Supreme Hermit

Supreme Hermit

Taishang hermit, a hermit of Tang Dynasty, lives in seclusion in Zhongnan mountain. He calls himself Taishang hermit and his life is unknown.

Poetry and Translation

Answer person

I came to sleep under the pine trees.

There is no calendar day in the mountains, and the cold does not know the year.

At that time, someone asked him how old he was, and he said: occasionally I would come under the pine tree and sleep with a stone on my head. There is no calendar in the mountains, so when the cold disappears, I don't know what year and month it is. I don't even know my age. How can I answer you?

The image of a poet

With his reclusive life and the change of solar terms in the mountains, the poet shows people the image of an expert who does not eat fireworks.

appreciation

If Tao Yuanming lived in the Wei and Jin Dynasties and thought about Xihuang, it was mainly because he was dissatisfied with the reality; then the Tang people yearned for the Taigu era, which was said to be a quiet and inaction era, which was more romantic. Taoism was popular in Tang Dynasty, and the author of this poem was probably his convert.

According to the ancient and modern poetry, the origin of this hermit is unknown. A good person once asked his name in person, but he wrote this poem without answering. The first couplet "occasionally come under the pine tree, high pillow stone sleep", this is not so much "answer", rather it is a bit like a vivid self topic statue. "Occasionally", its whereabouts appear how free and uninhibited, can not be tracked. "High pillow", you can see its tranquility. "Pine tree" and "stone" have simple scenery, but they are full of deep mountain taste.

In this "different world, not human" mountain, as living in the imagination of the ancient society, "although there is no record of the calendar, four years old." In Tao Yuanming's poem of Peach Blossom Land, the word "cold exhaustion" means to become a year old in four seasons.

Moreover, it goes a step further. Although it knows the end of winter, it does not know the year. There are two meanings here: one is derived from "no calendar day", which means "don't know how to count Jiazi" (a Tang poem: "if a mountain monk doesn't know how to count Jiazi, one leaf will fall to know the autumn of the world.") On the second level, I don't know what is the meaning of the present world, just like "I don't know whether there is a Han Dynasty, regardless of the Wei and Jin Dynasties" in Taohuayuan Ji. It can be seen that people in the poem are not only independent in space, but also free in time. Here, the image of "supreme hermit" is completed, and there is a sense of ready to come out.

"Five must have no leisure, the word is easy, the aftertaste is difficult." (Liu Xizai's general introduction to art) the poem has no illusory words, ancient language and no trace of exertion. The beauty of the poem lies in its rich meaning, which makes people far away. Li Taibai's answer to layman's question in the mountain is written without answer, without answer. This poem is not even a question and answer literally, but it is also a wonderful "answer to common people's questions". But its answer is more lively, more eloquent, people have "antelope hanging horn, no trace to seek" feeling.

It is recorded in the book of ancient and modern poetry that no one knows the origin and end of the hermit in the Supreme Court. The good man asks his name and does not answer, leaving a poem saying: "sometimes I come under the pine trees and sleep on the rocks. There is no sun in the mountains, and I don't know the year when it is cold." Dongpo's "poem to Taoist Liang" says: "there is no calendar day in the mountains." It's a good idea to use it.

Chinese PinYin : Tai Shang Yin Zhe