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

Looking back at Chang'an, there are piles of embroidery, and thousands of gates are opened on the top of the mountain. This is from the poem "Three Quatrains on Passing the Huaqing Palace·One" by Du Mu, a writer in the Tang Dynasty.

Original text

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

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

"Three Quatrains on Passing the Huaqing Palace" is a collection of poems written by Du Mu, a litterateur in the Tang Dynasty. These three poems use the past to satirize the present, selecting typical events and scenes such as Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty who spared no effort in laboring people and money to supply Concubine Yang with lychees, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty who believed lies and died drunkenly for a long time, and An Lushan performing a Hu Xuan dance for Emperor Xuanzong and Concubine Yang of the Tang Dynasty, etc., and added them artistically. The summary not only skillfully summarizes history, but also profoundly satirizes reality, and expresses the poet's incomparable indignation at the supreme ruler's extravagant lust and debauchery that harmed the country. The whole poem is implicit and euphemistic, with spiritual meaning and long meaning.

Translation

Looking back at Lishan Mountain in Chang'an, it looks like a pile of beautiful things. On the top of the mountain, thousands of doors of Huaqing Palace are opened one after another.

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

Notes

⑴ Huaqing Palace: "Yuanhe County Chronicles": "Huaqing Palace is on Lishan Mountain, and the Hot Spring Palace was built in the early 11th year of Kaiyuan. In the sixth year of Tianbao, it was changed to Huaqing Palace. It was also built The Hall of Eternal Life is called Jiling Terrace to worship gods."

⑵Piles 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.

⑶Thousand Gates: Describes the magnificent palace on the top of the mountain with numerous portals. Order: in order.

⑷Red 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 may be a freehand work, intended to satirize Xuanzong's doting on his concubine, and it cannot be based 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 a recent scholar, Chen Yinke, also reviewed it.

⑸Zhishi: One is "know".

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 by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty in the 11th year of Kaiyuan (723). 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.

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. "Embroidered into piles" refers to the Dongxiuling and Xixiuling on both sides of Lishan Mountain, and also describes the overwhelming 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 words "concubine smiles" 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.

The three words "no one knows" are also thought-provoking. In fact, "Lychee Comes" is not absolutely unknown. At least the "concubine" knows it, "Yi Qi" knows it, and there is an emperor who is not mentioned in the poem. Know better. Written like this, it is intended to indicate that this matter is of great urgency and that outsiders have no way of knowing. This reveals the absurdity of the feudal emperor doing anything to please his beloved concubine, even at the expense of the people and money. It also echoes the unusual atmosphere exaggerated previously.

This poem expresses the author's incomparable indignation at the supreme ruler who is extravagant, lustful, and has unchecked power.

About the author

Du Mu (803-853), a poet of the Tang Dynasty. His courtesy name was Muzhi, a native of Jingzhao Wannian (now Xi'an, Shaanxi Province), and the grandson of Prime Minister Du You. In the second year of Taihe (828), he was a Jinshi. He served as an aide to Jiangxi Observer, Xuanshe Observer Shen Chuanshi and Huainan Jiedushi Niu Sengru. He served successively as censor of supervision, governor of Huangzhou, Chizhou and Muzhou, and later as secretary. An honorary member, Wailang, was born in Shushe at the end of his official career. He prides himself on his ability to help the world. Most of the poems refer to works about current affairs. The short poems that describe the scenery are clear and vivid. People call him Xiao Du, and together with Li Shangyin, they are called "Xiao Li Du" to distinguish him from Li Bai and Du Fu. There are twenty volumes of "Collected Works of Fan Chuan" handed down to the world.