This article is excerpted from "The Poetry of the Four Times: The Most Beautiful Tang Poems of Meng Man Pin"
Author: Monman
The Almanac has clouds: fifteen days after the spring equinox, the bucket finger Ding, for qingming, when all things are clean and clear, when the qi is clear and clear, all things are clear, so it is named.
Poets of all generations have left masterpieces on the occasion of the budding of all things, and As one of the ten talents of the Great Calendar, Han Hong has sprinkled what kind of chapters in the Tang Dynasty, and listened to Teacher Mengman one by one.
Qing Ming
Spring City is full of flowers, cold food east wind royal willow oblique.
Candles were passed down at the Han Palace, and light smoke spread into the Wuhou family.
--Han Hong, "Cold Food"
exegesis
Spring City: Chang'an City in late spring.
Cold food: In ancient times, one to two days before the Qingming Festival, the fire was forbidden for three days, and only cold food was eaten, so it was called cold food.
Miyanagi: The willow of the Imperial Garden, the willow tree in the Imperial City.
Han Palace: This refers to the Tang Dynasty Imperial Palace.
Passing candles: The Cold Food Festival prohibits fire in the whole world, but the favored subjects of the magnates can get candles gifted by the emperor.
Appreciation
01
Let's talk about the title first, the title of this poem is "Cold Food", some people may ask, is it not the Qingming Festival? Why do you talk about "Cold Food", and say that it should be a solar term!
Because the current Qingming Festival is actually a merger of the three festivals of Shangwei, Cold Food and Qingming in ancient times. Moreover, earlier, Shangwei or cold food were greater than Qingming's fame.
Shangmi was originally the first day of March, and according to custom, this day was to wash the dirt by the water's edge and pray for peace. Confucius's so-called "Mo Chun, spring clothes are completed, crowns are five or six, children are six or seven, bathing in Yi, the wind is dancing, and the song is returning", which refers to the custom of bathing and sacrificing on the upper body.
By the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the time of Shangwei was fixed on March 3, and the content of the festival also became yan drinking and walking green by the water, du Fu's "Li Ren Xing": "The weather is new on March 3, and the waterside people in Chang'an are beautiful", which is about the customs of shangwei swimming in spring.
02
What's going on with cold food? The Cold Food Festival is the 105th day after the winter solstice, that is, one or two days before the Qingming Festival. The most important custom of this day is to smoke fire, everyone only eats cold rice, so it is called the Cold Food Festival.
From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, cold food has always been the first major festival day of the people, and all the dynasties and dynasties have to take holidays to let people return to their hometowns to worship their ancestors and sweep the tombs. Bai Juyi's so-called "tang pear blossoms reflect poplar trees, all dead and alive are separated", which is about the scene of the cold food festival sweeping the grave.
03
So what about Qingming Festival? Qingming is not originally a festival, it is a festival, because "the atmosphere is clear and the scenery is clear, and all things are manifested", so it is called Qingming.
However, probably because China is a big agricultural country, everyone is particularly sensitive to the festival, the status of Qingming gradually improved from the Tang Dynasty, and after the Song Dynasty, it simply merged the two festivals of Shangwei and Cold Food, received the content of Youchun from Shangmi, and received the content of sacrifice from Cold Food, which evolved into today's Qingming Festival.
04
We share Tang poetry with you, in addition to the beauty of words, originally wanted to help you understand the life of the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, I will talk about this song related to the Qingming Festival, with beautiful text and fresh content.
Spring City is full of flowers, cold food east wind royal willow oblique
Let's look at the first sentence: "Spring City is everywhere flying flowers." This sentence is so beautifully written. What is Spring City? Not Kunming, not Guangzhou, but Chang'an City in spring. When only spring, the capital city, the spring and the city are connected, very majestic.
What about flowers flying everywhere? This is a double negation, which is originally the meaning of flying flowers everywhere, but double negation indicates strong affirmation, so flying flowers everywhere is stronger than the feelings of flying flowers everywhere. But none of these are the best parts of the poem.
Where's the best place? In the word "fly". Why write everywhere and fly flowers, do not write everywhere and bloom? Because the flowering is on the ground, it is flat, and the flying flower is flying from the ground to the sky, which is a three-dimensional spring light map. Moreover, the word "open" is so stupid, the word "fly" is so flexible, the spring wind is rolled with colorful falling flowers, the spring wind is also rolled with willow poplar flowers, the spring wind is mighty, and the spring flowers are flying, what a moving scene.
A "fly" word, the poetry eye comes out. Now many people do not know this poem, but they know the phrase "Spring City is everywhere flying flowers", which is the power of refining words. You know, after the spring equinox, cold food is already considered late spring. It is precisely when "the grass and trees know that spring will soon return, and all kinds of red and purple Dou Fangfei" is said, a sentence of "Spring City is everywhere flying flowers", immediately, the whole Chang'an City spring is as deep as the sea, and the scene of flying flowers is in front of you, which is really a light and magnificent panoramic picture of the spring of Chang'an City.
The second sentence: "Cold food East Wind Royal Willow Slope". It's a shift from panorama to detail. The east wind was mighty, blowing all over Chang'an City, and of course, into the Imperial Palace Garden. The willow silk in the imperial garden danced with the wind and flew obliquely into the sky, which is the "cold food East Wind Imperial Willow Slope". Originally, the wind is invisible and shadowless, the most difficult to describe, but these two poems, through the flight of flowers and the tilt of willows, suddenly make us feel the power of the spring wind.
Moreover, with this sentence "Cold Food East Wind Royal Willow Slope", the entire spring light map has also found a focus. Where's the spotlight? At the Royal Palace. If we see this focus clearly, another problem arises. Does the east wind here really refer to the spring wind in nature? In fact, in ancient times, the spring wind often not only refers to the spring wind itself, it also has the intention of the emperor, so in this poem, is it also the case?
Candles were passed down at the Han Palace, and light smoke spread into the Wuhou family
Look at the next sentence: "The candles of the Nippon Han Palace" are passed." It was an activity that shifted from scenery to people. Since the focus is on the palace, what are the people in the palace doing? "The sun-twilight Han Palace passing candles", here the poet uses the Han Palace, to Hanbi Tang, is the tradition of Tang poetry, so this sentence "Nippon Han Palace candles", that is, in the evening, from the Tang Dynasty's palace out of the horse team, out of the candle.
So why do you want to spread candles in the palace? This involves the customs of the Cold Food Festival and the Qingming Festival. According to the system of the Tang Dynasty, on the day of the Cold Food Festival, the whole country cannot raise a fire, only the imperial palace is special and can light candles. So why pass on candles? This involves another system at the time. According to the custom of the Tang Dynasty, on the day of Qingming, the emperor proclaimed the decree to take the fire of the elm willow to give to his close subjects as a sign of grace. I don't know if everyone noticed that the new fire is given to the courtiers in the Qingming Festival, and the fire is forbidden in the world, and only the imperial palace can light candles on the Cold Food Festival.
We just said that the Cold Food Festival is a day or two before the Qingming Festival, so there was originally a time difference of one or two days, but the emperor, in order to show extra grace, borrowed the custom of giving new fire on the night of the Cold Food Festival and rewarded candles outside the palace. So who received such a special grace from the emperor?
The last sentence: "Light smoke spreads into the Wuhou family." The so-called Five Marquises have two theories, one is that when the Western Han Dynasty became emperor, the foreign relatives were honored, and the five brothers of Empress Wang (Wang Tan, Wang Shang, Wang Li, Wang Gen, and Wang Feng) were all given the title of Marquis, collectively known as the Five Marquises. Another theory is that during the reign of Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty, eunuchs were powerful, and five eunuchs (Shan Chao, Zuo Wei, Xu Huang, Gu Yan, and Tang Heng) were all enfeoffed on the same day, also known as the Five Marquises.
No matter which allusion Han Hong used here, it was the emperor's cronies and magnates who received the grace. Because of the cold food and fire, in the evening, the whole Chang'an City dimmed, at this time, a group of people and horses came out of the palace, holding a high candle, and rushed away, and the light smoke of the candle also drifted with the wind, all the way to the home of the magnate. These two sentences are written in a true and evocative way, making people feel like the light of a candle, like smelling light smoke.
Putting these four sentences together, the first two sentences write about the scenery during the day, the last two sentences write about the style of the night, and a three-dimensional painting of the Chang'an Cold Food Festival has jumped on the paper. The scene, along with the verbs "flying", "oblique", "transmission", and "scattering", was transferred from Chang'an City to the Imperial Palace Forbidden Garden, and from the Imperial Palace Forbidden Garden to the Five Hou Mansions, turning lightly and jumping away, and the spirit was soaring.
The focus of this picture is the royal palace, so what is the power that governs these scenes? It is the east wind, it is the east wind that makes the flowers fly, let the willows tilt, and let the smoke disperse. This east wind comes from both nature and the emperor, which can lead to the "candles passed on in the Han Palace, and the light smoke spreads into the five marquises' homes", and the grace of the emperor is concluded. Flying flowers in the daytime, flying smoke at night, it is really a mighty spring breeze, and the emperor is mighty, but it is written so spiritually, not heavy, like the wind dancing and falling flowers. This is called writing about the weather with a clear brush.
No wonder that as soon as this poem came out, even the emperor of the dynasty, Tang Dezong, was deeply impressed. It just so happened that the Tang Dynasty lacked a "Driving Department LangZhong Zhi Zhi Zhi Zhi Tang Dezong immediately appointed Han Hong. However, there were two Han Hong who were officials in the imperial court at that time, and there was also a Jianghuai Assassin Who was also called Han Hong. Tang Dezong was afraid that others would misunderstand, and he also specially marked "Spring City Is Everywhere Flying Flowers" next to Han Hong's name, and clearly stated his position, and gave this Han Hong. This is the power of poetry.
Of course, some people say that this poem is not simple, it is not an ordinary jing song sheng, this is a political satire poem, satirizing the eunuch dictatorship of the Tang Dynasty. How do you see it? Look at the last two sentences, "The Sun Twilight Han Palace passed candles, and light smoke spread into the Wuhou family." "Didn't you just say that one of the allusions of the Five Princes is the eunuch Wuhou of the Eastern Han Dynasty?"
The eunuch dictatorship of the Tang Dynasty was no less than that of the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the context of such an era, writing "light smoke scattered into the five marquises' homes" is not a satire on the emperor's favor of eunuchs, who are arrogant and arrogant? Does it make sense? reasonable. However, even if Han Hong was really satirizing, this irony was also very subtle, so subtle that even Tang Dezong, the object of ridicule, did not see it.
So how do we understand this poem? Again, the poem is not enough. A good poem, its own intention is rich, everyone can be felt and touched from their own point of view, some people feel the spring as deep as the sea, some people feel the cold food customs, some people feel the royal weather, of course, some people feel the sadness of the times and the irony of the poet. In this case, the poet's own original meaning has receded behind his back, and no one can say it clearly, nor does it need to be explained.
Finally, let's talk about the poet Han Hong. He was one of the ten talents of the Great Calendar, an accomplished poet, and even more a man with a story. Han Hong was originally a talented man, when Tianbao was prosperous, he won the heart of the beautiful Liu Clan with his talent, and lived a small life of you and me in Chang'an. When the Anshi Rebellion arose, the Liu clan was taken by the Fan general Sha Zhaoli, and Han Hong, a scholar, was unable to compete with the general and could only accept the fate arrangement, and Xiao Lang was a passerby from then on.
Originally, the story was about to end in tragedy, who knew that halfway out of the way, a young general with a chivalrous heart was killed to help Han Hong take back the Liu clan. The young general led out the general, and the general reported to the emperor, and the matter seemed to be getting bigger and bigger, how to end it? Emperor Zong of the Tang Dynasty made up his mind: Liu Shi was sentenced to Han Hong. After all the robbery, a lover will eventually become a family member. Such a legendary love story was written by the literati Xu Yaozuo into a novel "The Biography of Liu Shi", which is still one of the representative works of Tang Legends, and everyone may wish to look for it when they have time, which is absolutely exciting.