The news of the death of an old friend gradually came to my ears, and there were many young people I didn’t know before my eyes. I lament that I am getting older.
From "Elegy" by Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty.
Original text:
The old man has his old hair and his mirror is newly polished, and there is nothing he can do about it.
I often hear about the death of old friends, but before my eyes I feel that there are so many young people.
Sai Hong still flutters his wings when encountering warmth, and the river water also reflects the waves due to the tide.
It is unique that the beauty cannot be retained, and the drunkenness has no plan but a sad song.
Translation:
Sitting in front of the mirror, looking at my white hair that I had just washed, I lamented that my body was getting worse day by day.
The news of the death of an old friend gradually came to my ears, and there were many young people I didn’t know before my eyes.
When spring comes, the geese outside the Great Wall will return, and the river will also return in waves due to the waves.
Only my haggard face will no longer look young. I tried to drown my sorrows with wine but found it was useless. I could only sigh a sad song.
Extended information:
Bai Juyi’s thought combines Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, with Confucianism as the leading thought. Mencius said, "If you are prosperous, you can help the world; if you are poor, you can help yourself." This is the creed he followed throughout his life. Its ambition to "contribute to economic development" is based on Confucian benevolence, and also includes Huang Lao's theory, the art of managing Xiao, and the method of Shen Han; its "independent kindness" heart absorbs the concepts of contentment, equality of things, and freedom from Lao and Zhuang. Buddhist thought of "liberation".
The two are roughly bounded by the Bai family being demoted to Jiangzhou Sima. Bai Juyi not only left nearly 3,000 poems, but also put forward a whole set of poetry theories. He compared poetry to a fruit tree and put forward the viewpoint of "root feelings, seedling words, beautiful sounds, and real meanings" ("Yu Yuan Jiu Shu"). He believed that "emotion" is the fundamental condition of poetry, and "nothing that touches people's hearts comes first than emotion." " ("Yu Yuan Jiu Shu"), and the generation of emotions is based on feelings and is tied to current affairs.
Therefore, poetry creation cannot be divorced from reality and must be based on various events in real life and reflect the social and political conditions of an era. He inherited the tradition of poetry and poetry since the Book of Songs, and paid attention to the realistic content and social role of poetry. Emphasize the function of poetry in exposing and criticizing political shortcomings. He put forward a series of principles on the expression method of poetry.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Bai Juyi
Reference source; Baidu Chinese_Elegy