Text/Zhang Haiou (Professor, Department of Chinese, Sun Yat-sen University)
"Bai Juyi Poetry Essence" (Zhonghua Bookstore 2021 edition) by Guo Jie
How does "Yuanbai" have a heart-to-heart seal?
Professor Guo Jie said that Bai Juyi is a high-ranking person, and his meaning is fourfold: high life expectancy, high official position, high character, and high state of mind. This generalization, precise and concise, has never been expressed in this way before. It can be seen that the author's reading comprehension of Bai Juyi is deep and thoughtful, and he understands his heart. He really traveled through time and space and had a deep conversation with Bai Juyi. This meeting ran through Guo Jie's decades of study and governance, and also ran through Bai Juyi's life and writings. Therefore, there is this "Bai Juyi Poetry Essence" (Zhonghua Bookstore 2021 edition).
So, what did he "understand"?
First of all, it is the 27-page "Foreword", which is more than 18,000 words. I, a scholar who has studied Tang and Song Dynasty literature and poetics for more than forty years, am very excited and enthusiastic, and I am particularly willing to recommend it to readers: When reading this book, we must read this "Preface" well. Because this is not a repetitive narrative of the crowd, but an introduction to reading Bai Juyi's poems by referring to a variety of ancient and modern documents and research results, integrating the author's unique historical examination and life thinking.
As far as Bai Juyi's name is concerned, Guo Jie tells readers that the name "Juyi" is taken from the "Book of Rites and Zhongyong" and "Gentleman Juyi lives with his life"; the word "Lotte" is taken from "Zhou Yi Zhi Ci" "Lotte knows his fate and is not worried". His name and words "all imply the meaning of detachment and tranquility."
Speaking of "Yuan Bai", Guo Jie told readers that Bai Juyi, together with Yuan Shu, who was seven years younger than himself, had participated in the book judgment of Codendi, and since then "opened a friendship of life and death". Yuan Shu died suddenly at the age of fifty-three, and when the bad news came, Bai Juyi was extremely sad inside. When the lingxian was transported to Luoyang, he personally went to the spirit to mourn and wrote down the tear-inducing "Two Songs of Weeping", the second cloud: "The article Zhuo Is invincible, and the wind and bones are heroic and the spirit is dead." Crying to xianyang north plain, may be dusty with the example? ”
Yuan and Bai were geniuses of the Tang Dynasty and were first-class poets of the Tang Dynasty. This book selects fourteen poems given or designed by Bai Juyi, and explains them one by one, which is very interesting. For example, the poem "Gifting Yuan Shu" says: "The only yuan jun obtained is to know that it is difficult to make friends", "one is a concentric friend, three is a fangshi", "The union is in the square inch, and the source of the heart is not heretical". In the solution, the "Old Book of Tang, Bai Ju Yi Biography", Yuan Bai Xiangshan, "in the same year, the system was raised, and the friendship was thick". How to "grow"? Bai Juyi's poem "With Li Eleven Drunken Memories of Yuan Jiu" says: "When flowers are drunk, they break spring sorrows, and drunkenly fold flowers and branches as wine chips." Suddenly remembering the old man's sky, he planned to go to Liangzhou today. In the explanation, a touching story about this poem is told: at that time, Yuan Shu was serving as the inspector of imperial history, traveling to Liangzhou (present-day Santai, Sichuan) to try the case, Bai Juyi was in Chang'an with his friends Youqujiang and Ci'en Temple, drinking, missing Yuan Shu, and calculating that his trip should be to Liangzhou. Later, Yuan Shu sent letters and poems, and sure enough, he arrived in Liangzhou that day, and at night he dreamed of swimming in the Qujiang River with Bai Juyi and others. His poem "Liangzhou Dream" Yun: "The brother of the Dream King Qu Jiangtou also swam to the Ci'en Courtyard." The eunuch summoned people to line up their horses, and suddenly they were in Guliang Prefecture. It is really "a thousand miles of divine intercourse, if it is in line with the contract" (Meng Tang's "Benshi Poem").
The following year, the same poetic story was played out again. Bai Juyi served as a bachelor in Chang'an, and wrote "After the first parting from the YuanJiu, I suddenly dreamed of it, and I was a good book, and the book was appropriate, and I also sent TongHua poems." I feel sorry for it, because I send it to me, and this long title is the story. Shi Yun: "Ji Jun's food and accommodation has passed through the north of Shangshan." Last night the clouds were scattered, and thousands of miles were the same as the moon. Xiao Lai dreamed of jun, it should be Jun Xiangyi. In the dream, he shook the king's hand and asked the king what was his intention? The king's words are bitterly remembered, and no one can send books... Behind the courtesy book, I also sent pomelo poems. Tong Hua poems rhyme eight times, and the thoughts are deep. With my intentions in this day, I remember this night's heart. Read a chapter three times, and chant ten times a sentence. Cherish the eight crosses, and the words turn into gold. In the solution, Guo Jie also included Yuan Shu's "Tong Hua Poem" to facilitate curious readers to see how close these two people really are: "There are many hatreds in the night and spring, and the wind is dark and fragrant." It is Xiyuan Sijun, Sijun is as thin as a cut..." Bai Juyi also wrote 72 long poems of "Answering Tonghua": "Sincerity is the heart of a gentleman, afraid of not being a grass and wood", "By the grace of Junyu Luen, not only contains Fangrong", "Please Juntong branch, for the rest of the name". It is really "lingering to the point of singing and sighing" (Tang song shi alcohol review). In the face of Tong Hua, Yuan and Bai seem to have endless heartfelt songs. The same is true in the face of bamboo, Bai Shi "Reward Yuanjiu has a nostalgia for newly planted bamboo": "Ten years ago, I met Junshi. Once the autumn bamboo pole, than the jun lonely and straight... After the pity jun bid farewell to me, I saw the bamboo look and remembered. "This friendship is so unusual, everything is emotional to see, look at the flowers, see the trees, walk across the bridge can be lyrical."
Bai Juyi's "Blue Bridge Yi see Yuan Jiu Poem" poem Yun: "Blue Bridge Spring Snow Jun returns to the sun, Qinling Autumn Wind when I go." Every time you arrive at the pavilion, get off your horse first, and follow the wall around the pillar to find Junshi. "The same talent, the same poetic life, the same eunuch experience, the same eunuch feelings, make them feel sorry for each other, although they are far away from the mountains and rivers, but their hearts are imprinted."
Is there any irony in "The Long Hate Song"?
As far as the selection is concerned, this book has selected more than 270 poems from Bai Juyi's 3,000 poems, and I think that the selection is good, not only the usually recognized masterpieces are selected, but also some "special topic" meaning, such as the above-mentioned Yuan and Bai Friendship poems. In particular, the fifty songs of "Xinle Fu" and the ten songs of "Qin Zhongyin" are all collected and interpreted in detail, which fully demonstrates the realist spirit of Bai Juyi attacking darkness and caring about the people's livelihood and suffering. In addition, "Sending Zhang Shanren back to Songyang" given to frustrated and injured friends, "Spring End Day Feast, Sentimental Solo" with Fan Suyi, and "Xiaotai", which expresses daily leisure moods, are rare in other books.
Selection is related to refining. The essence of this book is, first of all, convincing academic precision. Professor Fu Gang of Peking University said in the preface: "The purpose of this book is to appreciate the common sense of elegance and customs, the annotations do not avoid complexity, and the allusions in the poems are not complicated and extensive, but especially the interpretation of the meaning of words and the elaboration of poetry." Indeed, the characteristics of this book are revealed. For example, explaining the song "From Henan To Chaos, Guannei Hunger, Brothers Scattered...", what is the "Henan Warble" in the title? He cites the results of the famous scholar Zhu Jincheng's "Bai Juyi's Study", which involves the dialectic of the great historian Cen Zhongmian. Which five places are the "five places" in the poem? People's names and place names, ancient place names and present place names, one by one, are clear and meticulous and accurate. Regarding the artistic conception of this poem, du fu's related poems are quoted, explaining that Ju Yi reveres Du Fu, and from the structure to the verses, the traces of borrowing from Du Fu's poems are vaguely seen.
"Farewell to the Ancient Grass" is the most famous piece of white poetry. The story of Gu Guan's sentence "The price of rice is expensive, ju yi fu yi" usually occurs when Bai Juyi first visited Gu Quan in Chang'an. In this regard, Guo Jie cites seven documents since the Tang Dynasty, including the research results of contemporary scholars Zhu Jincheng, Fu Xuanqun and Xie Siwei, to remind readers that the young Bai Juyi's first visit to Gu Is in Chang'an, or in Raozhou Suzhou or Quzhou - "the authenticity of this legend still needs to be deeply investigated."
Regarding "Long Hate Song", the most controversial question in history is whether there is any irony? Guo Jie specially made a solution of more than 2,000 words. He has obviously been in this poem for a long time, and he is even familiar with the relevant research results, such as Chen Yinke's "Yuanbai Poetry Notes". On the basis of careful dialectics, Guo Jie said: "This poem does not contain irony to Yang Guifei. The theme of the poem is "Singing the Praises of Love." He went on to say: "The poem's meticulous and vivid depiction of the private life of the imperial concubines in the court, written all the way, without scruples, without fear of being blamed and punished, does reflect the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty." The Song Dynasty people were deeply envious of this..." It was not only the Song Dynasty that was deeply envious!
The commentary on the Long Hate Song in this book deserves special careful reading. Why is it written from "Emperor of Han"? Why do you say "raised in the deep boudoir people do not know"? Isn't it "Once Princess Shou"? Is it true that "Spring Cold Bath Huaqing Pool"? Why did Bai Juyi's friend Chen Hong write "The Legend of the Long Hate Song" but said that "every october of every year, he drives the lucky Huaqing Pond"? So is it cold spring or late autumn? What did Chen Yinke, an authority on the study of Tang history, say? How does Guo Jie interpret this book? Readers can read on their own. What is the situation with others, such as "all sisters and brothers are in the soil"? What kind of song and dance is "Neon Hagoromo Song"? How tragic is the scene of "the six armies not sending out"? How many historical stories are involved in "Nishinomiya Nannai" and "Pear Garden Disciples"? Here's a detailed explanation. There is also a sentence of "the lone lamp is not asleep", Shao Bo of the Song Dynasty once questioned its incompatibility with historical facts, and modern scholars Chen Yinke, Cheng Qianfan, etc. have carefully debated and explained: Candles or oil lamps were used in the Palace of the Tang Dynasty? Will the old emperor personally "pick the lamp"? Why did Bai Juyi write this? So, what does Guo Jie, who once listened to The Process Qianfan lecture on the spot, say? His monograph "'Lonely Lamp Picking': Forbidden Customs, Artistic Rendering and The Meaning of Human Nature" has been published (published in journal of Henan University, No. 6, 2021), which can also be consulted.
The original article was published on January 16, 2022 in the A6th edition of Yangcheng Evening News
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