? Looking at the ancient times in Yue Zhong
? Li Bai
King Gou Jian of Yue defeated Wu and returned, and the soldiers returned home with all their glory.
The palace ladies are like flowers all over the Spring Palace, but now only partridges are flying.
This is a nostalgic work, that is, the poet visited Yuezhong (Yuezhou in the Tang Dynasty, where the government is now in Shaoxing, Zhejiang) and wrote it after feeling the famous events that happened there in ancient history. . During the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu and Yue fought for hegemony in the south and became feuding states. In 494 BC, King Gou Jian of Yue was defeated by King Wu Fu Chai. He returned to the country and swore to avenge himself. In 473 BC, he indeed destroyed the state of Wu. The poem is about this.
Poetry is not a historical novel, and quatrains are different from long ancient poems, so the poet can only choose a part of this historical event that he feels the most deeply to write. What he chose was not a certain episode in the long process of this struggle, but two scenes after Wu was defeated and Yue won, and the Yue king's squadron returned to China. The first sentence clearly states the meaning of the title and the specific content of the monument in mind. The second and third sentences respectively describe the situation of the soldiers returning home and Gou Jian returning to the palace. The enemy was eliminated, the humiliation was avenged, and the soldiers all returned victoriously. Since the war was over and everyone had received rewards, they wore brocade clothes instead of iron armor. Only the three words "finished brocade clothes" highlight the triumphant return of the Yue King and his warriors, full of victor's joy and pride. After the King of Yue returned home, he was so full of ambition that he not only showed off his power, but also became debauched and reveled. Therefore, beauties like flowers filled the palace, surrounded him, and waited on him. The word "spring" in "Spring Palace" should be "like flowers" and describe the beautiful times and scenes, not necessarily spring. By just writing this point, it is fully expressed that the King of Yue completely threw away the past events of sleeping on the fuel and tasting courage. The capital was full of warriors in brocade robes, and the palace was filled with flower-like palace maids. This is so prosperous, beautiful, lively, and joyful. However, the ending of the sentence suddenly changes and erases everything written above. The victory, might, wealth, glory that existed in the past, what else is there now? All people can see are a few partridges flying around on the former site of the royal city. This sentence describes the changes in personnel and the impermanence of ups and downs, expressed with emotion. The rulers of the past all hoped that their wealth and glory would be the inheritance of their descendants for eternity, but the poem truthfully pointed out the disillusionment of this hope, which is its positive significance.
The poem makes a sharp contrast between the prosperity of the past and the desolation of today through specific scenes, making readers feel particularly deeply. Generally speaking, it is more difficult to highlight a certain environment by directly describing it. However, through contrast, the effect obtained can often be greatly enhanced. Therefore, describing the desolation through lively scenes makes the desolation even more lamentable. In this way, the contrast between the prosperity of the past written in the front of the poem and the desolation of the present written in the back is extremely strong. The more vigorously you write in the front, the more powerful it will be in the back. In order to fully express the theme idea, the poet also made an arrangement for the artistic structure of this poem that is different from the general Qijue. In general, the turning point of Qijue is arranged in the third sentence, but the first three sentences of it go straight down, and it is not until the fourth sentence that it suddenly turns to the opposite side, which makes it appear particularly powerful and energetic. This kind of writing method is difficult for a poet who is not a strong penman to express himself freely.
Li Bai also has another nostalgic poem "Su Tai Lan Gu" that can be compared: "The old garden is deserted and the willows are new, and the singing of water chestnuts is endless in spring. But now there is only the moon over the Xijiang River, which once shone on the people in King Wu's palace." Sutai, also known as Gusutai, was the place where Fu Chai, King of Wu, played in the Spring and Autumn Period. Its former location is in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province today. From the beginning of this poem, it describes the dilapidation of Wuyuan and the desolation of Sutai, as well as the changes in personnel and the impermanence of ups and downs. Next, the willow sprouts new buds in the spring, and the willow color remains green year after year. The contrast between "new" and "old", the unchanging scenery and the changing people and things, is more profound. Feelings of paying homage to the historical relics. In one sentence, two different things are compared to express the feeling of the rise and fall of ancient and modern times. The wording is concise and natural. The next sentence continues to write the current scenery. Outside the green willows, there are some women singing Lingge, and the melody of the singing echoes in the infinite spring light. The willows have changed into new leaves, the boat girls are singing rhombus songs, the old gardens and deserted terraces are still filled with boundless spring scenery, but the former imperial palaces and beauties playing songs have all disappeared. Therefore, the last two sentences point out that only the bright moon hanging on the river flowing from the west is eternal; only she has seen the prosperity of the Wu Palace and seen the likes of Xiang Fu Cha and Xi Shi at that time. Characters can only serve as witnesses to history.
Both of these poems are ancient works, with the same theme and similar subject matter. However, the middle poem focuses on clearly describing the prosperity of the past, using three-quarters of the length to render it, and ends with The sentence writes about today's desolation and obliterates it, and then changes the idea. Sutai's poem focuses on the desolation of today to hint at the prosperity of the past. It uses ancient and new natural scenery to set off the ever-changing human affairs and show the sense of prosperity and decline in the past and present, so its expression methods are different. From here we can also see the poet's varied artistic skills.