Translation and Appreciation of Quatrains on Passing the Huaqing Palace

Tang Dynasty: Du Mu

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.

Riding on the red dust concubine smiled, no one knew it was lychee.

The green trees in Xinfeng are covered with yellow mosaics, and several emissaries riding on the fishing sun are returning.

The song of neon clothes reaches thousands of peaks, and the original dance comes down.

The music and songs of all nations are intoxicating and peaceful, and the moon in the sky tower is clear.

Lushan dance is shot randomly in the clouds, and laughter is heard under the heavy mountains as the wind blows.

Translation of "Three Quatrains on Passing the Huaqing Palace"

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

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

Yellow dust can be seen from time to time in the Xinfeng area surrounded by green trees, which is the return of the emissaries from Yuyang.

They lied about the military situation, and Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei still indulged in singing and dancing until Anlu Mountain raised troops and the Central Plains was ruined.

The whole country was immersed in singing and dancing, and the palaces and pavilions on Lishan Mountain looked particularly distinct in the moonlight.

An Lushan dragged his fat body into a whirlwind dance, causing Yang Guifei's laughter to float in the wind across the mountains.

It was renamed the Huaqing Palace in 1978 and the Changsheng Hall was built, named Jiling Terrace, to worship the gods."

There are piles of embroidery: there is the East Embroidery Ridge on the right side of Lishan Mountain and the West Embroidery Ridge on the left. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty planted trees and flowers on the ridge, making it lush and lush.

Thousand 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 says: "How can I use old music words when appreciating famous flowers and treating my concubine?" "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 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.

Knowing is: one means "knowing".

Xinfeng: Xinfeng County was established in the Tang Dynasty, located in the northeast of Lintong County, Shaanxi Province, not far from Huaqing Palace. Yellow Ai: The dust kicked up by the galloping cavalry. < /p>

Nishang (nícháng): "Nícháng", a court dance at that time, was personally adapted by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty based on the Indian "Brahman" dance presented by Yang Jingshu, the military governor of Xiliang, for twelve times. Qianfeng: refers to the many peaks of Lishan Mountain.

Dancing to break the Central Plains: refers to the fact that Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was indulged in pleasure and harmed the country, which led to the Anshi Rebellion.

Wan Guo: refers to the whole country.

Yitian: Describes the majesty of Lishan Palace.

Two sentences in the cloud: "The Biography of An Lushan in the Old Book of Tang Dynasty" records: Lushan was fat and weighed three hundred and thirty kilograms, but he could perform the Hu Xuan Dance in front of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, as fast as wind. The people in the palace nearby clapped their hands, because they danced too fast, and the rhythm was messed up.

Appreciation of "Three Quatrains on Passing the Huaqing Palace"

Part One

This poem uses the typical incident of sending lychees to criticize Xuanzong and Yang Guifei for their arrogance and licentiousness Life has subtle artistic effects, which are 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 unrelated to each other, but they all contain the suspense carefully arranged by the poet: Why did the "thousand doors" open? Why did the "Yi Qi" come? Why did the "concubine" laugh? The poet deliberately did not rush to say Until the tense and mysterious atmosphere makes the readers want to know, the answer is revealed 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. She rode on a horse and traveled thousands of miles, but her taste remained unchanged until she reached the capital." Knowing this, the suspense ahead suddenly disappeared. After a while, those several shots naturally connected together.

Wu Qiao's "Poem Talk Around the Fireplace" said: "Poetry is valuable for its implicit and endless meaning, especially those who talk about stories without opinions are the best." The artistic charm of Du Mu's poem lies in its implicit and inexhaustible meaning. Profound, the poem does not clearly express Xuanzong's lewdness and the imperial concubine's pampering and arrogance, and vividly uses "riding on the red dust" and "concubine's smile" to form a sharp contrast, which achieves a much stronger artistic effect than expressing one's own opinions directly. . The three words "concubine laughs" have a profound meaning. In the Spring and Autumn Period, King You of Zhou smiled at Concubine Bo and lit a beacon, which led to the destruction of the country and his death. When reading this, readers can easily relate to this well-known story. The words "no one knows" are also thought-provoking. In fact, "Lychee Comes" is not unknown. At least the "concubine" knows it, "Yi Qi" knows it, and there is an emperor who is not mentioned in the poem who knows it. Written like this, it is intended to indicate that the matter is of great urgency and that outsiders have no way of knowing about it. This not only exposes the absurdity of the emperor doing anything to please his favorite concubine, but also echoes the unusual atmosphere previously exaggerated. The whole poem does not use difficult words, allusions, or elaboration. It is simple and natural, has profound meaning, and is implicit and powerful. It is a masterpiece among the quatrains of the Tang Dynasty.

Second

During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Anlushan served as the Jiedushi of Pinglu, Fanyang and Hedong towns and then waited for an opportunity to rebel, but Xuanzong favored him very much. The crown prince and Prime Minister Yang Guozhong repeatedly raised the alarm, and Fang sent the envoy Fu Zhuolin to find out the truth in the name of giving gan. Zhuan Lin was generously bribed by An Lushan and praised his loyalty when she came back. Xuanzong believed the lie easily, and from then on he was more relaxed and enjoyed himself as much as he wanted. "The green trees in Xinfeng are covered with yellow leaves, and the envoys are returning several times on Yuyang", which describes the scene of the envoys returning to Chang'an from Yuyang via Xinfeng Pegasus. The billowing yellow dust rising behind the explorer is a smoke screen that captivates the eyes, and also symbolizes the war that is about to break out in the rebellion.

From the complicated historical events of the "Anshi Rebellion", the poet only captured one scene of "The Return of the Yuyang Detective Envoy", which is quite original. It not only exposes An Lushan's cunning, but also exposes Xuanzong's confusion, which has the wonderful effect of "killing two birds with one stone".

If the first two sentences of the poem express the transformation of space, then the last two sentences, "The neon clothes are singing on thousands of peaks, and the dancing is breaking down," express the changes of time. The contents expressed in the previous and following four sentences were originally independent of each other, but through the poet's clever editing, they have a causal relationship with each other, implying the internal connection between the two things. From the perspective of the whole story, from "The Return of the Yuyang Detective" to "On the Thousand Peaks of Colorful Dresses", they are connected by the Huaqing Palace, and the connection is very natural. Writing in this way not only summarizes a major historical event with extremely frugal writing, but more importantly, reveals the reasons for the event. The poet's conception is very exquisite.

The strong ironic meaning is expressed in an implicit way, especially the two sentences "The neon clothes are singing on thousands of peaks, and the dance is broken and the original is coming down". Without a word of discussion, Xuanzong's indulgence in pleasure and obsession with understanding It's vividly portrayed. It is obviously an extreme exaggeration and impossible to say that a piece of neon dress can reach the top of "thousands of peaks" and can "dance through the Central Plains", but it is not unreasonable to write it this way. Because light singing and dancing cannot directly "break the Central Plains", the destruction of the Central Plains was actually caused by the rulers' endless indulging in singing and dancing. Moreover, writing it like this is not enough to describe the prosperity of singing and dancing, and exaggerating it cannot express the degree of drunkenness and dreaming of the rulers and the serious consequences of the destruction of the country and the family. In addition, the sharp contrast between "on a thousand peaks" and "down" in these two poems, as well as the use of the extremely powerful word "beginning", all show the poet's profound skill in word choice and sentence making, and effectively set off theme. It is the profound ideological content and perfect expression technique that make it a famous saying. The whole poem ends abruptly here, and it seems to have an endless aftertaste.

The third

This is the last of the three quatrains, and it is also an allegorical poem.

"The music and songs of all nations are intoxicating with peace." This saying means that Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Concubine Yang spent all day playing in Lishan Mountain, ignoring the government affairs, and the whole country was immersed in singing and dancing to bring peace. "The moon is clearly visible in the Yitian Pavilion." This means that the towering palaces and pavilions on Lishan Mountain are particularly clear in the moonlight. "The Lushan Dance is shot in the clouds", this sentence is said sarcastically: I think that when An Lushan had an audience with Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Concubine Yang Guifei on Lishan Mountain, he dragged his fat body and danced in the hall, which actually caused He heard Concubine Yang’s hearty laughter. "Laughter beneath the mountains when the wind blows", the laughter carried by the wind floated over the mountains and echoed for a long time in the mountains.

According to records: Concubine Yang was so excited when she saw An Lushan performing the Hu Xuan Dance that she actually accepted An Lushan as her godson. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was also very happy, and he paid special attention to An Lushan and appointed him. He served as the military envoy of the three towns. But it was their godson who raised the flag of rebellion against them. The Tang Empire also slid into the abyss of decline.

This poem is implicit and euphemistic, and the style seems light, but in fact it makes a bitter and ruthless mockery of the debauchery of the subjugated king.

The creative background of "Three Quatrains on Passing the Huaqing Palace"

These three poems were composed by Du Mu after he passed by the Huaqing Palace in Lishan Mountain. Huaqing Palace was a palace built in the 11th year of Kaiyuan (723) by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty. Emperor Xuanzong of 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.

Introduction to the author of "Three Quatrains on Passing the Huaqing Palace"

Du Mu (803-about 852 AD), courtesy name Muzhi, also known as Fanchuan Jushi, Han nationality, born in Beijing ten thousand years ago (today's Born in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, he 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 known as "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".