest ten thousand grains in autumn." The first two sentences of this poem describe the beautiful scene of good weather at that time, farmers working hard to sow seeds in the spring, and farmers having a bumper harvest in the autumn. But the last two sentences are thought-provoking. Since there was a bumper harvest and no field was free, why were the farmers still not full? It is not difficult for people to know that this poem profoundly exposed the cruel exploitation of farmers by the rulers at that time.
Poetry 2 of "Compassion for the Farmers", this poem is about the hardships farmers have in farming and laments that every grain of food is hard-earned. This poem not only tells us that everyone should know how to cherish food and not waste it at will. Every meter and millet are hard-earned. However, combined with the poem "Compassion for the Peasants", it is not difficult to see that the poet implicitly denounced the serious exploitation of the working people by the ruling class at that time.
The two poems "Compassion for the Farmers" are a pair of sisters. The contents and scenery depicted in the poems are similar, and the author wants to express the same thoughts. After people read these two poems, they not only fully express the hard work of the farmers, but also express the unspeakable hardships of the farmers at a deeper level. The two poems "Compassion for the Farmers" were rated as the eighth best among the ten best Tang poems in the Tang Dynasty poetry. They often appear in many textbooks to this day, and their influence is far-reaching.
The background of Li Shen’s poems about compassion for farmers
Li Shen, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, was born in Wucheng County, Haozhou. He was diligent and studious since he was a child, and he cared about the country and the people. His father passed away when he was young, and he has been living with his mother ever since. At that time, his mother only wanted him to obtain fame and become an official in the court. At the age of twenty-seven, he finally passed the Jinshi examination. At that time, he was appreciated by the emperor for his outstanding talents and was appointed as a Hanlin bachelor. From then on, he embarked on an official career and spent his life in official circles. But the most shining part of his life was not in officialdom, but in becoming a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty.
Portrait of Li Shen
Li Shen was born in the Tang Dynasty and was a very famous poet. Although he was in the imperial court, this did not affect his achievements in poetry. One summer, he returned to his hometown of Haozhou to visit his relatives. At that time, he happened to meet his classmate and friend Li Fengji in Haozhou. Li Fengji was serving as the military governor of eastern Zhejiang at that time and happened to pass through Haozhou. The two were very happy to meet again after a long separation and had a hearty chat with each other.
At that time, Li Shen and Li Fengji went to the Guanjia Terrace to play together. Although both of them are in official positions, they still have a lot of emotions in their hearts. Immediately, Li Fengji stood on the high platform and recited a poem without being surprised, meaning it would be great if his promotion could be as fast as climbing a high official. But Li Shen was deeply moved by the hard-working farmers in the fields below. They were working hard with hoes in their hands and the scorching sun above their heads.
Li Shen was very moved when he saw this scene and couldn't help but write two poems "Compassion for the Farmers". These two poems have become eternal masterpieces and have been passed down to this day.
Li Shen wrote "Compassion for the Peasants". After listening to it, Li Fengji thought to himself, didn't Li Shen's poem secretly accuse the imperial court? Although he and Li Shen were very good friends on the surface, But for the sake of official position, he wanted to use Li Shen as a stepping stone to advance to another level. After he returned to the court, he reported the poem "Compassion to the Farmers" written by Li Shen to the emperor. After seeing this, the emperor summoned Li Shen. Instead of blaming him, he promoted his official position.