Bai Juyi, a Li Dewey, the author of Gu Jian, was selected as the No.424 10 of the whole Tang poetry. This is a five-character poem, written around 808 A.D. (Tang Xianzong Yuanhe three years). The poet regards Gu Jian as a symbol of loyal minister and minister of state, and hopes that people in charge of state power, including himself, will perform their duties and give full play to their roles.
The famous ancient poem "can make an inch fold, but can't be soft." It's from the poem Li Gu Jian.
Original Li Gujian
Li Dewey's ancient architecture
Author: Tang Bai Juyi
This is a cold, dark and faint Gu Jian, which has gone through thousands of years since it was cast.
White sword light can cover the sun and the moon, and purple bullfighting spirit.
A guest wanted to borrow it, but he didn't dare to take it because he loved it.
In the jade, it is clear and bright, as if the eyes are clear and not flowing.
The most precious treasure has its own nature, pure and rigid, and there is no spouse in the world.
Although it can be broken within an inch, it can't make it bend and turn around its fingers.
I hope it can make honest people faster, and it will be used to cut off the head of a traitor.
I don't want it to be used to revenge personal vendetta, killing personal vendetta in the middle of the night.
You must be careful when you use it, and don't let the magic weapon feel ashamed and ashamed of you.
Notes on Li's Gu Jian
(1) and at the beginning of the yuan dynasty. Li: It refers to riding the Li Mausoleum during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
(2) In the early Jin Dynasty, there was often purple gas between bullfights, which Lei Huan called sword essence, and it permeated the sky.
③ Zhan Ran: The appearance is clear.
④ Soft finger winding: soft and can be wound on fingers. Liu Kun's Gift to Lu Zhan: "What do you mean by combining rigidity with softness?"
(5) Zhu said to him, please give a sword to cut off the head. See Zhu Hanyunchuan.
Appreciation of Li's Gu Jian
Bai Juyi's satirical poems are good at using ever-changing metaphors to shape the artistic images of various real persecuted people and expose and criticize the tyranny and irrationality of feudal rulers. Therefore, many of these poems have become famous works that embody the combination of ideology and artistry, and Gu Jian, a captain of Li, is one of them. The metaphor used in this poem is clever. The whole poem uses only a handful of Gu Jian, whose surname is Li, as the description object, but every word is a portrayal of the author himself, and the meaning is extremely clear. Although there is not much pen and ink, the language is euphemistic and infinite twists and turns, which is thought-provoking.
Structurally, this poem can be divided into three levels. The eight sentences from the beginning to "autumn waters don't flow" mainly show the different customs of Gu Jian's appearance. The first sentence, "Gu Jian is cold and dark, which has been forged for thousands of years", is to use the words "cold and dark" to describe Gu Jian's cold and shining posture, and to depict the extraordinary sword, not from the "sharpness" of the sword, but only from its light flashing.
The genius of this poem lies in its uncertainty. Before seeing the sword, it is enough to show that it is a sword. "Millennium" inherited the word "ancient" from "Gu Jian" and benefited from it, so there is no doubt that this sword is a treasure. In order to further render this sword, the poet further wrote: "White light absorbs the sun and the moon, and purple gas exhausts the bullfighting." According to Wang Jia Ji Zhu, Gou Jian, the king of Yue, once sacrificed a white cow and a white horse to the mountain god Kunwu, and made eight swords out of gold. One of them is called shading, which means the sun is dark. The third is to turn around and point to the moon. Toad and rabbit turn it upside down. The poet used this allusion to exaggerate the extraordinary features of this sword. These four sentences describe this extraordinary sword from the poet's point of view. In order to prove his point of view, the following four sentences are confirmed by the evaluation of onlookers. The guest saw the sword "in Zhan Ran's jade box, the autumn water is still there". Yuan Kang's Yue Jue Shu in the Eastern Han Dynasty: "Tai A Jian, regard it as autumn water." It has a long history to describe sword light with autumn water. After describing Gu Jian as "cold and gloomy", "accepting the sun and the moon" and "bullfighting", the poem also describes Gu Jian as "autumn water in Zhan Ran", which further shows the brilliance of Gu Jian and is extraordinary. Therefore, even if the guests have opinions, even if they like it very much, they have to sigh that they are ordinary people and dare not expect it. Let Gu Jian accomplish its due mission.
The next step is to describe the excellent qualities of Gu Jian. It is not only shiny, sharp and gorgeous in appearance, but also of good quality, which is not comparable to ordinary swords. "The Supreme Treasure has its own characteristics, and its essence is unparalleled" shows that its purity and hardness are unparalleled. This is no exaggeration, because it "can push your luck, but you can't be soft." Just like a show, you can kill it but you can't insult it, trying to show its hard texture. Liu Kun, a poet in the Western Jin Dynasty, once wrote a poem for Lu Chen: "Why should it be made into steel and made into soft fingers?" Here is the reverse of its meaning, showing the quality that Gu Jian is rigid, unable to soften and does not give in to external forces. However, once it is useful, it will not hesitate to fight. As the saying goes, "I would like to cut the gordian knot quickly." Willing to be a pioneer in the war against flattery and eliminate evil for the country and the people. As for personal grievances, it's not something that Chivalrous swordsman is willing to help. It disdains to do ugly things that need to be done in the middle of the night. This passage reveals the intrinsic quality of the sword from two aspects: the incomparable purity of the sword and the willingness of the courtiers to behead. It is more important than beautiful appearance and cold light, and it can show the essence of Gu Jian.
The last two paragraphs explain the main idea of this poem, which is also the successful application of Bai Juyi's method of "dying to show his will". Meaning: Such a sharp weapon should be used in the most suitable place, so as not to disgrace my glorious title of "magic weapon" (Xie called this sword "the magic weapon in the world" in Seven Fates of Life).
In other words, advise officials, including themselves, not to be afraid of offending powerful people and playing state affairs; You shouldn't just say unimportant things to perfunctory.
This poem expresses the different customs and excellent quality of a sword, so as to create an upright and upright image of an honest official and an image of an admonitory official who values the overall situation of the country and does not care about personal grievances. At this time, as a left-wing scavenger, the poet naturally showed his integrity as an admonisher. But the main idea of the poem is not directly stated, but expressed through the characteristics of the sword. There is not a word in the whole poem that is not written around this Gu Jian, and each sentence depicts Gu Jian's extraordinary and integrity from different angles. Singing swords and praising people's nature are integrated. Sima Qian's Biography of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng is full of praise for Qu Yuan, saying, "Because of its pure heart, it is also fragrant." On the contrary, people also form a kind of psychology, because it is elegant, so auspicious.
Novel metaphor, clever use of allusions, appropriate and natural, leaving no trace, is also a distinctive feature of this poem. For example, "White light shines on the sun and the moon, purple gas exhausts the bullfight", "You can bend an inch, but you can't bend your fingers" and "I hope to be quick and straight, and I will cut my head off" are all words in previous poems. These allusions strengthen the image of the poem and enrich its connotation.
Brief Introduction of the Author of Li Gujian
Bai Juyi (772-846), whose real name was Lotte, became a Buddhist in Xiangshan in his later years. Later generations were called Bai Xiangshan, Bai Fu and Bai Taifu. Originally from Taiyuan, he moved to Xiayi (now Weinan, Shaanxi). He was an outstanding poet and writer in the Tang Dynasty. His poems have a wide range of themes, diverse forms and simple and popular language. He was called "Poet Magic", "Poet King", "Poet Hero" and "Poet History" for Bai Juyi, while Japanese scholars called Bai Juyi "Poet God". In fact, in the Tang Dynasty, Bai Juyi was called "Poet Fairy". Please read Tang Xuanzong's poem: "Who taught Minglu to be a poet for sixty years?" Floating clouds are naturally happy if they are not famous and easy to live in. Boys can explain everlasting regret songs, while Hu Er can sing pipa, and the articles are full of ears. Once, I missed you. " In the 16th year of Zhenyuan in Tang Dezong (800), he became a scholar, from school bookkeeper to Zuodu. During this period, he cared about state affairs, wrote books, wrote many satirical poems, and demanded to get rid of the disadvantages. Therefore, he was jealous by powerful people and was demoted to Jiangzhou Sima. Since then, he has served as a secretariat in Zhongzhou, Hangzhou and Suzhou. The official final review of the ministers of punishments.
Bai Juyi advocated that "articles should be written in combination with songs and poems" (Nine Books, a Yuan zaju). Together with Yuan Zhen, he advocated the "New Yuefu Movement" aimed at exposing the disadvantages of the times, and wrote ten Qin Zhongyin and fifty new Yuefu poems, which profoundly criticized the dark reality of the society at that time. In art, Bai Juyi's poems are famous for their simplicity and fluency, and they were widely circulated at that time. There is Bai Changqing's Collection, with nearly 3,000 poems, which is the best in the Tang Dynasty.