Chapter 12 Section 2 Poems of the Tang Dynasty
At the beginning of the 8th century AD, the so-called "Kaiyuan Prosperity" appeared in the Tang Dynasty, and the economy and culture reached their peak.There are also a large number of outstanding poets in the field of poetry creation, who have written poems with extremely rich content.Among them, pastoral landscape poems and poems describing the frontier war accounted for a considerable proportion, and Li Bai and Du Fu also appeared at this time.A brief introduction is given below.
The most famous author of this kind of poetry is Wang Wei.Wang Wei, courtesy name Mojie, was an official to Shangshu Youcheng, and he was also called Wang Youcheng by custom.Influenced by Buddhist thoughts, he was tired of bureaucratic life and lived in seclusion in Wangchuan for a long time. He loved nature and was familiar with the countryside. He wrote poems in a quiet and leisurely way, with a static beauty.Such as "Weichuan Tianjia":
The afterglow of the setting sun shines on the village (village), and the returning cattle and sheep pour into the alleys of the village.The old man was thinking about his grandson who had gone to herd herds, and leaning on a cane, he waited outside the chai gate for his return.Amidst the crowing of pheasants, the ears of wheat have grown, and the silkworms that have eaten enough mulberry leaves begin to sleep.The harvest year is just around the corner, and the farmers who have returned from the lotus hoe meet each other and talk about their daily routines emotionally.This beautiful scene made the poet think of the disgusting infighting in the officialdom, and felt how quiet and comfortable it would be to live in seclusion in such a rural area; when he was melancholy, he couldn't help but recite the poem "declining, declining, Hu Bugui?" It's getting dark, it's getting dark, why don't you go home?), which shows his desire to retreat to the countryside.Wang Wei is proficient in music, painting and calligraphy, and has profound artistic accomplishment; Su Dongpo commented that there are paintings in his poems and poems in paintings.The above poem can be said to be an idyllic painting.
The poet who is as famous as Wang Wei is Meng Haoran, who was originally from Xiangyang (in present-day Hubei Province), and is often called Meng Xiangyang.It is said that he met Tang Xuanzong by chance at Zhang Jiuling's official office.Xuanzong knew the title of his poem and ordered him to read it aloud.He recited "Return to Nanshan at the end of the year", in which there is a sentence "If you don't have talent, you will abandon it" (I lack talent, so the sage monarch doesn't use me). I won't let you be an official, how can you blame me!" Later, he was not admitted in the Jinshi examination, and he did not officially become an official. He roamed and lived in seclusion for a long time, and was famous for his landscape poems.His poem "Passing the Old Man's Village" is the most widely circulated:
An old friend killed a chicken for cooking, and invited him to the village as a guest.From a close look, the dense green trees tightly surround the village; from a distance, the green mountains stretch into the distance.Opening the window, you can see the yard piled with grain and the green vegetable garden; holding a wine glass, chatting about the growth and harvest of mulberry with great interest.How happy and comfortable it is to drink wine, eat delicious food, and talk and laugh with friends in such a natural picture!After drinking, the friends were still reluctant to part with each other, and they agreed to come back for a happy reunion on the Double Ninth Festival of September and Nine, to drink wine and enjoy the chrysanthemums.
Chu Guangxi is also a frustrated hermit. His "Fishing Bay" describes the taste of seclusion:
The sky is shaded by greenery, falling flowers are floating on the ground, the bottom of the clear pool is bottomed out, the lotus moves and the fish scatter, and the fisherman doesn't care about the fish. This beautiful scenery alone is the best enjoyment.Stop fishing at sunset and wait for good friends (lover) to meet in the green poplar grass. Isn't such a carefree life equal to a fairy?In fact, their lives will not be free from troubles and troubles. However, when writing poems, they should temporarily put them aside, grasp a certain beautiful scene and emotion, and play and exaggerate them to the fullest. The poet satisfies the desire for creation and brings beauty to the readers. To enjoy is called poetry.
In the foreign wars of the Tang Dynasty, many literati participated in the frontier fortresses and military life, and they wrote poems describing the desolate frontier fortress scenery, praising the bravery of the soldiers, or cursing the disasters brought about by the war. , So there is the Frontier Poetry School.The famous poet Cen Shen's "Traveling on the Horse and Sending Off to the West" is representative:
"Zoumachuan", "Luntai", "Jinshan", and "Cheshi" in the poem are all common place names in the northern or western regions. They are used as code names for place names here, not actual references, so you don’t need to seek truth when reading poems. Only pay attention to understanding poetic poetry.From the very beginning of this poem, it vividly described the harsh environment of the Western Regions with strong winds and flying sand and rocks.The Xiongnu (representing the powerful northern nation) invaded, and the smoke was everywhere; the general led his troops to the battlefield to meet the enemy.The weapons of the night march collided with each other. Although the cold wind was like a knife, the snow-falling five-flowered horses were still hot and sweaty, and soon icy.In the tent, I drafted a call to action against the enemy (war letter), but before I finished writing it, the ink in the inkstone had frozen into ice.Such a hard-working and brave army will surely make the enemy fearful and dare not fight; then let us wait for the news of victory and triumph at the west gate of Cheshi!The optimistic and heroic spirit expressed in the poem is the embodiment of the spirit of the times in the heyday of Tang Dynasty.Li Qi's "Ancient Congjun March" is also very famous:
During the day, the army had to go up to the top of the mountain to watch the beacon fire alarm, and at dusk they hurried to Jiaohe (in Turpan, Xinjiang, a place with water in this generation, not really referring to it) to drink the war horses.Diao Dou is a copper pot that is used for cooking during the day and as a watchdog (tuo tuo) at night.The soldiers carried Diao Dou on their backs and marched hard in the dark wind and sand. At this time, it must be full of resentment to think of the pipa music played by the princess who married Wusun King from this road in the Han Dynasty.Camping overnight in a desolate place, the heavy snow that filled the sky and the earth, and the desert in the distance became misty.In the autumn night, the wild geese flying south screamed sadly and sadly, and Hu Bing, who was on the other side, couldn't bear the hard life and shed tears.Hearing that the imperial court has issued an order not to retreat, I can only risk my life to follow the general (General Qingche is the official name) to fight to the death.Yumen was blocked, that is, it was not allowed to retreat into Yumen Pass. The allusion in "Historical Records: Dawan Biography" was used: Li Guangli, the general of the second division, failed to attack Dawan and retreated to Dunhuang. He asked the imperial court to withdraw his troops. Envoys (send envoys) to cover the Yumen Gate, saying: Anyone who dares to enter will be killed!" The result of desperately moving forward, nine out of ten is the death in battle, and countless people throw their bones to the deserted foreign land every year, the only result. It is grapes (rose apples) introduced from the Western Regions to the Central Plains to be planted for the rich and honored to enjoy.Although the poem reveals mournful emotions, the tone is still high-spirited and aggressive.
War is brutal.In 714 A.D., the army of the Tang Dynasty fought a battle with Tubo near the Long Castle in Lintao, killing tens of thousands of Tubo.Wang Changling's "Song of the Next Song" wrote about this war:
Many years after the war, the battlefield is still bleak and desolate, with long yellow dust, messy wormwood, and bones scattered among it, forever forgotten by people.No matter which side the deceased belonged to, it was a tragic tragedy for him and his family.
Li Bai (701-762 A.D.), whose style name was Taibai, was named Qinglian Jushi.His ancestral home is Longxi (now Gansu), and his ancestors lived in the Western Regions. When Li Bai was five years old, he moved to Changlong, Sichuan (now Jiangyou County), where he spent his youth.Li Bai's family was well-off, and he read hundreds of books when he was young, showing extraordinary literary talent.At the same time, he likes to make friends, is influenced by friends and society, likes to talk about cultivating Taoism and becoming a fairy, yearns to be a chivalrous hero, generous and ambitious, and has a bold and uninhibited personality. At the age of 25, he left his hometown, roamed around the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the north and the south, made friends with celebrities, and gained a high social prestige with his poems.In the first year of Tianbao (742 A.D.), he was recommended by a friend. Tang Xuanzong summoned him and appointed him as the emperor's attendant literati. He lived in Chang'an for nearly three years, which gave him a direct understanding of the court and aristocratic society.Due to the exclusion of powerful officials, he left Chang'an in the third year of Tianbao (745 A.D.) and began to roam around again.In Luoyang, he met Du Fu, who was 11 years younger than him, and forged a lifelong friendship.When the Anshi Rebellion began, he was 55 years old and was in Xuancheng (in today's Anhui).During the Anshi Rebellion, with the feeling of serving the country, he was invited by Yong Wang Li Lin to work in his shogunate; later, Li Lin was eradicated by Emperor Suzong Li Heng, and Li Bai was exiled to Yelang (in today's Guizhou), and was pardoned halfway. Living between Jinling (now Nanjing) and Xuancheng, Baoying died of illness in Dangtu (now Anhui) in the first year of Baoying (762 AD) at the age of 62.
Li Bai dreamed of displaying his ambitions all his life, and did a great cause of world-renowned.This can be seen everywhere in his poems.In the poem "Shang Li Yong", it is said:
He compared himself with the roc who stirred up the sea in the novel, and he was full of confidence in his political ability. He was ridiculed by the world, and he justified himself with the words of Confucius (Xuanfu) that "the younger generation is awesome".The poet is very naive in politics, but in fact he may not have the talent of a politician. It is not surprising that his "big words" are ridiculed.However, as a poet, he is a talent of the sky, a big roc that roams the sky and sea.He has been a poet all his life and has done nothing in politics. In his own opinion, it is unfortunate, but for Chinese literature, it is a great fortune.If there is no Li Bai in Tang poetry, it would be a great pity to take out a pillar of the gorgeous building.
Li Bai has a considerable number of poems that expose and criticize social injustice, such as one of "Fifty-Nine Poems of Ancient Style":