Bianjing Yuanxi Festival

Ming Dynasty: Li Mengyang

Zhongshan boy leaning on new makeup, Zheng Nu Yan Ji is good at playing alone.

Singing the King Xian's Chun Yue Mansion together, the moon outside the Golden Liang Bridge is like frost.

Translation

The actors from Zhongshan have bright costumes, while the female concubines from Zheng Yan have superb skills.

They came to Bianjing from different places. They all sang the script written by King Zhou Xian. They sang and performed from day to night. When the moon came out, the silver light poured out, as if a layer of frost had been spread on the ground of the Golden Beam Bridge. The lights on earth and the bright moon in the sky complement each other, creating an unprecedented spectacle.

Notes

Bianjing: Bianjing: present-day Kaifeng City, Henan Province. The Liang, Jin, Han, Zhou and Northern Song dynasties of the Five Dynasties all had their capitals here, so it was called Bianjing.

Yuanxi: Lantern Festival, the fifteenth night of the first lunar month.

Zhongshan Ruzi: generally refers to young people in the Central Plains area. Zhongshan, the name of an ancient country, was located in the present-day Dingxian and Tangxian areas of Hebei Province. It was later destroyed by King Wuling of Zhao. See "Historical Records." Zhao Shijia".

Zheng Nu Yanji: generally refers to the northern girl. Yan, Zheng. They are all the names of countries during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Yan's jurisdiction was in the northern part of present-day Hebei Province, and Zheng's jurisdiction was in the area of ??present-day Zhengzhou, Henan Province.

Good at the field: Overwhelming the whole field, referring to superior skills.

Xian Wang: Refers to Zhou Xian Wang Zhu Youdun (1379-1439), the eldest son of Zhou Ding Wang Zhu Ding, grandson of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, proficient in music, nicknamed Chengzhai, and called himself Quanyangzi, Lao Kuangsheng and Jinwo old men wrote thirty-one dramas such as "Qujiangchi" and "Yongqi Jin". Both exist today. There is also "Chengzhai Yuefu" which has been published in the world. He is a dramatist, see "History of Ming Dynasty: Biography of Kings".

Jinliang Bridge: the name of Bianliang Bridge.

Creative Background

The poet Li Mengyang was originally from Qingyang, Gansu Province. His father Li Zheng once served as a professor in the Zhou Palace in Kaifeng, so the poet's family moved to Kaifeng, and Kaifeng became the poet's second hometown. Later, the poet recalled the prosperous scene in Bianzhong when he was in Qingyang and wrote this poem.

Appreciation

This poem was written by the author when he was watching the grand occasion of the Lantern Festival in Bianjing. The scene of singing on a moonlit night is described with wonderful imagery, which is very vivid and has a leisurely charm. There is no positive description of the singing in the whole poem, but every sentence is related to the singing. In the euphemistic wording, the singing is expressed in a very moving way.

The first two sentences of this poem start with the appearance of actors from all over the world. First, we write about the young men in the north - the "Zhongshan Boys". These young men selected to participate in singing are already handsome, and then they put on fashionable new clothes and dress up to become even more handsome. Let's talk about the northern women - "Zheng Nu Yanji". Of course, these women who participated in the singing were also selected beauties. They were better than everyone else and overwhelmed the audience. Both the Zhongshan boy and the Zheng Yan girl were good at performing operas, which illustrates the great spread of Zaju at that time. Although the first two sentences are intended to identify the singers, they are not purely objective introductions. The words "relying on new makeup" and "being good at the scene" in the poem should be intertextual, and the "relying on new makeup" in " The word "reliance" and the word "du" in "being good at playing alone" all imply a kind of competition with each other, competing for beauty and beauty. The mood of men and women is vividly expressed, that kind of warm, joyful and exciting scene, also highlighted. Although their singing has not yet been written about, people can imagine that the singing voices of these handsome men and beautiful women should be very beautiful. The young men and women vying to play the characters of King Zhou Xian also gave readers a good idea of ??the atmosphere in the drama industry at that time. It reflects from the side that Bianjing, as an ancient city, recovered from the disasters of the Jin and Yuan Dynasties and recuperated in the early Ming Dynasty, regaining its prosperity. Its folk customs are also revealed through these two sentences.

The third sentence is an expansion of the first two sentences. "Singing together in King Xian's Chun Yue Mansion" is the center of the whole poem. It finally touches on singing, mainly showing the situation when male and female voices sing together. However, the poem does not mention how the singing sounds. It only states that the form of singing is "singing in unison" and the content of the singing is the "Chun Yuefu" of "Xian Wang". According to "History of the Ming Dynasty: Biography of Kings", King Xian is Zhu Youdun, who is known as King Xian of Zhou in the world. He was good at poetry and painting, and was well versed in music. He was an influential Sanqu and dramatist in the early Ming Dynasty. He composed thirty-one plays, collectively named "Chengzhai Yuefu", and what is sung here is one of his Yuefu.

The Yuefu of such a prominent and accomplished person is naturally very wonderful. Singing with male and female voices "singing in unison", the sound is not only grand, but also strong and soft, vigorous and crisp. The word "sing together" deliberately exaggerates the scene of Lantern Festival celebrations and the joy of all people. It gives the impression that the singing of the actors on the stage and the chorus of the audience off the stage are going on together. The scene must be extremely lively. This is still just a hint, there is no direct description of the singing voice, but it makes people feel like hearing its voice.

Until the last sentence, not only did I not write about the singing, but I started writing about the night scene outside the Jinliang Bridge next to the opera performance venue and the moonlight in the sky. "Golden Liang Bridge" is in Bianjing. Looking from the bridge, the bright moon is hanging in the sky, casting a frosty clear light, covering the entire Bianjing city with a thin veil, and the whole city becomes Hazy and profound, it shows even more moving charm. The coldness and tranquility of "the moon is like frost" does not seem to match the joyous and lively scene described above. However, this sentence is actually the poet's magical strokes. It uses light ink to set off strong colors, and the lingering rhyme is full of music. The beauty of the Tang Dynasty's Zhuzhi poems. At this time, the voices of the men and women singing "Chun Yue Fu" not only resounded throughout the city, but also became clearer in the moonlight, as if floating straight from the ground to the moon palace. In this sentence, the author uses the scenery to set off the sound. In the moonlight that appeals to vision, it secretly contains the singing that appeals to hearing. In this way, the singing seems to be "visualized", as if it can be seen and touched. It gives people a clear and profound impression. The author's ingenious arrangement makes the poem more mouth-watering at the end, with a meaningful flavor and endless charm.

"Bianjing Lantern Festival" contains only four sentences, recreating the joyful scene of actors performing operas on the Lantern Festival night in Bianjing and everyone singing in unison. It is smooth and natural, clear and pleasant, and has the flavor of Tang Zhuzhi folk songs. It is a masterpiece of seven unique works.