Suddenly I wanted to write about Chen Ziang. The motivation came from an online joke.
Most people's understanding of Chen Ziang must be because of his famous "Song of Dengyouzhou":
I don't see the ancients before, and I don't see the comers after.
Thinking of the world and the world, I am alone and crying!
Literally, there is really nothing to explain in this poem. The whole text does not have rare words, the sentence structure is flexible, and it is not bound by the rules of the poem or quatrain, and there are traces of ancient style. If you try to add the word "Xi" after the third sentence, you will immediately have the desolation that is unique to Chu Ci.
A netizen had a whim and simply translated it into the vernacular:
There is no one in front, no one in the back.
The world is so big, so I cried.
Obviously, there is an element of parody.
An in-depth interpretation of "Dengyouzhou Taiwan Song" needs to be cut from the following aspects.
First, I met the halfway literati Chen Ziang.
Chen Ziang is not like other scholars of his time, and he does not have too heavy a scholarly temperament. He grew up in a wealthy family and has the taste of "a gentleman"; Good at riding and shooting, gambling, gangster, very Jianghu. Although I have some ink in my stomach, I don't make a living from it, and I don't need to make a living from it.
At the age of 24, Chen Ziang passed the exam to gain fame. Sealed as "Right Pickup".
Soon, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi died, and the supergirl Wu Zetian was busy claiming the emperor.
For a period of time, Chen Ziang was quite appreciated by Wu Zetian. His innate ruffianism makes him different from King Luo Bin, and he does not object to Wu Zetian being the emperor: it doesn't matter who is the emperor, as long as the country and the people are safe. At the same time, he is also different from Song Zhiwen, and there is no suspicion of tending to be inflammatory.
But because of too complicated reasons in the officialdom, Chen Ziang was heavily weighted for a while, and was soon snubbed by Wu Zetian. The nominal counselor has become an idle position.
Chen Ziang was very depressed, and he had a grievance that he had never encountered!
2. Abandon the pen to join the army and suffer another setback!
It was Khitan**. Wu Zetian appointed his nephew Wu Youyi to go on the expedition. When selecting the staff of the army, it was a coincidence that Wu Youyi took a fancy to Chen Ziang. Chen Ziang is idle anyway, it's better to give it a go, maybe he can make a contribution!
But it's a pity that tens of thousands of troops under the command of Wu Youyi fought with the Huns, and they were defeated at the first touch, with heavy casualties!
Chen Ziang couldn't help but pull Wu Youyi's round table to speak, talking about strategy and tactics. This surnamed Wu had just suffered a defeat, and his mood was extremely unbeautiful, so he glanced at Chen Ziang a few times and walked away.
A second round of engagement is imminent. Chen Ziang was eager to make contributions and asked Wu Youyi to go to war! I have to say that Chen Ziang is really a man. It's not child's play to ask the army to fight, it's a matter of losing your head in minutes!
This time, Wu Youyi didn't give Chen Ziang face at all, and directly dismissed him! From the bottom of his heart, Wu Youyi disagrees with Chen Ziang: You are just a civilian counselor, talking about troops on paper, bragging about relieving boredom may work, as for leading troops to fight, you have neither actual combat experience nor the wisdom to strategize, which is too unreliable.
3. Get to know Youzhou Terrace
Ancient Youzhou Terrace, also called ** Taiwan or Zhaoxian Terrace. According to legend, during the Warring States Period, "King Yanzhao built a platform to respect Guo Kui", which was a platform used to recruit talents. The specific site is no longer verifiable and quite controversial. We only know this place, which was called "Thistle City" at that time. That is, Wu Youyi led a group of defeated troops and temporarily stationed there.
Chen Ziang, who was originally depressed, was demoted with the army, which is tantamount to adding insult to injury!
So one evening or dusk, he ascended to Youzhou Platform alone. Looking around, the sky is wide and wide, but the block in the chest, half a life of confusion, still entangled!
Maybe it was a wisp of fresh wind, maybe it was a touch of sunset, or maybe it was a cloud, and suddenly it detonated his small universe! So there is this popular song in history "Dengyouzhou Taiwan Song".
Fourth, in-depth interpretation of "Dengyouzhou Taiwan Song", not nostalgia, but scolding the street!
In the impression of most friends, "Dengyouzhou Taiwan Song" should be a nostalgic poem. After understanding the specific creative background, we may have a different understanding if we reinterpret it.
Poems on nostalgic themes are not uncommon. The most famous should be Su Dongpo's "Nian Nujiao Chibi Nostalgia", as well as Li Bai's "Ascending Jinling Phoenix Terrace" and so on.
This type of poetry basically has three major elements: writing scenes, singing about things, and expressing nostalgia. But "Dengyouzhou Taiwan Song" is obviously not this routine! The whole text doesn't even have a phrase to write a scene, it's all lyrical, and it's nonsensical!
I don't see the ancients before, and I don't see the comers after. : Before, there was no such thing, and after that, there will be no such thing. What kind of thing? It is the matter of King Yan Zhao's thirst for talent, and he offers a heavy reward to recruit talents.
These two sentences are sarcasm! Bold and explicit! The spearhead is directed at his own top boss. To put it more seriously, this is the literati scolding the street. And as soon as he came up, he scolded, didn't talk about the cause and effect, omitted to state right and wrong, and scolded directly, happily and simply!
Thinking about it, Chen Ziang was really angry.
The key to scolding the street is to scold the momentum! raised his voice from afar, so Chen Ziang took the stage and scolded. At the same time, the strong contrast and contrast between "before" and "after", "ancient" and "comer" is extremely timely, plus the repeated emphasis of two "missing", the weight is enough!
Thinking of the world and the world, I am alone and crying! 。The mood in the last two sentences has eased. After scolding others, scolding yourself again, you can't help but feel sad! It's a pity that Lao Chen and I have a fighting spirit and a full of talent, but there is no platform to show it! Heaven and earth are so big, and heroes are lost, what a tragedy! A big man ascended to Youzhou Terrace, not looking up to the sky and howling, but crying with a long song! Crying that he was born at the wrong time, crying that his luck was not good, crying "Feng Tang is easy to be old, Li Guang is difficult to seal"!
5. Chen Ziang's bleak evening scene and tragic ending
"Dengyouzhou Taiwan Song" has achieved the peak of Chen Ziang's creation, but it also marks that his career has since reached a low ebb.
Soon after, Chan resigned on the grounds that his father was old and needed to be taken care of. He received Wu Zetian's consent and gave him the treatment of returning to his hometown with a farewell.
After his father passed away, Chen Ziang built a house next to the cemetery to guard filial piety, and passers-by often heard him crying!
Chen Ziang was originally a rich second generation with a solid family background. Originally, even if he was unwilling, he was materially enough to live for a long time.
However, during the period of keeping filial piety to his father, a local county magistrate named Duan Jian targeted him. According to common sense, the small county order definitely does not dare to embarrass a retired Beijing official, and I am afraid it will be too late to make a sycophant. Since Duan Jian is openly provocative, it is conceivable that there must be instructions from other powerful forces behind it.
At first, Chen Ziang thought that Duan Jian was coming for money, so he gave 200,000 yuan. But things did not turn around. Soon, he was imprisoned on trumped-up charges! Chen Ziang began to realize the gravity and complexity of the matter, and a hunch told him that his life might be coming to an end.
Sure enough, Chen Ziang died in prison. He was 43 years old. The cause of death is a mystery.