——Read Li Shangyin's "Mengze" to understand the influence of poetry on the poetry of future generations
Spring Japan is suitable for going out and walking, even if it rains in the spring, you can only lie in bed and have a dream. When it comes to dreams, people generally combine them with their ideals. For example, the ancient Qu Yuan's "Heavenly Question", Zhuangzi's "Great Grandmaster", and the early born Li Shangyin's Li He's "Dream Heaven" can be more or less understood in this way. I want to talk about Li Shangyin's poem "Mengze mourns the wind and moves the white grass, and the king of Chu is buried all over the city." It is unknown how much singing and dancing can be, and the palace kitchen is reduced to a thin waist. "Of "Mengze", it is a place name. He also passed by this place.
The geographical scope of Mengze was roughly in the vast lake and swamp area in the north of present-day Hunan Province and the southern part of Hubei Province, including Dongting Lake south of the Yangtze River and lakes in the north of the River. The poet Meng Haoran has a poem "Steaming clouds dream of Zee, waves shake Yueyang City." The middle "Mengze" refers to this area, which may be the name of the ancient name of the region. But there is also another way of saying that the north of the Yangtze River is called Yunze, and the south of the Yangtze River is called Mengze. This is not the most important thing, the key is that the imagery of "Mengze" covers the scene of "smoke and waves", "water vapor steaming white and white", and "choppy waves".
In the face of Li Shangyin's Mengze poem, many people will still compare it with an ordinary nostalgic poem. It may even feel that it is not much different from ordinary nostalgic poems - using some techniques, such as Ji Xiaolan of the Qing Dynasty, who said, "Prosperity is easy to exhaust, from the side of the contenders, it will not fall into the ancient temple." I thought that this poem was written as "prosperous and easy to exhaust", and that the beautiful lady of the year- the palace girl of the city, now fell into "sad wind and white grass".
It is not easy to say that the poet has no intention of nostalgia, and Du Mu's poem "Bo Qinhuai" (smoke cage cold water moon cage sand, night berth Qinhuai near the restaurant. The merchant girl did not know the hatred of the country, and sang "Backyard Flower" across the river. Again slightly different. The first two sentences, "Mengze Sad Wind" and "Chu Jiao's Funeral", are just a kind of excitement, while "The Smoke Moon Shrouds" and "Qinhuai Restaurant" are the narrative foreshadowing. Li Shi is a lament about real life from ancient events, which is very similar to Du Mu's poem "The merchant girl does not know the hatred of the country, and sings "Backyard Flower" across the river".
If we restore what the poet saw, it is probably that he saw the old tombs of many Chu state palace women, where the wind rose, and the white grass was astringent, which made him tearful and confused, full of pity, and thus felt a lot. From this, he thought of "the king of Chu has a thin waist, and there are many starvations in the palace" (see the "Later Han Shu Ma Yuan Biography" attached to Ma Liao: "The king of Chu has a thin waist, and there are many starvations in the palace." Note: "Mo Zi Yue: King Chu Ling has a thin waist, and many hungry people are also." This legend. Perhaps we can restore the imagination of the author at that time: Perhaps, many of the buried people in these old tombs sacrificed their lives in order to obtain the abundance of "thin waist"! From this imagination, the author further expands his imagination: in order to gain the favor of the King of Chu, they do not even cherish their lives! When they were tightly bound and desperately dieting, they also thought that they would have the opportunity to sing and dance in front of the King of Chu?
As a reader, you can't just be deeply immersed in deep feelings, and you can't just regret the irrationality of the palace women of the Chu State at that time. The poet explains a truth to us through such a small story through the eyes of a philosopher. Let people through the surface of such a specific thing, leading us to explore the rationality behind the event. For example, through the actions of the chu women, it is related to the pursuit of personal fame and fortune in real life, and they do not hesitate to abandon the basic principles of life ethics and human conduct, but they are ruined and discredited. Also, you can think of all kinds of irrational stupid things that are done for the sake of political correctness, competing for favors and inviting pleasures. In addition, you can also taste it from a variety of different angles, combined with the current human feelings and the noble qualities of life. Qu Fu, a Qing Dynasty man, said in "Yuxi Sheng Poetry": "Making art to take the soldier, why is it different, sigh!" "----------------------------------------------------------------------
The poet wrote "how much song and dance can be unknown, and the palace kitchen can be reduced to a thin waist", and it is difficult for us today to determine whether we are self-teasing or satirizing others, perhaps both. Maybe self-teasing is a little more. What it really wants to express is difficult for us today to figure out. As a generalization of the phenomena of life at that time, it is certain that it does not stop in nostalgia. Because Li Shangyin also passed the examination, but did not worship the official, and had dealings with the then minister of power, Ling Huluo, etc., there was harmony, and he was also snubbed and attacked. He has lived a long life as a staff member (much like today's non-staff or non-staff personnel with no positions, with a lot of work but different treatment), and many of the things he has seen have made him feel emotional. Therefore, the expression in the poem is not a painless moan, but a self-deprecating ridicule, a satire on others, all of which make sense.
The beauty of literary and artistic works does not exclude rationality. In some cases, it even needs to be interesting. This type of poetry is also the transformation of the new style poetry of the Tang Dynasty, and it is better understood that there is a rise in the poetry of Song Yixia, "I don't know the true face of Lushan Mountain, only because I am in this mountain" and "I am not afraid of floating clouds to cover my eyes, only because I am at the highest level". Poetry should be poetic, and if it is written into a philosophical rhyme, it is not a good poem. In this regard, Li Shangyin's "Mengze" and Song Shili may have a great enlightening effect on the literary and artistic creation of our people today.