As soon as the concubine in the world of mortals laughs, no one knows it is the lychee coming from which poem by whom.

“A concubine riding in the world of mortals laughs, but no one knows it’s a lychee.” It comes from “One of Three Quatrains on Passing the Huaqing Palace” written by Du Mu of the Tang Dynasty.

Original text

One of Three Quatrains on Passing the Huaqing Palace

Du Mu (Tang Dynasty)

Looking back at Chang'an, there are piles of embroidery, Thousands of doors on the top of the mountain opened one after another.

The red concubine on horseback smiled, but no one knew it was lychee.

Translation

Looking back from Chang'an, the scenery of Lishan Mountain is like a beautiful scene, and the gates of Huaqing Palace on the top of the mountain are opened one after another.

The concubine smiled happily as a horse rode up and smoke was billowing in the air. No one knew that fresh lychees had been sent from the south.

Notes

Huaqing Palace: "Yuanhe County Chronicles": "Huaqing Palace is on Lishan Mountain, and the Hot Spring Palace was built at the beginning of the 11th year of Kaiyuan. In the sixth year of Tianbao, it was changed to Huaqing Palace. Changsheng was also built The hall is called Jiling Terrace to worship the gods."

There are piles of embroidery: there is Dongxiuling on the right side of Lishan Mountain and Xixiuling on the left. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty planted trees and flowers on the ridge, which was lush and lush.

Thousands of doors: Describes the majestic palace on the top of the mountain with many doors. Order: in order.

Red dust: This refers to flying dust. Concubine: refers to Concubine Yang. Music history "Yang Taizhen's Biography": It said: "Appreciating famous flowers, treating the concubine, how can I use the old music words!" "New Book of Tang Dynasty: Biography of Concubine Li": "The concubine is addicted to lychees and will definitely want to give birth to her, so she will ride on her to convey her. "Yang Guifei was born in Shu, and she likes lychees. She is born in the South China Sea, and she is especially good at Shu. Therefore, she is so hot every year." But if you are familiar with it, it will fail after a long time, and future generations will not know it. "Note: This poem may be a freehand work, intended to satirize Xuanzong's doting on his concubine, and it is not possible to rely on historical facts. In the Tang Dynasty, lychees from Lingnan could not be transported to Chang'an, so Su Shi said that "lychees were brought from Fuzhou at this time, not from Lingnan" (note in "Tongjian Tang Ji"). When the lychees are ripe, Xuanzong and his concubine will not be in Lishan. Xuanzong stationed at Huaqing Palace in winter and October every year, and returned to Chang'an in the spring of the following year. "Cheng's Archaeological Edition" also recognized its fallacy, and the recent scholar Chen Yinke also reviewed it.

Knowing is: one means "knowing".

Appreciation

This poem uses the typical incident of sending lychees to criticize the arrogant and luxurious life of Xuanzong and Yang Guifei. It has a subtle artistic effect, is exquisite and popular.

The first sentence describes the scenery of Lishan Mountain, where Huaqing Palace is located. The poet writes from the perspective of "looking back" at Chang'an, just like a cinematographer, first showing a vast and far-reaching panoramic view of Lishan Mountain in front of the audience: lush forests, luxuriant flowers and plants, and palaces and pavilions towering among them, like a beautiful scene. "Embroidery piles" not only refers to Dongxiuling and Xixiuling on both sides of Lishan Mountain, but also describes the beauty of Lishan Mountain, with a pun intended.

Then, the scene moved forward, showing the majestic palace on the top of the mountain. The palace doors that were usually closed suddenly opened slowly one after another. Next, there are two close-ups: outside the palace, an envoy is riding a stagecoach at a galloping speed, with clouds of red dust rising behind him; inside the palace, the concubine is smiling. Several shots seem to be unrelated to each other, but they all contain suspense carefully arranged by the poet: why are the "thousand doors" opened? Why did "Yi Qi" come? Why is the "concubine" laughing? The poet deliberately did not rush to tell, and only when the tense and mysterious atmosphere made the readers want to know, did he reveal the answer implicitly and euphemistically: "No one knew it was lychee." The word "lychee" reveals the whole story. "New Book of Tang Dynasty: Biography of Concubine Yang": "The concubine was addicted to lychees and she wanted to have sex with her, so she rode on a horse and traveled thousands of miles. The taste has not changed, and she has arrived in the capital." Knowing this, the suspense ahead suddenly disappears. After a while, those several shots naturally connected together.

The artistic charm of Du Mu's poem lies in its implicitness and profoundness. The poem clearly expresses Xuanzong's lewdness and the imperial concubine's pampering and arrogance. The vivid contrast between "riding on the red dust" and "concubine's smile" creates a much stronger artistic effect than expressing one's own opinions directly.

The three words "concubine smile" have a profound meaning. It reminds us of the historical story of King You of Zhou in the Spring and Autumn Period, who played with the princes with beacon fire. King You of Zhou smiled favorably for Concubine Bo and lit a beacon, which led to the destruction of the country and the family.

Creative background

These three poems were composed by Du Mu after he passed by Huaqing Palace in Lishan Mountain. Huaqing Palace was a palace built in 723 AD (the eleventh year of the founding of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty). Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Concubine Yang used to have fun there. Many poets in later generations wrote epic poems with the theme of Huaqing Palace, among which Du Mu's "Three Quatrains on Passing Huaqing Palace" is one of the masterpieces.

About the author

Du Mu (AD 803-about 852), courtesy name Muzhi, also known as Fanchuan Jushi, Han nationality, was born in Jingzhao Wannian (now Xi'an, Shaanxi Province), and was a poet of the Tang Dynasty . Du Mu was called "Xiao Du" to distinguish him from Du Fu. Together with Li Shangyin, he is called "Little Li Du". Because he lived in the Fanchuan Villa in South Chang'an in his later years, he was called "Du Fanchuan" by later generations and wrote "Collected Works of Fanchuan".