Source of works
This is a poem by Li Yannian, a court musician in the Han Dynasty, from Song of Li Yannian. This poem praises a unique beauty in simple and monotonous language. The whole poem generally adopts five-character style, with exaggerated language, sincere feelings, simplicity but not complexity, and the combination of reality and reality, reflecting a natural and frank beauty.
original work
Li Yannian Song
Li Han Yannian
There are beautiful women in the north, and they are peerless and independent.
Take care of the city first, then the country.
It's best not to know the whole city and country? Beauty is hard to get again. ?
Annotation of works
1, peerless: peerless at that time, unparalleled in the world.
2. Look.
3. Throw people into the city: Let the soldiers lay down their weapons and the city walls fall down.
4. Dump the country: make the country perish. Originally refers to the death of the country because of women, and later describes women as extremely beautiful.
I don't know: I don't know. ?
Translation of works
There is a beauty in the north, whose appearance is unparalleled in the world. Her refined nature is extraordinary, she disdains to associate with other women, has no confidant, and is a loner.
As long as she looks at the foot soldiers guarding the city, she can make the wall fall; If you make eyes at the king again, the country will be devastated.
But even if you are beautiful, don't lose the chance to get a beautiful woman-after all, a beautiful woman is a once-in-a-lifetime thing!
Creation background
Li Yannian Song was included in Miscellaneous Ballads by Guo Maoqian's Yuefu Poetry Collection. According to the biography of consorts in Hanshu, Li Yannian sang this poem at a palace banquet. Hearing this, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty could not help sighing: How can there be such a beautiful woman in the world? Princess Pingyang, the sister of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, recommended Li Yannian's sister. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty called for a look, and it was really beautiful and good at dancing. From then on, Li Yannian's sister became the favorite of Li Furen, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty. ?
works appreciation
Among the many concubines favored by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the most memorable one is Li Furen, who is beautiful and good at dancing. Fortunately for Li Furen, it depends on her brother Li Yannian's beautiful song, which is famous for moving the capital. This short poem can make talents like Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty moved by it and immediately give birth to yearning for Iraqis, which shows that this poem really has extraordinary charm.
First, the language is exaggerated and the propaganda is desirable. The poet praised this beautiful woman as unique in the contemporary world. Her beauty is so great that one look at her city-state will be subverted and another look at the country will be destroyed. The theory of beauty's subjugation was first seen in the Book of Songs: "Philosophers become the city, women become the city", saying that men have talent to build a country and women have talent to subjugate the country, aiming at satirizing Zhou Youwang's luck and beauty. Since then, "the whole city" and "the whole country" have become synonymous with stunning beauty. In Song of Li Yannian, the poet exaggerates and alarmists, but it is not to show the king or learn from the past, but to do the opposite, to show the beauty of a beautiful woman with its great charm, thus arousing the king's thinking about beauty.
Second, the feelings are sincere and sincere, overflowing with poems. The poem "Song of Li Yannian" is sincere except that "its words are blurted out without makeup". The beautiful woman that Li Yannian sang is her own sister. Whether out of deep love for her sister and hope for a brilliant future, or out of self-interest, the praise expressed in her poems is eager. In just a few poems, the words "the whole city" and "the whole country" appear twice, and the recommendation is very clear. Let's talk about this beauty first, then talk about the amazing charm of the beauty, and then earnestly plead with the king: don't you know that this beautiful woman with good looks is hard to come by once she misses it! The intention and fervent feelings of boxing were fully expressed in one chant and three sighs, which produced a fresh appeal and touched the heartstrings of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
Third, simplicity is better than complexity. Chinese painting takes ink as its color, with few colors. But this single ink color can change colorful colors in the connoisseur's mind. Like Qi Baishi's paintings, there are many blanks, but blanks can make people imagine infinite richness. "Song of Li Yannian" only praises the beauty without making a specific description, which is bound to make the image of the beauty a mysterious and attractive blank, thus arousing the poet's longing, imagination and yearning for her. At that time, the image of the first beauty in the world would be conjured up in the mind of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Poetry readers in later generations can imagine the stunning beauty in their hearts according to their own aesthetic ideals, historical knowledge and unique psychological quality. In ancient Chinese poems praising beautiful women, there are many detailed sentences, such as "be soft, skin coagulated" and so on. At the same time, there are many excellent articles that win by profiling. For example, in The Book of Songs Nan Zhou Guanluo, the description of a woman's appearance is only one sentence, "My Fair Lady, Gentleman's Delightfulness", and the man's bitter yearning for her, passionate pursuit and joy after the combination are strongly colored, thus showing the beauty and loveliness of a woman. Obviously, Song of Li Yannian was also won by this artistic technique.
It is also worth noting that this poem adopts a generally neat five-character style (the third sentence "I'd rather not know" can actually be deleted). At that time, this style was only popular in folk songs and ballads. Li Yannian introduced it to the upper house with a beautiful and moving "new change of voice". This undoubtedly played a catalytic role in the germination and growth of literati's five-character poems in Han Dynasty. ?
Brief introduction of the author
Li Yannian, an outstanding musician in Han Dynasty, was born in Zhongshan (now Dingxian County, Hebei Province), and his parents and brothers were musicians. At first, he broke the law, was punished by corruption, and was imprisoned. Later, because his sister Li Furen was loved by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, she was pardoned and loved, and was later killed. He is good at singing and dancing, and is good at creating new voices. He composed music for the 19th chapter of Song of Sacrifice to the Han Suburb, copied Zhang Qian's Huqu Mahadule and made 28 interpretations of new sounds, which were used in the army and called "cross-blowing songs". This poem is the only one left today, and it is contained in "The Story of the consorts in Han Dynasty, Mrs. Li Xiaowu".