Stories about poetry

Legend

Wang Lun was a native of Jingzhou (now Jingxian County, Anhui Province) in the Tang Dynasty. He was bold by nature and liked to make friends with celebrities. He often gave away money generously and spent large sums of money. At that time, Li Bai was famous in the poetry world, and Wang Lun admired him very much, hoping to have a chance to see the poetic elegance. However, Jingzhou is unknown, and he is also an unknown person. How can he invite the great poet Li Bai?

Later, Wang Lun got the news that Li Bai was going to travel to Anhui. This was a rare opportunity, and Wang Lun decided to write a letter to invite him. At that time, everyone who knew Li Bai knew that he had two major hobbies: drinking and traveling. As long as there was good wine and beautiful scenery, Li Bai would come. So Wang Lun wrote this letter:

"Does Mr. Li like to travel and enjoy the scenery? We have ten miles of peach blossoms here. Does Mr. Li like to drink? We have thousands of hotels here."

Li Bai came happily after receiving such a letter. As soon as I saw Wang Lun, I wanted to see "Ten Miles of Peach Blossom" and "Ten Thousand Hotels". Wang Lun smiled and told him: "Peach Blossom is the name of our pool. There are no peach blossoms in the ten-mile radius of Peach Blossom Pool. Wanjia is the surname of the owner of our hotel. It does not mean that there are ten thousand hotels." Li Bai listened. Wang Lun stayed with Li Bai for several days, and Li Bai lived very happily there. Because Wang Lun's villa is surrounded by mountains and there are many mountains. Inside the villa, the pond and the pavilion are quiet and deep, like a fairyland. Here, Li Bai drank fine wine, ate delicacies, listened to songs, talked with distinguished friends, had several banquets a day, often got together, and often had a lot of fun. This is exactly the life Li Bai likes. Therefore, he couldn't help but feel resentful towards the owner here. He once wrote "Two Poems about Wang's Farewell Industry", in which he praised Wang Lun as a god like Dou Ziming and Fuqiu Gong.

On the day Li Bai was leaving, Wang Lun gave him eight famous horses and ten bundles of silk, and sent his servants to deliver them to the ship. After giving a farewell banquet at home, Li Bai boarded a boat parked on Peach Blossom Pond. As the boat was about to leave the shore, he suddenly heard a burst of singing. Li Bai looked back and saw Wang Lun and many villagers walking on the shore singing to see him off. Li Bai was deeply moved by the host's deep friendship and simple way of seeing off guests. He immediately spread paper and ink, and wrote the famous farewell poem to Wang Lun:

Li Bai was about to leave in a boat, when he suddenly heard singing on the shore.

The water in Peach Blossom Pond is a thousand feet deep, not as deep as Wang Lun’s love for me.

This poem has wonderful metaphors, and due to the influence of simple folk customs, Li Bai's poem is very simple and plain, and it seems more sincere.

The poem "Gift to Wang Lun" spread the name of ordinary villager Wang Lun to future generations, and Peach Blossom Pond became a tourist attraction. In order to commemorate Li Bai, the villagers built the "Tage Bank Pavilion" on the southeast bank of the pond, which still attracts many tourists.