Chang'e · Li Shangyin
The candle shadow on the mica screen is deep, and the dawn stars are gradually sinking over the long river.
Chang'e should regret stealing the elixir, and her heart will be filled with blue sea and blue sky every night.
Appreciation 1
This poem is titled "Chang'e". It actually describes the lonely protagonist's feelings about the environment and his inner monologue.
The first two sentences describe the protagonist's environment and sleepless nights. Indoors, the candlelight is getting dimmer and dim, and a deep shadow is cast on the mica screen, which further highlights the emptiness and coldness of the room, revealing the protagonist's dejected state of mind as he sits alone for a long night. Outdoors, the Milky Way gradually moves westward to the ground. The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl look across the river. It might have brought some reverie to the sleepless people who are alone in the room, but now this Milky Way is about to disappear. The few morning stars dotting the empty sky seem to be silently accompanying the lonely moon and those who never sleep at night. Now even this last companion is about to disappear. The word "Shen" vividly depicts the low-hanging morning star and the desire to sink, and the protagonist's heart seems to be gradually sinking. "The candle shadow is deep", "the long river falls", and "the dawn star sinks" indicate that time has reached the end of dawn, and the word "gradual" implies the passage of time. The protagonist in loneliness spent another sleepless night facing the cold screen, the candle and the lonely moon in the blue sky. Although there is no direct description of the protagonist's psychology here, with the help of the rendering of the environment, the protagonist's lonely and cold feelings and the unbearable loneliness can almost be touched.
In the long lonely night, the most eye-catching and daydreaming thing in the sky is naturally the bright moon. When you see the bright moon, you will naturally think of Chang'e, the fairy in the moon palace in mythology and legend. It is said that she was originally Hou Yi's wife. Because she stole the elixir given to Hou Yi by the Queen Mother of the West, she flew to the Moon Palace and became a fairy. "Who is Chang'e living alone next to?" In the eyes of the lonely protagonist, isn't the situation and mood of Chang'e, who lives alone in a vast palace with no companions, similar to her own? Therefore, I couldn't help but have this thought from the bottom of my heart: Chang'e must have regretted secretly taking the elixir, so that on New Year's Eve, she lived in the moon palace, facing the blue sea and sky, and it was difficult to relieve her loneliness and coldness. "Should regret" is a word of speculation, and this speculation expresses a feeling of sympathy and sympathy. Due to the description and rendering of the first two sentences, the word "should" seems to be natural and reasonable. Therefore, the last two sentences are not so much an affectionate and considerate response to Chang'e's situation and mood as they are the lonely inner monologue of the protagonist.
Who is this protagonist who lives in solitude and never sleeps at night? There is no clear explanation in the poem. In the poem "Sending the Palace Man to the Tao", the poet once compared the female crown to "the widow of Yue'e alone". In the poem "Sending Song Huayang Sisters Again on a Moonlit Night", the poet also used "stealing medicine" to refer to women studying Taoism and seeking immortality. Therefore, it may not be nonsense to say that this poem expresses the desolation and loneliness on behalf of the female crown trapped in the palace. Taoism was prevalent in the Tang Dynasty, and it became a common practice for women to join Taoism. After joining Taoism, they experienced the constraints of religious rules on normal love life and suffered from mental anguish. The three and four sentences are a true portrayal of their situation and mood.
However, the loneliness expressed in the poem and the "regret for stealing the elixir"-like emotion caused by it are integrated into the poet's unique real-life feelings, and contain richer and deeper connotations. Surrounded by the dark and filthy reality, the poet strives spiritually to get rid of the mundane world and pursue a noble realm, but the result of his pursuit often makes him fall into a more lonely situation. The twins of aloofness and loneliness, as well as the resulting self-admiration and self-injury, the subtle and complex psychology of being neither willing to change one's heart and follow the secular world, but also unbearable the torment of loneliness, are here expressed by the poet in subtle and connotative language. Successfully performed. This is a kind of beauty with strong sadness, which easily arouses widespread excitement among the noble scribes of the old era. The typical meaning of poetry is also here.
Chang'e who lives alone without a companion, the female crown in the Taoist temple, the noble and lonely poet, although the immortals are separated from the mortal world, and those who are in the world are in different situations, they are noble and lonely. But the secret communication is clear. The poet grasped this point and created the artistic image of the Trinity. This skill of artistic generalization is Li Shangyin's specialty. (Liu Xuekai)
Appreciation 2
Li Shangyin is not only a dazzling star in the poetry world of the late Tang Dynasty, but also occupies a decisive position in the entire history of Chinese poetry. Although the hazy and ambiguous content of his poems has been difficult for people to understand for thousands of years, his artistic conception that allows the mind to wander can easily appear in the minds of readers, and the life thinking behind the beautiful artistic conception is also clear. "Chang'e" is a typical example of this type of poem.
The candle shadow on the mica screen is deep, and the stars are gradually setting over the long river.
Chang'e should regret stealing the elixir, and her heart will be filled with blue sea and blue sky every night.
A mica screen is a screen inlaid with mica, the long river is the Milky Way, and the morning star is the morning star that appears in the eastern night sky before dawn. The meaning of these two sentences is: Chang'e, living alone in the deep palace with a solitary lamp, spent another sleepless night when the sky was dim. One or two sentences briefly explain Chang'e's living environment. "The candle shadow on the mica screen is deep." The word "deep" in the middle can best point out the deep meaning, which means deep and long-lasting. It can also be connected with the deep palace of worldly life. The wording here just shows the unsatisfactory feeling. The boredom of the fairy life.
When people are tired of the cyclical secular life, or have no aspirations in real life, they want to find another kind of sustenance: riding a Luan Phoenix to ascend to the Purple Mansion; riding a white crane to the Yao capital. The splendor that fills the sky represents the diligence of the wonderful way. But I don't know that this kind of trance-like, dark and mysterious fairy life will have enough time one day. Chang'e is such a fairy. "Huainanzi Lanming Xun" records: Yi asked the Queen Mother of the West for the elixir of immortality, and Chang'e stole it and flew to the moon. Gao Tian's note: "Chang'e, Yi's wife, Yi gave the Queen Mother of the West some medicine that she didn't want, but she didn't take it. Chang'e stole it and ate it, she became an immortal, ran into the moon, and became the moon essence."
According to legend, Queen Mother of the West rewarded Hou Yi with the elixir of immortality because of his success in shooting the sun. Chang'e, who had had enough of the hard life in the mortal world, secretly took it first, and she became an immortal. But why I regret taking the elixir secretly now is a very simple reason: although the elixir makes life eternal, it is also destined to be an eternal loneliness. People should be happy when they are alive. If they are not happy, what will happen even if they live for tens of thousands of years? It was obvious that Chang'e was unhappy. How can a couple be happy after parting in that kind of separation life where they can't see each other in heaven and earth and can only miss each other every night?
Quatrains are difficult to write, but for people like Li Shangyin, they can still strategize and win a thousand miles. Through the use of an eternal regretful mythological allusion, a mere twenty-eight characters outlines a state of lofty tranquility and an eternal sense of loneliness, and communicates some similar psychology of different types of characters, so that the poems can be drawn from different perspectives. interpreted from a perspective. Others believe that this poem is Li Shangyin's bold denial and ridicule of the foolish behavior of feudal rulers who worshiped gods and trusted alchemists for the elixir of immortality. Although it makes some sense, it seems too far-fetched. After all, Li Shangyin himself has learned Taoism.
Liu Xuekai interpreted this poem and said: "Chang'e stole medicine and flew to the moon, far away from the hustle and bustle of the world. Although the beautiful buildings and jade houses in the Hao Bureau are extremely clean and pure, the blue sea and sky every night make it difficult to get rid of the cold and lonely feeling. This and Nü Guan's pursuit of innocence but intolerance of loneliness is very similar to that of the poet who despises vulgarity and yearns for nobility. Therefore, Chang'e's Nü Guan and the poet are actually three persons in one body. Similarity leads to understanding." (Liu Xuekai, "Collection of Li Shangyin's Poems" Huangshan Publishing House, 2001) Song Huayang, the female champion, was the woman Li Shangyin admired when he was young, but in the end they did not get married. Liu's annotation seems to be more acceptable and more consistent with the characteristics of Li's poetry: image is greater than thought, and the richness of artistic images is often related to isomorphic correspondence, and it can be one thing or the other.
There are not many poems in "Chang'e", but they are full of characteristics. Regardless of the vague and ambiguous ideological connotation, there is another big question in life before us: What are we pursuing in life? Are the things we pursue really what we want? Chang'e was so heroic back then, she betrayed her husband, secretly took elixirs, and was not happy even after she ascended to the immortal palace. She was crowned Song Huayang, but what about the poet himself? Where to end up in life.