Introduction: Du Shenyan praises himself very highly, but does he have real talent and learning? Objectively speaking, the level of Du Shenyan's five-character poems in the early Tang Dynasty was still quite high. Let's find out together!
Hu Yinglin, a literary critic of the Ming Dynasty, said in "Shisou": "Du Shenyan must be the author of the five-character verses in the early Tang Dynasty." He wrote five-character verses in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. There are many people. Du Shenyan's contribution is that he made the syntactic structure more delicate and complex between the dualities in the poem. For example, in his masterpiece "An Early Spring Tour with Lu Cheng in the Jinling Mausoleum": "The only official visitors are surprised by the new phenology. The clouds rise over the sea at dawn, and the plum willows cross the river in spring. The sweet air urges the yellow birds, and the clear light turns to green apples. Suddenly I hear a song "Ancient tune, I want to return to my mind." This poem has clear rhymes, harmonious rhythms, and neat contrasts. It is a mature verse work. It can be regarded as the foundation for the completion of modern poetry in the early Tang Dynasty. Hu Yinglin even praised it as " The first among the five laws of the early Tang Dynasty."
Wang Fuzhi, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, also fully affirmed Du Shenyan’s contribution. He said: "Poetry in the early Tang Dynasty must be simple, concise and smooth!" This means that by the time of Du Shenyan in the early Tang Dynasty, The poem became neat, precise and smooth. However, compared to the development of rhythmic poetry format, his greater contribution lies in his influence on Du Fu, another genius of the Du family.
Du Fu did not receive personal instruction from his grandfather. He was only born 4 years after Du Shenyan's death, but Du Fu's admiration for his grandfather was beyond words. He said in "Jin Diao Fu Biao" that his grandfather "cultivated literature in the Zhongzong Dynasty and regarded it highly as a collection of books, so scholars all over the world still study under him." In Du Fu's poems, we can see many traces of learning from and imitating Du Shenyan. For example, in a duet with Song Zhiwen, Du Shenyan once wrote: "The mist is weak and the green hair is weak, and the wind is holding the purple vines long." Du Fu interpreted it as: "The forest flowers are wet with rouge in the rain, and the water lilies are holding the wind and the green strips are long. "Du Shenyan once had a sentence in "Spring in the Capital" that "sends a message to Luo City, and the beauty of spring will return to people next year". Du Fu evolved it into "Password to the Scenery" in "Two Poems on Qujiang". ** circulates, and for the time being, we should reward each other and do not violate each other." Du Shenyan's poetic attainments deeply influenced Du Fu. No wonder Du Fu once said with great pride on his son's birthday: "Poetry is my family's business, and it is passed down from person to person in the world."
Modern poet Ye Jiaying Looking at the inheritance relationship between Du Shenyan and Du Fu's ancestors and grandchildren, she said: "The emergence of an event and the completion of a genius are often caused by various opportunities and various factors. The reason why Du Fu became a famous figure in the Tang Dynasty One of the most important authors, I think this is closely related to his family education. "This is extremely pertinent.
Because of this, behind Du Shenyan's arrogance, there is indeed something he can be proud of. This pride was like aristocratic arrogance, melted in his blood, allowing him to look down on everyone until his death.
In the second year of Jinglong (708), Du Shenyan's life came to an end. When he was ill, his friends Song Zhiwen and Wu Pingyi came to visit him. They were very sad to see him dying, so they asked him if he had anything else to say. Du Shenyan sighed and said with regret: "God has made me suffer so much, what else can I say? However, as long as I am alive, you will not be able to get out of here. Now that I am going to die, you should be happy." , It’s a pity that there is no truly talented person who can replace me!”
Du Shenyan just left like this. Before he died, he did not forget to play a black humor, making his friends look at each other, not knowing what to do. What to say.
Although Du Shenyan always offended people with his words, his friends' admiration for him still came from the bottom of their hearts. After his death, Song Zhiwen personally wrote the elegiac "Essays on Consecration of Scholar Du", which ranked him with the "Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty" and praised him as "only his spirit is clear, he can surpass all the disciples, his words will be brilliant, and his meaning will be brilliant". "Chang Tongli", when I missed my friendship with him, I couldn't help but shed tears: "I love you so much that I have accumulated hatred, but I miss you so much that my love is doubled." Another friend, Wu Pingyi, went to the emperor to ask "for kindness." "Zhu Fu, favoring Youquan, pretending to be a final ceremony, holding a ceremony of mourning and honor", held a grand funeral for Du Shenyan in recognition of his contribution.
Some people say that Du Shenyan is a bit like the "old naughty boy" in Jin Yong's novels. It’s okay to be crazy when it comes to poetry and poetry, and you may often have a stroke of genius; but when it comes to being crazy as a person, your words must be “venomous”, which can easily hurt others and yourself. This is where Du Shenyan gives us a warning.