In the tense era of the Tang Dynasty, there was a person named Bai Juyi, who was not an ordinary idle official. In the tenth year of Yuanhe (815), there was an assassination case in the capital that shocked the government and the opposition, and the prime minister Wu Yuanheng was assassinated, and the black hand behind this was actually the strongman Li Shidao, who was divided by one side! At this time, Bai Juyi stood up, but he was blamed and isolated by his colleagues. Why did Bai Juyi decide to stand up, and why was he spurned?
In the Tang Dynasty, the political wrestling between the rulers and the rebels was a thrilling drama. And Bai Juyi, a giant in the literary world, is a controversial role in the political arena. His life is not only as simple as poetry, but also a magnificent historical chapter.
In the early morning of the tenth year of Yuanhe, an assassination in the capital directly shocked the entire empire. The assassination of Prime Minister Wu Yuanheng was not only a simple political assassination, but also a clear demonstration of the contest between local forces and central authority. It is said that the mastermind behind this is Li Shidao, the envoy of Ziqing Pinglu Jiedu. This local overlord who covers the sky with one hand has reached an unbearable threat to the central government.
Li Shidao's power is huge, controlling twelve states and a population of more than three million, making it a country of its own. His family has reigned supreme in the region for four generations, ignoring the orders of the central government. It can be said that he has become accustomed to the days as the emperor of the local soil. But when the central government decided to weaken the power of the feudal towns, he felt threatened like never before.
At this time, Bai Juyi was 44 years old, the golden age of his life. He was originally a close minister of the emperor, and he served as a scholar of Hanlin and Zuo Shizhi, which can be described as a high power. Due to the exclusion within the court and his own outspokenness, he gradually became an idle official who was not involved in government affairs. Still, when the national crisis arose, his sense of purpose and justice drove him to step up again.
After the assassination, the entire capital was shrouded in fear. The courtiers sought protection at risk, but few dared to pursue the truth. Bai Juyi, on the other hand, chose to come out and publicly called for the assassin's real murderer to be traced. This was undoubtedly extremely risky at the time, because it involved powerful local forces and deep political struggles.
But Bai Juyi's call did not get a response, but made him the target of public criticism. Those former colleagues in the DPRK and China have now turned around and accused him, saying that he was making political capital in this turmoil. This made Bai Juyi's situation very embarrassing, and even a little dangerous. But he did not back down because of this, but continued to use his writing and wisdom to speak up for his faith and justice.
After this political turmoil, Bai Juyi's political career does not seem to have been improved as it should be, but because of his outspokenness and challenging power, his official career has become more and more bumpy. He was transferred out of the center and successively served as a petty official in Jiangzhou, Suzhou and other places until his retirement. Although he was marginalized, he did not give up writing, but instead wrote more poems that reflected the suffering of the people and social contradictions, and became a "poetic saint" praised by later generations.
In his poems, we can feel not only his yearning for a better life, but also his strong criticism of social injustice and darkness. His poems, like his life, are full of the pursuit of ideals and uncompromising on reality.
Although Li Shidao's power was strong, it could not escape the fate of decay in the end. The wheel of history is rolling forward, and no matter how powerful an individual or force is, in the end it will not be able to escape the judgment of national law and history. Although Bai Juyi failed to make a difference in politics, his poetry and character have become eternal legends.
Eventually, his life was at peace. At the age of 75, he chose to retire and live a more prosaic and self-reflective life. His epitaph reads: "Here lies a man, who died at the age of 44 and was buried at the age of 75", which is not only a summary of his political career, but also a profound embodiment of the duality of his life. Here, "dead at the age of 44" symbolizes that his political ideals and ambitions have been shattered, while "buried at the age of 75" indicates that his spirit and poetry lived until the end of his life.
Looking back at Bai Juyi's life, it is not difficult for us to find that he is not only a poet of the Tang Dynasty, but also a brave fighter. In the context of that era of war and chaos, princes and generals, he used his pen as a weapon to speak for justice, although this caused him to encounter countless difficulties and setbacks. Bai Juyi's story is not only a historical memory, but also a spiritual inheritance.