PFC Chapter 317 The Most Romantic Poet in the Tang Dynasty
Chapter 317 The Most Romantic Poet in the Tang Dynasty
But Xue Tao knew in her heart that these people were just here to have fun and were just playing around, and she had never developed any real feelings for them.
At the age of 17, Xue Tao ushered in another important turning point in her life. The newly appointed governor of Jiannan Xichuan, Wei Gao, held a dinner party, and Xue Tao was invited to attend. Wei Gao was a powerful figure who had fought in wars for more than 20 years and was also a person who loved poetry.
After a few drinks, Wei Gao asked Xue Tao to write a poem. Xue Tao knew the power of the man in front of her and that this opportunity might change her fate. So she carefully conceived and wrote the poem "Visiting Wushan Temple".
In the poem, she used the story of the goddess of Wushan to euphemistically express her inner distress and helplessness. When Wei Gao heard it, he liked it very much. Soon after, Xue Tao was accepted by Wei Gao into the Jiedushi's government and became his personal secretary to handle official documents.
Xue Tao was talented, worked conscientiously and responsibly, and never made a mistake, which made Wei Gao very satisfied. Wei Gao also wanted to write to the court to let Xue Tao be a teacher. Although the rank of a teacher was not high, the requirements were not low. Without the status of a Jinshi, one would not be qualified to take the position.
In addition, there had never been a woman entering the male bureaucratic system in the history of the Tang Dynasty, so this incredible request was not approved, but the nickname "female teacher" spread from then on.
Later, Xue Tao became famous and entered the peak period of her creation, and was given many nicknames such as "Female Schoolmaster". Gradually, everyone knew that she was a favorite of Wei Gao.
So people gave her gifts and asked her to do things for them. Xue Tao did not think much about it and accepted all the gifts. The gifts piled up like a mountain in her home. When Wei Gao found out, he was furious and immediately ordered Xue Tao to be demoted to Songzhou (now Songpan, Sichuan).
Songzhou is located in the southwest border area, which is remote and cold. Only then did Xue Tao realize that she had overestimated her position in Wei Gao's heart.
In order to return to Chengdu, she put aside her pride and wrote 10 particularly humble "Ten Poems of Separation", comparing herself to a puppy and a bird, and writing herself in a particularly pitiful way. Perhaps moved by Xue Tao's sincerity, Wei Gao took her back a year later.
After this setback, Xue Tao's mood changed drastically. She knew that it was better to rely on herself than on anyone else in her life. So she asked Wei Gao to help her leave the music industry and lived alone by the Huanhua River.
During her days by the Huanhua Creek, Xue Tao enjoyed the flowers and wrote poems every day, and she lived a very comfortable life. At that time, the paper for writing poems was not beautiful enough and was too big, so Xue Tao used the juice of the petals of hibiscus flowers to dye it pink and made small pieces of paper, which she named "Xue Tao Paper".
Unexpectedly, this "Xue Tao paper" was so popular that it was hard to get one. Xue Tao also became a rich woman and achieved financial freedom.
It is said that Xue Tao had an unforgettable sister-brother relationship with Yuan Zhen when she was 42 years old. Yuan Zhen was the great poet who wrote "Once you have seen the sea, all other waters are but puddles; once you have seen Mount Wu, all other clouds are but mists." At that time, Yuan Zhen, 31 years old, went on a business trip to Sichuan and fell in love with Xue Tao, 42 years old.
The two loved each other madly, but their good times did not last long. As soon as Yuan Zhen finished his mission, he dumped Xue Tao, leaving her alone and sad.
This relationship is quite controversial in history. Some people say that Yuan Zhen ruthlessly abandoned Xue Tao, while others believe that they were soul mates, but their fate was too shallow. But no matter what the truth is, the pain this relationship brought to Xue Tao is real.
In her later years, Xue Tao experienced many hardships, including the decline of her family, the death of her parents, becoming a singing girl, being exiled to Songzhou, and being abandoned by her lover, but her heart had long since calmed down.
She moved to Bijifang, built a poetry-reciting tower, put on a Taoist priest's outfit, and stayed away from the hustle and bustle of the city. In 831 AD, Xue Tao, 64, ended her legendary life.
She wrote more than 500 poems in her lifetime, 92 of which have survived to this day, making her the female poet with the most surviving poems among the more than 100 female poets included in the Complete Tang Poems. Some even say that her poetry is comparable to that of Li Qingzhao.
Her poems cover a wide range of topics, including praise of natural beauty, emotion about life circumstances, and desire and disappointment for love.
The "Branches welcome birds from the north and south, leaves send the wind back and forth" that she wrote when she was 8 years old echoes the "In February, the poplar catkins are light and subtle, and the spring breeze sways them and touches people's clothes. His family is originally a heartless creature, flying south and north all the time" that she wrote in her later years. It feels like fate is playing a joke on you, which makes people sigh.
[She is the most beautiful woman in the Three Kingdoms period, Zhen Ni's prototype, historical knowledge, Three Kingdoms]
She is known as the most beautiful woman in the Three Kingdoms and the heroine of the "Three Caos". She married into the Cao family as a second marriage, Cao Pi fell in love with her at first sight, Cao Cao even conquered cities for her, and her brother-in-law Cao Zhi wrote the famous "Ode to the Goddess of Luo River" for her.
There is a saying among the people that "there are two Qiaos in Jiangnan and Zhen Mi in Hebei". Unfortunately, she was assassinated at a young age because she was too outstanding. When she was buried, her mouth was stuffed with filthy things. She was the wife of Emperor Wen of Wei, Cao Pi - Empress Wen Zhao Zhen.
Zhen Mi, courtesy name Zhen Mi, was born into a prominent family in Wuji, Zhongshan, Hebei. She was a descendant of Zhen Han, the Grand Marshal of the Western Han Dynasty. The Zhen family had been officials for generations and had a prominent family background. Zhen Mi's father Zhen Yi had served as the magistrate of Shangcai.
It is said that Zhen Mi was very special when she was a child. Her mother often felt that a white-robed celestial being covered her with clothes at night. When Liu Liang saw Zhen Mi, he said, "This child will be extremely valuable in the future." Unfortunately, Zhen Mi's father died when she was 3 years old, and the little girl was heartbroken because she missed her father.
At a young age, Zhen Mi made people around her feel that she was different. She loved reading since she was a child and had a very good memory. She could remember everything she read once. When she was eight or nine years old, other children were playing, but she liked to read and write, and often used her brother's writing brush.
At that time, everyone thought that girls didn’t need to study. Her brother even joked with her: “Women should learn to work as maids. You are so obsessed with studying. Are you going to become a female doctor?”
However, Zhen Mi said seriously: "Women should learn from history and draw experience from the successes and failures of their predecessors, so that they can be virtuous." Her intelligence and independent-mindedness far exceeded those of women of the same age.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the country was in chaos and wars continued. The common people had nothing to eat or drink and could only sell things for food. The Zhen family took the opportunity to buy a large amount of gold and silver treasures, but Zhen Mi was worried.
She knew very well that "a man is innocent unless he possesses a treasure", and said to her mother: "It is not good to hide so many treasures in troubled times, as having money can easily bring disaster.
Now everyone is starving, we should give our food to help our neighbors. "The family listened to her and opened the warehouse to release the food. Not only did the Zhen family not suffer in the troubled times, but they also won an excellent reputation.
When Zhen Mi grew up, she was beautiful, intelligent, virtuous, and famous. Yuan Shao, who was the most powerful at that time, betrothed her to his second son Yuan Xi. Zhen Mi was particularly filial to her parents-in-law in the Yuan family and was a typical good daughter-in-law.
However, in the ninth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao conquered Yecheng, Jizhou. Cao Pi was the first to rush into Yuan's mansion. After seeing Zhen Mi, he was immediately fascinated by her beauty and wanted to marry her immediately. There is also a saying that Cao Cao also had his eyes on Zhen Mi when he attacked Yecheng, but Cao Pi got there first.
After Zhen Mi married Cao Pi, she was loved by everyone. She gave birth to Cao Pi's son Cao Rui and daughter Princess Dongxiang, and was filial and caring to her mother-in-law, Madam Bian.
Mrs. Bian had a hard life in the past and had many underlying illnesses. When she was sick, Zhen Mi fed her medicine, took care of her, and even recited sutras to pray for her. Mrs. Bian spoke highly of her and praised her as a "truly filial wife."
In the harem, Zhen Mi not only got along well with other wives and concubines, but also advised Cao Pi to marry more good women and have more children. She was so sensible, so Cao Pi naturally doted on her even more.
However, the imperial family is the most ruthless. After Cao Cao's death, Cao Pi succeeded him as King of Wei and then became emperor. Many beauties suddenly came to the harem, such as Queen Guo, Concubine Li, Concubine Yin, etc.
Cao Pi no longer cared about Zhen Mi. Zhen Mi felt aggrieved and could not help but complain. Queen Guo seized this opportunity to speak ill of Zhen Mi in front of Cao Pi and falsely accused her of cursing Cao Pi with witchcraft.
Cao Pi was furious when he heard this and ordered Zhen Mi to be executed. Even more cruel was that after her death, her hair was untied and her face was covered, and her mouth was stuffed with chaff. It was said that this was to prevent her wronged soul from complaining about her grievances in the underworld.
Such a beautiful woman was gone at the age of 38. Her life was so miserable: she lost her father when she was a child, was forced to remarry when she was young, fell out of favor in her middle age, and finally died unjustly.
The most talked about story is the one between her and Cao Zhi. It is said that Cao Zhi fell in love with Zhen Mi at first sight. After Zhen Mi died, Cao Pi gave Cao Zhi the jade belt and gold pen pillow that Zhen Mi used during her lifetime.
Cao Zhi was heartbroken when he saw the things and thought of her. On his way back to Fengdi, he passed by Luoshui and imagined Zhen Mi walking on the water. So he wrote the famous poem "Ode to the Goddess of Luo River". The beautiful words such as "graceful as a startled swan, graceful as a swimming dragon" vividly describe his admiration for the Goddess of Luo River.
Because of this, many people believe that the Goddess of Luo River created by Cao Zhi was based on Zhen Mi. This fu is actually an expression of Cao Zhi's long-standing admiration for Zhen Mi, and an expression of his secret and deep love for his sister-in-law.
However, if we delve deeper into Cao Zhi's life experience, we will find that there are many doubts about this statement. As Cao Cao's third son, Cao Zhi showed extraordinary intelligence and talent since he was young, and was praised as "talented".
After Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, he was suspicious and fearful of Cao Zhi, and constantly suppressed and persecuted him. The famous "Seven Steps to a Poem" story happened during this period.
In an extremely dangerous and embarrassing situation, Cao Zhi relied on his extraordinary talent and wisdom to temporarily save his life with a poem. After that, Cao Zhi's life fell into endless fear and anxiety, and he was always worried about his own safety.
In such a difficult situation, it is obviously unlikely that he would risk his life to write a love letter to express his love to his sister-in-law. Moreover, when Cao Pi married Zhen Mi, Cao Zhi was only 13 years old. The age difference and the writing style at that time made such love unlikely.
Therefore, more people believe that Cao Zhi wrote "Ode to the Goddess of Luo River" to express his frustration of wanting to do great things but not having the opportunity to do so. The Goddess of Luo River represents his ideals. The fact that humans and gods cannot be together is like his ideals cannot be realized, which is a reflection of his unfulfilled life.
[Before Qingming Festival comes, I will think of his "It rains heavily during the Qingming Festival". This rain is more than a thousand years old. Little knowledge of history, the Tang Dynasty]
He was the most lustful poet in the Tang Dynasty. He lived for 50 years and spent 30 years in brothels. The only authentic work left to this day is a love letter written to a singing girl.
He was also one of the few military geniuses among Tang Dynasty poets. He was well versed in Sun Tzu's Art of War and helped Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty quell the rebellion with just one strategy. He was the first "old driver" in the late Tang Dynasty, Du Mu, a hermit in Fanchuan.
Every Qingming Festival, whether it is to worship ancestors or go outing, we will think of Du Mu's poem: "During the Qingming Festival, rain falls heavily, and the pedestrians on the road are almost heartbroken. May I ask where the tavern is? The shepherd boy points to Xinghua Village in the distance."
The rain in Du Mu's "Qingming" has been falling in our world for more than 1000 years. But when it comes to Du Mu, there are too many well-known poems. For example, "A red-dusted horseman makes the concubine smile, no one knows that the lychees are coming" in "Quatrains Passing by Huaqing Palace";
"Four hundred and eighty temples in the Southern Dynasties, many pavilions in the mist and rain" in "Spring in the South of the Yangtze River"; "The stone path is slanting up the cold mountain, and there are houses deep in the white clouds. I stop the car and sit to enjoy the maple forest in the evening, the frosted leaves are redder than the flowers in February" in "Mountain Travel";
There is also the line "Smoke shrouds the cold water, the moon shrouds the sands, I moor at Qinhuai near a tavern at night. The merchant women know not the hatred of the fallen country, they still sing the song of the back garden across the river." Du Mu's poems cover a wide range of subjects and cover a wide range of genres.
In 803 AD, Du Mu was born into a prominent family in Xi'an, Shaanxi.
His grandfather Du You was a prime minister who served in the reigns of Emperor Dezong, Emperor Shunzong and Emperor Xianzong for 10 years. He was also a very famous historian and wrote 200 volumes of Tongdian, which was very influential in the middle Tang Dynasty.
Du Mu's father Du Congyu was also an official in the court. When Du Mu was young, his family was well-off. The Du family's mansion was located in Fanchuan, 30 miles south of Chang'an, and there were also luxurious garden villas. Therefore, Du Mu called himself "Fanchuan Hermit".
However, Du Mu's grandfather died when he was 9 years old, and his father also died of illness when he was 15. The family's fortunes quickly declined, and the house was sold to pay off debts. The family moved many times and had no fixed place to live. Even the servants fled.
Fortunately, Du Mu was smart and studious since he was a child. With the nourishment of his family's rich collection of books, he not only mastered the Four Books and Five Classics, but also developed a keen interest in historical political and military events.
When Du Mu was 23 years old, Emperor Jingzong of Tang Dynasty started building palaces. Du Mu was full of worries and wrote Fu on Afang Palace. The opening line "Six kings are gone, the four seas are one, the mountains of Shu are steep, and Afang Palace is revealed" is magnificent; the ending line "It was the six kingdoms that destroyed them, not Qin; it was Qin that destroyed Qin, not the world" is thought-provoking.
As soon as this article came out, it shocked the literary world. Du Mu also became famous because of this article. At that time, there was a doctor of the Imperial College named Wu Wuling who admired Du Mu very much and personally recommended him to the chief examiner, the Minister of Rites Cui Yan.
Du Mu was therefore selected as the fifth Jinshi. The following year, Du Mu passed the examination for virtuous, upright, and outspoken people, and became a proofreader at the Hongwen Academy and a military officer at the Zuowuwei, thus beginning his official career.
Du Mu, who entered the official career, initially served as the deputy commander of Jiangxi militia under the Jiangxi Provincial Governor Shen Chuanshi. The Shen and Du families were old friends, so Du Mu often went to the home of Shen Chuanshi's younger brother Shen Shushi to listen to songs, watch dances, and eat and drink for free.