Wu Yixiang's Poems of Liu Yuxi in Tang Dynasty

The poem "Wuyi Xiang" written by Liu Yuxi in the Tang Dynasty is: the weeds are in full bloom beside the Suzaku Bridge, and the sunset sets in Wuyi Xiang Kou. Swallows under the eaves of Wang Dao and Xie An have now flown into the homes of ordinary people.

Wuyi Lane Translation:

The deserted weeds are in full bloom by the Suzaku Bridge, and the sunset hangs in the broken walls at the entrance of Wuyi Lane.

Swallows under the eaves of Xie 'an in Wang Dao have now flown into the homes of ordinary people.

Sentence annotation

Wuyi Lane 1: The street name of Jinling (now Nanjing, Jiangsu Province), located in the south of Qinhuai River, near Zhuque Bridge. During the Three Kingdoms period, Wu once set up a military camp here, which was the residence of the imperial army. Because the imperial guards at that time were all wearing black uniforms, there was a saying here called Wuyi Lane. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Dao and Xie An both lived in Wuyi Lane and called their children "Wuyi Lang". After entering the Tang Dynasty, Wuyi Lane was reduced to ruins.

2. Zhuque Bridge: A bridge across Qinhuai River outside Zhuque Gate in the south of Jinling in the Six Dynasties, located in Qinhuai District of Nanjing today.

3. Xie Wang: Wang Dao, Xie An and Jin Xiang, a big family with many talents, all lived in the alley and wore tassels, which was the giant room of the Six Dynasties. In the old society, Wang Xiejia had many swallows. In the Tang dynasty, they all declined, and they didn't know their position.

4. Ordinary: Ordinary.

"Wuyi Xiang" is one of the representative works of Liu Yuxi, a poet in Tang Dynasty, and the second poem of "Five Topics of Jinling", which is a nostalgic poem. This poem praises the prosperity of Zhuque Bridge on Qinhuai River and Wuyi Lane on the south bank of Nanjing in the past. Now the weeds are overgrown and desolate, which makes people feel that things are different and life is changeable.

It is a common phenomenon that the author chooses the host family where Swallow lives, which is no longer the master of the old days. It makes people realize that wealth and splendor are hard to maintain, and those high-ranking officials and nobles who once enjoyed the scenery are a thing of the past. There is no comment in the whole poem, but through the description of weeds and sunset, taking swallows as witnesses of ups and downs, it skillfully links history with reality and guides people to think about the development of the times and the changes of society, which contains profound implications. Although the language is extremely shallow, it is full of interest.

Brief introduction of Liu Yuxi

Liu Yuxi (772-842), a writer and philosopher in the Tang Dynasty, was born in Luoyang. He calls himself a "Luoyang native" and was born in Zhongshan. The first one is Zhongshan, Wang Jing and Liu Sheng. Known as the "poet".

Liu Yuxi was a scholar in the ninth year of Zhenyuan (793). At the beginning, he was a clerk in Du You's shogunate and an envoy in Huainan, and was highly valued by Du You. Later, he entered the DPRK from Du You, supervising the empire. At the end of Zhenyuan, he made friends with Liu Zongyuan, Han Ye and formed a political group headed by Wang. Later, he successively served as Sima Langzhou, Secretariat of Lianzhou, Secretariat of Kuizhou, Secretariat of Hezhou, Doctor of Host and Guest, Minister of Rites, and Secretariat of Suzhou. In Huichang, we will check the history of the Ministry of Justice. He died at the age of 70 and gave it to the Minister of Housing.

Liu Yuxi's poems and essays are all excellent, with a wide range of subjects. Known as "Liu Liu" with Liu Zongyuan, "Three Masters" with Wei and Bai Juyi, and "Bai Liu" with Bai Juyi, including the humble room, Zhi Zhu Ci, Yang Liuzhi Ci and Wuyi Lane. Three philosophical works, The Theory of Heaven, discuss the materiality of heaven and analyze the origin of the theory of destiny, which is materialistic. There are works of Liu Mengde and Liu Binke.