Looking back on the history of poetry, how can we eliminate the Tang Dynasty? How can you ignore Li Bai when browsing Tang poetry? When talking about Li Bai, how can we avoid the bad luck of being sentenced to "exile Yelang" in his later years? That was the biggest setback in his life. In the Golden Palace, Emperor Xuanzong personally gave Li Baisheng a spoonful, and Yang Guifei also poured wine for Li Bai to write poems for himself ―― how many poets in ancient and modern times and at home and abroad can enjoy this "royal" treatment, and Li Bai really regarded himself as the "first poet" in the Tang Dynasty. Unexpectedly, how high he climbed and how heavy he fell. A few years later, he became a prisoner. Not only can he not go to the capital, but he can't even stay in the provincial capital or small county towns in the mainland. He had to be sent to a reform-through-labour farm in backward border areas by broom. This is no longer an ordinary tragedy, and fate has simply played a big joke. Want to make fun of our romantic poet who thinks highly of himself? This is crazy.
This is my memory of two most important and dramatic place names in Li Bai's life. One is Chang 'an and the other is Yelang, just like ice and fire. One is the peak of his official career, and the other is the trough of his fate. To put it bluntly, one is his paradise and the other is his hell.
Li Bai once reached the top of the world and won the favor of the imperial concubine. As a leading literary giant, he can occasionally put a note to the emperor in Chang 'an: "The son of heaven called him out of the boat and called himself Brewmaster." Even if he later fell out of favor and was given a gold medal, he was still a celebrity. It's not a problem to go to other provinces to eat, drink and earn some money. Traveling all over the mountains and rivers, there are fans everywhere, and they are still chic. But this time, I didn't return to earth from heaven, but entered eighteen layers of hell; Accidentally became a serious political prisoner (equivalent to the enemy of the country? Not only did he wear a lock, but he was also escorted to a remote mountainous area like Yelang. This is not as simple as going to the countryside and "receiving re-education for poor farmers". It is clearly left to fend for itself. Yelang lacks everything, so there is no shortage of places to bury people.
Li Bai, after all, is a big old man, and he shudders when he thinks about it: how far Yelang is, and the mountains are high and the water is dangerous along the way, and his old bones can no longer stand the big toss, so it's hard to say whether it will arrive. Don't give up halfway Even if I do go there, who knows how long I will stay. Maybe the court got carried away in an instant. In short, don't expect to go back.
To put it bluntly, it was all because of the An Shi Rebellion that broke out in 755 AD. Wang Yong Li Jue, the sixteenth son of Xuanzong, recruited soldiers and sent them to the east under the banner of Jing Nan. In fact, he took the opportunity to expand his territory and wanted to be emperor in troubled times. When the soldiers crossed Jiujiang, they met Li Bai, a self-help traveler, and thought his brand could be used, so they recruited him as their staff officer. Li Bai, who was untimely, thought that he finally had a place to use, and he agreed at random, so he was involved in the whirlpool of imperial power struggle. With the accession of Prince Xuanzong's third son, the authentic * * * army restored the state order, and the "fake and shoddy" Li U was defeated and killed. Li Bai's dream of going into politics went bankrupt again and was arrested for disobedience. I was going to halve it. I was sentenced to exile because Guo Ziyi put in a good word for Li Bai in front of Tang Suzong. Yelang is a slightly better punishment for Li Bai than death. Make up for it with suffering
Li Bai, this time is bad enough. If we really want to investigate, we can't completely blame the Anshi rebellion. Didn't Du Fu catch up? No big deal. Why did Li Bai almost lose his life? In the final analysis, you have to blame yourself, because you are obsessed with officials. I am always happy when I see the power of attorney, and I can't see any future trouble. At first, Li Bai thought that the splendid article was destroyed, and later he was sentenced to exile. I don't know whether it's sad or lucky. Therefore, Yelang is a place name that fills Li Bai's heart with flavor. Did he say that he had a narrow escape without invitation, or did he go there and die slowly, even if he died?
Before this, Li Bai was not ignorant of Yelang, nor was he without imagination. Although the Yelang in his imagination is desolate, there is no lack of desolate poetry. One of his famous poems, "I heard that Wang Changling moved to Zuobiao Dragon, and there is news in the distance", mentioned Yelang's poem: "The flower of the Yang falls to the ground, and the dragon marks the five streams. I am worried about the bright moon, and I will go to Yelangxi with the wind. " Wang Changling, a friend who was once banished to a distant place, said, No matter the ends of the earth or the bright moon overhead, my thoughts are with you. Yelang is far away, after all, there is still breeze and moonlight. Now that I think about it, it's a little easy to stand and talk. Alas, now, I am worse than Wang Changling, and I need comfort more than him. But who can comfort himself as much as he can comfort him?
Walking on the road to Yelang, Li Bai's heart is dying, and his figure is particularly lonely. Looking up at the bright moon, don't be poetic. In the distance, in the distance, in the distance, in the distance, Yelang is like a nightmare waiting for a poet who has suffered a disastrous blow. The word itself seems to represent all the darkness in the world. Li Bai really can't figure out how he got on this road.
In fact, some people still miss Li Bai, such as Du Fu. Du Fu wrote several poems because he heard that Li Bai had exiled Yelang. what can I do? Poets can only comfort other poets by writing poems, but also comfort themselves who are tortured by thoughts. I don't know how long it took Li Bai to exile Yelang before it reached Du Fu's ears, but he must have dreamed of Li Bai that night. Write "Two Dreams of Li Bai" after waking up. "When death is the reason for parting, people will cry, but life leaves again and again. You didn't bring me any signs of exile in the poisonous humidity of the southern river. Until you appeared in my dream last night, because I have been thinking about you. However, how can you raise your wings and use them from the middle net of your net? ? I doubt it's really you, venturing a long way. ..... "Yelang is far from Li Bai. He is full of worries about Li Bai's good fortune, life and death, and even the meeting in his dream is saturated with the pain of where you will go. "The clouds that have been floating in the sky all day may be like a wanderer and never come back. I see you in my dreams every night, and you know what you mean to me. ……"
Writing, Du Fu, who has always been gentle, couldn't help complaining about Li Bai's misfortune: "Our capital is full of nosy people, but you are lonely, helpless and poor. Who said that Skynet is not bad and brings you bad luck? You are old, with a reputation of 1000 years and a reputation of 10,000 years, what is good? When you die, you leave. " Chang 'an, with huge traffic, can't accommodate a poet. Can we only go to the marginalized Yelang to find a burial place? Aren't you afraid that future generations will laugh at our times? You know, this exiled poet, like Qu Yuan, although bumpy before his death, will certainly have a much more lasting honor than those fast-decaying dignitaries in Chang 'an after his death.
Does Li Bai know that Du Fu is thinking about him? Du Fu also pinned a sad heart on the bright moon, hoping that it could accompany an old friend in need all the way to Yelangxi, and it was constantly involved. The mutual appreciation and friendship between poets is conveyed by breeze and floating clouds, which makes a troubled history of poetry exude a strong human touch.
Li Bai was supposed to report to Yelang, and went to the degraded land by way of Sichuan. On the way, it was probably in Wushan, a dreamlike mountain. The news came that Tang Suzong exiled Li Bai to pardon him. Li Bai, who thought he was on the road of no return, was free, and his heart was really bittersweet. He quickly disembarked from Baidicheng to Jiangling, visited his grieving wife at his father-in-law's house, and comforted her that her husband who had survived the disaster was back and there would be happiness after the disaster. There is a kind of relief in the song "Morning Delivery from Bai Di City" sung on the boat, which goes down the river briskly: "Don't say goodbye to Bai Di, Jiangling can return in one day. The apes on both sides of the strait can't stop crying, and the canoe has passed Chung Shan Man. " The name Yelang is like a mountain in Li Bai's mind these days. Unexpectedly, it was easily opened-Feilaifeng, the top of Mount Tai, made a face and flew away. Fate is really like a prank.
Li Bai, who had a narrow escape, forgot the pain before his injury healed, imagining that the court could forget the past and use him. "Jiangxia gives Ling Bing from Wei Nanling" praised the New Deal with a personal letter: "The new law of heaven and earth is wide, and the yelang moves the frost and cold." Do you expect to be introduced to the emperor by officials at all levels? Now we have entered a new era in which heroes can be used. Don't forget that I, a surviving poet, have nothing to do. Let me know where you need it. I spent some time in Jiangxia, looking for a job everywhere, and there was no result. Li Bai felt that he could not wait any longer, so he went to Hunan to try his luck.
When they met in Yueyang City, Ye Li, an uncle of Lingnan, was demoted by assistant minister of punishments. Two people who were frustrated in officialdom traveled to Dongting Lake together, or just drank to drown their sorrows. Li wrote many poems after baijiu, such as "rowing Junshan Mountain is good, paving Xiang Water." Baling wine drink is not enough, together drunk in the autumn of Dongting lake. "It's not just a drunken killing, it's a sad killing. Li Bai can't wait to fucking level all the mountains that stand in the way. Another example is "South Lake is smokeless in autumn waters, can it ride straight into the sky? "Yelang don't have to go, changan can't go back. Li Baixin was unwilling, but he could do nothing.
How irreconcilable is the treacherous officialdom and the society that pursues fame and fortune. I'm not saying that Li Bai's personality is similar to Yelang's arrogant personality. I mean, the original poet, his original soul, the original yelang, the original landscape, are the easiest friends. In my eyes, Li Bai is not suitable for being an official or going into business. He is not even suitable for secretarial work, education and nine-to-five work. He may not be good at manual labor, but he can drink. It's a pity that women are all ladies, and big men can't do it. ...
Li Bai is not suitable for this society as a whole, but he is suitable for going to the ancient Yelang country where the sky is high and the emperor is far away to run for the king. Li Bai should be the king of Yelang country, the king of utopia and the king of free kingdom. If Li Bai really went there, he might be able to live more freely, easily and happily. If Li Bai really went there, the ancient Yelang Kingdom might become a legend like the Peach Blossom Garden.
I have the same fantasy as Li Bai. I even fantasized that if Li Bai had not been pardoned and returned, he would have gone camping in Yelang, and he might have written famous sentences for many unknown scenery along the way, becoming famous all over the world and becoming a new famous mountain and great river. If Li Baizhen arrives at his destination, camp on the ruins of the ancient Yelang country, slash and burn, and drink with the local aborigines, he will definitely hit it off. If he decides to win or lose by drinking, he can definitely become a chief. Yelang people must like his temperament. On the contrary, those officials, big and small, in the Tang Dynasty really went to Yelang, and maybe they were not welcome.
Li Bai's ancestral home is Longxi (now Gansu), and he was born in Broken Leaf City in Central Asia (now near tokmak City in Kyrgyzstan). After the age of five, he moved to Zhou Shu with his father and spent his youth in Mian Governor Long (now Jiangyou, Sichuan). After twenty-five, he left Minshan and drifted along the Yangtze River. A few years later, he got married in Jiangling and became the son-in-law of Anlu, Hubei. Marriage didn't tie his heart. He missed Chang 'an in his mind until he couldn't get along in Beijing, and then he wandered in the countryside. Li Bai definitely belongs to the most famous tramp in the history of China literature. Whether in the Western Regions or the Central Plains, Hebei or Jiangnan, Jingchu or wuyue, Li Bai has left deep or shallow footprints.
If there is any place in the territory of the Tang Empire that Li Bai has never been to, it is probably Yelang. He almost went to this place ― whether he liked it or not. Yelang is a possibility (even a tragic possibility) in his life. Although it didn't come true, it also made his fate more dramatic. A thrilling drama. Only this unfinished journey made him feel a lot. If he really goes to Yelang, he may be able to write more works with new styles and new realms, and he may be able to live a brand-new Li Bai?
Think about it, I feel that my thoughts are cruel. As cruel as fate. In order to read fresh poems, I secretly expect poets to encounter more hardships and inspire more. I don't feel sympathy for Li Bai's Du Like Fu in trouble, but I hope that his experience will not leave any blank, and that he will become a master (a poet above a poet) after all his hardships. In order to appreciate the flying and wailing of Haiyan, I call for more violent storms; Li Bai was glad that he didn't go to Yelang, but also regretted that he didn't go to Yelang. Is this a spectator mentality that is too fond of watching tragedies and watching the excitement? No, I can only say that I love reading Li Bai's poems so much that I forget that the distorted shape is formed at the expense of great pain.
Li Bai, you didn't go to Yelang. Let me go. If I can write poems for you at the same time, and write poems for you that I might write but can't write in the end, it's worth going. Poets often have the psychology of trying: "If I don't go to hell, who will go to hell?" I'm not going to Yelang. Who will? "Even if the poet went to hell once like Dante, he wouldn't go in vain. When he comes back, he will bring a divine comedy that has gone through many hardships. This is how the Divine Comedy was made.