Three minutes to talk about culture
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Text |Reading Jun
Wu Zetian's era has passed 1333 years ago.
In November of the first year of Shenlong (705), Wu Zetian died. I was 5 years old.
In such a turbulent and talented Tang Dynasty, no one would have thought that I, a person whose ancestral home or even nationality had been questioned, would leave a strong mark in China's history.
This is a "madman", known as a poet, who loves to drink, plays with swords and swords, likes to travel in the mountains and rivers, and walks away angrily if he disagrees, which is the label given to me by later generations. Back then, the sentence I sang, "Look up to the sky and laugh and go out, how can my generation be a Penghao person", which is still sung by countless people. Today, I am probably a hot-blooded youth and a "bad youth" in the eyes of everyone!
But it doesn't matter, it's all in the past. The long river of history continues to flow, and the wheels of the times roll forward. When you die, the merits and demerits of your life, the honor and disgrace of good and evil, all become history with the passing of life. The discussion of later generations can only be left to future generations to comment.
The most important thing is to be open-minded!
I was born in the Western Regions, a place in the middle of a vast desert, where the yellow sand is overwhelming, and the sound of camel bells echoes. My father's name is Li Ke, and my mother is Hu Renyuewa.
At that time, my mother was 17 years old and beautiful like a flower, and my father fell in love with her at first sight and was obsessed with her. At that time, the Han people disdained to intermarry with the Hu people, and despite the strong opposition of my family, my father overcame all difficulties and married my mother.
In 701 A.D., I came into this world as the crystallization of their love. On the day I was born, my father came back from a distant place to do business, and he held a grand birthday feast for me, inviting friends and relatives to share the joy, and giving a large sum of money to the poor.
There is a lot of speculation about my father's origins.
Some people claim that my father was a Hu native from the Western Regions, and for some reason moved to Broken Leaves, and Fang changed his surname to Li. Broken Leaf City, a place that integrates diverse cultures, blends Hu and Han, and various customs are intertwined. If my father was really a Hu person, then he must have been deeply influenced by the two cultures in a long time, and became a person who was both open-minded and Han Chinese.
Another theory is that my father was a wealthy merchant who had returned from the Western Regions. On that prosperous Silk Road, he drove camel caravans and exotic treasures between deserts and oases. His business acumen and adventurous spirit allowed him to accumulate a wealth in that era full of opportunities and challenges.
What's more, I mentioned that my ancestors had a deep friendship with Li Yuan. They said that after the Xuanwumen Incident, it was Li Jiancheng's concubine who rescued my ancestors, and in order to avoid the strife in the palace, they chose to go to the Western Regions. If this history is true, then there are indeed inextricable links between my family and the Li Tang Dynasty.
However, these rumors and speculations are only talk about the outside world after all. The true history of the family has been submerged in the long river of time and has become obscure. Of course, whether my ancestors were Hu people, wealthy merchants, or had some kind of relationship with the Li Tang Dynasty, this did not affect my unruly nature.
I do like to drink, dance, and sing poetry.
Some people say that my poems are full of murderous intent. Just like the poem "The lotus flower is delicate, and the boat man is sorrowful", "The spring breeze kills people wildly, and the drama is three years in one day." "If you wait for the success of the clothes, Wuling Peach Blossom will laugh and kill" and so on. Lotus, spring breeze, peach blossoms...What a beautiful word, but it also has to carry words full of bloody killing intent such as "sorrowful killing" and "killing", presumably there must be a deformed mentality hidden in the heart.
In fact, however, it was just an expression of my heroic personality. I love life, I love nature, and I love all the good things in the world. I use poetry to express my understanding and feelings about life, and words such as "sorrow and killing" and "killing" are nothing more than the means I use to emphasize the emotions in my poems.
In my opinion, life has both a beautiful and a cruel side. My poems are both a celebration of a good life and a reflection on the cruel reality. This is the comprehensive understanding of life as a poet.
In the same way, I dare to speak wildly, calling myself a "Chu madman", daring to confront Confucius's wind and songs, and laughing at his wisdom. For those pedantic Confucian students in the Lu State who are conformist and out of touch with the world, I not only feel deep disdain, but also speak bitterly and sarcastically. Isn't it sad to imagine that they have gray hair, but still chew on words and cling to those old chapters and sentences? When asked about their strategy for helping the people, they seemed to be stuck in a fog and at a loss, which was a big joke.
What is the difference between these so-called Confucian scholars and today's so-called experts who are high up and talk about things? They are also addicted to their own world, detached from reality, and only know how to talk on paper. Their theories may sound like the truth, but when applied to practical problems, they often pale in comparison. These people are just empty talkers, and their so-called knowledge and wisdom are just a piece of paper and cannot really benefit the people.
I openly despise fame and fortune, believing that the pleasure of a glass of wine in life is far better than the fame of a thousand years after death. For the emperor sitting in the palace, I angrily scolded them for having fun in cockfighting, juju, and yaotai, ignoring national affairs. I was even more blunt about the criticism of the imperial court, denouncing them for the absurdity of buying songs and laughs with pearls and jade, and using dregs to raise talents.
I know that these words and deeds may seem a little arrogant, but I really can't stand the injustice and ignorance of the world. Others may be able to swallow their anger, but I can't. My heart was filled with anger and resentment, and I had to vent it, even if it was seen as a megalomaniacal.
I'd rather be an independent "madman" than a blindly obedient philistine. I hope that my words and actions will arouse people's reflection and vigilance, and inspire them to pursue true life and values. Even if I was misunderstood and attacked because of this, I have no regrets. Because I believe that only by bravely facing and challenging all kinds of injustices and ignorance in this world can we find our true meaning and freedom.
I am grateful for the strict education given to me by my parents when I was young, and for nurturing me in my studies. My mother, with her patience and care, taught me to read; My father, with his wisdom and foresight, guided me deep into the temple of poetry and books, and Xi and appreciated the breadth and profundity of Han culture. This not only exercised my abilities and enhanced my cultural knowledge, but also laid the foundation for my future growth in life.
In 714 AD, in order to consolidate the territory of the Tang Empire, our leader Tang Xuanzong resolutely decided to send two backbone generals, Xue Ne and Guo Zhiyun, to lead troops to attack Tuchu. The following year, Qiuzi was also successfully attacked by the army led by Zhang Peng, marching thousands of miles westward, capturing more than 100 cities in a row, making the prestige of our Tang Empire spread far and wide to all states in the Western Regions. Since then, the transportation between the Western Regions and the Central Plains has been greatly improved.
Faced with such an opportunity, my father keenly grasped it, and he decided to take the whole family back to the Guanghan area of the Central Plains to develop the business. In 715 A.D., my father led our family out of the place where we had lived for many years, with dozens of wagons in horse-drawn carriages. Since then, Sichuan has become the second place in my life. In my poetry works, I have written about my hometown of Sichuan many times.
To be continued....）
Reference: Celebrity Biographies in Primary and Secondary School Textbooks: Li Bai, edited by Pippo International Celebrity Research Center, published by International Culture Publishing Company, 2013.
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