Li Bai, good friends, good at writing poetry, he once wrote poems to many friends, such as "Gift Wang Lun", "Gift Meng Haoran", etc., few people know that Li Bai also wrote poetry for a Japanese friend.
This Japanese friend's name is Abe Nakamaru, the Han name Chaoheng, also known as Chaoheng, he was one of the students sent by Japan to the Tang Dynasty, Li Bai and ChaoHeng befriended, and the deeds of the two became a witness to the friendship between China and Japan.
Li Bai once wrote a poem in memory of Chao Heng, called "Crying Chao Qing Heng", the whole poem is:
Japan's Chao Qing resigned the imperial capital, and the sails were wrapped around the pot.
The bright moon does not return to the blue sea, and the white clouds are full of sorrow.
The whole poem is sincere and touching, but it has made a big oolong, what is going on? This has to start with the dispatch of tang envoys.
The Tang Dynasty sent Tang envoys to the Tang Dynasty on a road map
During the Tang Dynasty, when the country was strong, the economy was prosperous, and the culture was prosperous, Japan, Silla and other neighboring countries would send Envoys to the Tang Dynasty to exchange and study.
Abe Nakamaru, who was born in Nara, Japan, came to the Tang Dynasty as an international student with the eighth dispatch of the Tang dynasty in the fifth year of the new century (717 AD), when he was less than 20 years old.
Abe Zhongmaru was talented and studious, and after arriving in the Tang Dynasty, he entered the GuoziJianTaixue to study, and his results were very good, and after his studies, he took the imperial examination, won the first place in one fell swoop, and became a jinshi.
Abe Nakamaru (film and television stills)
In the Tang Dynasty, there was a saying that "thirty old famous classics, fifty young scholars", that is, the 50-year-old examination was already very young. Foreigners passed the Tang Dynasty jinshi, which shows that Abe Zhongmalu is indeed very good.
According to the custom, after studying for a period of time, the Envoys of the Tang Dynasty could return to China, or return to China with the next Tang envoy, but because of their admiration for Chinese culture, Abe Zhongmalu refused to leave, and he changed his name to Chaoheng, also known as Chaoheng, and stayed in the Tang Dynasty.
Abe Zhongmalu was diligent and studious, wrote poetry very well, and after passing the entrance examination, he served in the Tang Dynasty, and was very much valued by Tang Xuanzong, and he had contacts with the Tang Dynasty poets Wang Wei, Li Bai, Bao Yao, Chu Guangxi, and so on.
In the twelfth year of Tianbao (753 AD), Abe Nakamaru came to the Tang Dynasty for 37 years, and he had also changed from a young man to a young man.
The longer I came to Datang, the more I missed my hometown. Abe Zhongmaru had repeatedly asked to resign and return to China, but Tang Xuanzong did not allow it.
In 752, the eleventh year of Tianbao, Japan sent Tang envoys to Tang for the eleventh time, and saw his hometown people again, arousing his deep longing for his homeland.
He again requested to return to China, feeling that he had served the Tang Dynasty for decades, and his parents were old, Tang Xuanzong approved him to return to China, and appointed him as the Japanese envoy of the Tang Dynasty, a foreigner as a Chinese envoy, which is rare in history.
Upon learning of the news that Abe Nakamaru was returning to China, the people of chang'an government and opposition held a banquet, and they sent poems to each other, leaving many excellent works, wang Wei's "Sending Secretary Chao Jian back to Japan" and Bao Tuo's "Sending Japan to invite congratulations to Chao Juqing to return to the east" are among the famous works.
Chao Heng finally embarked on the road back to China, and he set sail by boat from Suzhou.
On this night, when the moon was in the sky, the bright moonlight sprinkled all over the river, Abe Zhongmalu looked up at the bright moon, and was about to leave the Tang Dynasty, and he used a Japanese song called "Wangxiang Poem", also known as "Mingzhou Wangyue" and "Tang Guo Wangyue".
Statue of Abe Nakamaru
This poem is recorded in the Ancient and Modern Waka Collection and was compiled by the writer Ji Guanzhi and others in the early Heian Dynasty.
Regarding this "Wangxiang Poem", there are many translations, and Yin Niang has taken one of the translations as follows:
Looking forward to the long sky, the gods are on the side of Nara, and on the top of Mikasa Mountain, I want to see the full moon again.
Abe Nakamaru's longing for his hometown of Nara is all in this poem.
Abe Nakamaru's journey back to China was not smooth, and his ship encountered a storm near Ryukyu and lost contact with other ships, at that time, everyone thought that Abe Nakamaru had been killed.
Japanese Envoy Ships Arriving at Tang Dynasty Ports (Volume IV of the Album of the Eastern Crusades)
Abe Nakamaru befriended Li Bai, and it is said that he once gave Li Bai a Japanese fur, and Li Bai was very moved.
When Li Bai learned of his "death", he wrote this poem "Crying Chao Qingheng" to express his sadness and sorrow for the death of his friend.
Fortunately, Abe Nakamaru was not killed, and after losing contact with other ships, Abe Nakamaru and his companions were blown by the storm to the coast of Vietnam.
In June 755 (the fourteenth year of Tianbao), Abe Zhongmaru returned to Chang'an after a long journey. Friends were pleasantly surprised to see Abe Nakamaru return from danger.
After that, Abe Nakamaru stayed in Datang and never returned to China. In his lifetime, he experienced three emperors of the Tang Dynasty, and his official position was achieved by Annam Jiedushi. At the age of seventy-two, he finally grew old in Chang'an.
Through a thousand years of time, we read Li Bai's "Crying Chao Qingheng" again, and from the words and lines, we can feel Li Bai's sincere feelings for Abe Zhongmalu.
With the theme of "crying", Li Bai unabashedly vented his sad feelings about the loss of his friend.
The title of the poem calls Chao Heng "Qing", which in ancient times was an honorific that implied Li Bai's admiration for Chao Heng.
The first two sentences of the poem are written directly, saying that Chao Heng left Chang'an, sailed away, and floated over PenglaiXian Island.
In the last two verses, Li Bai compares Chao Heng to the bright moon, saying that the friends who have never returned are like the bright moon sinking into the blue sea, and even the white clouds in the sky are shrouded in sorrow over the green mountains.
"Bright Moon Sinks blue sea", comparing friends to Bright Moon, is a praise for Chao Heng's personality, with profound meaning, and the artistic realm is beautiful and elegant.
The death of his friend, Bai Yun was also sad, it can be seen that the deep feeling of pain in Li Bai's heart for a long time.
Fortunately, Abe Zhongmalu did not die, he returned, Li Bai's poem undoubtedly made a oolong, we can not know, when Abe Zhongmalu returned to Chang'an, read Li Bai wrote a memorial poem for him, how he felt.
But Yin Niang thought that he must be very moved, in this land far away from his homeland, there are many people who sincerely care about him, miss him, and leave his hometown as if returning home.
Abe Nakamaru Monument in Xi'an Xingqing Park
Today, the friendship between Li Bai and Abe Nakamaru has become a witness to Sino-Japanese friendship.
In 1978, Xi'an City and Nara Prefecture agreed to build a monument in each of the two cities for posterity to see and remember.
The monument in Xi'an is located in the ruins of Tang Xingqing Palace, the front of the stele is engraved with the eight characters of "Abe Zhongmalu Monument", the back is engraved with its deeds, the column plate is engraved with a relief of the Japanese Tang envoy ship, flanked by Li Bai's poem "Crying Chao Qingheng" and Abbe Zhongmalu's "Wangxiang" poem, and its cultural connotation is self-evident.
Monument to Sakurai, Nara, Nakamaru's hometown, inscribed with "Wangxiang Poem"
Time passes slowly, and only these two immortal poems tell the story of that year.