Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was not born to be an emperor. He gained his throne through his own efforts and talents. During his reign, he appointed virtuous prime ministers, rectified the administration of officials, improved financial measures, carried out changes in the military system, and promoted literature and art. After Emperor Taizong and Wu Zetian, the Tang Dynasty reached its peak again, and Kaiyuan Tianbao became the golden age of ancient China. However, the Anshi Rebellion caused by a series of measures became the end of this era. Historical scenes of great joy and tragedy such as prosperity and decline were all directed by Xuanzong. No matter how rich the ink and color and verbal criticism, this romantic figure cannot be fully described.
Xuanzong was a wise king in the early period of his reign, but a faint king in the later period. When he first ascended the throne, he worked hard to seek treatment and restored the cause of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. He is very good at employing people and accepting advice. He selected talented people among the officials in the capital to serve as governors and governors in other places. At the same time, he also selected outstanding governors and governors from various places to take important positions in the capital, and established this selection and transfer of officials inside and outside the capital as a system. He categorically replaced incompetent officials. In 716 AD, he personally re-examined the county magistrates selected by the Ministry of Officials to go to various places in the palace, and sent home more than 40 of them who were incompetent. In the early period of his reign, he successively appointed Yao Chong, Song Jing, Zhang Jiazhen, Zhang Shuo, Li Yuanfu, Du Xian, Han Xiu, Zhang Jiuling and others as prime ministers. These people each have their own strengths. Yao Chong strived for political wisdom, Song Jing devoted himself to the rule of law, Zhang Shuo advocated the rule of law, Li Yuanxian and Du Xian focused on frugality, Han Xiu and Zhang Jiuling were outspoken in criticizing and admonishing, and they were all virtuous prime ministers. Handle government affairs in an orderly manner. Among them, Yao Chong made the greatest contribution. Xuanzong recalled him to the capital and wanted to make him prime minister. He put forward ten major conditions, such as asking Xuanzong to agree to implement benevolent government, stop the military, not allow the emperor's relatives and eunuchs to interfere in political affairs, and allow ministers to remonstrate, etc. Xuanzong They all agreed one by one. After Yao Chong became the prime minister, he suppressed the powerful, reduced the number of monks and nuns, reduced the number of monasteries, and defeated natural disasters. He also helped Xuanzong rectify the government, strictly enforced rewards and punishments, and reversed the chaotic situation during the Zhongzong period. He was called the "prime minister who saved the time."
During this period, Xuanzong was able to accept remonstrances again, and the prime ministers Han Xiu and Xiao Song were in charge of the government. Han Xiu was upright and always spoke out when Xuanzong made mistakes. It is to obey Xuanzong. One time, Xuanzong looked in the mirror and looked unhappy. The servants on the left and right said: "Your Majesty has lost weight since Han Xiu became prime minister. Why not dismiss him from office?" Xuanzong said seriously: "Although I have lost some weight, the people in the world must have gained weight. Xiao Song came to play things, blindly After he left, I felt restless and peaceful. I used Han Xiu to govern the country, not just for me." Because Xuanzong was able to appoint talented people, encourage production, and reform bad governance, the Tang Dynasty was prosperous. The dynasty was politically stable, the country was strong, the people were prosperous, and the economy and culture had reached Xiangfeng. Among them, Tang poetry was the most praised by later generations. The famous poets Gao Shi, Cen Shen, Wang Wei, especially Li Bai and Du Fu all lived in the Kaiyuan era. Other arts such as music, painting, sculpture and other arts also have remarkable achievements. It is known as the "Kaiyuan Prosperity" in history.
However, after Xuanzong achieved these achievements, he thought that the world was peaceful, and his aggressiveness gradually disappeared. He became proud and lazy, and pursued a hedonistic life. He could no longer listen to the loyal advice of his ministers. Instead, he found it annoying, so he relied on people who specifically obeyed his will. When Xuanzong was 61 years old, he fell in love with his daughter-in-law, Princess Shou Yang Yuhuan. She was brought into the palace and made a noble concubine. Her two brothers were made officials, and her three sisters were made the wives of Korea, Guo and Qin respectively. Her distant relatives Brother Yang Guozhong (formerly known as Yang Zhao) also relied on nepotism to rise through the ranks. Xuanzong spent all day having fun with Concubine Yang, too lazy to go to court, and tried every means to satisfy her extravagant wishes.
Xuanzong made important contributions to the development of music, dance and drama in our country. He loved singing and dancing dramas since he was a child. Once, his grandmother Wu Zetian held a grand banquet, and he performed "Longevity Girl" in public, which was applauded by the officials. He made friends with Taoist artists, worked hard to study French music, and learned the beauty of music. During his reign as King Ping, he founded a Sanyue opera troupe; shortly after becoming emperor, he established an opera activity center and chose Liyuan as the location of the center. Therefore, opera artists throughout the history have respected Xuanzong as the ancestor of the Liyuan.
He was an unparalleled monarch who stood on the backbone of the Zhenguan rule and created the prosperous Kaiyuan era. He and a well-known beauty of the country, their love sounded a poignant movement in Chinese history that attracted the attention of the world! They went from a "father-in-law relationship" to a "husband and wife hand in hand", during which they were burdened with tens of millions of tons of moral condemnation; from love in the prosperous times to "sexual tribulations" in troubled times, the false name of a noble concubine was also branded as a "disaster". "From soaking in hot springs in Huaqing Pool to parting in life and death in Maweipo, they have witnessed the helplessness of the king... Their stories have given us too much emotion! In my opinion, "I would like to be a winged bird in heaven, and a twig on earth." What a romantic vow! How great it would be if Taixuanzong was just an ordinary citizen! Then the story between him and Yang Yuhuan may be more contagious than Butterfly Lovers! Unfortunately, history has arranged for them to bear too heavy a burden of public opinion on right and wrong! "This hatred lasts forever." It probably refers not only to the hatred that the imperial concubine felt when she passed away, but also to the involuntary resentment that Xuanzong and the imperial concubine felt when they were in the royal family. The two kinds of hatred intertwined with each other. Xuanzong hated himself for not being able to save the imperial concubine and making her a scapegoat.
I hate why I am a king, how good it would be to just be a couple with enough food and clothing! The entanglement of hate and hate naturally has no end date!
A "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" established Bai Juyi's status as a "master of rhythmic poetry" in the poetry world. At the same time, it also provided objective evidence for the love history of the king. And in the historical facts described by Bai Juyi, how did he view this extremely special love?
“The Emperor of the Han Dynasty paid great attention to beauty and wanted to overwhelm the country. He could not get anything from the emperor for many years.” Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty also said in the official history that he still loved beauties. Here, Emperor Han is used as a metaphor for Xuanzong. The literary circles of the Tang Dynasty often used the term Han Emperor. Let’s compare it to the current monarch. The whole poem actually talks about the fact that after Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty established certain great achievements, due to the peace of the country and the peace of the world, Xuanzong could only lazily flip through the business on his desk one day. Life in the palace was filled with endless feasting and never-ending banquets. Xuanzong gradually felt that time was fleeting and life was too short to allow for too much happiness. Moreover, he was still a little lonely, so a hedonistic life came into his world.
An unexpected encounter at Huaqing Pool. Yang Yuhuan was still the concubine of the Beast King and the daughter-in-law of Xuanzong. However, the nature of the royal family's ordinary vacation was fundamentally changed because of Yang Meiren's singing and dancing. Her brilliance burned Xuanzong's eyes. Now that Concubine Wu Hui has died of illness, the king's loneliness needs a woman to fill it! Therefore, Xuanzong did not hesitate to seize his son's wife, and finally got the beauty back and gave Yang Yuhuan a flood of favor. He beats the Jiegu drum, she dances in colorful clothes; her hair is swaying with golden steps, and he never goes to court early from now on. In modern terms, two people talk about our love as if the whole world does not exist! Xuanzong devoted almost all his efforts to please Yang Meiren: canonizing her as a concubine, and even wanted to make her a queen, but it was not possible because the opposition was too fierce. Xuanzong also made everyone in Concubine Yang's family serve as officials, giving them the power to dominate the world.
Yuyang’s drums and drums broke the melody of the colorful clothes and feathers. An Lushan gathered the Hu and Han people and went straight to Chang'an to kill them. The border towns were lost one after another, "the smoke and dust arose from the nine-layered city, and thousands of horses traveled southwest." The emperor's hegemony, which was thought to be unshakable for eternity, turned into ashes behind the fire in a blink of an eye. Xuanzong and Yang Guifei had no choice but to flee to Sichuan, and they rode in the same car on the way. After Chen Xuanli and Gao Lishi inquired about the military situation, the entire army was angry when they came back. They had Yang Guozhong killed and demanded the death of Concubine Yang. The imperial concubine knew that one person must die now, and that person could only be her!
"Looking at the king with affection, my voice and appearance are vague." From then on, there was only one loyal Gao Lishi by my side. A cold room, a lonely emperor. I still remember the oath of the Palace of Eternal Life: "In heaven, I wish to be a flying bird, and on earth, I wish to be a branch." Xuanzong now loves the imperial concubine in another world in the human world. The imperial concubine probably misses her doting husband in the same way! Of course, the distance between yin and yang is too far, so we can only sigh: "Eternal time will come to an end, and this hatred will last forever!"
This is the story told in Bai Juyi's "Song of Everlasting Sorrow". There are actually a lot of virtual things involved. For example, "raised in a boudoir, no one knows about it", this is Bai Juyi's taboo for the venerable.
The dates and locations in "July 7th Hall of Eternal Life" are all fictitious, and history and facts, in the country of poetry, sometimes have to give way to art!