Bai Juyi entered Chang'an

After Tang Xianzong ascended the throne, he carried out some political reforms and appointed upright ministers like Li Jiang as prime ministers. But he still favors eunuchs. He wants to suppress the feudal lords and use a eunuch leader as the commander-in-chief. This matter has sparked opposition from some ministers. The most fiercely opposed is Bai Juyi, a left behind cultural relic.

Bai Juyi was a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, born in Xiagui (now northeast of Weinan, Shaanxi, pronounced gu ī). His fame for being good at writing poetry spread early on. Bai Juyi was clever from a young age and could recognize the words "zhi" and "wu" at just six or seven months old. He began learning to write poetry at the age of five or six. Around the age of fifteen or sixteen, his father, Bai Jigeng, became an official in Xuzhou and sent him to Chang'an, the capital city, to meet the world and make friends with famous people.

At that time, it was after Zhu Long's rebellion that Chang'an suffered great damage. Especially after years of war, there have been food shortages everywhere, and the price of rice in Chang'an has skyrocketed, making life very difficult for the people.

Prior to this, there was a literary figure named Gu Kuang in Chang'an who was quite talented, but had a proud temper. When encountering younger generations, he often relied on his old age to sell off his talents. Bai Juyi heard about Gu Kuang's fame and brought his own poetry manuscript to Gu Kuang's house for advice.

Gu Kuang heard that Bai Juyi was also a descendant of an official family, so he didn't hesitate to receive him. Bai Juyi paid a visit to Gu Kuang and presented him with a famous poster and a poetry scroll.

Gu Kuang glanced at the young man, then at the famous post, and saw the words "Juyi". With a furrowed brow, he joked, "Recently, the price of rice in Chang'an has been very expensive, I'm afraid it's not easy to live here

Bai Juyi was scolded by Gu Kuang for no reason, but he didn't care and stood respectfully beside him, asking for guidance. Gu Kuang picked up the scroll of poetry and flipped it over casually. Suddenly, his hand stopped and he stared at the scroll, softly reciting:

"Lush grass on the plains, in one year, withers and thrives once each;

Wildfire cannot burn out, spring breeze blows again

Gu Kuang's face showed an excited expression as he read this. He immediately stood up and tightly held Bai Juyi's hand, enthusiastically saying, "Ah! It's not difficult to live in Chang'an to write such a good poem. I was just joking with you, don't take offense

After this meeting, Gu Kuang browsed through Bai Juyi's poetry and praised the children of the Bai family for their extraordinary talents whenever he met them. From one transmission to ten, from ten to a hundred, Bai Juyi became famous in Chang'an. In less than a few years, he passed the imperial examination and became a jinshi. Upon hearing of his fame, Emperor Xianzong of Tang immediately promoted him to the position of Hanlin Scholar, and later appointed him as the Left Attendant.

Bai Juyi is not the kind of bureaucratic person who seeks fame and fortune, and flatters and flatters superiors. He constantly creates new poems and exposes some negative phenomena in society beforehand:

On the one hand, he repeatedly remonstrated in front of Emperor Xianzong, especially opposing allowing eunuchs to hold military power.

This time, Bai Juyi advised against Emperor Xianzong appointing eunuchs as commanders, which angered him greatly. He said to Prime Minister Li Jiang, "Bai Juyi was promoted by me. How could he be so disrespectful to me? I can't bear it anymore

Li Jiang said, "Bai Juyi dared to speak directly in front of His Majesty, without fear of killing his head, which shows his loyalty to the country. If he is punished, I'm afraid no one will dare to speak the truth in the future.

Tang Xianzong reluctantly accepted Li Jiang's opinion and temporarily did not dismiss Bai Juyi from his position. However, not many days later, he was finally dismissed from his position as Left Shi Yi and changed to a faction official position.

Bai Juyi wrote many poems, many of which reflect reality, such as "Qin Zhongyin" and "New Yuefu". In these poems, some expose the evil of eunuchs using their power to oppress the people, some satirize the extravagant lifestyle of bureaucrats, and some reflect the suffering of the working people. His poetry is popular and easy to understand, and has been warmly received by the people in advance. Bai Juyi's poems are recited everywhere on the streets and alleys. It is said that after Bai Juyi finished writing a poem, he would first read it to his illiterate wife. If there were any parts he couldn't understand, he would revise it until she could understand it. This is only a form of transmission, but it indicates that his poetry is relatively close to the masses.

Because his poetry reflects reality, it offended the eunuchs and high-ranking officials in power, and also drew curses and resentment from some people. Some people want to falsely accuse Bai Juyi, but they can't find an excuse at the moment.

After a few years, Bai Juyi became a doctor in the Eastern Palace of the Crown Prince. Once, Prime Minister Wu Yuanheng was assassinated by an assassin sent by someone. This assassination has a complex political background, and no official in the court wants to speak up. Only Bai Juyi stepped forward and first submitted a memorial to Emperor Xianzong, demanding the arrest of the murderer. The eunuchs and bureaucrats seized this opportunity, saying that Bai Juyi was not a remonstrant and should not have made chaotic claims about major events in the court, and harshly accused him.

Then, another group of officials who had always hated Bai Juyi, spread rumors and slanders, and poured sewage on Bai Juyi. Some people say that Bai Juyi's mother drowned when she fell into a well while watching flowers, but Bai Juyi actually wrote poems such as "Appreciating Flowers" and "New Well". Isn't that a great unfilial act?

After such convoluted accusations, no one was able to defend Bai Juyi, and he was finally demoted to become a Sima in Jiangzhou (now Jiujiang, Jiangxi).

Bai Juyi was innocently exiled, and after arriving in Jiangzhou, he felt very depressed. One evening, he was seeing off guests at Penpukou in Jiangzhou when he heard a mournful sound of pipa playing from the river. He asked someone to inquire and found out that it was played by an elderly singer wandering in the rivers and lakes. Bai Juyi met the singer and listened to her recount her tragic background, feeling very sympathetic; Reminiscing of one's own experience, it triggers a heart full of worries. After returning, he wrote the famous narrative poem "The Song of Pipa", which said:

I sighed when I heard the pipa, and then heard the words chirping again.

As fallen people in the sky, why should we meet again.

Afterwards, Bai Juyi frequently returned to the capital and served as several high-ranking officials in the court. But the political situation in advance was very chaotic, and an upright person like Bai Juyi could not have achieved anything. He poured all his energy into poetry creation. He wrote more than 2800 poems in his lifetime, becoming a very precious heritage in the literary treasure trove of our country.