Live streaming life: The ancients begged not to stop

Qi Cheng lay in bed, still unable to fall asleep, so he picked up his tablet and found a video to watch.

The classical Chinese poems we've learned often focus on patriotism or pastoral scenes, but there are also many poems with satire. Today, I'll review some of them.

If we talk about the most satirical poems, and the ones that were written well, then Liu Yuxi has to be mentioned. He lived long enough and was quite good at scolding people.

For example, there are two lines in his poem Peach Blossoms in Xuandu Temple: There are thousands of peach trees in Xuandu Temple, all planted after Liu Lang left.

The metaphor here is that the high-ranking officials in the court were all promoted after he was demoted, and are still new compared to him.

After years of exile, he returned to Xuandu Temple and wrote another poem: Where is the Taoist who planted peaches now? Liu Lang, my former lover, is here again.

The meaning of this sentence is very clear. The people who were promoted to the position of official are no longer here, but I, Liu Yuxi, am still alive and well.

"Liu Yuxi, if he were in our time, he would be considered a big troll."

"The scolding was really harsh."

"The poet is indeed a poet."

Outside the curtain, except for the Tang Dynasty, the other dynasties are completely in a state of watching a show. Because when it comes to poetry, we must talk about the Tang Dynasty, and it has nothing to do with those who wrote poor poetry.

Tang Dynasty

Li Shimin had heard of this person's name in the sky curtain in front of him. As for his satirical poems, Li Shimin thought it was nothing, which was already very subtle.

Wei Zheng is now pointing at people and scolding them.

Don't you have to bear it too?

If the emperors or nobles who came after them couldn't even stand this, then they were really too narrow-minded.

There's actually a question about Liu Yuxi's poetry: which Li Sikong was he actually referring to? The last two lines of this poem are indeed famous, and they even contributed to an idiom.

[Sikong was accustomed to such trivial matters, and it broke the heart of the governor of Jiangnan.]

This poem was written when he visited an official's home and felt uncomfortable watching them dancing and drinking.

However, he did not specify who this Li Sikong was. The current mainstream view is that this Li Sikong was Li Shen, but some people have discovered that Li Shen was not in Chang'an during this period.

Some people say that Li Shen is actually quite good, and that any criticism of him is simply a smear campaign by his opponents.

[Some sources suggest that this should be about a general named Du Hongjian, but the dancer was seen at the home of Li Sikong.]

[It has not been finalized yet.]

"I'm learning from Li Shen. Could it be that the textbook is wrong?"

"It's all the fault of the Niu-Li factional dispute."

"What kind of person is Li Shen? His poem "Song of Pity for the Peasants" is quite famous. After I found out he was a corrupt official, I was so angry that I didn't even eat."

Tang Dynasty

Li Shen felt like the sky had fallen. His opponents were so shameless that they slandered his innocence out of thin air. He didn't have any of that in his family.

And as for Liu Yuxi, can he write his poems more clearly next time?

At this time, Liu Yuxi was drinking tea calmly. It is possible that people in later generations did not understand this, but people at that time definitely knew who it was written about.

As long as the host plays the first two sentences, Du Wei Niang is also a very famous person.

"Is it understandable that people in later generations don't understand? After all, people like Wei Niang shouldn't be recorded by others." A friend of Liu Yuxi said with a smile, "I can't believe that 'Sikongjianguan' has become an idiom. I'm afraid that person won't be so happy when he sees you next time."

"Then I'll write another poem."

"Haha, you..."

……

After discussing Liu Yuxi of the Tang Dynasty, let's talk about Su Dongpo of the Song Dynasty. One of his satirical poems is also quite famous.

Song Dynasty

Zhao Kuangyin was stunned for a moment. Wasn't Su Shi a member of the bold and unrestrained school? What happened that made him write a poem to mock others? He hoped it had nothing to do with the Zhao family.

Although these emperors are not his descendants, he still feels ashamed when he brings it up.

The story is actually quite simple: a friend of Su Dongpo, who was already in his eighties, married a young woman and even wrote a poem about it.

After Su Dongpo learned about this, he also wrote a similar poem, the irony of which was evident in his words.

[Eighteen-year-old bride, eighty-year-old groom, white hair against red makeup, sleeping together under a mandarin duck quilt, a pear tree overshadowing a crabapple tree.]

People of Su Shi's time were already speculating about who wrote it. They hoped that this matter could be clearly presented to future generations, unlike the poem by Liu Yuxi.

Just put it on others.

Some older scholars have warned their descendants that if they plan to do this in the future, they must stop themselves.

If someone were to write a poem to satirize this, my reputation would be ruined for life.

Qing Dynasty

Emperor Qianlong snorted heavily, raised a square bottle with tea glaze, and finally put it down slowly. He still liked Su Dongpo very much.

However, he has a different opinion about this poem.

Isn't it just an old man finding a servant? What's the big deal? Although his royal grandfather did not live to be over eighty years old, he still had new people serving him in his later years.

It's just that the position is not high.

"Heshen, please write a poem about this..."

"I am a dull-witted official. How can my talent compare to that of Mr. Dongpo?" Heshen murmured. "How about I go find some talented people from Jiangnan? Their writing skills are quite impressive."

"Go."

Su Dongpo's friend named Zhang also has his name recorded. However, I don't know if there are any other records of him besides this one. After all, there are many such people in history who are only mentioned briefly.

Other surnames: Great, you weren’t talking about me…

[In addition to the poems mentioned above, there are actually many satirical poems. Let us appreciate the satirical poems written by two anonymous authors.]

Someone went to a landlord's house to celebrate his birthday and sent him a basket of loquats. The landlord's housekeeper didn't know how to write "loquats," so he wrote "a basket of pipa."

A scholar wrote a poem: "Loquat is not this pipa. I only regret that I was illiterate back then. If the pipa could bear fruit, the whole city would be filled with flutes and pipes in bloom."

[One examiner, whose cultural literacy was not up to par, wrote Gaotang Fu instead of Gaotang Fu.]

The examinee later wrote a poem to mock him: "Gaotang is not my father-in-law. The examiner is blind. If my father-in-law were to lecture, it would have worried King Xiang of Chu."

After reading these last two poems, most of the ancients outside the sky said they didn’t care, as they were all written about unknown people, although they were very ironic.

But I know it has nothing to do with me.

I have never confiscated loquats, nor have I ever been an examiner.