Yuan Zhen is also very proud of his many skills. He introduced himself in this grand way: "He can sing wrong songs, but he tends to be exquisite. Words should be photographed and dances should be promoted. " I can sing and dance well, and I am also proficient in the most fashionable and popular game at banquets-ordering wine. I have so many skills to "bask in", which is simply more versatile than those artists in Korean variety shows. Unlike some big bowls in China at present, I have nothing but singing a song. In addition, Yuan Zhen can also write a good hand. Xuanhe's book says that his regular script "has its own charm and is extremely moving." How did he do it? The predecessors summed it up because "there is a pen in poetry, and there is a poem in the pen, but the heart paints nature." Make it clear, because Yuan Zhen's poems are very attractive.
The charming and romantic atmosphere in Yuan Zhen's poems is really strong. There used to be a saying: "After Yuan He, poetics was more lewd than Yuan Zhen." In other words, since Yuan Zhen, there have been more decadent voices in poetry. As a fashion pioneer, Yuan Zhen's influence should not be underestimated. Although the word "spread like wildfire" was invented by Kong Rong, it is used to describe the collection of pearls and precious stones or the currency in circulation. Bai Juyi was the first to express the power of the media in People. Bai Juyi said in Yuan Zhen's epitaph that Yuan Zhen's poems spread really fast. At that time, the generations of Liugong, the literati in Beijing and Beijing, people from all directions and even Naman and Dong Yi, who were not well educated, were writing his poems. "One sentence in each chapter, spread like wildfire, the disease is in Zhuyu", which is faster than Zhuyu changing hands. Today may catch up with the speed of stock trading in the bull market.
Whenever a person succeeds, there will be a large number of imitators and followers, and Yuan Zhen is no exception. In his letter to Ling Huchu, Yuan Zhen proudly said that at that time, all the poets in the Jianghu came to admire and imitate him, but they didn't have his talent, so they "reversed the language, repeated the beginning and the end, agreed to rhyme, etc." And copied and pasted Yuan Caizi's poems as his own. Yuan Zhen's poems are sought after, not only because there are more decadent voices in his poems, but also because he is not a literati who writes by body. He is the "founder of reform poems"-Lu Xun said that Cao Cao was the founder of reform articles. Here is a simple comparison. Yuan Zhen and his good friend Bai Juyi made bold reforms in poetry, replacing the serious face of poetry with lovely smiling faces, enriching the costumes of poetry, and writing a large number of "small broken chapters" and irritating works, which made poetry embark on the road of entertainment and popularization. Bai Juyi praised him for "the voice of China at home and body, and the Chinese characters in the book are absolutely incoherent", without much exaggeration.
The gifted scholar in the Yuan Dynasty was so talented that he was just a sympathetic figure. At the age of 53, he died of sudden illness. Although stronger than 49-year-old Liu Zongyuan, it is much worse than Bai Juyi and Liu Yuxi. Especially at that time and later generations, they all called it "Bai Yuan", but his personal image is hard to compare with Bai Juyi. A relationship without an ending made him bear the reputation of "forbearance"; After his wife died, she remarried and got the evaluation of "giving her impetuousness"; Finally, he reached the peak of his career and became the prime minister of the Tang Empire, but he was squeezed down before he could sit still and was branded as snobbish and despicable.
Since the Song Dynasty, when it comes to Yuan Zhen, what we see is satire, sarcasm and criticism. Shijie, who thinks that honesty is actually reckless and mindless, said in the book "Guo Shang Dian Yuan" that Yuan Zhen had no loyalty, only arrogance, no positive color, flattery and served the powerful. Although he became prime minister, he did nothing and made no contribution to the country and the nation. "Gentleman despises it, Mitchell despises it."
Yuan Zhen wrote a poem "Dream of Heaven", saying that he was awakened in his dream: "Crying and hating others' evil aroused shock, sadness and tears. Thank you for making people tired. No gentleman will never be satisfied. " Therefore, the poet He made up a story that after Yuan Zhen entered the provincial capital of Zhongshu, people who hated him kept nagging him: Where did the flies come from, so they didn't know how to get here? Mr. He also said that Yuan Zhen should wake up from his dream after listening to the fly catcher's nagging.
In the eyes of some readers today, Yuan Zhen's image seems to have improved. At least, people will not compare him to a fly. At most, they regard him as a China, an indefatigable China who doesn't want to stop for a moment. Everyone says that Yuan Zhen is affectionate, but infatuated. In front of each flower, he said touching love words, which moved him so much that he thought he would be faithful for life. However, he was deeply moved when he saw the next flower. This image of fraternity immediately reminds people of the emperor section in Jin Yong's novel "Eight Dragons".
Chen Yinque, the most authoritative master of Chinese studies, thinks that Yuan Zhen is not affectionate at all but treacherous. He said in the manuscript of Bai Yuan's Poems: "The way to correct his birth from the Ming Classics is to take the Ming Classics as his first choice in the fifteenth year of his life, just as he abandoned the double writings of the Han nationality and married Webster's in high school. Those who are working and married are not afraid to change their ways in order to improve their political and social status. To put it more bluntly, Jiangling's slight demotion was actually because it touched the eunuchs of the powerful and powerful, and it fell for a long time. Suddenly it was a betrayal, a competition between success and luck. His political career is the same as marriage. Only by looking at the trend of the times can we reap benefits and enrich our ears. It goes without saying that he has been smart all his life, and his smart marriage is particularly hateful. Is it sentimental? This is just a lot of deception. "
Mr. Chen Yinque said that it was immoral for Yuan Zhen to abandon his first lover and marry a noble woman, abandon his position of hating eunuchs and cling to flattery. Seize the opportunity and profit from it, all in order to get more benefits and benefits. He is not affectionate, but obviously cunning. Authoritative comments, naturally few people dare to question. So Yuan Zhen was fickle and treacherous, and almost became a * * * knowledge. If you want to reverse your conviction, you must have superhuman strength. Let's first find out why so many people beat him.
Mr. Chen Yinque said that Yuan Zhen's "skillful official is self-evident, and skillful marriage is especially abhorrent", which means that the politics in feudal times was not very clean. Playing tricks, selling honesty and changing to a senior official is not desirable, but it is not so annoying. Anyway, officials (feudal times) are mutual, which is not eye-catching. What is hateful is that Yuan Zhen defiled pure love and regarded marriage as an upward ladder. Is it tolerable?
How did Yuan Zhen betray his pure love? Generally speaking, the most powerful evidence is his own confession. Yuan Zhen wrote a famous novel, Biography of Yingying. The story goes like this:
During the Zhenyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, there was a handsome and determined Zhang Sheng. He never does anything against etiquette. Even if you have to sacrifice your body to socialize on some occasions, it is only superficial, so a 23-year-old man has not really approached a woman. His own explanation is that he didn't have no feelings, but he didn't meet anyone who made him have feelings. Soon, Zhang Sheng visited Zhou Pu and lived in the local Pujiu Temple. Coincidentally, Mrs Cui's family returned to Chang 'an with their youngest son, passed by Zhou Pu and stayed in this temple temporarily. More coincidentally, this lady surnamed Zheng is a "transferred relative" and his distant aunt. Unfortunately, the officers and men lost control and robbed Zhou Pu people. Cui's family had a lot of property and was frightened at once. Later, he stepped forward and found someone to protect Cui's family through his relationship.
Aunt Zheng thanked Zhang for her kindness, hosted a banquet in honor of Zhang, and invited her daughter Yingying out to meet her distant cousin. Originally, Zhang Sheng thought he was just trying to be brave and had no bad motive to save America, but when he saw his cousin, he was fascinated and couldn't move his feet any more. Later, I racked my brains to find cousin Yingying's maid and matchmaker, and expressed my thoughts in colorful words-love letters at that time. Yingying's cousin was emotional and invited him to the West Chamber for a tryst on a good day. Zhang Sheng got there, but Yingying changed her face again and scolded him. Just as Zhang Sheng was wandering around without a master and felt desperate, Yingying took the initiative to meet him and often lived together.
A few months later, Zhang Sheng left the temple and went to the capital to take the exam. But he failed in the exam and had to stay in Beijing. My cousin Yingying, who understands the great righteousness, wrote a affectionate letter to express her condolences and presented a thoughtful little gift. This letter is full of literary talent, even better than some "treasures" now. Zhang Sheng was so proud that he took out this love letter from his cousin and showed it off everywhere, which made the talented people in Beijing look at each other for a while. However, for the sake of his career and Yingying's happiness, Zhang Sheng broke up with his cousin rationally. About a year later, Zhang Sheng had her own family, and Yingying's cousin got married smoothly. Later, when Zhang Sheng passed by his cousin's in-law's house, hoping to see him again, it was someone else's wife Yingying who resolutely refused. Zhang Sheng was very disappointed. After knowing this, Yingying secretly wrote a poem: "Since I lost weight and volume, I have been lazy to get out of bed a thousand times. Don't be ashamed of others, but be ashamed of Lang. " Later, Zhang Sheng was leaving, and Cui Yingying wrote another poem: "Abandon the present and kiss yourself at that time. I will also pity the people in front of me. " Since then, the two have completely cut off the news.
This story must be familiar to everyone: amazing meeting, love at first sight; Poetry and Cambodia pass the message, and the little girl is tolerant; Before the flowers and under the moon, the west wing meets; Vows of eternal love, private life ... Isn't this the West Chamber? Even dating love poems are the same When learning The West Chamber, I was most impressed by the song Three Nights of Bright Moon:
Under the west wing of the moon, the air door was half open. The flowers on the wall are moving, and it is suspected that they are jade people.
It's admirable that all the love letters of trysts are written so elegantly. However, the ending is different. The Romance of the West Chamber is a story of sentient beings who finally get married, while Yingying Biography is a story of Lao Yan and Tian. The problem is also at the end. The happy ending of The West Chamber accords with people's aesthetic expectation, which is also the progressive significance emphasized in the history of literature. From my cousin Yingying's point of view, Biography of Yingying is the abandoned son of my cousin Zhang Sheng, and it is destined to be spurned by history, especially with the rise of women's status.
More importantly, Zhang Sheng has a bad attitude after making a mistake. Not only did he not reflect on himself, he did not make a miserable face of regret and heartbreak, but he also defended himself plausibly. When Yuan Zhen, the author, asked him why he broke up with Yingying, a delicate and affectionate cousin, Zhang Yisheng solemnly said: Yingying's cousin is a natural stunner, so attractive and destructive. At that time, Shang Zhouwang and Zhou Youwang were ruined by such a stunner, and everyone laughed at her. Now my virtue is not enough to restrain my cousin's stunner, so I have to restrain my feelings.
It is admirable that people can sometimes say so shamelessly that they are so fair, so noble and full of self-sacrifice. The most fatal problem is that since the Song Dynasty, many experts and scholars have recognized Yingying Biography as the author's autobiography and Yuan Zhen as Zhang Sheng's prototype. This expert group includes many famous figures, such as Liu Kezhuang, Hu Yinglin, Lu Xun, Chen Yinque and Wang Bijiang. They all think that Zhang Sheng is Yuan Zhen. Now that the official has made it clear, everyone hates Yuan Zhen. People should stress conscience and morality. Some things can't be done. Even if you do it occasionally, don't say it. Just snickering. The most hateful thing is to write it into a novel after doing something bad, and spread it triumphantly everywhere, for fear that others will not know, which is somewhat "official's son" demeanor.
It is not without people defending Yuan Zhen. Wang Shizhen, a great scholar, said in My Conversation in Chibei that when Yuan Zhen educated his children in his works, he said that he had good conduct and never set foot in fireworks places. He is a typical gentleman. "I grew up in Beijing, and I have many friends, but I never knew the door to promoting Excellence." How could he do such a thing? Someone immediately criticized Wang Shizhen: This kind of boasting can also be used as evidence, which is too naive, not to mention when educating the next generation. Even if he frequents such places, as long as he doesn't grasp the current situation, he will never admit it. To take a step back, not entering the door of advocating Excellence does not mean that there is no emotional decline. Therefore, it can almost be concluded that Zhang Sheng is Yuan Zhen's "vest".
Chen Yinque was a master of Chinese studies who hated Yuan Zhen the most in the 20th century. Qian Zhongshu, another master of Chinese studies who made us breathless, challenged Chen Yinque on this issue. From 65438 to 0978, Qian Zhongshu attended the 26th Congress of European Sinologists held in Milan, Italy, and gave a lecture on "Research on Modern Classical Literature in China". He believes that "the application of Marxism" has "profoundly changed" the traditional way of literary research, that is, there is less tedious and unnecessary textual research and blind worship of materials, and more study and research on literary theory and artistic theory. He said, for example, before liberation, a great scholar (in fact, Mr. Chen) spent a lot of knowledge and care to answer "Is Yang Guifei in the palace?" The question is better than the question "What does Keats drink for porridge?" "Pushkin smokes and doesn't smoke" is even more meaningless.
Later, Mr Jiang Yang, a Qian Furen, clearly explained what Mr Qian meant. She wrote an article "Facts-Stories-Truth", which explicitly opposed Master Chen Yinque's statement (including research methods, of course), thinking that literary truth is different from historical facts, and different literary images are historical figures. Teacher Chen reads poetry by reading history.
Nowadays, some people hold the spear of the child and the shield of the attack. From the perspective of textual research, it is discussed that Zhang Shengyuan is not Yuan Zhen. What are the evidences carefully collected by the textual research school represented by Chen Yinque?
First of all, Yuan Zhen wrote an epitaph for an aunt Zheng, which described that Yuan Zhen protected his family during the war-the problem is that this was said by the Song people, and no one has seen the original text.
Secondly, when Yuan Zhen was young, he went to Zhou Pu, where the story took place, and his experience was very close to that of Zhang Sheng. At the same time, Yuan Zhen wrote many poems, that is, recalling the years of living together. In the fourth year of Ru Yuanhe (809), Yuan Zhen, 3 1 year-old, wrote Jialing Post: "The flowers outside the wall press the short wall, and the moonlight shines on half the bed. No one will have this idea and sleep alone in the Xicheng Gallery all night. " The wall, the bed and the west porch are clearly the scenes of a tryst ten years ago. Nearly ten years later, he still remembers those fragments clearly. He is not the protagonist. How can he have such unforgettable memories?
Another example is "Spring Dawn" written by Yuan Zhen at the age of 41 in the fourteenth year of Yuan He (8 19): "At half past dawn, I am drunk. Zhang Er rang the doorbell and left. Twenty years ago, I realized the situation of the temple. " Look at "Biography of Yingying": "At one moment, the temple bell rang and it was almost dawn, so the matchmaker urged her to go." Twenty years of lingering love and cohabitation in a solemn temple reappeared in front of the poet with the bell.
Finally, the original name of Yingying Biography is Legend-much earlier than Zhang Ailing's novel, and the latter should be the infringer-although the Tang legend began to appear conscious fiction, many works have the shadow of historical facts.
But the opposition said, even if there is such an aunt who has been to Zhou Pu and had similar experiences (they think these statements lack strong basis), can it be said that Zhang Sheng is Yuan Zhen?
Maybe someone will ask if Zhang Sheng is Yuan Zhen. Is this important? At present, the more responsible answer is that this question is really important. What is important is that it involves two top masters of Chinese studies and two ways or angles to interpret the legends of the Tang Dynasty: whether to emphasize historical materials or imagination, which is a question that scholars must think about, just as Hamlet must think about life or death.
As for Yuan Zhen himself, it is not so important. Even if he is not the legendary fickle Zhang Sheng, his image among readers will not change substantially. After all, the erythema on the buttocks has been deeply reflected in people's minds. What everyone needs is a romantic genius as the object of condemnation. Who will go to hell to write such a story and preach forbearance? What's more, the latecomers have learned from him and won't leave a handle on others. At the beginning of the film and TV series, it should be emphasized that "this story is pure fiction, please don't sit in the right place." What happened in the story has nothing to do with you or me.
Mr. Chen Yinque's Double Evidence Law is a great contribution in the 20th century, which is said to have changed the thinking mode of traditional cultural researchers. Mr. Chen Yinque has a unique vision in the excavation and utilization of materials. He can often find clues from ordinary materials that others can't perceive. He not only proved that Zhang Sheng was Yuan Zhen, but also further verified the true identity of Yingying's cousin. Teacher Chen believes that because Yingying Biography, also known as Ji, was a common language at that time, meaning to visit the immortals, names such as "Xian" in the Tang Dynasty were often used as pronouns of enchanting women or romantic female Taoist priests, and some people called prostitutes by this. In this way, the identity of Miss Yingying will be vividly portrayed. Therefore, some generous scholars say that Yingying was born in a poor family and was quite suspected of being a geisha, and geisha was also a kind of * * * at that time, with a position between a concubine and a maid. At that time, many people married geisha, but it was forbidden to marry geisha.
If this is the case, then people's goodwill towards Yuan Zhen will increase. There are many stories between Juzi and prostitutes in Tang Dynasty, which are said to have almost become a tradition. There are also many legends that describe their stories. Of course, there are also those who are all well that ends well, such as Li Wachuan, but after all, they are a few, which is slightly lower than the chance of winning the first prize in today's lottery. Marrying such a girl as a wife, at that time, the only possibility was that the hero was abandoned by his family like Li Wa Biography, and the heroine made amazing contributions.
Although Yuan Zhen's early life was not smooth, he didn't live on the streets like Zheng Sheng in Li Wa Biography. At the age of eight, my father died, and neither brother wanted to support his stepmother, this younger brother and two sisters. But Yuan Zhen also had uncles. They not only took care of Yuan Zhen's mother and son's life (Yuan Zhen's second sister had become a monk), but also urged Yuan Zhen to study hard. It is said that when Yuan Zhen was nine years old, his aunt and brother Hu Lingzhi began to help him write and compose poems. Of course, because my aunt and brother became "tutors", management is inevitably lax. Yuan Zhen had a happy time when he was a teenager. He could often go hunting, enjoy singing and dancing, and even watch people gamble.
Yuan Zhen's study conditions are very poor, and he doesn't seem to work hard. He has never heard of the story of sore tongue because of reading and writing, but he learned the four books and five classics at the age of fifteen, which shows that he is indeed a born genius-some scholars believe that Yuan Zhen took the exam at the age of fifteen and didn't announce his results until the next year, so he should be ranked first at the age of sixteen, so let's call it sixteen. People in the Tang Dynasty thought that it was much more difficult to test Ming Classics than to test Jinshi, but in the view of our descendants, it was more difficult to recite those Classics and write them down separately than to compile a few limerick poems.
Yuan Zhen, who acceded to the throne, has been living in Kaiyuan Temple in Chang 'an, waiting for the official department to arrange work. At about the age of twenty, it is said that he went to Zhou Pu, but it is not clear why and when he went. Maybe he went to Zhou Pu to "protect" Yingying's cousin. In short, at the age of twenty-two, that is, in the sixteenth year of Zhenyuan (800), Yuan Zhen must have returned to Chang 'an, because he had studied classics for seven years, and the official department arranged a job for him according to regulations.
The 19th year of Zhenyuan (803) was a lucky year for Yuan Zhen. In March of this year, he and Bai Juyi passed the system examination together and became the secretary of the provincial school, which was an important symbol of his official career. People who come from the Ming Classics Department will always suffer some supercilious looks. Legend has it that he went to visit Li He and gave him a business card. Li He immediately closed the door and refused, saying that he didn't understand the language of people who studied Ming Jing. Now, he has passed the flat sentence exam, and he is finally proud. For example, an undergraduate student in a third-rate university finally got into a graduate school in Peking University and was able to talk loudly with people around him about his diploma.
This year, he and Bai Juyi became friends, not friends in the general sense, but friends who can communicate with each other and really understand each other. This is also what Bai Juyi said in "Hundred Rhymes of Poems on behalf of Books". "I remember in Zhenyuan, I entered school for the first time. On the day of the name award, I knew the word. " The two people who share their talents respect each other and have a deep friendship, which may even cause misunderstanding today. The Art of Poetry records a short story. When Yuan Zhen was an imperial envoy, he went to Zitong to handle a case. Bai Juyi had a drink after visiting Jionji with people in Beijing. Thinking of his old friend, he wrote a poem to Yuan Zhen: "When you are drunk, you will end your spring worries, and when you are drunk, you will break branches to make wine crumbs. I suddenly remembered my old friend, went to heaven, and went to Liangzhou today. " When Yuan Zhen arrived in Baocheng, he also sent a poem "Sleepwalking", saying, "Brother Qujiangtou of Mengjun also swam to Ci 'en Hospital. The postman sent for a horse and suddenly surprised Gu Liangzhou. "The poem said that he dreamed that Bai Juyi was playing in Jean Temple. Therefore, the predecessors lamented: "A thousand miles away, harmony is precious, and friends are friends. "When Bai Juyi was in exile in Jiangzhou, Yuan Zhen wrote" Smell Lotte Grant Jiangzhou Sima ",which made later generations sigh:
The residual lamp has no flame shadow. I heard that you have fallen into Jiujiang this evening. Sitting up in a dying illness, the dark wind blew the rain into the cold window.
This year, Yuan Zhen also became the groom's official, and the bride Wei Cong was Wei's youngest daughter. Who is Wei? The year before last, he was the highest official in Beijing, namely Beijing Zhao Yin. In March this year, the prince was the guest, and in October, the east was left behind, and the east was expensive and the east was used as a defense. It can be seen that Wei Cong's dignity is not the same as Yingying's cousin. If the bride is only the daughter of an ordinary official, even if Yuan Zhen did something unnatural, such as rebelling and abandoning his son, it would not cause such a fierce response. Nowadays, even if Yuan Zhen and Yingying broke up amicably, it can't stop others from thinking about some things.
Subjectively, Yuan Zhen should have the intention of attaching himself to the powerful, but more importantly, he should follow the custom. Mr. Chen Yinque pointed out: "The society of the Tang Dynasty inherited the old customs of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and we can judge the character through two things. These two things are called marriage. Second, the official. Marrying without marrying a celebrity and being an official without looking at an official are despised by society. " Yuan Zhen will feel honored in such a marriage, but as a gifted scholar, feelings of loss and helplessness will also appear. After marriage, he and his wife went to Luoyang with their father-in-law. In the poem, he quipped:
Ziyuan rode into Huaju, and Zi wore clothes to protect him today. What happened to scholar Shuige? He also rode a horse from Shangshu.
Here, he clearly felt that he was not at peace with the Zhang Yue family. He walked into the luxurious mansion with his head held high, wearing a gorgeous embroidered robe, and a scholar slowly followed him on a thin horse. In his embarrassing mood, there is still a trace of arrogance, reserve and flattery.
How much benefit did Yuan Zhen get from such a marriage? I may have gained some knowledge and had the opportunity to enjoy a song and dance performance dedicated to senior officials: "The music in front of Xie and the dog playing the flute are playing timid songs." The garden wants to hold thousands of drinks, and Shui Ge has already spent the hundredth cup. "The poem Fu Xie was written by his father-in-law. As for Yuan Zhen's economic situation and officialdom environment, there is not much change, and life is still tight. Look at his poems recalling those years of life:
The youngest and favorite daughter Xie is a good girl. You mend my clothes with your own wicker basket, and Nita sells wine and draws gold hairpin. You eat your food with wild vegetables, but your food is sweet. You cook with dead branches with leaves. Now that I am a high official, you are far away from the world and sent some monks and priests to be at the mercy of monks.
I used to joke that it was behind us, but now it is in front of us as you said. Almost all your clothes have been given away. You can't stop sewing. Because I miss you, I love girls very much, and many of your dreams, I will burn paper for you. No one knows that the husband and wife will be sad, and many past memories are extremely sad.
When he got married, he clearly knew that his father-in-law was going to retire, and he hoped that his old man's house would go more resolutely: "Xie Gongqian has the intention of Dongshan, and has opened the Zhumen. Yin Da hesitates to love the city, it is better to give up and return to the park. " What's more, in the second year after marriage, the old father-in-law went to the grave. As for Yuan Zhen's success in officialdom, he mainly benefited from his hard review, the exam in the third year after marriage and the appreciation of Pei Ji, a senior minister of the Ministry of War.
Yuan Zhen's greatest achievement in this marriage is his perfect love and sweet happiness. Seven years later, after his wife Wei Cong died, Yuan Zhen wrote many poems to express his grief, such as three mourning poems, five mourning poems, eight mourning poems in the spring of six years, five mixed memories, and my wife's full moon day. Look at this:
I'm sitting here alone, mourning for both of us. How many years is my seventy years old? ! No offspring is fate, and Pan Yue just mourned his dead wife in vain. What hope do I have in the darkness of our graves? Neither you nor I believe in meeting after death! Only the night will be very long, which is a lifelong worry in your brow.
Sitting around thinking of you makes me feel sad. I feel sorry for you and for myself. Without you by my side, even if I can live to be a hundred years old, what's the taste? Deng You of the Jin Dynasty had no son, and he knew it was destiny takes a hand. After Pan Yue lost his wife, he wrote a "Mourning Poem", but failed to save her life. Is the ending of separation really predestined? What can we expect except to be buried together after death? Seeing each other in the afterlife is even more extravagant! Now you can only repay the infatuation that day by staying up late. It is hard to imagine that a fickle person, who is "skillful in marriage", can write such affectionate poems. The most memorable thing is the fourth song of Five Poems of Self-reflection:
Once I tasted the vast sea, I felt that the water in other places was pale; Once you have experienced the clouds in Wushan, you feel that the clouds elsewhere are eclipsed. Hurried through the flowers, lazy to look back; This reason is partly because of the ascetic monk, and partly because of who you used to be.
It's hard to understand why some people are so angry about his married life and why some people cling to the Pujiu Temple. How many gifted scholars were so affectionate in the Tang Dynasty? How many people are obsessed with their wives? If Wei Cong knew about the underground and saw such poems, he would definitely think that he was the happiest woman in the Tang Dynasty. Even my cousin Yingying will be moved when she sees Yuan Zhen's poems that miss the past tryst: one or two decades later, my cousin still cares so much. Compared with those who have games and dreams, what is there to be satisfied with?
Those who "follow prostitutes to the East Mountain" and linger in the flowers are rarely condemned, but they have paid their true feelings and been reprimanded. Unofficial history's Friends of Cloud Creek in the Song Dynasty said that shortly after Wei Cong's death, Yuan Zhen had an affair with Xue Tao, a poetess, which was the kind that provoked troubles and finally abandoned them. Yuan Zhen himself may scoff, because Xue Tao is 19 years older than him, and they have never met. But this kind of news, how can you let the spectators easily let go? Today, people who joke about "Yuan Zhen" are still relishing this "love".
In the tenth year of Yuanhe (8 15), Yuan Zhen married Pei Shu again. At this time, Yuan Zhen was 37 years old. Someone jumped out and asked Yuan Zhen: You said, "Once the sea was difficult for water, it was amber forever." Why did his wife change her mind four or five years after her death? Look at Wang Wei. He was widowed in his early thirties, but he never remarried.
Wang Wei no longer marries a wife, but it doesn't mean that he is infatuated, because he is obsessed with Buddhism. Taking him as an example of loyalty, I think Wang Wei will be uncomfortable because it is not his intention. There are also some talented people who have been widowed for nearly ten years and never got married, such as Liu Zongyuan, but that's because he didn't find the right woman. In this decade, more than two or three women lived together, and one or two children were born out of wedlock.
What is the relationship between Yuan Zhen and Pei Shu? There are two stories you can't help but know. In the third year of Changqing (823), 45-year-old Yuan Zhen was appointed as the secretariat of East Zhejiang by the secretariat of Tongzhou. Pei Shu was unhappy, and Yuan Zhen wrote a song to comfort her, "Early except for the wife in eastern Zhejiang who was blocked by four rhymes":
I went back to Pakistan in May when I got married, and today I went to Yuezhou in pairs. There are thousands of women in Xingqing, and there are six princes next to Huiji. The jadeite under the sea is idle, and the mirror is warm. I am ashamed of my Lord's kindness, so what more can you ask for?
In the fourth year of Daiwa (830), 52-year-old Yuan Zhen walked out of Wuchang and wrote a song "Give Softness":
Poor winter, I will go back to my hometown, and I will leave Beijing at the beginning of the year. I hate my eyes and often look at flowers in the distance. The blue building is still shining, and the red powder does not ask. Get married and get home.
Soft is Pei Shu's word, and there is a small note under the poem: "When I arrived in Beijing, I left Wuchang Town within one month. When Pei was in trouble, I wrote poems to comfort her, and Pei also replied with poems." It means that Yuan Zhen will leave Wuchang Town in less than a month from Jiangnan Huiji. Of course, Pei Shu doesn't want to go far, so Yuan Zhen wrote a poem to comfort her, and Pei Shu also wrote a poem back. Being an official outside is also very concerned about his wife's feelings, which is unique among Tang Cai people. I still have to explain to my wife repeatedly and give comfort. You can imagine the usual respect for your wife. Is this a good man in the Tang Dynasty? However, some people disagree, saying that this is Yuan Zhen's trick on women. Isn't it admirable that my wife can take the initiative to make her happy when she is depressed? As for the spectators, he said, "Yuan Zhen was ungrateful, ungrateful, and seemed to have retribution. He had eight children, seven of whom died one after another, leaving only one daughter, which is considered as the last generation. I am afraid this is also a retribution for his promiscuity. " Be kind, even if you are joking. In a civilized era that preaches "sunset red", it is far from the purpose of modern civilization to dictate the legal remarriage of Yuan Zhen and ask his dead wife to be sober.
Yuan Zhen's poem "Palace" is vivid.
In the empty and desolate old palace, there is only the lonely brilliant red of Hua Gong. Several white-haired footmen were sitting around talking about the emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
Life is long, and idle and boring maids are tearing at the years with Xuanzong's "gossip". Did Yuan Zhen ever think that he had become the object of gossip?