The Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty were young and famous! Why did they live a miserable life in such a prosperous age like the Tang Dynasty? Interested readers can follow me and take a look.

In 618 AD, the Tang Dynasty was founded.

One year later, in 619, King Luo Bin was born. More than ten years later, Lu Zhaolin was born. More than ten years later, around 650, Wang Bo and Yang Jiong were born in the same year.

These four people were the four brightest stars in the poetry world of the early Tang Dynasty. But their fate is bleaker than a starless night.

Wen Yiduo said that the "Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty" were all young but talented, with small official positions but high reputations. Their behavior was quite romantic, and their experiences were particularly tragic. Because of their romantic behavior, they were reviled by the world. Because of his tragic experience, he also won a lot of sympathy.

By around 693, when Yang Jiong, the last of the four, passed away, the Tang Dynasty's national destiny had been on the rise, and calls for governance and prosperity continued.

However, the rapid growth of the empire did not open the door to personal luck.

Those talented people have become envied talents one by one.

1

Among the four heroes of the early Tang Dynasty, it is standard to have a miserable life, but if you think about it carefully, Lu Zhaolin's life is definitely the most miserable.

Lu Zhaolin was born in the Lu family of Fanyang, and was often proud of being a "family of clothes", but just like Yang Jiong, who was born in the Yang family of Hongnong, they were just a wealthy and distinguished family, forgotten and neglected of branches.

Origin can give them more family influence, but it cannot give them more things.

Lu Zhaolin became the Dian Dian (in charge of documents) in Prince Deng’s Mansion based on his talent. Li Yuanyu, King of Deng, was the seventeenth son of Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan of the Tang Dynasty. He once said publicly in the palace that King Xiao of Liang in the Western Han Dynasty had a great talent like Sima Xiangru as his staff, and Lu Zhaolin was my Sima Xiangru.

But despite King Deng's appreciation, Lu Zhaolin, who was full of talent and learning, was still dissatisfied with the status quo. He had the drive to make great achievements, but he could never find a place to put it.

In his eyes, Chang'an, the imperial capital, was filled with the arrogance, extravagance and power struggle of the princes and nobles. In his masterpiece "Ancient Meanings of Chang'an", he exaggerated and elaborated on Chang'an's fame and fortune. At the end, he wrote:

The mulberry fields and the blue sea will change in a moment if the scenery is not the same.

In the past, there was a white jade hall with golden steps, but now only green pines can be seen.

Living in the lonely Yangtze, I live in bed with a book every year.

The unique Nanshan osmanthus hair is flying around and attacking people's skirts.

All vulgar indulgences and bottomless reliance on power will eventually disappear under the crushing force of time, and their reputation will be destroyed. Only the former residence of Yang Xiong, the great writer of the Han Dynasty, and the osmanthus flowers in Zhongnan Mountain, although they are lonely and neglected, they remain.

He has the answer to the proposition of transience and eternity.

After leaving Prince Deng’s Mansion, Lu Zhaolin’s fate took a turn for the worse. Not long after, he was arrested for "something outrageous", something unexpected happened and he was imprisoned. Fortunately, friends rescued him and he was released from prison.

Later, he was demoted to Xindu, Yizhou (near Chengdu, Sichuan) and served as a county captain (similar to the director of public security). Although he was extremely depressed, Lu Zhaolin still insisted on what he considered the most important, such as his "innocent nature" and "awesome spirit".

An old man in Shu saw that Lu Zhaolin was full of poems and books, and asked him why he "doesn't have poems and books to invite fame"? Lu Zhaolin replied: "Don't you hate honor but love humiliation? You can't lose it. Innocence... Even though my way is poor, why should I be so great?"

In a poem to officials in Yizhou, Lu Zhaolin compared himself to a bird from the north, but this bird Be independent, never follow the crowd, and never conform to the secular world:

Never stop the evil branches, and never drink the stolen spring water.

I often miss the encounter with rice and beams, and I would like to live in the sycamore tree.

I won’t invite the wise, but I will ignore the fool.

Therefore, we become independent and live a long life.

However, the arrow of fate never let go of this independent bird, this determined poet.

In the late Yizhou period, Lu Zhaolin suffered from "wind disease", a disease that can torture people to death.

From Lu Zhaolin’s own description, we know his physical condition after the illness: thin body, deformed facial features, hair loss, cough, paralysis of limbs, muscle atrophy, one hand disabled, trembling all over when walking, and long-term Bed resting caused local muscle rot, which was extremely painful...

Lu Zhaolin spent the last ten years of his life dragging his sick body with him.

He originally had a strong desire to survive and changed places five times to seek medical advice. He also worshiped Sun Simiao, the king of medicine, as his teacher, who helped him treat diseases and explain how to be a human being. However, while he was running around for treatment, his father died suddenly. Lu Zhaolin was so sad that he even vomited out the medicine he had taken.

After his father's death, Lu Zhaolin's entire family almost fell into bankruptcy. In order to buy medicine and cure his illness, this aloof talent had to beg for help from celebrities in Luoyang.

However, the limited funding actually caused controversy over cliques. Lu Zhaolin was extremely sad and angry, but he had to defend himself, saying that he had been ill for many years, had not participated in current affairs, and was a useless person. How could he participate in cliques?

Poverty and illness are crippling to the core, old friends are alienated, and the world is in trouble. There is nothing left to cherish in life. He said with sadness that although God's grace is vast, it cannot accommodate me in this life; although the earth has provided many blessings, its kindness to me has been cut off in this life.

The last words he wrote were heart-piercing and extremely painful:

As we age, we no longer have joy, and it is too late, so we have many worries.

The eastern suburbs have this unicorn pen, and the western mountains have this phoenix pen.

Death and death are like this, what can you do about life and death?

As the year goes by, I worry about the water flowing in the east. As the earth lasts, people will die.

In the remaining days, the desperate Lu Zhaolin spent all his money to "buy dozens of acres of garden" at the foot of Juci Mountain in Yuzhou, Henan, dug his own grave, and hired someone to dredge the Yingshui River. He would sometimes lie down in the tomb as if dead.

One day, after saying goodbye to his relatives, Lu Zhaolin, who had been ill for ten years, calmly stepped into the roaring Yingshui River.

Zhang Xie, a native of the Ming Dynasty, said: "The literati of ancient and modern times are extremely poor, but none are as poor as Lu Shengzhi (Lu Zhaolin). If a husband's officialdom is not up to date, it will be over. , until he threw himself into the belly of a fish, there is no way to die like this in ancient times."

Ma Maoyuan said that Lu Zhaolin suddenly learned Taoism, became an official, became an official, and disappeared, and finally was entangled in helpless contradictions and illness. In the pain, he ended his miserable life by committing suicide.

2

Around the time Lu Zhaolin committed suicide by jumping into the water, his friend King Luo Bin experienced a life journey from the most exciting to the most decadent, and finally disappeared into the smoke of history.

After Wu Zetian took direct control of the Tang Dynasty in 684, Li Jingye (also known as Xu Jingye), the grandson of Li Ji, the founding hero of the Tang Dynasty, raised troops in Yangzhou under the banner of restoring the legal system of Li and Tang Dynasty. King Luo Bin, who was 65 years old, joined the rebel army and wrote a battle appeal that is famous throughout the ages - "A Call to Arms". Just three months later, Li Jingye was defeated, and King Luo Bin was nowhere to be found.

Among the four heroes of the early Tang Dynasty, King Luo Bin was the most legendary and had the richest experiences: resignation, seclusion, exile, joining the army, imprisonment, rebellion... He was outgoing, enthusiastic, wealthy, and had no wealth in his life. Been at peace.

Wen Yiduo commented on King Luo Bin that he was "naturally chivalrous, and he only likes to meddle in other people's affairs, fight injustices, revenge murders, make revolutions, and help infatuated women defeat heartbroken men...".

In other words, King Luo Bin was a talented man with a chivalrous spirit and a chivalrous heart. At the beginning of his self-narrative poem "The Past", he wrote about himself like this:

A young man values ??heroes and heroes, while a weak old man despises his clothes.

It can be seen that he is not a weak-hearted poet who pursues officialdom.

Like others among the Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty, King Luo Bin was also a young genius and could write poems at the age of seven. The famous poem about geese, which is well known to women and children, was a work he recited on the spot when a guest ordered him to compose a poem pointing to the geese when he was seven years old. He was called a "prodigy" on the spot.

When he grew up, he went to Chang'an to take the imperial examination. He left full of confidence and returned dejected.

But we cannot blame King Luo Bin for his lack of ability. We can only say that he was born at the wrong time. In the imperial examinations in the early Tang Dynasty, the concept of family status was strong, and it became a trend to go through the back door. Sometimes family background was more important than talent. King Luo Bin relied on his talent and arrogance and refused to cater to the bureaucrats. It was almost difficult for him to pass the imperial examination and become an official. If he had been born in the civilian Song Dynasty, King Luo Bin's life would have been completely different.

At the age of 33, King Luo Bin went to Yuzhou to serve as a vassal of Taoist King Li Yuanqing (the sixteenth son of Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan of the Tang Dynasty). His job should be similar to that of Lu Zhaolin in Prince Deng's Mansion, where he was engaged in civil service.

Li Yuanqing admired King Luo Bin's talents very much. Three years later, he specifically ordered him to write a letter of recommendation. The meaning of inspection and promotion was obvious. King Luo Bin wrote as soon as he started writing:

If it is Zhiwei's traces, he has no intention, he talks about his own strengths and goodness, he is shy and aggressive, he is greedy for salary and wants the king, and he interferes with the country. Dayou, the lower part is the high section of Duyoujie. This fierce man is ashamed, but Jishi is proud of it? Therefore, he is ordered to show off his abilities, but he does not obey orders. Sincerely.

If boasting can lead to promotion and promotion, then it will interfere with the country's plans, and it will undermine the conduct of a gentleman. It means that I would rather go around in circles than write this self-recommendation letter.

This is King Luo Bin’s stubbornness.

Three years later, King Luo Bin left the Dao Palace and lived in leisurely life in Shandong for nearly 12 years. According to analysis, this is a kind of disappointed return after the upright King Luo Bin struggled in officialdom for the first half of his life and had no hope.

However, living in seclusion in the countryside requires an economic foundation. King Luo Bin said that he was "middle-aged and sincere, and he never expected to be successful". He could only live in a commoner house and farm to support his family. But after a few years, he found that it was becoming more and more difficult to support his family, so he had to change his original intention and seek official positions everywhere:

It is shameful to be humble and poor, but to return to the land as a gift.

What does it mean to be full of ideals and skinny in reality? This is it.

Under the pressure of life, King Luo Bin changed his personality from the old days and lowered his profile very low. He asked people everywhere to ask for officials. Finally, at the age of 49, he got the minor official of Fengli Lang.

But it turns out that fate often does not favor the little officials who work hard at the bottom. King Luo Bin could write excellent poems and essays, but in the officialdom he could only sink into a lowly official, depressed and frustrated. He was even pushed out of Chang'an for a time and followed the army out of the fortress and into Shu.

From the perspective of historical influence, this experience of going out to the fortress made King Luo Bin become the first generation of frontier fortress poets in the early Tang Dynasty, which ushered in the peak of frontier fortress poetry in the prosperous Tang Dynasty; however, from the perspective of personal destiny, this experience, It is a portrayal of King Luo Bin's wandering life.

Life was full of twists and turns. When the 61-year-old King Luo Bin was finally promoted to the position of censor, he was soon framed and imprisoned. One theory is that he frequently went to court to satirize and remonstrate, which offended Wu Zetian and was arrested and imprisoned; another theory is that he was framed and framed by his colleagues and imprisoned. In short, this is the price paid by the old King Luo Bin for still being chivalrous and unsociable.

While in prison, he wrote the famous "Singing Cicadas in Prison":

The cicadas sing in the West, and the guests in the South want to invade.

The shadow of Xuanxuan came to sing to Bai Tou.

It is difficult to fly in if the dew is heavy, and it is easy to sink if the wind is loud.

No one believes in nobleness, who can express his sincerity?

No one understands the cicada's noble and refined nature, just like the poet himself. Who in this world can defend me?

After being imprisoned for more than a year, King Luo Bin regained his freedom when the court granted amnesty, and was later demoted to Linhai Cheng. History books say that King Luo Bin "fell frustrated and lost his ambition and abandoned his official position".

In 684, the 65-year-old King Luo Bin joined Li Jingye's rebel army and served as Yiwenling (similar to the secretary-general). In order to rally the world and strengthen the ranks of the uprising, King Luo Bin drafted the "Discussion on Wu Zhao" on behalf of Li Jingye. The announcement sent shockwaves through the government and the public.

Duan Chengshi's "Youyang Zazu" records that Wu Zetian personally found this article to curse herself. When she read "Emei refuses to let others, its charm can confuse the Lord", she couldn't stop smiling and continued After reading "A handful of soil is not yet dry, but six feet of loneliness is still there", I immediately stopped smiling, pointed at the prime minister's nose and cursed: Why did you miss a talent like King Luo Bin?

"Quest for Wu Zhaoxi" "There is also a famous saying that has been passed down to this day:

Let's see who is the leader in today's world!

This powerful statement made Wu Zetian very angry about Yangzhou's rebellion. He took it seriously and sent 300,000 troops to suppress it. Three months later, Li Jingye was defeated and killed, and the fate of King Luo Bin became a historical mystery: some said he was killed together with Li Jingye, some said he drowned, and some said he escaped. Incognito.

In short, after 684 years, King Luo Bin did not know where he ended up.

King Luo Bin wrote a poem called "Sending People to People in Yishui":

This place is far from Yandan, and the strong men are proud of their crowns.

The people were gone in those days, but the water is still cold today.

The poem is full of chivalry, but the title of the poem is "gift to others" and no one knows who it is for. So some people speculated that King Luo Bin might have given it to himself, thinking that he was Jing Ke who was about to die.

Chen Xijin, a native of the Qing Dynasty, accurately summarized the tragic life of King Luo Bin in one sentence: "The young man in Linhai was in desolation, and the official was in ruins. He was wronged for paying tribute at first, and then fled for his life." And through this, we Despite the tragic background of his life, he saw that the boy who chanted the goose had turned into a strong man, fighting against the ruthless suppression of fate time and time again.

3

The failed uprising that led to King Luo Bin's death also changed the life trajectory of another talented man.

In Li Jingye’s uprising team, there was a man named Yang Shenrang. Yang Shenrang's father was Yang Deqian, and Yang Deqian was Yang Jiong's uncle. After the uprising was put down, the imperial court began to settle accounts after the fall. Yang Deqian and his son were killed, and Yang Jiong was also implicated. He suffered a blow on the head during the rising period of his career and was demoted to Zizhou (now Santai County, Sichuan) to serve as a judicial officer and join the army.

This unexpected disaster made Yang Jiong, who had been wandering around in the imperial officialdom, suddenly feel the impermanence of life. He left Chang'an with a worried heart:

There are willows in the lush garden and pines on the pavilion mountain.

The guest's heart is extremely unhappy, and the tears of the natives are unavailable.

At this moment, he thought he was the most melancholy person in the entire empire. Although he was born in the Hongnong Yang family, and his great-grandfather, uncle, and uncle all served as governors, his own grandfather and father were ordinary people who were unknown and unprominent. He realized this very early, so when talking about his life experience, he said without hesitation: "My young master is also cheap."

However, he did not share the glory of the family, but he did not share the family's misfortune. Can't escape.

Before his brother Yang Shenrang was implicated and demoted, Yang Jiong was experiencing a rare period of rising official fortune in his life. At the age of 10, he passed the Tongzi Examination, and at the age of 11, he was waiting for the Hongwen Hall, where he was waiting for appointment. After waiting for 16 years, the court had long forgotten this child prodigy. When he was 27 years old, Yang Jiong applied for the examination again and was promoted to a junior official as a school secretary. Before the age of 30, he was dissatisfied with the current situation, saying that he "moved to the official position every twenty years", that the officialdom was strife and it was difficult to express his ambitions, and shouted that "it is better to be a centurion than a scholar". But at the age of 31, his fortune turned around and he was recommended as Prince Zhan Shi Si Zhi, and he also served as a bachelor of Chongwen Hall, starting a big jump in his career.

Just three years later, a clan brother with whom he had rarely interacted led him into a ditch for the rest of his life.

After his four-year term in Zizhou expired, Yang Jiong went to Luoyang. When leaving Sichuan and passing through the Wu Gorge, he wrote a poem to express his personal pursuits and character:

If you are loyal to what I do, there will be no harm in rafting.

You can reach the mainstay, or you can reach the Luliang.

Where is the beauty now? Ganoderma lucidum has only fragrance.

Apes roar in the mountain sky at night, and the guests’ clothes are stained with tears.

Will Yang Jiong be grateful to the bad luck at this time, which improved his poetic style and created another him? We don’t know, but it seems to be a cruel truth that suffering brings out poets. After returning, Yang Jiong no longer obsessed with gains and losses in officialdom, but became a vicious tongue in the imperial political arena.

His official position was low, and his friends advised him to be careful in his words and deeds to avoid disaster, but he didn't care. He once sneered at those intrigues and sanctimonious court officials on the spot, saying that you were all "Qilin lasts."

Others asked him, what is "Qilin last"?

Yang Jiong explained to them, you have all seen the trick of playing with unicorns when gathering for dinner, right? ?Make a unicorn skin with a head and horns in advance, cover it on the donkey, and run around pretending to be a unicorn. When that layer of skin is peeled off, it's just a stupid donkey underneath. That stupid donkey is called "Qilin Last".

The officials suddenly realized that Yang Jiong was using this word to scold us!

Yang Jiong then sarcastically said that those people who wear noble official uniforms without virtue or talent are like What difference does it make if a donkey is covered with a unicorn skin!

Although his whole life was ruined, Yang Jiong became a straightforward poet who never bowed his knees to the powerful. Even Song Zhiwen, who had a very ordinary character, had to lament that Yang Jiong was "arrogant and uncompromising".

Ma Maoyuan commented on Yang Jiong’s actions. He was “arrogant and arrogant, full of enthusiasm for the times and thoughts of fame and career, but he was unwilling to settle for a vulgar bureaucratic life, or to be a submissive ruler. The imperial literati who advocated the best and shared the interests of the class".

In any era, being a critic has to pay a price.

Sure enough, within two or three years, Yang Jiong was demoted again and was demoted to Yingchuan as the county magistrate.

He died while serving as magistrate of Yingchuan County. He was only 43 years old.

Throughout his life, he has been a county magistrate. However, this humble ending can be regarded as the best ending among the four heroes of the early Tang Dynasty.

4

Among the four heroes of the early Tang Dynasty, Yang Jiong was the last to take a bow, and the first to take a bow and pass away was his contemporary Wang Bo.

Wang Bo only lived for 27 years, but his light shone for thousands of years. He is a genius who truly reflects the glory of the empire, and is the well-deserved first of the Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty.

Historical records indicate that Wang Bo was able to compose poems when he was 6 years old, and his poems were cleverly conceived and his words were heroic. Before the age of 10, he had read through historical classics and Confucian classics, and wrote a book specifically to point out errors in classic annotations. When he was 12 years old, he secretly ran away from home and became a disciple of Cao Yuan, a famous doctor and warlock in Chang'an. He studied for ten months and "got all the essentials". He learned all Cao Yuan's housekeeping skills before returning home.

Around the age of 17, Wang Bo passed the imperial examination and was awarded the rank of Sanlang, becoming the youngest official in the Tang Dynasty. Later, he was recommended by the Ministry of Officials to serve as editor in Prince Pei's Mansion.

However, the good luck of a genius has been used up by now. Wang Bo's last ten years will be three consecutive blows of fate.

Cockfighting was popular in the royal family of the Tang Dynasty. Wang Bo, who relied on his talent and talent, wrote an article "An Essay on Chickens Against the King of England" to denounce the King of England's cockfighting and to cheer up King Pei. When the article reached Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Long Yan was furious. He believed that Wang Bo was deliberately trying to sow discord between the princes, so he ordered Wang Bo to be dismissed from his official position and driven out of Prince Pei's palace. This was the first blow of fate, which completely changed Wang Bo's life trajectory.

Wang Bo’s life of worry and anger began. He once expressed his pain like this:

Heaven and earth are unkind, and creation is powerless. Give your servants the nature of worry, loneliness and anger, and give them the spirit of righteousness and injustice.

I suddenly forget the mountains, which were rough in the Tang Dynasty and Yao; I am proud of the haze, and I am haggard in the era of the Ming Dynasty.

Times are good, but why does the road of life become narrower and narrower?

He bid farewell to Chang'an and traveled far and wide. Interestingly, the four heroes of the early Tang Dynasty all went to Bashu once or several times, either as officials, envoys, or traveling. The most likely place where the four got to know each other was Chang'an, followed by Sichuan.

After three years of wandering, Wang Bo returned to Chang'an. His poems became better and better as he wrote, and his fame grew. Yang Jiong later wrote a preface to Wang Bo's collection of essays, saying that "every time Wang Bo writes, the whole country is shocked." As long as he publishes articles, Luoyang paper will definitely be expensive.

However, there is still a bigger critical blow waiting for him.

Wang Bo had a good relationship with an official slave named Cao Da. Cao Da committed a crime and ran to Wang Bo to avoid trouble. Wang Bo took him in. But when the news broke out, Wang Bo was afraid that he would not be able to protect himself if he was exposed, so he actually killed Cao Da.

The Dongchuang Incident happened. Wang Bo was punished according to the law, but he was spared from death when the imperial court granted him amnesty, but he was dismissed from his official position. His father was also implicated and demoted to the rank of Jiaozhiling (now part of Vietnam).

From then on, Wang Bo abandoned his official position and took refuge in his hometown in the countryside. This was the second blow of fate, and a generation of genius was at the end of its rope.

In the past, he wrote farewell poems like this:

The city gate assists the Three Qin Dynasties, and the wind and smoke look out to the Five Tianjins.

I want to say goodbye to you, both are eunuchs.

There are close friends in the sea, and they are like neighbors in the world.

If you do nothing, you will go astray, and your children will be in trouble.

Now, when he wrote his farewell poem, it became like this:

There are many roads to send off, let alone asking for help.

A thousand miles of desolation, a hundred years of desolation.

Wandering is the same as wandering, and life is extremely hard.

No matter where you go or where you live, you are always a dreamer.

From magnanimity to desolation, there is only one life disaster in between, which makes people sigh endlessly.

In the autumn of 675, Wang Bo traveled far for the last time. He was going to visit his father in Cochin. Passing through Nanchang, Yan Boyu, the governor of Hongzhou (i.e. Nanchang), was hosting a banquet for guests at the renovated Prince Teng Pavilion. Wang Bo was invited to attend. During the banquet, Governor Yan called on the guests to write poems and compositions for the new pavilion. The guests all knew that Governor Yan just wanted to show off the talents of his son-in-law Meng Meng in public, so they all declined to write so that Meng Meng could show off in public.

Wang Bo suddenly took the pen and paper and said: "I'll come."

According to Tang Dynasty notes, Governor Yan was immediately unhappy, got up and left, but couldn't help but be curious. What can the world-famous genius Wang Bo write? After a while, his subordinates reported: "At the beginning, he wrote 'Old County of Yuzhang, New Mansion of Hongdu'." Governor Yan said: "This is just a cliché." Then his subordinates reported: "He wrote 'The stars divide into wings and the ground connects to Zhen'. Heng Lu'." Governor Yan fell silent.

When he heard his subordinates report that "the setting clouds and solitary swans are flying together, the autumn water is the same color as the sky", Governor Yan was shocked and marveled: "What a genius, this article will be immortal!" ”

Thus was born the “Preface to Prince Teng’s Pavilion” which has illuminated the history of literature for thousands of years.

After that, fate gave Wang Bo the third and fatal blow. After visiting his father in Jiaozhi, on his way back, the South China Sea was stormy and the waves were high. Wang Bo lost his footing and fell into the sea, where he died of fright.

In 676, at the turn of spring and summer, a superstar quietly fell.

In the winter of the same year, the "Preface to Prince Teng's Pavilion" reached the imperial capital and was praised by literati and officials. Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty ordered someone to take it and read it. When he read "The setting clouds and solitary owls fly together, the autumn water is the same color as the sky", he couldn't help but slap his thighs continuously: "This is a masterpiece for the ages, this is a genius!" The more I read, the more I became addicted, and continued. He asked: "Where is Wang Bo now? I want to summon him to the court!"

The people below hesitated: "Wang Bo, he fell into the water and died."

Up to the emperor, Down to the commoners, for all those who love literature, this may be the biggest piece of bad news in the early Tang Dynasty.

5

The lives of the Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty illustrate what it means to be jealous of talents. On the Internet, the Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty are sometimes homophoned as the "Four Tribulations of the Early Tang Dynasty", which is also very appropriate.

Their "tribulation" has personal factors as well as era factors. But looking at the 289 years of the Tang Dynasty, if it is the decline period of the late Tang Dynasty, it is understandable that Du Mu and Li Shangyin had a bad fate, because the fall of the empire will inevitably involve individual tragedies; but the era when the four heroes of the early Tang Dynasty lived, the entire The empire is on the rise, but they have gone in the opposite direction. The door of opportunity in the empire has not been opened to talented people. This is why Wang, Yang, Lu, and Luo are even more sympathetic and compassionate.

Life is really hard, and a person needs talent, time, and destiny at the same time in order to live a brilliant life. But this is not easy?

History often shows that the sorrow of individuals creates the greatness of the times.

The Four Heroes of the early Tang Dynasty were miserable, but when they struggled to move forward on the mountain road full of thorns, Tang Shi was lucky.

Before the Four Great Masters became famous, the representative poet of the Tang Dynasty was called Shangguan Yi. His poems were deeply loved by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, and the entire literary world followed suit. At that time, they were called "Shangguanyi". But as Wen Yiduo said: "In the early Tang Dynasty, palace style poetry was still the boneless and heartless palace style poetry of Emperor Jian Wen. The only difference is that now the words are more detailed, the tone is more fluent, and the overall appearance is more well-behaved , It’s just softer. This is really called sluggishness.”

It wasn’t until the emergence of the Four Great Masters of the early Tang Dynasty that they injected fresh vitality into Tang poetry. They expanded the theme of their poems, breaking through the limitations of the court, getting closer to the people, and turning to reality. They not only described life in the city, but also extended it to the bitter cold of the frontier. The poetic style is fresh and vigorous, washing away the tackiness of the court. The efforts of the four of them paved the way for the future prosperity of Tang poetry. Hu Yinglin, a native of the Ming Dynasty, said, "The prosperity of elegance in the three hundred years of the Tang Dynasty was led by the four men."

The climb of literature is based on the footsteps left by our predecessors. Without the Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty, there would be no such CPs as Li Du, Wang Meng, Gao Cen, Yuan Bai and others who would go down in history.

However, many people do not understand this simple truth. After they moved forward, they in turn laughed at the backwardness and obsolescence of their predecessors, as well as their failures and sorrows. Du Fu couldn't stand these laughing people. He rectified the names of the four heroes of the early Tang Dynasty and said:

Wang Yang and Lu Luo were in a state of style at that time, and their frivolous literary style never ceased.

Er Cao's body and name will be destroyed, and the rivers will not flow forever.

You self-righteous and ignorant scoffers will soon be wiped out, but the glory of Wang Yang, Lu Luo and the Four Heroes will be passed down forever, like the great rivers, for eternity. flow.

I remember that there is a plot in the movie "The Death of Wang Bo". Although it is fictional, it is quite meaningful -

A dialogue between Wang Bo and his confidant Du Jing. Du Jing said: "The Tang Dynasty needs your poetry." Wang Bo replied: "You are wrong, we need the Tang Dynasty."

Era, individuals, countries, fate, who created whom? This It's a question worth thinking about.