1. Appreciation of five-character quatrains in Tang poetry
Thoughts in the dead of night
Li Bai [Tang Dynasty]
The foot of my bed is shining so brightly. Is there frost already?
I looked up at the moon and looked down, feeling nostalgic.
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The bright moonlight sprinkled on enough paper, as if the ground was frosted.
That day I looked up at the bright moon in the sky outside the window, and I couldn't help lowering my head and thinking of my hometown far away.
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This poem is about the feeling of missing my hometown on a silent moonlit night.
The first two sentences of the poem are an illusion created by the poet in a specific foreign environment in an instant. A person who lives alone in a foreign country and is busy during the day can still dilute his sadness. However, in the dead of night, the waves of missing his hometown will inevitably surge in his heart. Not to mention on a moonlit night, not to mention on a frosty autumn night. "Could there have been frost?" The word "doubt" in the poem vividly expresses that the poet woke up from his sleep and mistook the Leng Yue in front of his bed for the thick frost on the ground. The word "frost" is better used, which not only describes the bright moonlight, but also expresses the cold of the season, and also sets off the loneliness and desolation of the poet wandering abroad.
On the other hand, the last two sentences of the poem deepen homesickness through the description of actions and ways. The word "hope" takes care of the word "doubt" in the previous sentence, which shows that the poet has changed from a daze to a sober one. He stared at the moon eagerly and couldn't help thinking that his hometown was under the bright moon at the moment. So naturally, I came to the conclusion that "I sank back and suddenly thought of home". The action of "bowing your head" depicts the poet completely lost in thought. And the word "miss" left a rich imagination space for readers: the old brothers, relatives and friends in that hometown, the mountains and rivers, the grass and trees in that hometown, the lost years, the past … are all in my thoughts. A word "Xiang" contains too much content.
Amin Hu Yinglin said: "Taibai quatrains are all written in words. The so-called people who have no intention of working are unemployed. " Wang Shimao thinks: "(quatrains) Only Violet (Li Bai) and Long Biao (Wang Changling) were extremely ambitious in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Li is more natural, former residence. " What are "nature" and "unintentional work"? This song "Silent Night Thinking" is a sample list. Therefore, Hu specially put it forward and said it was "a wonder of ancient and modern times."
This little poem has neither strange and novel imagination nor exquisite and gorgeous rhetoric; It only describes the homesickness of distant guests in a narrative tone, but it is meaningful and intriguing, and has attracted readers so widely for thousands of years.
Strangers in a foreign country will probably feel this way: just one day, in the dead of night, homesickness will inevitably ripple in my heart; What's more, it's a moonlit night, what's more, it's an autumn night with a bright moon like frost!
The white frost on the moon is clear, which is the night scene of clear autumn; Describing moonlight with frost color is also common in classical poetry. For example, in the poem Xuanpu Liang Na written by Emperor Wen of Liang Jian and Xiao Gang, "jathyapple is like autumn frost". Zhang, a poet in the Tang Dynasty who was earlier than Li Bai, wrote a bright moonlight with "frost flowing in the air" in "Moonlight on a Spring River", which gave people a three-dimensional sense, especially a wonderful idea. However, these are all used as rhetorical devices in poetry. "Is there frost already?" This poem is narrative, not figurative words, but a temporary illusion of the poet in a specific environment. Why is there such an illusion? It is not difficult to imagine that these two sentences describe the situation that the guest can't sleep at night and has a short dream for the first time. At this time, the courtyard was lonely, and the bright moonlight hit the bed through the window, bringing a cold autumn chill. At first glance, the poet was in a blur and trance, and it really seemed that the ground was covered with frost; But a closer look, the surrounding environment told him that this is not a frost mark, but a moonlight. The moonlight inevitably attracted him to look up, and a round of Juan Juan Su Ling hung in front of the window. The space in autumn night is so bright and clean! At this time, he was fully awake.
The moon in autumn is especially bright, but it is very cold. For lonely and distant travelers, it is the easiest to touch their yearning for autumn, which makes people feel depressed and the years fly by. Staring at the moon is also the easiest way to make people daydream, think of everything in their hometown and their relatives at home. Thinking, thinking, head gradually lowered, completely immersed in meditation.
From "doubt" to "looking up" and from "looking up" to "bowing down", the poet's inner activities are vividly revealed, and a vivid picture of homesickness on a moonlit night is vividly outlined.
Just four poems, written fresh and simple, clear as words. Its content is simple, but it is also rich. This is easy to understand, but it is endless. The poet said nothing more than what he had already said. Its conception is meticulous and profound, but it is also blurted out without trace. From here, it is not difficult for readers to understand the wonderful scenery of "nature" and "no work and no heart" in Li Bai's quatrains.
2. Appreciation of the classic five-character quatrains in Tang poetry
Eight sides fortress
Du Fu [Tang Dynasty]
During the Three Kingdoms period, you made unparalleled achievements, and you gained a permanent reputation by invading. (Ming Cheng Zuo Yi: Gao Ming)
This river won't divert the stones from your disposal, and you will always regret that you will destroy Wu's unwise.
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You have made great achievements in the Three Kingdoms, created an eight-array map, and achieved permanent fame.
Despite the impact of the river, the stone remained intact. The thousand-year regret lies in Liu Bei's blunder in swallowing Wu.
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This is a poem dedicated to Zhuge Liang when the author first arrived in Kuizhou (governing Fengjie, now Chongqing). Written in the first year of Dali (766). "Eight arrays" refers to the military drills and combat arrays composed of eight arrays of heaven, earth, wind, clouds, dragons, tigers, birds and snakes, which embodies his outstanding military talents.
"The divided Three Kingdoms are bound by his greatness, and the Bamianbao is built on his reputation." The first two sentences of this little poem say that you have made great achievements in the Three Kingdoms, created the Eight Arrays, and achieved permanent fame.
These two sentences praised Zhuge Liang's great achievements. The first sentence was written from a general point of view, saying that Zhuge Liang made the most outstanding achievements in the process of establishing a situation in which Wei Shuwu was divided into three parts and stood on its own feet. Of course, there are many factors for the coexistence of the three countries, and Zhuge Liang's assistance to Liu Bei in establishing the inheritance of Shu from scratch should be said to be one of the important reasons. Du Fu's highly generalized praise objectively reflected the historical truth of the Three Kingdoms period. In the second sentence, from a specific aspect, Zhuge Liang's eight-array map made him famous. The ancients praised this point, and Du Fu's poem praised Zhuge Liang's military achievements more intensively and concisely.
These two poems are written in antithetical sentences, and the overall contributions of The Three Kingdoms and Eight Arrays to the military are exquisite, neat and natural. Structurally, the first sentence really mentioned, cut to the chase; After the period, I wrote a poem to further praise the achievements, and also paved the way for the memorial relics behind.
"Next to this ever-changing river, there stands a stone, which is his sadness that he failed to conquer the State of Wu." These two sentences express their feelings about the site of "Eight Arrays". The site of "Eight Arrays Map" is located on the flat sand in front of Yong 'an Palace in southwest Kuizhou. According to Liu Yuxi's "Jingzhou Painting Vice" and "Jia", the eight arrays here are all piled up with fine stones, five feet high and sixty yards around, arranged in sixty-four piles, which remain unchanged. Even if it is flooded in summer, everything will be lost in winter, but the eight stone piles will remain unchanged for 600 years. The first sentence writes the magic of the relic very concisely. "Stones don't turn", use the poem "My heart is full of stones, so I can't turn" in The Book of Songs, National Style and White Boat. In the author's view, this magical color is intrinsically related to Zhuge Liang's spiritual mind: his loyalty to the Shu-Han regime and the great cause of reunification is firm and unshakable. At the same time, the existence of this scattered and recovered eight-array stone pile, which has remained unchanged for many years, seems to symbolize Zhuge Liang's regret for his dying ambition. Therefore, the last sentence written by Du Fu was "saying that he never conquered Wu", saying that Liu Bei's swallowing Wu was a mistake, which destroyed Zhuge Liang's fundamental strategy of resistance and made the great cause of reunification fall by the wayside, which became an eternal regret.
Of course, this poem is not so much "lingering hatred" for Zhuge Liang as Du Fu's regret for Zhuge Liang, and this regret is permeated with Du Fu's depressed feelings of "self-mutilation and death" (Huang).
This quatrain of nostalgia has the characteristics of integrating discussion into poetry. But this argument is not empty and abstract, but vivid and lyrical. The poet combines nostalgia with narration, giving people a feeling of endless hatred and meaning.
3. Appreciation of classic five-character quatrains in Tang poetry
Leyou tomb
Li Shangyin [Tang Dynasty]
In the evening, I was unhappy and drove to Gu.
Sunset, infinitely beautiful, only near dusk.
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In a bad mood at night, I drove to Leyuan Scenic Area alone.
This sunset is really beautiful, but it's already dusk.
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Here I think this poem reflects the author's sad mood. When the poet boarded the Leyuan Scenic Area to dispel the feeling of "discomfort", he saw the splendid sunset and was filled with emotion.
The first two sentences of this poem, "There is a shadow in my heart, and I have driven up among the tombs of Leyou", pointing out the time and reason for going to Guyuan. "Night" means it's getting dark, and "uncomfortable" means unhappy. The poet is in a melancholy mood. In order to relieve boredom, he drove out to see the scenery, so he boarded the ancient plain, that is, Leyuan Scenic Area. Since ancient times, poets have been sentimental and sentimental, but whenever they look far up, they are more likely to arouse endless thoughts: the sadness of home and country, the feeling of life experience, the feelings of ancient and modern times, and the thoughts of heaven and man are often intertwined, full of grievances, and almost unspeakable. As soon as Chen Ziang boarded the Youzhou Ancient Terrace, he uttered a sigh of "I miss heaven and earth, and there is no limit, no limit", which is probably the most representative example. Li Shangyin's visit to "I'm already in Leyou Graves" is not to find love, but to dispel his feeling of "twilight in my heart".
The word "sunset" has always been regarded as a poet's lament about the imminent decline of the Tang Dynasty empire. The Tang dynasty flourished for a while, and now it is just like this sunset, not for long. So this poem has long been translated into this: "The sunset is infinitely beautiful! It's just going to fall. " In the late Tang Dynasty, Li Shangyin always had a sense of decadence after extreme luxury, so this poem was understood as Li Shangyin's exclamation of the Tang Dynasty empire. The sense of loss that this beautiful thing is about to disappear and sink is deeply imprinted on every poet in the late Tang Dynasty. Therefore, compared with the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the poems of poets in the late Tang Dynasty always lacked that heroic self-confidence, and most of them were gloomy and implicit. Just like this poem, after being brought into the era of Li Shangyin, it is an ordinary and simple language, but it has a faint sense of loss. After all, it was the most prosperous empire in China and even in human history. How can its decline not be sad?
But this poem also has another interpretation angle, which has been recognized by many academic circles in recent years: this view holds that the word "gang" is not a turning point here, but a rational explanation. So the last two sentences should be translated into: the sunset is infinitely beautiful! Because it's close to dusk when I watch it! The author has researched many materials about this poem and found that there have been different views on the interpretation of the latter two sentences since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Moreover, with regard to the usage of the word "just", more and more data show that there was a meaning of "because" in the late Tang Dynasty, such as Li Shangyin's own "and a moment that should last forever came and went unconsciously." Moreover, this poem was written on a whim when the poet was playing. Perhaps the image of "sunset" could not be deliberately compared with that of the late Tang Dynasty, but it was just natural at that time. This explanation naturally makes the whole poem without the sadness explained above, but has a strong feeling of admiring the beauty of nature. Although it is near dusk, we can still feel the beauty, which is positive, contrary to the previous explanation.
This poem is a rare masterpiece of Li's poetry with clear language, no carvings, lively rhythm, profound regret and rich philosophy.
4. Appreciation of classic five-character quatrains in Tang poetry
Send Master Che Ling.
Liu Changqing [Tang Dynasty]
Blue chikurinji, near the distant bell in the middle of the night.
The sunset with a hat gradually returned to Qingshan. (Sunset: Sunset)
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Looking at Chikurinji in the gray mountain forest, the sound of the clock striking the time came in the distance.
Wearing a hat, with the afterglow of the sunset, he walked alone to Qingshan and drifted away.
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This poem describes the poet's mood when he sent Che Ling back to Zhikulin Temple in the evening. It is a famous landscape poem in the Tang Dynasty, which is lyrical on the spot, ingenious in conception, refined in language, simple and beautiful.
"From the temple, in the depths of the bamboo, there is a low evening bell." These two sentences mean that the author looks at the destination of Che Ling in the desolate mountain forest, and the bell of the temple chimes in the distance, pointing out that it is dusk at this time, as if urging Che Ling to return to the mountain. With the pen of imagination, the poet created the secluded land of Qingyuan. These two sentences mainly describe the scenery, and the scenery also contains feelings.
"Pilgrims' hats are getting farther and farther under the green hills with the setting sun." These two sentences are about Che Ling's farewell and return. Che Ling, wearing a hat and covered with the afterglow of the sunset, walked alone to Qingshan, further and further. "Castle Peak" means the first sentence "from the temple, deep in its tender bamboo", pointing out that the temple is in the mountains. Traveling Alone shows the poet standing and watching, reluctant to go, and doing something. The poet stood for a long time, and the image of seeing his friends go away is still very vivid.
The whole poem expresses the poet's deep affection for Che Ling, and also shows Che Ling's quiet demeanor of returning to the mountains. Parting is mostly sad, but this farewell poem has a leisurely mood and the author's lonely mood.
Exquisite and picturesque is the obvious feature of this poem. But this picture frame, not only the scenery and characters on the picture are moving, but also the self-image of the poet outside the picture is moving, which is memorable. The dusk bell from the temple touched the poet's thoughts; The clear back of the green hills alone attracted the poet back. Listening, watching, thinking and longing are the images of poets hidden outside the painting. He is affectionate, but not sentimental because of parting, but indifferent because of sharing a bosom; He meditated, not for monks and Confucianism, but for restraint. In other words, the theme of this farewell poem is to entrust and express the poet's feelings of leisure, frustration and indifference, thus forming a leisurely and indifferent artistic conception. 18th century, France Diderot said when commenting on painting, "Any expressive work can be rich in scenery at the same time. As long as it has as many expressions as possible, there will be enough scenery. " (On Painting) This poem is picturesque, and the reason for its success is painting. The beauty of the scenery comes from exquisite lyricism.
Liu Changqing and Che Ling met and left Runzhou, about 769-770 AD (45 years in Dali, Tang Daizong). Liu Changqing returned from Nanba (now Maoming South, Guangdong Province) in 76 1 year (the second year of Shangyuan in Tang Suzong) and has been frustrated. Che Ling, whose poem name is unknown, is traveling in the south of the Yangtze River. He is not very proud. After staying in Runzhou, he will return to Zhejiang. A frustrated official, a monk who returned to the mountains outside the party, can reach the same goal by different routes on the issue of being born into the WTO, have the same experience and have an indifferent attitude. This little poem shows such a state.
5. Appreciation of classic five-character quatrains in Tang poetry
Chai Lu
Wang Wei [Tang Dynasty]
No one can be seen in the silent valley, only the voice is heard.
The shadow of the sunset shone into the depths of the forest, and the scenery on the moss was pleasant.
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There was no one in the silent valley, only people's voices were heard.
The afterglow of the sunset reflected into the depths of the forest and shone on the moss in the dark.
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The first sentence, "There seems to be no one on the empty mountain", first describes the empty mountain positively. Wang Wei especially likes to use the word "empty mountain", but in different poems, the realm it expresses is different. "Empty mountain after rain, beginning of autumn evening" ("Mountain in Autumn Night"), focusing on the autumn mountain after rain; "Sweet-scented osmanthus falls when people are idle, and the night is quiet and the spring mountain is empty" ("Bird Watching Creek"), which focuses on expressing the tranquility and beauty of the spring mountain night; There seems to be no one on the empty mountain. On the other hand, it focuses on the emptiness and tranquility of the mountain. Because there is no trace, this mountain, which is not a vacuum, appears empty and empty in the poet's feeling, just like the ancient land. "Seeing no one" embodies the meaning of "empty mountain".
If you only look at the first sentence, the reader may think it is ordinary, but it is unexpected that "there seems to be no one on the empty mountain" is followed by "but I think I heard a voice". The word "but smell" is quite interesting. Under normal circumstances, although the silent empty mountain "does not see people", it is not silent. The chirping of birds, the chirping of insects, the rustling of the wind and the gurgling of water are intertwined, and the sounds of nature are actually very colorful. At the moment, however, all this is silent, only occasionally there is sound, but there is no figure (because the mountains are deep and the forests are dense). This "human voice" seems to break the "silence" In fact, it is a partial and temporary "ring", which reflects the overall and long-term emptiness. The more empty the valley, the more empty it is; The more people talk in an empty mountain, the lonelier they are. After the voice sounded, the empty mountain returned to the realm of silence; And because people's voices sounded just now, the sense of emptiness at this time is more prominent.
The three or four sentences in the above picture describe the empty mountain and then the deep forest. From the sound to the color, the deep forest is dark, and the moss under the trees in the forest highlights the lack of sunshine in the deep forest. Although silence and darkness are related to hearing and vision respectively, they often belong to the same category in people's general impression, so silence and tranquility are often linked. According to Nature, when writing about the darkness in the deep forest, we should focus on describing that it can't see the sun, but these two sentences are specially written into the deep forest and reflected on the moss. When readers suddenly see it, they will feel that this oblique light brings a ray of light to the depths of the dark forest, a little warmth to the moss in the forest, or a little business to the whole forest. However, if you appreciate it carefully, you will feel that the author's subjective intention and the objective effect of the work are just the opposite. Blind darkness sometimes makes people unaware of its darkness, but when a touch of afterglow shines into the dark forest, mottled tree shadows are reflected on the moss under the tree, and the sharp contrast between that small piece of light and shadow and the boundless darkness makes the darkness in the forest more prominent. In particular, this kind of "dead light" is not only weak, but also short-lived. After a touch of afterglow disappears in an instant, it is followed by a long darkness. If we say a word or two, there is a sound contrast between silence and silence; Then three or four sentences are about fighting darkness with light. The whole poem is like adding a little warm color to most cool pictures, which makes the impression of cool color more prominent.
Quiet beauty and magnificent beauty are two kinds of beauty in nature, and there is no difference between them. But the quietness is almost ethereal, and the seclusion is slightly cold, which shows the unique side of the author's aesthetic taste. Similarly, the writing about "empty mountain" also focuses on the expression of quiet beauty. Autumn Night in a Mountain is brightly colored, and there is a peaceful and quiet atmosphere floating in the quiet tone, which contains lively vitality; Although Bird Song Jian describes the tranquility of Spring Mountain, the overall artistic conception is not deserted and ethereal. The clear glow of the moon, the fragrance of osmanthus and the singing of mountain birds all have the breath of spring and the tranquility of the night. Chai Lu has a cold and empty color, though it is not so lonely.
Wang Wei is a poet, painter and musician. This poem embodies the combination of poetry, painting and music. Silent, dark and dark, it is easy for ordinary people to perceive; But silence with sound and darkness with light are less noticed. It is precisely because the poet's unique painter and musician are sensitive to color and sound that he grasped the unique quiet realm at the moment when the voice of the empty mountain man sounded and the deep forest saw the light again. But this sensitivity is inseparable from his careful observation of nature and his focus on silence.