Appreciation of Thrush Depth in Tang Poetry

Boudoir presents Zhang Shuibu Zhu Qingyu

Last night, the candles in the bridal chamber were lit all night, waiting for dawn to worship the parents-in-law.

Make-up whispered to her husband, is thrush fashionable or not?

Enjoy Zhu Ji.

Yue Nv's new makeup appeared in the mirror, knowing Yan Yan was more considerate.

Wan Qi is not expensive in the world, and a lingge is worth thousands of dollars.

These two poems are the chorus of Zhu Qingyu and Zhang Ji, poets in the middle Tang Dynasty. They are respectively included in Volume 5 15 and Volume 386 of Complete Tang Poetry. Zhu Qingyu, whose word can last for a long time, was born in central Fujian (now Fujian Province) and Yuezhou (now Shaoxing City). Tang Jingzong Bao Li was a scholar in the second year (826), secretary of the provincial school and author of Zhu Qingyu's Poems. Zhang Ji (about 767- 830) was a poet in the Tang Dynasty. The word Wenchang was born in Wujiang, Hezhou (now wujiang town, Anhui and County). His ancestral home is Suzhou, and his ancestors moved to Hezhou. Tang Dezong, a scholar of Zhenyuan, was a former Minister of Water Affairs and Foreign Minister of imperial academy, and was called "Zhang Shui Department". The title of Zhu Qingyu's poem is "Boudoir Offering Zhang Shui Department". Zhang Ji needs no more introduction. He was a famous poet in Tang Dynasty and the backbone of Bai Juyi's new Yuefu movement. His Yuefu poems are as famous as Wang Jian's Yuefu poems, and are called "Zhang Wang Yuefu". Bai Juyi once praised him for "excellent Yuefu poems, but few examples" (reading Zhang Ji's Ancient Yuefu). His poems pay attention to reality, which are often concrete, popular and simple, but they have profound power. For example, wild old songs, lyrics for women, and Qiu Si all spread in music and among people.

The general reader may not know Zhu Qingyu very well. He was also an outstanding poet, who enjoyed great fame in the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Wei was once chosen as the poet's subject-object map in the Tang Dynasty, calling him "a fellow student". During the Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties, his poems were often mentioned and quoted in poetry talks and literary creation: Hong Mai in the Southern Song Dynasty quoted the poems of first-class poets such as Du Fu, Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen when talking about "Caotang" in his famous note "essays on Rongzhai", including Zhu Qingyu's "Calling Zhu Yi into Caotang" (volume 10 of essays on Rongzhai). Hang Shijun, a Qing Dynasty man, said in the Incorrect Book that he had read Xu Hun's handwritten poem "The Clouds in Xiangtan End at Dusk" and praised the word "smoke", so he concluded that it was written by Xu Zhi. Shallow people turn' smoke' into' mountain', which is tasteless. "In the evidence, based on Zhu Qingyu's poem" Park Jiong-hsiang Yan Dou, Linxiang Qi Yue Spring ",it is proved that" the reform was wrong at the beginning ".

Because there are many beautiful sentences in the poem, it is often used by later generations to collect sentences or make couplets. There is a couplet in Lv Yun Pavilion, a small village in Yangzhou, which is a collection of poems in the Tang Dynasty. The first couplet is Zhu Qingyu's Deep Pine in the Mountains, and the second couplet is Cui Qiao's Tree Dense and Birds Quiet (volume 15 of Dou's Yangzhou Original Boat Record). In the 30th episode of Tang Xianzu's famous legend "Peony Pavilion", Du Liniang ghost and Liu Mengmei wrote Tang poems, and Du Liniang used Zhu Qingyu's "Natural Cleanliness"; Liu Mengmei was right when she said that Ling Huchu "daydreaming, dreaming at night". The 37th poem at the end of Cataclysm: "? The wind cannot move the messenger wire. Yin returns to the spring city grass late, and the night rain buries the beauty. " The second sentence, "Spring City sings late", is selected from Zhu Qingyu's poem "Looking for a Monk".

Zhu Qingyu is not only a good poet, but also very alert and good at coping. A story like this, recorded in Volume III of Xiao Xiaolu, is a collection of retired scholars in the Qing Dynasty:

Yuan, a famous court minister, likes joking. Zhu Qingyu and he are old friends. One day they went to visit him on a donkey. Yuan Wen Jing bowed to him and said, "Zhu Qingyu is a donkey." Zhu Qingyu quickly replied: "This beast is not a donkey, but a donkey with horns and ears cut off." Yuan deliberately gave up the verb between Zhu Qingyu and donkey to make fun of it. Zhu Qingyu, on the other hand, solved the problem of riding a donkey on the slope, suggesting his nobility. Avenger is an ancient god beast in ancient legends of China. The big one is like a cow, the small one is like a sheep, similar to a unicorn, with long horns on its forehead, commonly known as a unicorn. (Yangzhou Ancient Books Publishing House, Notebook Grand View).

In particular, Zhu Qingyu, like Zhang Ji, uses metaphors, which are simple and plain, fresh in meaning and detailed in description, such as his quatrain: "On the levee, there are dark flowers, and a thousand things are deeply hated. Catkins fly all over the sky, people go far away, and the east wind can't bind the spring heart "(Hu Zhenheng's" Tang Yin Tong Qian "(Volume 846)) is also a metaphor for people, borrowing scenery to write their hearts, which has profound implications. Wang Xuan, one of the five dynasties, thinks that "it is better to know that the Lord is above and the villain is hiding" (the theme of the poem). "Early Plum": "Spring has come early since ancient times, and it snows in severe winter". Wang Xuan thinks it is "infinite strength" ("Theme in Poetry"). His "Gong Ci": "When the flowers are lonely, the courtyard door is closed, and the beauty and Qiong Xuan stand side by side. Not inferior to Wang Jian's masterpiece Gong Ci in the same period. Because of this, he was appreciated and valued by the famous poet Zhang Ji. In Taiping Guangji (volume 199), Liu Yun also specifically recorded the specific process of Zhang Jijiao's poems by Zhu Qingyu and Zhu Zhongju:

In the middle Tang Dynasty, Zhu Qingyu met a doctor of the Ministry of Water Resources. Zhang Ji was a bosom friend. Suo Qingyu learned a lot of old and new chapters, but only 26 chapters were left after reciting them, and he praised them in his arms. At that time, people used the same names as their books, and they all wrote satirical poems, so they went to the agency. At the beginning of Qing Dynasty, the merchants of Henan were humble and wrote a boudoir for Zhang Yue: "The wedding stopped last night and waited for Tang Xiao to pay homage to my aunt. After putting on makeup, I whispered to my husband, is thrush deep and fashionable? " As a reward, he said, "Yue Nv's new makeup is in the mirror, and she knows it is brighter and deeper. Wan Qi is not expensive in the world, and a lingge is worth thousands of gold. " Therefore, it is the name of Zhi Zhu's poem, which is popular all over the world.

Jiang Yikui's Collection Outside Yaoshan Hall in Ming Dynasty (Volume 29) and Pi's General Theory of Confucian Classics in Qing Dynasty have similar records.

Both Zhu Qingyu's and Zhang Ji's poems are vivid, with fresh words and twists and turns. This poem by Zhu Qingyu, also known as "A Trial Presentation to Zhang Shui Department", was written to Zhang Ji before the imperial examination. Why Zhu Qingyu submitted this poem before the exam and took "boudoir" as the topic was related to the literati's "writing style" at that time. Although China's imperial examination system came into being in the Tang Dynasty, it was not complete until the Song Dynasty. In order to prevent cheating, in addition to the examiner, deputy examiner and deliberation officer, there are systems such as "title" and "copy number". The so-called "seal" is to seal the examiner's name so that the marking officer does not know who the test paper is; The so-called "copying" means that the scribe will copy the examinee's test paper with a unified font, and the examiner will review the copied test paper to prevent the examiner from identifying handwriting cheating. This is also the source of today's "Song Style". Most of these methods are still used in today's "College Entrance Examination" and "Civil Service Examination". But the Tang Dynasty was not so strict. The talent I showed in the exam is of course important, but what is more important is that someone appreciates and recommends me. Moreover, the higher the level and reputation of the officials who appreciate and recommend you, the greater the possibility of winning the bid and the higher the ranking. Du Fu, a great poet, failed in several senior high school entrance examinations. I don't know if it has something to do with the recommendation of incompetent people, but Wang Wei was the first in the provincial examination and the first in the national examination, which really has something to do with this. Written in the Song Dynasty, The Talented Persons of Tang Dynasty recorded this in detail:

The word Wei is from Taiyuan. At the age of nine, I learned to read and became a grass official, with a leisurely pace. Qi Wang worships it. Wei will quote, saying, "Those who have a clear poem can record several songs, and the pipa has a new sound, which is the same as that of nine princess.". On that day, when he played a solo with Wei, the Emperor Tai asked his name. Because he had a collection of poems, he said, "Yu Lun Bao". The master said: "I am used to irony, saying that it is an ancient work, but it is a good system for children." Yan Yu sat at the table and said, "It's a great honor for Jing Zhao to answer questions with this life." I highly recommend it. Champion in the 19th year of Kaiyuan. Zhuo you picked up the remains and was moved to the matter.

This passage means that Wang Wei is very smart, he can write articles at the age of nine, his calligraphy is very good, and he knows music and can compose music, so he is appreciated by Xuanzong's younger brother Li Longfan (later renamed Li Fan). One day, Wang Qi said to Wang Wei, "You choose some beautiful and moving poems from your own poems and compose them into pipa music. We will visit nine princesses together. " The so-called nine princess, Princess Yu Zhen, Xuanzong's favorite sister, ranked Laojiu, loved music and Buddhism. She was old and once became a nun for Xuanzong. After meeting Princess Yu Zhen, Wang Wei performed a pipa solo in a group of musicians, and the music was very beautiful. Princess Yu Zhen asked, "What is this tune?" Wang Wei replied, "It's called Yu Lun Gun." As he spoke, he took out a book of poems containing these songs. Princess Yu Zhen was very shocked after reading it, and said, "These are some poems that I like to recite on weekdays. I thought they were the works of the ancients, but they are actually your masterpieces! " So I invited Wang Wei to sit at the table and said that it would be an honor for Jingzhao area if you could become the top scholar in this year's provincial examination. Therefore, I strongly recommend Wang Wei as Jing Zhao Jie Yuan. In the 19th year of Kaiyuan, Wang Wei took the exam and won the top prize. Be promoted to the right, and then to things.

However, how can we get the recommendation of powerful people and celebrities? Not everyone has a heavenly king to bridge the gap, but they have to run and recommend themselves. It was called "doing business" at that time. When talking about the hardships of the year, Du Fu said: "When you are rich, you will be fat at dusk. Broken cups are roasted in cold, and there is sadness everywhere (Twenty-two Rhymes for Wei Zuocheng). Even if the dignitaries or celebrities meet, how can they attract each other's attention? Naturally, you can't brag out of thin air, and the other party won't believe it; It is even harder to send money, cards and beautiful women like today. This kind of open bribery is hard to accept and even offensive. The greatest possibility of the literati at that time was to take out their own poems and songs like Bai Juyi to arouse the appreciation of the other party. This is called "writing scroll paintings". This is the case with Wang Wei, contemporary Bai Juyi and contemporary Zhu Qingyu. This is what lee woon-jae called "Qing Yu is familiar with both old and new articles" in the volume of Taiping Guangji. Zhu Qingyu presented all his poems to Zhang Ji who appreciated himself. On weekdays, he won the appreciation and recommendation of the famous poet Zhang Ji, so that "people and books repeat their names, and they all record irony", but is this the examiner's intention? Zhu Qingyu was very upset, so she had this song "Try to present Zhang Shui Department" to express her doubts to Zhang Ji. Naturally, people hope that Zhang Ji can tell the examiner the meaning. Did Zhang Ji tell You Siguan afterwards? There is no evidence in history, but Zhang Ji's peace poem "Rewarding Zhu Qingyu" really played a great role in expanding Zhu Qingyu's influence and even helping him become a scholar. According to Liu Chongyuan's "Jin Miscellaneous Compilation" in the Southern Tang Dynasty, "When the Chinese dynasty was at its peak, the name of a saint was heavy, and it could buy people's wings. When Zhu Qingyu went to mention it, Zhang Shuibu published it in Siwen, so he went first, which can be used as testimony.

Of course, Zhu Qingyu's poems are really good, which fully proves Zhu Qingyu's talent. When approaching the science examination, Zhu Qingyu revealed his worry to Zhang Ji: I don't know if his works can satisfy the examiner. As an examinee, it is completely understandable to show special anxiety and expectation before facing an exam related to his political future. However, Zhu Qingyu didn't reveal herself directly, but compared herself with the bride, the groom with Zhang Jibi, the in-laws with the examiner, and the expectations of a literati for their future life with those of a bride for future family harmony and happiness, which made the political behavior of "bowing to oneself and asking for help" colorful and graceful. The time chosen by the poet is the morning after the wedding night, and the bride is dressing up under the red candle with a high fever all night, ready to visit her in-laws. In ancient customs, the bride didn't visit her aunt until early the next morning the night before her wedding. The beauty of this poem lies in the poet's detailed description of her delicate psychological state here and now. Because in feudal society, the likes and dislikes of in-laws will determine their future situation and even fate at home. But I don't know my in-laws' hobbies, and I don't know whether my dress, words and deeds can attract my in-laws. Wang Jianyou, a poet in the middle Tang Dynasty, wrote the poem "Bride": "On the third day, cook for me and wash your hands to make bride soup. I decided that not my mother-in-law, but my husband's sister should smell like Fiat. " The bride is very clever. She didn't know her mother-in-law's eating habits, so she asked her sister-in-law for advice first. However, the bride in Zhu Qingyu's poems seems to be smarter. He asked her husband directly, "Is the thrush deep enough?" Because as the son of in-laws, he can not only know his parents' temperament like a sister-in-law, but also be concentric with himself and tell the truth. If it is a sister-in-law, it is not necessarily so reliable. As for "asking her husband in a low voice after makeup", this modal description can better show the gentleness of the bride and the shyness of the wedding.

Of course, "boudoir" and "original intention" are also comparable. For the scholars at that time, taking the imperial examination was as important as a woman's marriage. If you pass the exam, you will have a very broad future, otherwise, you may spend your whole life. This is like a woman marrying a family. If she is loved by her husband and in-laws, her position will be stable and her situation will be smooth. Otherwise, life will be hard. Liu Lanzhi in Peacock Flying Southeast and Tang Wan, the wife of Routing in Hairpin Phoenix, were both abandoned because their mother-in-law didn't like them. The poet's metaphor comes from the real social life, which is very clever and appropriate, and will naturally be appreciated and valued by Zhang Ji.

Because Zhu's poems are written in Bi Xing, Zhang's poems are also written in Bi Xing, which subtly and implicitly shows his views. First, I affirmed Zhu Qingyu's moral articles, then answered his questions and encouraged Zhu Qingyu before the exam. The first two sentences of the poem mean that Zhu Qingyu has both ability and political integrity, and the article is well written, but he is still not confident. Beauty goes abroad, and Zhu Qingyu happens to be from Yuezhou. This metaphor is more appropriate. The author compares Zhu Qingyu to a woman who has just dressed up and walked out of the clear and beautiful Jianhu Lake. "Self-knowledge is more thoughtful", on the surface, means that a woman who picks diamonds knows that she is beautiful, but because she loves beauty too much, she thinks about herself. In fact, Zhu Qingyu knows that her article is good, but she is not confident enough to know whether she can be appreciated by the examiner. The last two sentences of the poem closely follow the word "more thoughtful", which positively answers Zhu Qingyu's doubts and also shows the author's appreciation of Zhu Qingyu. "Wan Qi is not as expensive as people" and "Wan Qi" are white silks produced in Qi State, which are extremely exquisite and have enjoyed a good reputation since ancient times. On the surface, this sentence means that although many other girls are wearing clothes made of exquisite silks and satins from all over the world, they are not worthy of world attention. Here, "Wan Qi" is a metaphor for superficial and gaudy things. The whole sentence means that superficial things are not worthy of attention. The implication is that Zhu Qingyu is not a flashy person. Naturally, it leads to the last sentence, "A lingge is ten thousand gold." The ancient Yuefu poem is called "Picking Spirits", and there are many creators on this topic. Here, the author compares Zhu Qingyu's article with "Ling Ge". This sentence is the same as the previous sentence, saying that Zhu Qingyu's article is well written and valuable, and the author himself appreciates it. It's no problem to be on the list Combining two sentences, the author not only answered Zhu Qingyu's question, but also affirmed Zhu Qingyu's virtue article, which shows that Zhu Qingyu is not a flashy person. At the same time, it also shows appreciation for Zhu Qingyu. Naturally, the author's characteristics of rewarding underachievers and cherishing talents are also fully demonstrated. These two poems, which are sung for reward, are perfectly matched and have the same effect, which has become a much-told story in the poetry world.

In this exam, Zhu Qingyu really won the Jinshi. Zhang Ji was very happy after hearing the news, and wrote a poem "Happy Release List". The poem says: "The solar term in the east wind is near Qingming, and horses and chariots compete for the Forbidden City. When 28 people were on the list, hundreds of Wan Li became famous. Whoever doesn't borrow the garden to see it will make more wine in this place. * * * He Chun Sineng appraised that there will be public officials this year. " (Chronicle of Tang Poetry, Volume 59) Zhang Ji's poems are probably of 28 scholarly families, but I'm afraid they are mainly sung for Zhu Qingyu!