Does it make sense that Bai Juyi's poems can be interpreted by an old woman and questioned by others?

A few days ago, I met an old lady who could solve a problem about Bai Juyi's poems.

Bai Juyi, a great poet in the middle Tang Dynasty, had a habit of writing poems, that is, he listened to the old woman first and then revised them according to the old man's feedback.

This is very similar to the current market research. In the target customer base, conduct a sample survey to adjust the market strategy. It is said that foreigners do the same for TV series. They show an episode once a week, and if it doesn't look good, stop filming immediately. If you are good, you can continue shooting for more than ten seasons.

First, the old woman can solve it.

The old woman can explain the story, which was originally written by Hui Hong, a poet in the Song Dynasty. The first volume:

Every time Bai Letian writes a poem, he asks if it is a solution. If it is solved, record it; If you don't understand, it's easy.

What was your first reaction after hearing this story? It shows that Bai Juyi's poems are easy to understand.

Solution, this word is ambiguous. Can the old woman understand Bai Juyi's poem after listening to it? Or can the elderly watch it by themselves?

There is no more information about the identity of the old woman. If there are old women like Cai Wenji and Li Qingzhao, we should respect them.

However, judging from the original intention of this story, it is hard to say whether the old man can read or not. The great poet read the work to the old man, and she said that she understood it, indicating that Bai Juyi's poems are like vernacular Chinese, and everyone can understand them.

Poems that everyone can understand are the characteristics of folk songs, and the way to accept them is listening, not reading, so the requirements for old women are not high.

Second, the readers' cultural level is not high.

Some people say that there are two misunderstandings about Bai Juyi's poems: the first is that the old woman's understanding is good poetry, and the second is that Bai Juyi's poems are brilliant, so they are widely circulated in Japan.

But some people think that these two stories can't prove how good Bai Juyi's poems are.

But because the readers' cultural level is not high.

Therefore, more profound poems are beyond the understanding of old women, and most of the ancient Japanese can't understand them. Therefore, simple poems, which can be understood by old ladies, are more widely circulated in Japan than other poets' works.

Having said that, I can't help but think of the evaluation of Liu Yong by people in the Song Dynasty: where there is a well, there is Liu Ci.

Liu Yong is narrow-minded and evil when raising children, and he is good at singing. Every time the musicians in the teaching workshop get a new tune, they always try to resign themselves to fate and start wandering around the world, so the sound will spread for a while. Disciple Yu tasted the official saying of Xixia Hui Dynasty: Anyone who has well water can sing Liu Ci. (Ye Mengde's Summer Vacation)

High music is sparse, popular is easy to understand.

Third, separation and non-separation

Of course, fashion is not necessarily bad, and elegance is not necessarily good. When Wang Guowei talked about poetry, he mentioned a concept of "separation".

Wang Guowei said in the 40th article of Ci-Hua on Earth:

Ask the difference between "separation" and "non-separation": poetry is not separated, and Yan Nian's poetry is slightly separated; Dongpo's poems are not separated, and the valley is slightly separated. The beauty of the words "spring grass grows in the pond" and "empty beams fall in the mud" lies in their non-separation.

The same is true of the word "one person". For example, there is a cloud in the first half of Ouyang Gong's Ode to Young Spring Grass: "Twelve are lonely in spring, the sky is far away, and Wan Li is thousands of miles away. In February and March, people are sad. " Languages are all present, so they are not separated. To the cloud "Xiejiachi, Jiangyan Pupan", it is separated.

Why do you say that? It's simple. For the old lady, "Wan Li is thousands of miles away, and it is easy to understand in February and March, but it may be a little puzzling to hear" Xie is by the river ".

On Xie Chi Jia, it is said that Xie Lingyun's poem "Spring grass grows in the pond"; On the Pupu River in Jiangyan, he said a famous sentence in Jiangyan Biefu: "Spring grass is green, spring water is rippling, so sad to send you to Nanpu!"

These two sentences are still chanting spring grass. People with insufficient knowledge may not recognize the meaning. How can an illiterate old woman understand them? Or did the old woman misunderstand?

Therefore, Wang Guowei said: to the cloud "Xiejiachi, Jiangyan Pupan" is separated.

Applying the above words, separation is not necessarily bad, and separation is not necessarily good. Don't even separate the jingles.

Fourth, the two extremes

Bai Juyi's poem An Old Woman Can Understand is very popular in Japan. Therefore, some people say that if Li He's poems are taken out, it is estimated that both old women and foreigners will be fooled.

Li Dongyang, the cabinet records of the Ming Dynasty, said in Poems of Huailu Hall:

Zhang Wenchang is good at using slang in Tang poetry, and Liu Mengde's Zhuzhi Ci is also wonderful. When Bai Letian told the old woman to solve it, she lost her vulgarity.

Li Changji's poems, every word of which is passed down from generation to generation, are too embarrassing and have no naive and natural interest. Reading through the whole article, we can see that there are mountains without beams and knots, and we know that there is no way. Writing poetry will make the old woman understand, and it is very solid. But it will make the scholar-officials study and can't solve it. Why?

Li Dongyang said that Zhang Ji is good at using folk spoken language and common sayings. Liu Yuxi's Zhi Zhu Ci also has this feature:

There is much rain on Bashan Mountain, and Ba people are good at singing their own songs. At present, the northern bamboo slips man has gone from Guodian, and he has also come to meet the busker of Shulianghe.

However, it is customary to come to Bai Juyi and let the old lady understand.

It is not the poet's way to say that Li He's poems are too polished. An old woman can't solve the problem, but isn't it a bit too much for you to confuse a scholar-bureaucrat by Li He's poems?

These are two extremes again.

Fifth, shallow hunters are beyond their reach!

The eighth part of the General Catalogue of Sikuquanshu seems to be Ji Xiaolan's attack on Bai Juyi when telling this story:

Lotte did something for the old lady to solve, so the style was plain but not high. The narration of Taoist feelings, sorrows and sorrows, such as writing Chinese in people's minds, is also the legacy of ancient songs. What can a shallow hunter do!

Ji Xiaolan said that Bai Letian's poems are only left when the old lady can understand them, so the style is not too high. But he can write people's true feelings and let readers sing for them, which is the characteristic of ancient ballads.

Ji Xiaolan believes that it is impossible for a person with limited ability to understand an old woman and "write people's thoughts".

Concluding remarks

Poems and songs are sung at first, and there are too many carvings by literati, which everyone can't understand. Song rose again in the Yuan Dynasty.

Imagine singing on the stage. If people in the audience can't understand it, can it still be circulated? What you sing is accepted by your ears, so it is easy to understand a lot.

The old woman can understand that Bai Juyi pays more attention to the acceptance of fans. Because simple works are easy to understand and more popular. Profound works need a certain literary accomplishment to understand, and naturally there are high and low.

Laojie taste

Song Ci 139 | Jiang Kui, a Taoist priest of Baishi, wrote two lyrics for Fan Chengda in exchange for a beautiful woman.

Song Ci 138 | Liu Gaizhi, the origin of the name of Yang Guo, the giant condor in Jin Yong's novels.