Home Categories Poetry and Opera Appreciation Dictionary of Emperors' Poetry in Past Dynasties

Chapter 17 Lord Yanggong of the Great Wall—Chen Shubao

Chen Shubao (553-604), character Yuan Xiu, small character Huang Nu.The eldest son of Emperor Chen Xuan.After the death of Emperor Xuan, he defeated his second brother's struggle and succeeded to the throne.After succeeding to the throne, he didn't care about political affairs, lived extravagantly, indulged in sensuality, and had banquets with a group of civil servants all day long. His poems and proses, such as "Yushu Backyard Flowers" and "Linchun Le", were mostly low-style, frivolous and beautiful. For bad works, he often composed and choreographed the music himself, and ordered the maids to practice.Until the soldiers of the Sui Dynasty went south, Chen Shubao still relied on the natural danger of the Yangtze River and didn't care about it.Chen died and was captured. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty ordered him to move to Luoyang, where he died of illness.

Chen Shubao is an important poet of palace style poems in the Southern Dynasties, with more than 90 poems in existence, and his poems are voluptuous.Ming people compiled "Chen Empress Master Collection", which was handed down to later generations. Liyu Fanglin faces the high pavilion, the new makeup is beautiful and the quality is alluring.
Since the poem "Po Qinhuai" by Du Mu, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, was widely circulated, Chen Shubao's "Flower in the Backyard of Yushu", which is regarded as the voice of subjugation, has become more notorious and has been criticized and scolded more.But I thought: "Business women don't know the hatred of subjugation; across the river, they still sing flowers in the backyard", and the word "still sings" in it, doesn't it just show that it still has some kind of artistic vitality?

"Sui Shu·Music History" said: Chen Shubao "made the lyrics with Xingchen and others. They are beautiful and beautiful, and they are extremely frivolous. The men and women sing in harmony, and their voice is very sad." The same book "Wuxing Zhi" also said: "Zhen Mingchu ( 587), the Empress made a new song, and the words were very sad. Let the beauties in the harem learn and sing it. The words said: "The flowers in the backyard of Yushu, the flowers will not bloom for a long time." From the latter record, it can be seen that Chen Shubao's "Yushu Houting Flower" was originally composed of five-character writers; but today, except for the five-character "Yushu Houting Flower" written by Zhang Hu of the Tang Dynasty, which can be seen in the collection, the rest are not. See mining.Only this seven-character song by Chen Shubao has been preserved.

The content of this song is just like the "Sui Shu" said, it does not exceed the word "Qi Yan".To break it down, write "Qi" in the first and last sentences, and "Yan" in the middle four sentences. "Qi" refers to a place for amusement; "Yan" refers to a beauty who travels from time to time. The first sentence: "Liyu Fanglin faces the high pavilion" (gorgeous palaces, fragrant forests, facing towering pavilions), fully describes the magnificent scene of the emperor's palace.Next, I will focus on describing the beauties in the harem.They are born with "beautiful qualities", and they were all beautiful in the past. With new makeup, it is impossible to mention how beautiful they are. "Yinghu Ningjiao doesn't enter at first glance", it is written that they are reserved and posturing, even if they are Guangyingmen, they still refuse to enter the arena rashly.After a slight delay like this, they finally "came out of the curtain" and "welcome each other with smiles".How are they smiling?Then there is only one sentence: "The face of the enchantress (a coquettish beauty) looks like flowers and dew." "Face like a flower" already shows that it is very beautiful, and adding the word "Hanlu" means "sweet and glamorous", which people can perceive by touch.Just imagine: Isn't the juicy red face particularly cute with its flowing beauty and charming charm?The last sentence "Yushu streams light the backyard", on the surface it is written that the "yushu" (that is, locust tree) in the backyard is shining brightly, but it is actually written that the beauties in the harem are radiant.The author integrates aesthetic people and objects into an artistic whole, so readers no longer need to distinguish who is writing about people and which is writing about objects.

Chen Shubao is naturally not a good emperor.Most of his works are grotesque, without any positive ideological significance.Yang Jiong's poem said: "Capturing tigers, spears and spears is full of six palaces, and there are no trees in spring and no autumn wind. Canghuang (hasty) is better at seeing sentimental places, and the same cave is willing to go to the well." It means that Chen Shubao is willing to go to the well with Zhang Lihua and others to die together when he is in danger. Show his passionate side.This is compared to later generations such as Li Longji, who, after vowing to each other, pushed women out when they were in trouble, and their sentiments are indeed slightly higher.In terms of literary creation, although he is not as talented as Cao Cao, he is also far less sincere than the later Li Yu.Although his poems are called "palace style", they are actually not as obscene as the pornographic works of later generations.Generally speaking, although the style of this poem is not high, the diction is still "exquisite" rather than "obscene".Lu Shiyong of the Ming Dynasty said in his "General Theory of Poetry and Mirrors": "Empress Chen is full of make-up, and her spirit is exhausted... To know the fate of the world, to feel it, and to understand human affairs." The meaning of this passage is: Chen Shubao's works are too pursuit of form, And the content is poor.This is closely related to the literary study atmosphere of his time.


The sun, the moon, the light and the virtue of heaven, the mountains and rivers are the residence of the emperor.
In December of the fourteenth year of Emperor Kaihuang (594), Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, toured the east, accompanied by Chen Shubao.Climbing Mang Mountain, Chen Shubao served the banquet, and wrote this poem in response to the imperial edict.The poems are contained in "Southern History Volume Ten" written by Li Yanshou. The first two lines of this poem are very powerful.It is not uncommon to use the sun and the moon to describe the emperor, which has been common in Chinese history for thousands of years.The wonderful thing is that Chen Shubao, in his capacity as a subjugated king, transferred the words used by the officials in the past to flatter Yang Jian to flatter Yang Jian, which is not easy.Because the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers he wrote are all real scenes in front of him, and they are taken to praise the emperor's holiness and residence, which can be said to be very appropriate and natural.The sun and menstruation pass through the sky, mountains and rivers travel to the ground, and its sense of space is also particularly obvious.Ming Xiezhen praised it for its "magnificent atmosphere and precise diction" ("Siming Shihua Volume 2"), which is quite reasonable.But there are many people who criticize these two poems in the past dynasties.Jiaoran's "Poetry Style Stealing Poems" in the Tang Dynasty said: "For example, Chen Houzhu's "Entering the Sui Banquet Yingzhao Poem" 'Sun Moonlight Tiande', Fu Changyu (Xian), "Gift to He Shao and Wang Ji Poems"' The sun and the moon are too clear'. The upper three characters have the same meaning, and the lower two characters have the same meaning." According to Jiaoran: "Stealing words are the most blunt thief." It seems that Chen Shubao is stupid enough.But I don't think so!

Quoting the words of the predecessors into poems is common in ancient and modern times, although it is unavoidable for everyone and famous writers.I thought: It doesn't matter whether it is used or not, the key is whether it is used properly and whether it is new.Although the first line of Chen Shubao's poem is imitated by Fu Xian, it is indeed better written than Fu Xian.Fu Xian's "Gift to He Shao and Wang Ji Poems" is a reward for relatives and friends. The first two sentences are: "The sun and the moon are too clear, and the sun and the moon are bright and purple." Although he used "sun and moon" to praise the emperor of the Jin Dynasty, he wrote in The poems given to relatives and friends become pure formulas.Xie Zhen said: "However, the word 'light' should not be used for 'Taiqing'." ("Siming Shihua Volume 1") means that Fu Xian's sentence does not make sense, which is too much.But Chen Shubao changed "Taiqing" to "Tiande", which is indeed a higher level; he used it to praise Yang Jian, which is considered to be on point.Xie Zhen said: "The old sentences are vigorous and vigorous" ("Siming Shihua Volume 1").The so-called "thick" means that it is round and solid; the so-called "vigorous" means that it has its own style.Just imagine: Chen Shubao is on Mang Mountain, looking up at the sky and looking down at Luochuan. Isn't it wonderful to get a sentence like this?

The last two sentences of this poem are very general.Chen Shubao was nothing more than expressing his gratitude to Yang Jianzhi for not killing himself. The word "Taiping" implies a pun. "Dongfeng" refers to the east patrol seal.At that time, Chen Shubao was among a group of courtiers, and actively wrote a letter asking Yang Jiandong to visit Mount Tai to show that Yang Jiande was worthy of heaven and earth, and his achievements surpassed the past and the present.This is just a habit of flattering the emperor. This poem is already a regular five-character quatrain (only the three characters at the end of the last sentence are used in parallel to make it slightly awkward).It marks that the five-character close style has matured in the early years of the Sui Dynasty.

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