Sui Palace
Tang Dynasty: Li Shangyin
Ziquan Palace is locked in haze, hoping to take Wucheng as the imperial home.
The jade seal is not destined to return to the sun, but the brocade sail should reach the end of the world.
Today there are no fireflies in the rotting grass, but in ancient times there were dusk crows in the weeping poplars.
If you meet Empress Chen underground, why should you ask about the flowers in the backyard again?
Translation
Rhyme translation
The palace in Chang'an was filled with haze, and Yang Guang also wanted to make Wucheng the emperor's home.
If Li Yuan had not obtained the imperial seal, his dragon boat would have traveled to the end of the world.
Nowadays, there are no fireflies in the palace gardens of the Sui Dynasty, only drooping willows and crows returning to their nests.
If Yang Guang met Empress Chen underground, would he be interested in admiring the flowers in the backyard that were humiliating the country?
Translation
Thousands of palaces and pavilions in Chang'an are idle and closed, and the sky is shrouded in haze. I want to build more luxurious palaces and gardens in the prosperous Jiangdu.
If the emperor’s jade seal had not returned to the Li family, Emperor Yang’s brocade sail might have traveled all over the world.
In those days, only rotten grass remained in the place where fireflies were released, and the fireflies had long since cut off their roots and buds. For many years, the Sui Embankment was lonely and desolate, and the weeping poplars on both sides were inhabited by returning crows.
If he reunited with Empress Chen underground, would he be able to listen to the song "Flowers in the Back Garden" again?
Comments
Sui Palace: refers to Sui Yang The palace built by Emperor Yang Guang in Jiangdu (now Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province).
Ziquan: Ziyuan, the name of the Chang'an River, was changed to avoid taboos because the Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty was named Li Yuan. Sima Xiangru's "Ode to Shanglin" describes the emperor's Shanglin Garden as "the Danshui River runs to the south, and the Ziyuan River runs to the north." This uses Ziquan Palace to refer to the palace in Chang'an, the capital of the Sui Dynasty. Suo Yanxia: There are smoke and clouds in the sky.
Wucheng: Guangling (now Yangzhou). Imperial family, imperial capital.
Jade Seal (xǐ): the emperor’s jade seal. Sun horn: The forehead horn is prominent, which the ancients thought was the appearance of an emperor. This refers to Li Yuan, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
Brocade sail: The dragon boat ridden by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty. Its sail was made of gorgeous palace brocade.
There is no firefly in rot grass: The ancients thought that fireflies were transformed from rot grass.
Chuiyang: Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty diverted the river from Banzhu to the Huaihe River. He built a royal road with willow trees along the river, which was called Sui Embankment, covering a distance of 1,300 miles.
Empress Chen: Chen Shubao, the last emperor of Chen Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty, was the king of famine and subjugation. Flowers in the Back Courtyard: That is, "Flowers in the Back Courtyard of Yushu", created by empress Chen, with colorful lyrics.
Appreciation
The title of the first couplet is "The Purple Spring Palace is locked in haze, and I want to take Wucheng as the emperor's home." The poet associated the palace in Chang'an with the "smoke" and described it as majestic and magnificent, towering into the clouds. Replacing Chang'an with "Purple Spring" is also to choose colorful words to complement the "smoke", thereby highlighting the majesty of the Chang'an palace. However, such a majestic palace was locked in the haze, and the emperor preferred to live in it. Wucheng. The last sentence contains the word "lock", which also highlights the majesty of Chang'an Palace. After this first step, the next sentence comes naturally. Instead of living in Chang'an, he moved to Jiangdu. Emperor Sui Yang's nature of being greedy for pleasure and doing whatever he wanted was revealed. One depicts scenery, one narrative, one implicitly, and one explicitly. Although the writing methods are different, they are all driven by the theme of criticizing the king who subjugated the country.
Three or four sentences: "The jade seal is not destined to return to the sun, but the brocade sail should reach the end of the world." The poet said in a subjunctive tone: If it weren't for the emperor's jade seal falling into Li Yuan's hands, Yang Guang would not be satisfied with visiting Jiangdu. His brocade sail would probably have floated to the horizon. According to historical records: Yang Guang not only dug more than 2,000 miles of Tongji Canal and visited Jiangdu many times; he also dug more than 800 miles of Jiangnan River, "and planned to connect dragon boats and build a post palace" in preparation for going to Hangzhou. Went to play, but it just didn’t happen. From the many historical facts about Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty who was eager to have fun, the poet took a typical example of his indulgence in boating and satirized it. The pen is both real and virtual, combining virtual and real. It is said to be "real" because it is based on historical facts and the character traits of Emperor Chang of the Sui Dynasty who were greedy for leisure travel. Therefore, although it is exaggerated, it does not lose the true historical facts and character. To call it "false" is It is because it is blended into the poet's artistic imagination and is a real illusion produced through illusion. In real life, Jinfan's journey will never reach the end of the world. The beauty of artistic creation lies in the "between resemblance and dissimilarity". Too much resemblance is kitsch, but not enough resemblance is deceiving the world. The couplet "Jade Seal" is a good sentence to learn this. In terms of rhetoric, this couplet adopts the running water couplet that continues up and down, making the poem appear mature and beautiful.
The neck couplet "Today there are no fireflies in the rotten grass, but in ancient times there were twilight crows in the weeping poplar trees." It involves two anecdotes about Yang Guangyiyou. One is to release fireflies: Yang Guang once solicited fireflies from the Jinghua Palace in Luoyang to count dendrobium and "went to the mountains at night to release them, and the light spread all over the rocks and valleys." He also released fireflies for fun in Jiangdu, and even built a "firefly garden." The other is to plant willows: Bai Juyi wrote in "Liu Diliu of Sui Dynasty": "In the middle of the Daye year, the emperor Yang, planted willows in rows with flowing water; from the Yellow River in the west to Huaihe in the east, the green shadow is 1,300 miles. In the late spring of the Daye year, the willows are planted in rows. , the willow color is like smoke and catkins; when you travel to the south of the Yangtze River, you should see this tree reflecting the dragon boat." Connect "fireflies" with "rotten grass", "weeping poplar" and "twilight crow" into one "you". In the sharp contrast of "nothing", the past and present are expressed with emotion, which deeply embodies the historical lessons of famine and subjugation.
"Today there are no fireflies in the rot grass", this not only means that the place where the fireflies were released is now in ruins, and there are only "rotten grasses"; the deeper meaning is that Yang Guang searched for everything in order to fly the fireflies at night. Catch them and make the fireflies extinct. "In ancient times, there are weeping willows and dusk crows", which exaggerates the desolate scene after the country's subjugation.
The first sentence says "today" and "nothing", which naturally implies "there is" in the past; the next sentence says "since ancient times" and "has" naturally implies the "nothing" in that day. In the past, Yang Guang "traveled to the south on the occasion of prosperity", with thousands of sails and horses, marching on land and water, drums and music were noisy, and flags covered the sky; Sui embankments drooped with willows, and dusk crows naturally did not dare to perch. Only after Yang Guang was killed and his journey to the south became a thing of the past, did the returning crows dare to fly to the weeping poplar trees on the Sui Embankment to spend the night. These two sentences contrast the present and the past, but in terms of artistic expression, they only express one aspect of the contrast, which is both emotional and implicit.
The last couplet "If you meet Empress Chen underground, how can you ask about the flowers in the backyard again!" Using the story of Yang Guang and Chen Shubao meeting in a dream, in a hypothetical and rhetorical tone, the criticism of the desolation and the subjugation of the country is combined. The theme is profoundly revealed. Chen Shubao surrendered to the Sui Dynasty due to famine and surrendered to the Sui Dynasty. He was very familiar with Yang Guang, the prince of the Sui Dynasty at that time. When Yang Guang became the emperor and traveled to Jiangdu by dragon boat, he met the dead Chen Shubao and his beloved concubine Zhang Lihua in his dream, and asked Zhang Lihua to dance a song "Yushu Backyard Flower". This dance music was composed by Chen Shubao. Later generations denounced it as "the voice of national subjugation". The poet specifically mentions it here, which means that Yang Guang witnessed Chen Shubao's famine and subjugation, but did not learn the lesson. He indulged in the dragon boat ride and was obsessed with the sound of subjugation. Finally, he repeated Chen Shubao's mistakes and died, and the country was destroyed. Smile for the world. The poem ends with a question: If he met Chen Shubao underground, would he still have the nerve to ask Zhang Lihua to dance "Flowers in the Back Garden"? Asking without answering leaves an endless aftertaste.
This poem is based on the story of the subjugation of the previous dynasty. In the language of poetry, it criticizes the subjugated king and expresses the lofty intentions of the late Tang emperor. The content words are used to support the whole poem, and the function words are used to mediate the whole poem, achieving an artistic effect that is both rigorously organized and fluid.
Creative background
This poem was written when the poet traveled to Jiangdong in his later years. It was written around the eleventh year of Emperor Xuanzong’s reign (857). It was written at the same time as the Qijue of the same name. At that time, Li Shangyin was Recommended by Liu Zhongying, he was appointed as Yantie official and traveled to Jiangdong.