"The green mountains are the same as the clouds and rain, and mingyue He was once two townships." These two poems are from a farewell poem written by Wang Changling during the period when he was degraded to Longbiao (present-day Qianyang, Hunan), "Sending Chai Yushi". At that time, the poet's friend Chai Shiyu was about to take a boat from Longbiao to Wugang (武冈, in modern Wugang, Hunan).
Between you and me, the green mountains are connected all the way, the clouds are light and the wind is light, we are under the same moon, why have we been in two places?
The mountains and rivers in the two places are separated, and Wang Changling is reluctant to give his friend Lao Chai and sends poems to each other. Different from Gao Shi's boldness and freedom of "Mo worries about the road ahead and ignorance of himself, who in the world does not know the king", or Wang Wei's faint melancholy of "persuading the jun to drink a cup of wine, the west out of the Yang Guan has no reason", Although Wang Changling's poems are equally affectionate, they do not complain about the injury.
However, the end of Wang Changling's experience of disparaging him was a murder case that was not publicized in advance.
During the Anshi Rebellion, Wang Changling, who was more than a year old, resigned his official position and left the place of debasement to avoid the chaos of war, returned to his hometown in the north, and was killed by Shi Lu Qiuxiao when passing through Bozhou. The poet's life of pride and ambition ended in a tragedy.
▲ The Anshi Rebellion changed the fate of many Tang poets. Image source/film and television stills
Half of the history of the Tang Dynasty is in the history books, and most of it is in the Tang poems. Wang Changling is best known for his biansai poems about the border war at that time, and the writing of these poems began with a journey of uninhibited indulgence and freedom in his youth.
Like most of the students who studied hard in the cold window, Wang Changling's family was in a mediocre state, in his words, "long before the poor, it is because of knowing more dangerous things", that is, as the saying goes, the children of the poor have long been in charge. From Wang Changling's surviving poems, it can be seen that he cultivated and read among the mountains and rivers as a teenager, wrote books under the south window behind closed doors, once roamed in the Central Plains, and also learned alchemy from the Taoist priests of Songshan Mountain.
In the era of the prosperity of the imperial examination, most of the intellectuals had the ideal of entering the army, but this young man with lofty ambitions did not take the usual path and decided to abandon his pen and go to the northwest to build the motherland.
Wang Changling rode on the edge of the river and walked on the edge of the blade, originally wanting to join the military curtain. This was the path of many literati at that time, such as Gao Shi, who was a contemporary of him, who served as the shogun of the famous general Geshuhan. However, Wang Changling did not catch up with the opportunity to make meritorious achievements, and within a few years of his trip to the border area, the border war gradually subsided, and after several major battles, the Turks confessed to the Tang Dynasty and sent envoys to seek peace; Tuguhun was attached, and his chieftain led the people to surrender to Tang; Tubo did not take advantage of the war with the Tang army, and also temporarily withdrew. This is a fortunate thing for the country, and Wang Changling can only be regarded as unlucky.
In the autumn and winter of the thirteenth year of the new century (725), Wang Changling returned to the east and stayed in a guest house in Fufeng (present-day Baoji, Shaanxi). The innkeeper happened to be a veteran who called himself "Fifteen Campaign Frontiers, Three or Four Lou Lan." After years of not disarming, accumulating days without food", he told Wang Changling, now that there is nothing to do on three sides, young people still have to engage in Hanmo and rely on the examination to seek fame.
Wang Changling listened to the words of the veteran, collected his heart to study well, he could not only carry a gun to the frontier, but also a bully, and two years later he went to high school in one fell swoop, entered the army and entered the career path.
▲Portrait of Wang Changling
Wang Changling's trip to the northwest was not nothing, and it was this journey that allowed him to leave behind many magnificent ancient famous articles.
Some scholars have verified that after Wang Changling left the city, he traveled from the Far East of Jing, Gansu, along the south bank of the Yellow River, across the White Grassland, through the dry salt pond to Liwangbao, and then turned south along the Qingshui River through Xiaoguan to present-day Guyuan, Ningxia, and then returned to Chang'an along the official road. In this unique journey, he is a unique singer in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
Wang Changling is known as the "Seven Sacred Hands", and his seven words and sentences have extremely high artistic achievements, and in a few words, he includes magnificent mountains and rivers such as Lintao, Yumenguan, Qinghai Lake, Loulan, and Broken Leaves in his poems, bringing future generations of readers into the imagination of the majestic momentum of the Shengtang Border Pass. In Wang Changling's poems where scenes blend, we can read about the desolate slaughter of the ancient battlefield during the Tang Xuanzong period, the dazzling desolation of the border war, and the hardships of the Shubian soldiers.
He has a poem called the Tang Dynasty "Seven Absolute Scrolls" by the Ming Dynasty Li Panlong, which can be called the Tang Dynasty's popular golden song and fan hit no.1, and it is this "Out of the Plug" that everyone can recite in full poetry:
Qin Shi Mingyue Han Shi Guan, the Long March of Ten Thousand Miles has not been returned.
But to make the Dragon City fly will be, not to teach Humadu Yin Mountain.
The bright moon of the Qin and Han Dynasties still illuminated the frontier passes of the Tang Dynasty, how many dynasties rose and fell, the war was still endless, and the soldiers and soldiers could only run to the battlefield one after another. When depicting the magnificent scenery of the border and the heroism of the border guards, Wang Changling also sued him with a majestic pen and ink, such as "Seven Songs from the Army" (part 4):
Qinghai Changyun Dark Snow Mountain, isolated city looking at Yumen Pass.
Huangsha wears golden armor in hundreds of battles, and does not break the Loulan and will not return it.
A director once said that all war movies are anti-war movies. In fact, the excellent Border Sai poems are also full of strong anti-war ideas and deep sympathy for the Border Soldiers, Wang Changling was fascinated by the scenery of the Border Plugs, and was also touched by the heroism of the frontier soldiers, but his Border Plug poems did not praise war, but longed for peace, he opposed all unjust wars, and condemned the border policy of the imperial court's frequent use of troops.
This anti-war mentality is vividly expressed in "Seven Songs from the Army" (part 1):
Beacon City West 100-foot Building, dusk alone in the autumn.
More Qiang flute Guan Shan Yue, no that golden boudoir thousands of miles of sorrow.
Wang Changling is not only a straight man of steel, but also a feminist, good at writing poems of grievances, borrowing the tone of the bridesmaids to carry out delicate psychological portrayals, telling their inner grievances about the cruel war, such as the poem "Grievances":
The young woman in the boudoir did not know sorrow, and she went up to the Green Building on the spring day.
Suddenly seeing the strange head of Yang Willow, the repentant husband and wife looked for a marquis.
In the fragile bubble of prosperity during the Tang Dynasty and the Tiantian Period, the border wars were frequent, and the people were suffering, which hid the crisis of the expansion of the ambitions of the border generals, and Tang Xuanzong gradually became attached to the drunken gold fans in the palace and had no vigilance.
Wang Changling's allegory in poetry, these chapters full of border-plug sentiment, are a reflection of the military reality of the Tang Dynasty, and seem to have long foreshadowed the great turmoil that ended the Taiping dynasty in the fourteen years of Tianbao. An Lushan, who later set off the An Shi Rebellion, used the Tang Dynasty's side strategy to make a steady progress in the past ten years, and some of his so-called military achievements were nothing more than deception, by tricking the leaders of the Xi and Khitan people, using medicine at the banquet to faint them and then pit them, and then extending the butcher knife to the innocent civilians, in order to ask for merit and reward.
Politically, Wang Changling belonged to Zhang Jiuling's faction, wrote poems dedicated to this sage, and he also had a reputation for elegance and was good at expressing his opinions directly. But above the court, integrity often leads to malicious slander. This also led to the fact that this scholar who was drawn from merit still failed to show his ambitions after being proud of the field, but degraded him again and again, as he said, "offense is recruited by oneself, and nature is easy to promise."
Others were officials in the DPRK, and they had to learn to see the wind and steer the rudder, and to protect themselves, but Wang Changling still wrote his views on politics in his poems without reservation, just like in his early years when he wrote biansai poems. In Wang Changling's five-character ancient poem "Su Ba Shang Sending Attendants to the Imperial Concubines", he almost bluntly criticized the truth of the dynastic government and the decline of the country, "the generals are more out of order, and the temple begins to repent", "Although there are slaughtering the city, there are also descendants", "The Ming Lord is worried about the distance, and the side affairs can be great", "The public discussion is obstructed day by day, and the imperial court will be trampled.".
When others write poems, even if they are angry with Qing, they are also riding on the past to satirize the present, but Wang Changling is directly intimidated, he scolds Li Linfu for gaining power, accuses Tang Xuanzong of slacking off the government, and warns of the resumption of side affairs. But these big truths did not save the Fall of the Tang Empire, but only brought themselves ruthless depreciation.
Belittling cannot seal Wang Changling's mouth, and we can feel his grief and emotion as we further chew his poems. As he said in a poem written to his friend Xin Wei when he was far away: "A piece of ice heart is in a jade pot." "My heart is as clean and upright as ice in a white jade pot.
▲ In addition to the side poems, Wang Changling is also good at palace complaint poems
Wang Changling initially degraded Lingnan and second degraded Longbiao, and the long-term depreciation of who poured out his enthusiasm for the world, but gave him a friendship that seemed to be long.
There is an allusion to the "flag pavilion painting wall", saying that it is a day when light snow falls, Wang Changling and the two poets of the same name, Gao Shi and Wang Zhizhuo, do not have much money in their pockets, they go to a restaurant to drink on credit, and suddenly, more than a dozen beautiful singers and girls go upstairs to sing.
The people of Liyuan sang the famous songs of the time, and the works of the Poets of the Sheng Tang Dynasty were the most favored by musicians, and were often composed as music, which is a popular song in today's words. The three poets were quite low-key, taking the initiative to sit in the corner and watch the performance with the fire.
Wang Changling and the other three people bet that all three of us have some poetry names, but we have not been able to distinguish between high and low, and today we take this opportunity to secretly watch the singers sing, singing who has the most lyrics, who is the best, how?
As soon as the words fell, a singer sang a song by Wang Changling to the beat:
Cold rain and river night into Wu, Pingming sent guests to Chushan Lonely.
Luoyang relatives and friends asked each other, a piece of ice heart in the jade pot.
Wang Changling stretched out his finger, drew a line on the wall, and said, "A perfect sentence." ”
Then I heard another singer singing: "Kai Zhen tears, see the Book of the Day before the King." The night platform is lonely today, and the only one is Zi Yunju..." This is Gao Shi's poem, he also had a drink and led his hands to draw the wall.
The third singer sang another song: "Broom PingMing Golden Temple open, and the tuan fan will be temporarily returned." The jade face is not as good as the jackdaw color, and it is like bringing the shadow of the sun to the sun. It is Wang Changling's "Long Letter Autumn Words". Wang Changling painted on the wall again and said proudly, "Two absolute sentences." ”
Then the singer finished singing two more poems, which were the works of Gao Shi and Wang Zhizhuo, and the three laughed. Only then did the people in the shop find that the three authors were present, hurriedly treated each other with courtesy, and invited the three people to sit. In the cold winter, the atmosphere is more lively, the flag pavilion liquor store laughs together, and the three people are drunk for days.
While in Chang'an, Wang Changling traveled with Meng Haoran, and many years later passed through Xiangyang on the way to the debasement, and was lucky to reunite with old Meng. He knew from home that of course the brothers had to drink a lot and have a party. At that time, Meng Haoran was in a bad health, he had poisonous sores on his back, his gangrene had not yet healed, he had been taboo in his diet, but he met Wang Changling again, and old Meng was happy in his heart, and ate more seafood, and as a result, the old disease recurred and unfortunately passed away.
Wang Changling was bitter in his heart, and he had a hard time having a meal with his old friend Meng Haoran, and he also watched him die because of his gluttony.
▲Portrait of Meng Haoran
Later, when he arrived at Baling (present-day Yueyang, Hunan), Wang Changling finally had another happy occasion and met another friend, Li Bai, who was also a big coffee in the Tang Dynasty, and both had a bad career due to slander. Heroes cherish heroes, Wang Changling wrote a poem "Baling Sends Li XII" with a stroke of his pen:
Swaying BalingZhou, the Qingjiang river is rumored.
The mountain chief does not see the autumn city color, and the sun is full of water clouds.
After the separation, Li Bai deeply missed Wang Changling, and when he heard that he had been demoted to the southwestern frontier as a lieutenant of Longbiao County, he sent a poem to express comfort, that is, this famous poem "Wen Wang Changling Left Migration Longbiao Yao has this mail":
Yang Hua fell to the bottom of the rules and cried, smelling the dragon marking the Five Streams.
I sent my heart and the bright moon, and followed the wind until the night Langxi.
No one knows what kind of fate Wang Changling will usher in this time.
He had already warned those in power in his poems that things were in danger, but the storm of the Anshi Rebellion eventually stirred up the world and pushed him to death.
The reason why Lu Qiuxiao killed Wang Changling has long been a mystery for eternity. The historical records only leave a few words, such as "(Wang Changling) returned to his hometown with a sword and killed for the sake of assassinating Shi Lu Qiuxiao", but it has not been said that Lu Qiuxiao was jealous of Wang Changling's character or jealous of his outstanding talent.
Justice was not late, and Lu Qiuxiao was soon punished for his sins.
In 757, when Wang Changling was killed, an unprecedented fierce battle was unfolding in Suiyang, and the officials who guarded the city, Zhang Zhuan and Xu Yuan, were widowed and defended for several months in the face of rebels. Suiyang is a barrier between Jiangsu and Huaihuai, and once lost, the war will spread to Jiangnan. Zhang Zhuan and others were well aware of the stakes, and even took people to eat under the predicament of running out of ammunition and food, and they also had to defend the city.
Henan Jiedu made Zhang Hao on the line of fire, presided over military affairs in Henan, learned that Suiyang was in danger, and ordered Lu Qiuxiao to lead troops to rescue. Lu Qiuxiao was greedy and selfish, and after receiving Zhang Hao's letter, he was worried that the soldiers would be held responsible for the defeat, and despite the difficulties of the country, he actually led the troops to stay in place. By the time Zhang Hao led reinforcements to the front, Suiyang had fallen for three days, and Zhang Andi and his generals were brave and righteous. The entire city's soldiers and civilians stopped the Anshi rebels from going south at a tragic cost, and when the city was destroyed, there were only 400 living people left in the city.
Zhang Hao had already heard that Wang Changling had been killed, and at this time, the new account and the old account were calculated together, and he was even more angry, so he summoned Lu Qiuxiao, who had missed the deadline. At this time, Lu Qiuxiao finally instigated, using the classic reason of having a high hall and a wife and a child, and asked Zhang Hao to let him have a way to live ("there are relatives, begging for loans and resting lives").
Zhang Haozheng said, "Wang Changling's wife and children are old and young, who will take care of them?" ("Wang Changling's relative, with whom do you want to raise him?") Lu Qiuxiao was speechless, and was subsequently ordered to be killed by Zhang Hao.
Wang Changling's tragic death has finally received a somewhat comforting ending.
When the poet was young, he went to the border pass alone, witnessed the war, and repeatedly warned of the scourge of war in the poem, but before he died, he still saw the world caught in the fire of war, and he eventually died on the way to escape. Who caused this disaster?
bibliography:
(Tang) by Wang Changling; Notes by Li Yunyi: Notes on Wang Changling's Poems, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1984
(Later Jin) Liu Xun et al.: Old Book of Tang, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1975
(Song) Ouyang Xiu, Song Qi: New Book of Tang, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1975
Yu Pingbo et al.: Appreciation Dictionary of Tang Poetry, Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House, 2013
Bi Shikui: Studies on Wang Changling's Poetry and Poetics, Jiangxi People's Publishing House, 2008
Li Zhenhua: A Study of Wang Changling, Taibai Literature and Art Publishing House, 1994