the Tang Dynasty
Bai Juyi
Day is the day of night, and the sky is the boundary between ancient and modern things.
Only joy Zangsheng can deceive the sage, how can we know that Ning has seen through the play?
Fireflies have light, not real fire, dew on lotus leaves, although round is a natural pearl?
Don't burn wood to illuminate carriages and horses. What's the difference between the glory of the poor?
Translation:
Who can tell the difference between day and night? Things have emerged from ancient times to the present.
I only like that Zang Sheng can fool saints, but how do I know Zang Zi has seen through playing dumb?
Fireflies have an unreal light. Although the dew on the lotus leaf is round, is it really a pearl?
Don't burn firewood to illuminate the horses and chariots. What's the difference between poverty and glory?
Appreciate:
I was sent to assist Xunyang, but I was not appointed. I was free on the boat and sang on the river alone, because I wrote five articles to continue my meaning. According to the Preface, this was written by the poet on his way to Jiangzhou in 8 15 (Tang Xianzong Yuanhe Decade). In June of that year, the poet was demoted to Jiangzhou Sima because he was eager to catch the murderer of Prime Minister Wu. The title of the poem "Speak freely" is to speak freely without scruple. The poem expresses the author's views on the authenticity, wealth, dignity, wealth and life and death of social life, and expresses his dissatisfaction with the state affairs at that time and his own grievances. This poem is the first one, which is about political discrimination-similar to the so-called "two-faced" problem in modern times.
"Who is true, who is false? There is no end through the ages. " The bottom thing, what thing, what does it mean? The first couplet asked bluntly, "It's still natural in the morning, but it's fake when it's exposed at night. What strange things haven't happened? " But who can see through it in advance? "The first two sentences are summed up by rhetorical questions: forgers exist in ancient and modern times, and people are indistinguishable.
"But loving the saints can deceive the saints, so I know that Zi Ning can solve fools." Both couplets are allusions. Zang Sheng was Zang Wuzhong in the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time, people called him a saint, but Confucius hit the nail on the head and denounced him as a treacherous person who threatened the monarch with strength. Zi Ning, that is, Ning Wuzi, was praised by Confucius for hiding his position in troubled times. Zangsheng deceives the saints and is wise and foolish. On the surface, forgery is similar, but the essence is different. Sadly, however, the world only loves Zang Wuzhong's false saints, but it doesn't know that there are such noble people as Ning Wuzi.
"The grass firefly is not a fire, but the lotus dew is a bead." The two sentences in the neck couplet are metaphors, meaning: "The firefly in the grass is not a fire after all, although it has light; Although the dew on the lotus leaf is spherical, is it a pearl? "However, their shiny and dazzling appearance can make people see things in a blur, and people are often deceived by illusions.
"What's the difference between compassion and honor if you take it instead of burning wood?" The tail joint firefly dew metaphor is closely connected with the neck joint, which is a way to distinguish the authenticity. Burning wood, from the Book of Rites Sacrifice Law: "Burning wood in the altar." Used here as a noun, meaning fire. According to riding, refers to pearls. If you don't compare firewood with pearls, how can you judge that grass fireflies are not fire and lotus dew is not pearls? This is equivalent to a proverb: "If you don't know the goods, you are afraid to shop around." The poet puts forward that contrast is an important way to distinguish fallacies. Of course, if it is so dark that you don't even know the firewood and the pearl of illumination, then you lose the basis of comparison. So in the end, the poet lamented "not taking" and "pitiful".
This poem is full of argumentation and reasoning, but it doesn't bore the reader. With the help of images and metaphors, poets use concrete artistic images to illustrate philosophy and express abstract arguments. Moreover, in the eight-sentence trilogy, rhetorical questions appeared five times, which seemed suspicious and untrue. Asking questions instead of answering them was not only imposing, but also full of strange sighs. From beginning to end, words such as "who", "bottom material", "but love", "knowable", "ultimate wrong", "really", "don't take" and "what's the difference" have been used in a series of ways such as questioning, backquestioning, restricting and denying, which are ups and downs and full of irresistible passion. The poet's unjust case is caused by speaking out bravely and harming others and himself. His theory of distinguishing falsehood is not a general macro-theory, but a criticism of the dark politics at that time, and a cry of "Li Sao" expressing inner worries.
Yang Liuzhi ci
The spring breeze swayed the willow branches in the wind, and the tender buds gave off a light yellow softer than silk.
Always in the west corner of Fengfang, never a day, whose willow is this?
Distinguish and appreciate
As the most prolific poet in Tang Dynasty, Bai Juyi wrote many poems describing natural scenery all his life. He was always intoxicated by the diverse scenery that can be seen everywhere in nature, from which he felt the beauty of life and cultivated his personal artistic interest. Let's take some of his short poems describing the scenery of spring, summer, autumn and winter as examples to understand how this great poet views and appreciates nature from the perspective of an artist.
Let's look at "Yang Liuzhi Ci" first: "A tree has thousands of branches in the spring breeze, which is softer than gold and silk. Who owns the wild garden in the west corner of Yongfeng all day? " Yang Liuzhi was the song title of Jiao Fang in Tang Dynasty. The lyrics are in the form of seven-character quatrains, and this topic is dedicated to Liu Yang. The first two sentences of this poem describe the graceful, charming and lovely branches of willows when the spring breeze is rippling, and the last two sentences are lyrical about things. A year is in spring. On the occasion of the great spring, Liu Shu first announced the arrival of the spring girl to the world. Therefore, in the poems of poets who praise spring, willow is always indispensable, and willow leaves the deepest impression on people. The first sentence is a close-up: "A tree has thousands of branches in the spring breeze". The poet only wrote a willow tree, but it is only a tree with thousands of branches. Because of the spring breeze, the static "one tree" has become "thousands of branches", which has produced a wonderful visual effect between changes, that is, although it looks like a tree, countless branches on the tree are held up by the invisible hand of the spring breeze and fluttered in the wind, giving people a feeling of vitality and weather. The second sentence describes the branches of this willow tree in more detail. Spring breeze not only blows willow branches, but also blows new buds. On thousands of willow branches in the tree, countless tender leaves appeared, which were pale yellow from a distance. The slender willow branches are no longer as stiff as in winter, but become soft and abnormal. With the warm breeze, they rise and fall, rise and fall, and disappear. If we try to follow Bai Juyi's thinking, imagine the scene he showed. An ordinary willow tree is full of vitality under the call of spring. On thousands of branches, delicate new buds are exposed, showing the beauty of life and singing the arrival of spring with its golden color and softness. Bai Juyi is not just writing willow trees, but calling for spring and singing about life, so he can write so full of vitality.
Surprisingly, however, the author did not continue to praise spring, but made a 180 degree turn, complaining about this willow tree. "In the wild garden in the west corner of Yongfeng, no one returns all day?" Yongfeng Square is the name of Luoyang Square, the eastern capital of Tang Dynasty. Unexpectedly, such a willow full of vitality grows in a desolate and cold environment. The "West Corner" was born in a deserted courtyard in a shady corner in the west. So, even if you are graceful and charming, who can appreciate it and pay attention to it? What is Bai Juyi's intention in creating such a strong contrast in his poems? Are you just deeply sorry that this lush willow tree came from nowhere and is lonely and unappreciated in the beautiful spring, or do you mean something else? This has always caused a lot of speculation and reasoning. Some people think that Bai Juyi's regret for the willow tree expressed in this poem is actually a deep feeling of political darkness and corruption at that time, and talents were suppressed and buried; What's more, some people think that Bai Juyi felt for the energetic singers around him when he was old and weak. According to Tang Meng's Skill Poems, "Bai Shangshu (Bai Juyi was the Minister of Justice) was a good singer in Sufan, and prostitutes were good at dancing. She tasted it like a poem:' cherry Su Fan mouth, willow leaves small waist.' When you were young, you were small and handsome because Liu Yang's words (that is, this "Yang Liuzhi Ci") had implications. In any case, this little poem has aroused great repercussions in society. Whether it is written for politics or for the beautiful women around you seems inconclusive today. But the later influence of this poem was really unexpected by the author himself.
Regarding this poem, Yin Luzhen of Henan Province at that time had a poem of harmony, which wrote the preface: "There is a weeping willow in the southwest corner garden of Yongfeng Square, which is very elastic. Bai Shangshu once wrote poems, which were introduced into Yuefu and spread all over the capital. Recently, there was an imperial edict to plant two branches in the forbidden garden. I know that ten times the price increase is not empty talk. " Bai Juyi lived in Tang Wuzong Huichang for two years (AD 842) and died in Huichang for six years. Lu Zhen served as Henan Yin in Huichang for four years, and his residence was in Luoyang. Therefore, Bai Juyi wrote this poem in Huichang in about 35 years, when he was over the age of ancient times. Today, it seems incredible that a leisurely poem about willow will disturb the supreme ruler, but can we also feel the open social environment in the Tang Dynasty and Bai Juyi's great influence in the literary world?