Text/Feng Xuanyi
Wang Bo, one of the four masters of the early Tang Dynasty, his fate can best interpret the idiom of "heavenly jealousy". Wang Bo is a genius and a genius. However, while God gave him talent, it also deprived him of the right to enjoy the length of ordinary people's lives. He became famous at the age of eight or nine, but died at the age of twenty-seven. Alas.
We often say that all men are created equal, but we have to admit that there are intellectual differences between people. Wang Bo is a genius. He was born very smart, and the history books say that he was brilliant and quick-witted since childhood, and he could write articles at the age of six. Such a person, who has carried an aura since childhood, has become an object of envy.
In addition to intellectual factors, a person's talent, family factors are also very important. Wang Bo was born in the Shuxiang Mendi family, his father was named Wang Fupi, who was also a reader and had served as a civilian official in Yamen. Although the level is very low, the family's food and clothing are guaranteed, and he also has enough time and energy to teach Wang Bo to read and learn. In Wang Bo's family, there was a poet in his grandfather's generation, called Wang Ji, whose poetry was quite famous, especially good at writing five-word poetry, and was respected by later generations as the founder of five-word poetry. His most famous masterpiece is "Wild Hope". I once recited it when I was in junior high school, and "the trees are all autumn colors, and the mountains are only falling", which is also a mandatory fill-in-the-blank question.
Influenced by the strong cultural factors in the family, Wang Bo accumulated profound cultural skills at the age of eight or nine. The "Old Book of Tang" said that when Wang Bo was nine years old, he read the "Notes on the Book of Han" written by the famous scholar Yan Shigu, found the errors in it, and wrote the article "Finger Flaws", which was read by nearby scholars and deeply impressed. This shows that he is very knowledgeable.
At that time, Han Han, who was still in high school, wrote the book "Triple Door", which caused countless people to exclaim on the Internet. Many people have questioned whether it was his father's ghostwriting. In fact, there have been talented people throughout the ages, and it is not surprising that there is no shortage of talents who can write amazing texts at a young age.
Wang's door is quite famous in the local area. Wang Bo's two older brothers were also very intelligent, and under the guidance of their father, they studied hard and learned very well. Locals refer to their three brothers as the "Wang's Three Pearl Tree".
In the first year of Emperor Gaozong's reign, The Chancellor Liu Xiangdao inspected the localities and passed through Wang Bo's hometown, and Wang Bo wrote the "Book of The Right Phase of Shangliu", which presented the prime minister Liu Xiangdao. Liu Xiangdao took a look at it, and the letter quoted the past and the present, quoted from the side, and sprinkled more than a thousand words, and there was no shortage of wonderful places. Among them, the views advocating the simultaneous use of "rule by virtue" and "rule of law" and "rewarding by faith must be punished, and morality and courtesy" are not new, but they come from the hands of a teenager and have to be impressed. After Liu Xiangdao finished reading it, he was deeply appreciated and praised him as a "child prodigy". And recommended by the imperial court. Wang Bo was thus able to join the army and serve as a dynasty sanlang at the age of fourteen.
Ancient China attached great importance to cultural accomplishment. A person who reads well, writes well, and cultivates well can become an official. Wang Bo did not forget to study in the capital. He studied hard and studied hard, and his articles were getting better and better, and his fame was getting bigger and bigger. In the first year of Qianfeng (666 AD), Emperor Gaozong of Tang went to Taishan District to seal Zen, and Wang Bo followed him and wrote the "Ode to Chenyou Dongyue" to play Emperor Gaozong.
Li Xian, the King of Pei, was very appreciative of Wang Bo's talents, so he summoned him to the mansion and appointed him as a waiter and a scholar, and he was ordered to write 10 "Platform Secrets". King Pei was very fond of this young talent, and often discussed articles and knowledge with him.
People who are young and successful probably have a promiscuous temperament in their bones. Wang Bo grew up in the family of officials and eunuchs, and at a young age, he entered and left the palace forbidden, and he was naturally familiar with the things of the noble princes and brothers. At that time, cockfighting was popular in Chang'an, and the princes in the palace were also happy with this game. Wang Bo naturally followed them and indulged in them. Once, Pei Wang, Ying Wang, and others gathered together to play a game of cockfighting. When he was having a good time, King Pei was very excited, and said to Wang Bo next to him, your article is full of capital, you write me a challenge to the king! Wang Bocai was quick-witted, and after a little thought, he quickly wrote a "Cockfighting Essay of the King of Tanying". This is an extremely neat text, with flowery rhetoric and extensive use of allusions. The fierce scene of your life and death on the cockfighting arena is described beautifully. After the article was written, it was read on the spot, which attracted the applause of the people present. The article quickly spread throughout the capital. Not long after, Tang Gaozong also read this "Cockfighting Article".
Whether someone specifically provoked the bad, or because Emperor Gaozong's nerves were too sensitive, there is no accurate record in the history books. It only said that after Emperor Gaozong read this "Cockfighting Article", he was very angry. He read from this article, which was originally playful, the meaning of the struggle between the sons. Therefore, he rebuked Wang Bo for provoking contradictions among the kings. In this way, Wang Bo was expelled from the Palace of the Pei Dynasty and forbidden to enter the palace again.
Eighteen-year-old Wang Bo was extremely depressed at this time. He was still very young and simple, and he did not yet understand the sophistication and official rules.
It was the first big setback of his life. The history books do not record his state of mind and thoughts at that time. But sadness and frustration were inevitable, after all, the blow had completely changed his destiny.
After experiencing a period of sadness and frustration, Wang Bo adjusted his mentality, went to the Han River to roam, all the way to see the famous mountains and rivers, enjoy the majestic scenery of nature, and wrote poems all the way, and his mood was much better.
After several years of dormancy, in the first year of Xianheng, on the recommendation of a friend, Wang Bo once again went out to join the army. This time, the stage is no longer the mansion of the prince in the imperial city, but the low-level petty officials of the bureaucracy. But when he entered the grassroots bureaucracy, he suddenly found that he could no longer integrate into his colleagues.
Wang Bo is very knowledgeable, only five cars rich, and a young man, and people like him are naturally not welcomed by their colleagues when they reach the grass-roots bureaucracy. In addition, he has a high personality, arrogant and arrogant, and disdains to be with his colleagues who are mediocre in learning. In this way, he had a very painful life in joining the army. Fortunately, he was not busy with official duties, and he had a lot of time to visit scenic spots, read and write poetry.
Since ancient times, the calamity is not a one-way street, and the blessings are not double-descended. The Old Book of Tang records that during his tenure as a soldier in Yuzhou, the official slave committed a crime against Cao Da, and Wang Bo, fearing that he would involve himself, first hid it, and then feared leaking the wind, and killed Cao Da in a fit of rage. This matter is recorded in the old and new Books of Tang, which are very brief and lack specific details. After thousands of years, the reason for this is now impossible to verify. The outcome of this incident was that Wang Bo was denounced by his colleagues and convicted of a capital offense. His father, who was then serving in the Yongzhou Sihu Army, was also implicated and demoted to the rank of Jiaotong Ling. This was a fatal blow to Wang Bo. Fortunately, there was no invincible road in heaven, and in August of the first year of the first year of the first century, because the imperial court changed the yuan and Emperor Gaozong pardoned the world, Wang Bo was spared death.
Wang Bo, who was immortal, went to visit his father in the third year of the first century. When passing through Nanchang, Jiangxi, he was invited to attend a banquet held by Yan Boyu, the governor of Hongzhou, at the Tengwang Pavilion. At the meeting, Governor Yan Boyu invited the guests to write a tribute to the Tengwang Pavilion. According to the Tang Dynasty, Yan Boyu's move was originally intended to show the talent of his son-in-law Wu Zizhang. However, Wang Bo, who was "ignorant of current affairs", stood up from his seat, did not give in, and wrote the article "Preface to the Tengwang Pavilion" in one breath. This story shows that although Wang Bo experienced a series of life disasters such as being expelled from the palace, being sentenced to death, and being pardoned and saved, he still maintained a proud heart and never missed a good opportunity to pour out his talents.
Wang Bo used the "Preface to the Tengwang Pavilion" to make a perfect summary of his life. "Idle clouds and pond shadows are leisurely, and things change stars to move several degrees in autumn." Shortly after he finished writing the "Preface to the Pavilion of King Teng", when crossing the South China Sea, due to the wind and waves on the way, the hull of the ship capsized, and Wang Bo unfortunately drowned, only twenty-seven years old.
As he summed up in the Preface to the Tengwang Pavilion, his short life was "unlucky and fateful". Although the young man has a great name and the young man has great ambitions, his life is like a parabola, reaching the peak and going all the way down until his life falls. Wang Bo's death is regrettable. However, in life, each has its own destiny, and the only way to salvation is to "do your best."