Preface
"If there is love in the sky, the sky is also old" This ancient sentence comes from the "poet ghost" Li He, but this is only the first half of the sentence, and the second half of the sentence only appeared two hundred years later.
What is this second half of the sentence? From whose mouth did it come from? What kind of state of mind did Li He have at that time? And why did he express such feelings?
1. Became famous at a young age - "poet ghost"
The Tang Dynasty was an unprecedentedly prosperous dynasty, whether in terms of politics, economy or other aspects, it was a heyday period, so it is also known as the "Tang Dynasty".
This period is also a period of national unification, and it is also the longest time in history to unify, every emperor of the Tang Dynasty is a hard worker, not a mediocre and incompetent person, more or less contributed to the development of the country.
Especially after Tang Xuanzong succeeded to the throne, the Tang Dynasty created the first year of prosperity, both in military and economic development, far ahead of other countries.
During this period, the country's economic prosperity, social harmony and stability provided a favorable foundation for the development of various things, and there were many cultural treasures of the Tang Dynasty, the most precious of which were Tang poems.
And in the prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty, there were also many outstanding talents and beauties, including Li Bai, Du Fu, etc., whose poems have been handed down to this day, making people read catchy, and even children can read a few sentences.
In the Tang Dynasty, an era of talents, Li He was naturally one of them, Li He's character Changji, also known as the "poetic ghost", Li He was also a very romantic poet.
Li He's ancestral home is a native of Longxi, born in Changgu, Fuchang County, which is today's Yiyang County, Luoyang, Henan, Li He's family was also a big family in the early years, and was a descendant of Li Liang of the Tang clan.
However, by the time of his generation, his family was in the middle, but Li He was ambitious and very fond of reading, and when he was a child, he was already able to say some poems and export chapters.
When he was a teenager, he was already as famous as Gongle Fu Shi and his ancestor Li Yi, and Li He's father's name was Jin Su, but "Jin" and "Jin" have the same sound, and people with the same name as Li He thought that he should avoid this taboo, that is, he hoped that Li He would not be admitted to Jinshi.
As Li He's friend, Han Yu encouraged Li He a lot and wrote a poem "Argument", hoping that Li He could take the exam, but in the end Li He still failed to be admitted to the Jinshi.
After only three years of being a Fenglilang, he felt very depressed, because of the frustration of his career, he put all his efforts into composing poetry. When he goes out, he always carries a broken sac on his back, and when he writes a good poem, he puts the written verse into the sac.
By the time he came back in the evening, he would have been able to compose a good poem, and Li He's mother saw that Li He was working very hard to compose a poem, and reproached him: "This child will not give up until he vomits out his heart." ”
Although Li He was a poet with a very romantic color, he was also a very representative transformer from the Middle Tang Dynasty to the late Tang Dynasty.
In the later period, Li He was very depressed because his career was blocked, lamenting that he was born at the wrong time, saying that there was no room for his ambition to be displayed.
It also satirizes the social status quo of the time, and the dark social background such as the division of feudal towns and the dictatorship of eunuchs, as well as the poor peasants who have been devastated and oppressed, are all reflected in his works.
II. A Thousand Ancient Phrases
In the early years, Li He's family lived next to the highway from Luoyang to Chang'an, so they could often see high-ranking officials and nobles, or merchants and salt sellers.
Li He often saw the arrogance and indulgence of these dignitaries, but he was full of pity for the poor people, and he lamented the injustice of the world, so he used what he saw and understood as the material for writing poetry.
At the same time, it also exposed the darkness and injustice of the dynasty at that time, as Li He traveled south and north, embarked on a career in office, and also saw the corruption and incompetence of the upper ruling class in the officialdom, there were many corrupt officials and corrupt officials, and the people at the bottom suffered a lot, which made his heart even more resentful.
When Li He writes this kind of poem, he often uses the past to satirize the present, or directly expose the darkness of the present. Li He is known as a "ghost talent" by everyone, and it is not that Li He likes to write about some fairy and ghost themes, mainly because his themes are novel and rich, and he has whimsical ideas, so Li He occupies a unique position in the poetry world.
Another point is because Li He died young, although he had great ambitions in the early years, but in the end, because of the obstruction of his career, coupled with illness, Li He's inner depression and resentment were aggravated, and a negative mood appeared, Li He was only 27 years old when he died.
Moreover, Li He was born in the Tang Dynasty, an era when literati and writers gathered, but he was able to occupy a place in the poetry world, and was known as a "poet ghost", and he also had an exclusive place.
Li He's life is also very bitter, he is unsuccessful in the officialdom, and his father died early, and he did not live a happy life after marriage, his wife unfortunately passed away, and after encountering this kind of experience, he was also very sad in his heart.
wrote a lot of poems to express feelings, including "If the sky is loved, the sky will be old", but before the next sentence could be made up, Li He had already passed away.
And this sentence is from a poem created by him on the way to Luoyang, which is called "The Song of the Golden and Bronze Immortals", and he uses the story of the Golden and Bronze Immortals to express his current experience.
One of the most popular is the last sentence: "Decline Lan sends guests to Xianyang Road, if there is love in the sky, the sky will be old." And take out this last sentence to make a couplet, hoping that someone can make a suitable couplet.
Although there were countless literati and writers in the Tang Dynasty, there was no lower couplet that was recognized by everyone, so this sentence "If the sky is loved, the sky will be old" has also become a quatrain in people's hearts.
It wasn't until two hundred years later that someone came out, this person was the poet Shi Yannian of the Song Dynasty, and it was a coincidence that Shi Yannian was attending a poetry meeting at the time, and he was already drunk at the banquet, but he heard others talk about this poem.
When Shi Yannian's sentence came out, it shocked the four, but the silence of everyone was deafening here, and then everyone applauded again and again: "Good poetry".
3. Died young
Shi Yannian's sentence is not only very neat in terms of battle, but also in terms of artistic conception and the poem written by Li He, which is written that if the sky is as emotional as a person, then it will slowly grow old.
In the next sentence, if the moon is not hateful, it will become very round, and there will be no cloudy and sunny roundness, and on the whole, it is through the changes of the two natural phenomena of the sky and the moon, which implies that people have affection, and nature will not remain unchanged, there will be birth, old age, sickness and death, and there will also be triumph and frustration in life.
Life is full of all kinds of encounters, life and old age and death are not like the moon has clouds and sunny days, so these are things that need to be faced, people have no way to change this situation, it is better to go with the flow, although with a little helpless, but no longer seem sad.
But it is still a pity for Li He's untimely death, throughout Li He's life, he became famous at a young age, and his attainments in poetry are very high, with his own unique thoughts and colors.
Although Li He has great ambitions, he is not going well in his career, which is also a huge blow to Li He, coupled with the fact that he has not made meritorious contributions to realize his ambitions, and he is riddled with illness, which also makes him disheartened.
Slowly in a pessimistic and negative attitude, life also lost faith, and finally died depressed, a generation of talented people fell, which makes people feel sad.
epilogue
Li He's poem, Chairman Mao also quoted, and the next sentence "The right way in the world is the vicissitudes of life", is more widely known, and compared with Shi Yannian, it is more bold, which means that the old brings forth the new, which is the law of change in nature. It is also an inevitable law of human development.
Although Li He's career was blocked, but his attainments in poetry were very high, and later generations also had a high evaluation of Li He, although Li He died young, but in the past 20 years, he has also made small achievements, especially in poetry, which can be regarded as realizing the value of life.