Don Chen Ziang
Where were those lost times before me? ,
Behind me, where is the next generation? .
I think of heaven and earth, with no limit and no end.
I was alone, and my tears fell.
Everyone praised this as a good poem. Almost all the literary history has been quoted, and almost all the anthologies of Tang poetry have chosen it. However, what is good about it is worth every reader to ponder and explore why.
The whole poem is only four sentences, but only 22 words. No narrative, no metaphor, no allusions, no attention to repetitive content, and no disdain for carving. It just sings loudly and expresses its mind. However, its realm is so broad, its style is so bold, and its significance is so profound! This poem can be called Chen Ziang's masterpiece because it contains the sharp contradiction between the great poet's ideal and reality in such a short space. It's like the eruption of a volcano and the flow of a river. It not only poured out the anguish of this generation of poets' souls, but also represented the intense thoughts and feelings of the backbone of China's "heyday" at the end of the seventh century. More importantly, 1000 has maintained its enduring artistic charm for many years, touching countless readers, so that we still feel like we are in the historical background at that time when we taste it today. We saw the boundless sky and the vast Yuan Ye, heard the shocking and generous elegy of the pioneers of the "Voice of the Prosperous Tang Dynasty", and felt a heroic and tragic beauty.
You Zhou Tower was written in 697, the second year of Wu Zetian's long live. According to Lu Zangyong's biography of Chen, this year, Ang conquered the Khitan from Wu Youyi and served as a staff officer in the army. At that time, the war situation was unfavorable to the Wu Zhou Dynasty. Wu Youyi's former army suffered a fiasco, the camp was shaken and people were in panic. Zi Ang could not bear to sit back and watch the defeat. He stood up and persuaded Wu Youyi, and put forward different operational strategies. Wu Youyi, who was born in a noble family and didn't understand the military, became angry from embarrassment rather than being trainable, and gave Zi Ang the unreasonable punishment of being demoted to sergeant. Lu Zangyong described Ziang's situation after being punished like this: "Ziang knows the difference, but he is only the secretary in charge. Because I climbed the Jibei Building (Youzhou Taiwan), I felt that happiness and Zhao Yan happened in the past, and I wrote several poems, but I cried and sang, "Where are those past times in front of me?" Behind me, where are the future generations? I thought of heaven and earth, there is no limit, there is no end, I am alone, and my tears fall! " ("Chen Biezhuan"). Lu Zangyong is not only Zi Ang's contemporary, but also his good friend. The so-called "feeling the joy of the past, Zhao Yan's work, writing several poems" refers to the seven poems of "Qiu Ji visited the ancient times and gave them to Lu Jushi for collection". "Therefore, the source of the above-mentioned" Youzhou Tower "should be credible. It can help us understand the background of this masterpiece and the author's thoughts and emotions at that time.
We know that. Since his youth, Chen Ziang has set his mind on making contributions, paying attention to social reality and military affairs. At the beginning of his official career, he made various suggestions to Wu Zetian many times with the courage of a politician, regardless of people's whispers, hoping to help the country. The ruling clique of Wu Zhou acted as a non-remonstrator, snubbing Chen Ziang, making it difficult for him to display his ambition. This is an opportunity to recruit Khitans from Uyouyi. However, contrary to expectations, it is not only "I try not to use it", but also degraded. Chen Ziang, 37, is now boarding the famous Guyou station. I remember that my political ideal could not be realized after more than ten years of official career. How can I not feel the sadness of the protagonist's disorientation? When I was in Ziang, it was completely understandable to "cry" when I thought I was too ambitious to display it. His attack is essentially a tragedy caused by the unreasonable feudal system suppressing talents. Knowing that this poem is a song of frustrated people inspired by such a sad mood, we can understand why it caused a strong * * * among countless intellectuals in feudal times.
However, our understanding and exploration of the ideological significance of this poem should not stop there. As far as poetry is concerned, it is obvious that the author is not only singing for the ups and downs of his personal political path, but also complaining about an incident of being demoted in the army. The attack on the front line of Youyan is only a catalyst for the author's long-term poetic thinking about the life of the universe. The artistic realm in this poem is far and wide, far beyond the scope of ordinary events. What the author expects is the previous generation saints who can't catch up; What we expect is what like-minded contemporary sages expect; What makes him feel "nostalgic" is the contrast between the endless objective world and his tortuous and short life ... In such a vast and boundless background, the poet can't help but burst into tears! From this clue of emotional development in the poem, it can be seen that the poet who was singing songs on the stage in Youzhou at that time had detached himself from the disturbance of specific events and devoted himself to the world, looking at the ancient and modern times, and being at the intersection of time and space in the vast universe to explore the big topics of social life!
Image is greater than thought. Chen Ziang's sentimental works are triggered by his own experience in real life, but their objective significance is far beyond the scope of himself and even his era, and they are universal to some extent. The sentimental feelings expressed in this poem are obviously different from the secular worries about life and death. This is a sigh in the persistent pursuit of career and life. He pays attention to the great and eternal universe and thinks about the mystery of life from the height of philosophy. This ideological tendency shines brightly from time to time in his poems "Feeling", for example, the poem "Feeling" says: "Living in seclusion, watching the good news and thinking about living in groups". The twenty-fifth song says, "Xuan wax is white dew, and I have wasted my life." What will the lonely British do if the group expands? " Wait a minute. These extraordinary hymns are interlinked with the exclamation of "I miss heaven and earth, and there is no limit" in Youzhou Tower, which proves each other, indicating that the author is constantly thinking about the universe and life. This kind of thinking is a meaningful enlightenment and infection to all thoughtful and ambitious people. In the face of the boundless universe with no beginning and no end, how can people not waste their short lives? This is a question that anyone in any era must think and answer. Because of this, although our present era is far from the Tang Dynasty in which Chen Ziang lived, and although the lonely and sentimental feudal intellectuals in Chen Ziang have been rejected by us, when we read this poem, we still strongly feel the vastness of the universe and the passage of time, and thus think of what individuals should do in this endless universe and long river of time to not waste this life. This is also the main reason why this poem is still deeply loved by modern readers.