Why is it said that the poem "To Wang Lun" is so taboo at the beginning?

The Tang Dynasty was the golden age for the development of Chinese poetry, with a dazzling array of poets and a vast array of works. If you were to ask who among the poets of the Tang Dynasty was the most famous, you would definitely blurt out Li Bai. So, among the poets of the Tang Dynasty, which one is the most unique? Of course it’s still Li Bai. His existence seems to be to break the various laws of poetry. When writing rhyme poems, they often do not follow the rhythm, while when writing songs, the style is entirely based on one's own ideas, with nothing to rely on and a variety of writing techniques. It seems to say: "We are different" all the time.

For example, Li Bai's seven-character quatrain "To Wang Lun" committed a big taboo at the beginning. Since ancient times, literati have been very taboo about naming names in poems, as they think it is tasteless. But Li Bai still wrote his name into the poem. However, in Li Bai's writing, calling the poem by name made the poem seem sincere, friendly, free and easy, and full of affection. Therefore, it has been circulated for more than 1,000 years and has become an eternal masterpiece. I have to praise him, he deserves to be called the "Poetic Immortal". Now let's enjoy Li Bai's song "To Wang Lun":

Li Bai was about to set off in a boat when he suddenly heard singing on the shore.

The water in Peach Blossom Pond is a thousand feet deep, not as deep as Wang Lun’s love for me.

First of all, the first two lines of the poem "Li Bai was about to set off in a boat when he suddenly heard singing on the shore." This means: When I, Li Bai, was about to set off in a boat, I suddenly heard someone coming from the shore. The sound of singing. Obviously, these two poems describe a farewell scene, and one of the protagonists is Li Bai, and the other is Wang Lun, a good friend of his in Jing County. In the 14th year of Tianbao reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty (755), when Li Bai traveled from Qiupu to Peach Blossom Pond in Jingxian County (now part of Anhui Province), he forged a deep friendship with Wang Lun.

"Ta Ge" is a widely popular form of folk song and dance in the Tang Dynasty, that is, while singing, you tap your feet on the ground to make time. You can sing while walking. From the word "suddenly heard" here, we can see that Wang Lun's arrival was unexpected. That is to say, before the people arrived, the sound of singing came first, so Li Bai knew that it was Wang Lun who came to say goodbye. The cheerful farewell scene here is undoubtedly different from the scenes full of sorrow in other farewell poems. It reflects that both Li Bai and Wang Lun are informal, happy and free people, and they can also be said to be unique.

Then, let’s look at the last two sentences of the poem, “The water in Peach Blossom Pond is a thousand feet deep, not as deep as Wang Lun’s gift of love to me.” It means: The water in Peach Blossom Pond here is as deep as a thousand feet, but it is Not as good as your Wang Lun farewell to me! These two poems have been praised by poetry critics of all ages. Shen Deqian said in "Tang Poetry Collection": "If you say that Wang Lun's emotion is comparable to that of a thousand feet of pond water, it is an ordinary statement. The wonderful scene only takes one change." Indeed, the word "less than" here makes it intriguing, and I can't help but have an idea, how deep is the water to be comparable to Wang Lun's affection?

The use of this kind of comparison technique invisibly materializes the sincere and pure affection, adding to the intimacy of the poem. The easy-to-understand, fresh and lively language rich in folk song color, coupled with the deep affection, are undoubtedly the reasons why this poem has been circulated for more than 1,000 years. Yang Qixian of the Song Dynasty introduced in the annotation of "Collected Works of Li Taibai": In the Song Dynasty, Wang Lun's descendants still cherished this gift poem, which shows the value of this poem.