In 742 AD, Li Bai and He Zhizhang met in Chang'an. Both were uninhibited poets and drinkers, and despite the 42-year age difference, they hit it off at first sight.
Li Bai, who had just arrived in Chang'an, showed his "Wuqi Song" to this senior, and He Zhizhang, who was over eighty years old, recited while drinking, exclaiming: "This poem is enough to move ghosts and gods!" ”
Li Bai was greatly encouraged, and took out his proud work "Shu Dao Difficult". "Oops, it's tough! The difficulty of Shu Road is even more difficult than ascending to heaven! ”
After He Zhizhang finished reading the first few sentences, the wine glass in his hand almost fell off. After reading the whole poem, he was so excited that he couldn't help himself, and gave Li Bai the highest praise: "You are not a mortal person, you must be a Tai Bai Xing who descended from the sky!" ”
The name of "Immortal", which has been passed down for thousands of years, was given to Li Bai by He Zhizhang. When there are fewer thousands of cups of wine, He and Li, who have forgotten their New Year's friends, drank and sang in the tavern in Chang'an, and spent all the wine money for a while.
He Zhizhang didn't say a word, waved his hand and untied the golden turtle given by the emperor, this kind of treasure that can only be worn by the court and the central government, in exchange for wine money.
He Zhizhang, the first champion in Zhejiang, Li Bai's predecessor. His life is not only the builder of the prosperous era of Kaiyuan, but also a witness. His madness is not Li Bai's madness that makes people respond, but enterprising in the good way.
His life is not only his best footnote, but also his smooth life and good life. He was the longest-lived poet of the Tang Dynasty, and he resigned at the age of 86 and returned to his hometown.
In his life, he has the demeanor of a famous man of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, he is happy all day long, he has nothing to do with his colleagues and students, and he never worries about when he will be promoted or when his salary will be raised.
His life was full of happiness and satisfaction.
He Zhizhang, a bold and uninhibited poetry and wine literati. In Du Fu's "Song of the Eight Immortals in Drinking", he uses the vivid image of "Zhizhang riding a horse like a boat, and sleeping under the well with his eyes", showing his drunken and shaking appearance.
And when he was drunk, he was even more spontaneous, splashing ink on the street with the grass saint Zhang Xu, and the calligraphy of his pen was regarded as a treasure of ink. Even more than 80 years later, people can still see his inscription wall on the high-rise buildings in Luoyang, and sigh at his calligraphy.
Unlike ordinary scribbles, He Zhizhang's calligraphy is a cultural relic.
He Zhizhang's Cursive Book of Filial Piety (detail) was introduced to Japan in the 17th century, but his inscription wall is difficult to find, and there are only about 20 existing poems, which is very rare among long-lived poets.
Although Emperor Qianlong, a part-time poet, lived for more than 80 years and left behind 40,000 poems, most of He Zhizhang's poems may have been lost in the long river of time, or he himself was too casual and discarded with his poems during his lifetime, and did not properly preserve them, so that he could not assemble them after his death.
The name of He Zhizhang's poems has been lost in the long river of history, but the articles he wrote gradually revealed the true face of Lushan after more than a thousand years. In modern times, archaeologists have unearthed eight epitaphs by He Zhizhang, who is the author who has unearthed the most epitaphs of the Tang Dynasty in recent years.
Among them, the earliest epitaph was written for Dai Lingyan of the previous dynasty, written in the second year of Kaiyuan. Why did He Zhizhang, an uninhibited poet, write so many epitaphs for powerful people he had never met?
Some scholars speculate that He Zhizhang's writing of the epitaph "to a certain extent cannot be said to have nothing to do with accepting requests and receiving moisturizing pens", to put it bluntly, it is a lack of money. He Zhizhang has been a lifelong alcoholic, and he lives a reckless life, which naturally requires a lot of spending.
However, he would rather write an epitaph than be opportunistic. In Chang'an, He Zhizhang and Li Bai cherished each other, drank together, and drank until their pockets were empty. He neither bullied others, nor did he take the opportunity to take credit, but directly untied the golden turtle on his waist and used it to exchange for wine money.
In the prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty, He Zhizhang has always maintained a true attitude towards life. is the so-called: the master does not know each other, and occasionally sits in Lin Quan. Don't worry about wine, you have money in your pocket.
He Zhizhang's "Title Yuan's Farewell" 5 In the court of open and secret fighting, others are eager to fight for more opportunities to perform in front of the emperor. And He Zhizhang, a poet with a frank nature, does not adapt to the rules of officialdom, he works steadfastly, and his promotion speed is very slow.
Although he is famous all over the world, he is still an unknown petty official when he is nearly sixty years old. If you live in modern times, some people may use him as an example to write a few poisonous chicken soup that sells anxiety, saying that the world has become bad because the champion has no money to buy alcohol.
After 30 years of work, He Zhizhang, who was over the age of six, was promoted to the waiter of the Ministry of Rites and a bachelor of Jixian Academy in the thirteenth year of Kaiyuan (725), and then changed to the prince's guest and secretary (the world therefore respectfully called him "He Supervisor").
At that time, the bureaucrats of his contemporaries had long since been out of the limelight, and they were no longer alive. It took most of his life to get out, He Zhizhang may only smile calmly, don't worry, let the old man drink another glass of wine.
Some people say that He Zhizhang has no outstanding political achievements and is not a good official. However, it is not only the good looks like Yao Chong and Song Jing who have created a prosperous era, but also thousands of officials like He Zhizhang who are silently dedicated.
In the city of Chang'an in the prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty, some northerners ridiculed He Zhizhang, a native of Zhejiang, as "the resurrection of the Southern Jin Dynasty". Although He Zhizhang has lived in Beijing for 50 years, his Zhejiang accent has always been relatively strong, and it is inevitable that there will be estrangement from others.
In the face of these prejudices, He Zhizhang did not get angry, but responded with an easy-to-understand poem: "The clams are held on a silver plate, and the Ulva in Jinghu is as messy as silk." The folk song has a good taste recently, and it is Wu'er who covers the canal. ”
What he means is, you "keyboard warriors" who only eat southern food, why don't you know that these delicacies are all produced in the south? In a humorous way, He Zhizhang ridiculed the prejudice and ignorance of these people.
He Zhizhang, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, his life is full of hippie smiles and witty humor. Even when his political rival Zhang Jiuling was his prime minister, he was not discouraged, but used wisdom and humor to defuse the pressure.
In his life, he has always been the best protagonist, enjoying life to the fullest, living long and having the easiest time. However, at the turning point of history, the prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty is quietly declining and in crisis.
He Zhizhang chose to return to Jinghu, and on the grounds of becoming a monk, he told Tang Xuanzong to return to his hometown. Tang Xuanzong held the grandest farewell banquet in the Tang Dynasty literary world for him, like bidding farewell to a long-time acquaintance.
He Zhizhang wore a feather robe given by Tang Xuanzong, and said goodbye to the guests who came to see him off one by one, including the prime minister, the clan, friends, and his student Li Heng.
In Datang, no literati have enjoyed such high treatment. His student Li Bai wrote "Sending Congratulations to the Guests to Return to Vietnam" for him: "The flowing water of Jinghu Lake is rippling and clear, and the crazy guests are returning to the boat and are happy.
If the mountain ** scholar meets, he should write Huang Ting for a white goose. ”
No matter where they are, they always have a hometown in their hearts. He Zhizhang, a long-time wanderer in a foreign land, returned to his hometown in Jiangnan after 50 years of vicissitudes, but he couldn't find a trace of familiarity.
It's like the song "Song of the Willows" that has been passed down through the ages: jasper is made into a tree high, and thousands of green silk ribbons hang down. I don't know who cut out the thin leaves, and the spring breeze in February is like scissors. This poem is full of child's rhyme-like innocent romance, written by He Zhizhang, which is particularly in line with his old naughty character.
His free and wild is like a famous sentence on the Internet, he ran away for half his life, and he is still a teenager when he returns. We might as well learn from He Zhizhang, calm down, and live happily, so that we can live a long life.
Only by spending a long time safely can we have the opportunity to see with our own eyes, the prosperous Chang'an.