“The mountains end with the plains, and the river flows into the wilderness.” The cross outlines the geographical situation and magnificent landscape of Jingmen. The angles of the scene descriptions here are moving, rather than static observation at a fixed point. This is reflected in the four words "sui, exhaust, enter, and flow". Therefore, these two poems are not only more powerful because of the vast wilderness images of "plain fields" and "wilderness" written into them; they are also very vivid because of the dynamic descriptions. Although the river is flowing, the mountains are originally solid. The dynamic feeling of "following and ending" is completely derived from the actual experience of boating. After traveling for many days through the steep and dangerous Three Gorges area with overlapping mountains, you can imagine your sudden enlightenment when you suddenly see the magnificent scenery.
Appreciation of Li Bai's "Farewell at the Jingmen Gate"
Crossing the distance outside the Jingmen Gate, I came to travel from the Kingdom of Chu.
The mountains end with the plains, and the river flows into the wilderness.
Under the moon, there is a flying mirror, and the clouds form a sea tower.
I still feel sorry for the water in my hometown, and send my boat sailing thousands of miles away.
Appreciation
Jingmen, the name of the mountain, is located on the south bank of the Yangtze River in the northwest of Yidu County, Hubei Province, opposite Huya Mountain across the river. It belonged to the Chu State during the Warring States Period.
Li Bai spent his childhood and youth in Shu. At the age of twenty-five, he began to travel far to the Yangtze River and the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. This poem was written when he traveled to Shu. The title of the poem is "Farewell at the Jingmen Gate". Shen Deqian believed that "there is no farewell meaning in the poem, and the two words in the title can be deleted" ("Tang Poems"). It seems that this argument is somewhat inappropriate. Farewell is not about the poet saying goodbye to people in the same boat. From the last two sentences of this poem, we can know that the original "farewell" refers to the "hometown water" that bids farewell to the poet. Yu Biyun, a recent scholar, also said: "The last two sentences express farewell. Wherever the guest goes, Gongshui is far away from him, and the heart of the person who sees him off will also follow him." ("A Brief Introduction to Poetry")
< p>This poem is a lyrical work that borrows scenery. Cleverly conceived. The veins are well organized and the structure is undulating and layered.The first two sentences are a general narrative, stating that the poet left his hometown, traveled thousands of miles, and took a boat to cross Jingmen. Come and roam in the territory of the ancient Chu State. "Duyuan" is the reverse spelling of "Yuandu". "Lai Cong" means coming to do something. It seems that these two sentences are not amazing, but they are closely related to the following poems, and they play an important role in threading the whole poem.
The following four sentences of "The mountains end with the plains" are flashbacks. The two sentences "The mountains follow the plains and the fields end, and the river flows into the wilderness" describe the changes in the scenery on the ground that the poet saw when he was sitting on the boat. These two sentences are written with great capacity. There is a three-dimensional sense of a vast space and a sense of a long journey. It describes the poet taking a boat from Sichuan, traveling down the Yangtze River, and passing through the winding and undulating Three Gorges, which towers into the clouds. Coming to the vast Hubei plain, the high mountains gradually disappeared. As the mountains changed, the roaring Yangtze River gradually calmed down and slowly flowed eastward in the vast wilderness. It uses highly condensed language. It describes the geographical changes of the poet's entire journey in an extremely general way. These two lines are the same as Du Fu's two lines of poem "The stars follow the vast plains, and the moon surges into the river" ("Lv Ye Shu Huai"), but they are each unique in their own way. The difference is that Li Bai's two lines of poems describe the scenery during the day, while Du Fu's two lines of poems describe the scenery at night. Li's poem is "looking at the boat for a moment", and Du's poem is "stopping the boat and taking a closer look" (Wang Qi's "Collected Works of Li Taibai" (compiled notes), there is no distinction between good and bad.
The two sentences "Flying mirror under the moon, clouds forming sea towers" describe the night scene in space. The poet sat on the boat, looked up at the sky thousands of miles away, and saw only a bright moon, like a moon flying down from the sky. The bright mirror, bright and clear, illuminates the earth. The colorful clouds floating in the blue sky suddenly connect together, and due to the effect of refraction, they form a very spectacular mirage. Both sentences use vivid images to describe the charming scenery of space, showing the poet's rich imagination. Regarding the sentence "Flying Mirror under the Moon", someone explained: The moon reflects in the river, like a mirror flying down from the sky. This explanation seems to be inaccurate. "Flying Mirror under the Moon" is extremely poetic. That is, the moon moves down from space, just like a bright mirror flying down from the sky. There is no meaning here of "the moon reflects in the river". Xin Qiji wrote in his poem: "A round of autumn shadow turns to golden waves, and the flying mirror is polished again." ("Taichang Yin") He compared the moon to a mirror flying down from the sky, which is exactly the same as Li Bai's poetic meaning. Yu Biyun said: "Write about what you see in the river in five or six sentences, using a sky mirror to describe the brightness of the moon. Use a sea tower to describe the strangeness of the clouds. However, the river and sky are high and vast, so what you see is like this. If you look at the clouds and moon in the courtyard, There is no such thing.” (ibid.) The insight is extraordinary and can be regarded as a good comment.
The last two sentences, "Still pitying the water of my hometown, seeing off the boat thousands of miles away," closely follow the title of the poem "Farewell" and echo the poetic sentiment of the first two sentences about the poet's journey away from Shu. Li Bai spent his time in Shu from the age of five to the age of twenty-five. He loves the mountains and rivers of his hometown and has a strong affection for his hometown. When a poet suddenly leaves his hometown and travels to a distant place, he will naturally feel a sense of farewell. This can also be said to be a "feeling of separation". The beauty of these two lines of poems is that the poet obviously has feelings about leaving his hometown, but he does not say it directly. Instead, he uses personification to say that "hometown water" has deep feelings for him and works tirelessly. Sending him off from Sichuan to Jingmen, that is, "sending off the boat thousands of miles away". Use this anthropomorphic approach. It is more tortuous and subtle, more poetic and interesting than expressing one's feelings directly.
In short, this poem is relatively successful in art. It is written in a tortuous and subtle way, with ups and downs. Sometimes it writes about the mountains and waters on the ground, sometimes it writes about the strange scenes in space; sometimes it writes about the ups and downs of the mountains during the day. , the appreciation of nature with rushing rivers, and suddenly the enjoyment of the changing sceneries of space at night. Finally, personification is used to express the poet's feelings of leaving his hometown in a tortuous and subtle way. Through the poet's careful observation and appreciation of the natural scenes, we can appreciate the enterprising spirit and the endless vitality of the young poet who has just entered society. In particular, the two sentences "The mountains end with the plains, and the rivers flow into the wilderness" vividly describe the poet's boat ride through the Three Gorges, the high mountains and ridges, gradually disappearing into the vast wilderness; the surging Yangtze River, as the mountains disappear, in the Slowly flowing eastward on the endless plain... The poet used this kind of line drawing and light colors to depict a very real landscape painting, leaving endless aesthetic feelings to future generations.