鐔津文集 13.31

13.31

When I read the collected works of Academician Li, I see more than a hundred of his yuefu poems. Their purpose honors the state and rectifies human relationships; they outstandingly possess the style of the Zhou poems, not merely chanting of emotions and dispositions, sighing, or singing for casual self-gratification. When Li Bai lived during the fifth generation of the Tang dynasty's rule over the realm, the Son of Heaven was deeply absorbed in music and women, and governance gradually grew slack. Treacherous individuals were able to enter and usurp great authority. It happened that the rebel troops of An Lushan assaulted the palace, and Emperor Minghuang took refuge in Shu. Li Bai grieved that the Son of Heaven had failed to hold his post and lightly abandoned the ancestral temple; thus he composed 'Distant Parting' to satirize him. As for composing 'The Hard Road to Shu,' it was to satirize the arrogance and obstinacy of the feudal lords; composing 'Liangfu Yin' was to mourn that his loyalty was unacknowledged and unused; composing 'Song of the Heavenly Horse' was to lament that worthy talents were discarded and their merits unrecorded; composing 'The Hard Road' was to loathe slander that prevented him from fulfilling his duty as a minister; composing 'Song of the Fierce Tiger' was out of indignation that the barbarians threw the Central Plains into chaos and from a desire to bring peace to the royal house; composing 'Song of Yangchun' was to warn against unrestrained sensual pleasure; composing 'Song of Crows Roosting' was to satirize loving beauty rather than virtue; composing 'Fighting South of the Wall' was to satirize the endless waging of war. Such instances cannot be fully recounted. Even when banished, he still composed 'Chanting at Qiupu,' hoping to awaken the sovereign's mind; but his hopes unrealized, he was ultimately cast aside among the rivers and lakes. Thereupon, in frustrated discontent, he made light of the world, drank heavily to great drunkenness, and lodged his thoughts in the arts of Daoist masters; thus his poems of travels and presentations were mixed with lore of immortals. Now, what arises from one's nature and where one's intent goes: the petty person expresses it through plain speech, while the gentleman expresses it through poetry. Seeking their intent through speech and poetry, the gentleman and the petty person can be fully understood. In the case of Li Bai's poetry, being such as this, how could his nature and intent be that of a minor worthy? Had they employed him from beginning to end and made full use of his talent, allowing him to establish meritorious achievements, how do we know he would truly have been unable? In recent times, people say Li Bai merely possessed pure talent and untrammeled spirit, and was simply an immortal banished from heaven. How could this necessarily be so? Looking at the style, power, talent, and thought of his poetry, it is like towering mountains and surging seas, lofty and vast, impossible to exhaust. Had his poems been present for the sage's editing in ancient times, they could have stood alongside the 'Two Ya' and been transmitted endlessly alongside the 'Guofeng'; the 'Lisao' and 'Sir Fantasy' would not even bear comparison.