Yin of a Chaste Woman
Zhang Ji
You know that I have a husband, so you give me a pair of pearls.
Feeling your affection, tied in a red lining.
My concubine’s house is surrounded by high-rise buildings, and my beloved is holding a halberd in the bright light.
I know that your intentions are as good as the sun and the moon, and I swear that you will live and die together.
Return Jun Mingzhu sheds tears, wishing we could not meet again when we were not married.
"The first four sentences say: You know that I have a husband, but you still gave me a pair of precious pearls. I am grateful for your attachment to me, but you will only tie this pair of pearls with the red inside. Luo Yaozi (Quietly thank you for your love). The last six sentences say: My family is full of people with high walls and purdah, and my husband is an aristocratic officer of the Royal Guards in the Mingguang Palace. Although I know that you treat me. However, I have already entered into a marriage with him in which we have vowed to live together and die together. Therefore, I have no choice but to return the pearl to you with tears (rejecting your love). I only blame the two of us for not being together. We meet before we get married."
The full title of Zhang Ji's poem is "The Ching of a Cherte Woman to Master Li Sikong in Dongping". Hong Mai's "Rong Zhai Essays" says: "Zhang's book was in the shogunate of his town. Yun Shuai Li Shigu opened it with books and coins, but the book was not accepted, so he wrote a chapter of "The Song of a Chaste Woman" and sent it to him." According to this, we can know this. The poem is entirely a metaphor. Zhang Ji had already accepted someone else's appointment, and Li Shidao sent someone to invite him to join the shogunate with generous gifts. Zhang Ji wrote this poem to thank him. The "concubine" in the poem is Zhang Ji's self-description, and the "jun" refers to Li Shidao. Who is Li Shidao? He was originally from Korea. His father Li Zhengji and his brother Li Shigu were successively the envoys of Ziqing. After Shigu died, Shidao succeeded Shi Dao as the governor of Yunzhou in October of the first year of Yuanhe. He was responsible for Chongping Lu Jun and the deputy ambassador of Ziqing Jiedu. Although the Jiedushi envoy at that time was Di Wang Li Shen, he was only a nominal leader. Although Li Shidao was the deputy ambassador, he was actually the Jiedushi envoy. Their father, brother and brother had been in the Ping, Lu, Zi and Qing areas for forty years. They were major warlords in today's southern Hebei and northern Shandong areas. Li Shidao eventually failed in his rebellion and was killed by Wei Bo Jiedu envoy Tian Hongzheng in the 14th year of Yuanhe. Dongping County is Yunzhou, which is the seat of Jiedushi. The title of Zhang Ji's poem is "Li Sikong Shidao", and "Rongzhai Essays" is called "Yunshuai Li Shigu". There is a little doubt here. Checking the original biography of "Tang Shu", only Li Zhengji's official office has the title of "checking Sikong". , both Shigu and Shidao "checked and revised Shangshu Zuopushe", so it is impossible to know for sure who Zhang Ji wrote this poem, nor can it be determined the age of this poem. But Li's father and brother were all domineering warlords who were resented by the people and had a very bad reputation. Zhang Ji would never show such gratitude if he were not recruited by them. Probably because he was afraid of Li's authority, he deliberately worded his words in this way so that Li would not become angry and resentful. Perhaps it was a wise and wise way of protecting oneself by the literati at that time, and we can ignore it.