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Chapter 365: The Old Friend Farewells to the Yellow Crane Tower

[The characters in the novel act like a willow in the wind. Historical trivia and historical figures]

She is the reincarnation of the Immortal Crimson Pearl Grass, just to repay the kindness of irrigation. He is both talented and beautiful, but weak and sickly. His parents died when he was young, so he had to live under the care of others. He is cynical and pure in character, but his fate is unfortunate, and he finally died in tears. He is Lin Daiyu, the first of the Twelve Beauties of Jinling. In this video, let us learn about Lin Daiyu's life.

Lin Daiyu was born in a prominent family in Suzhou. Her ancestors originally had more than 30 descendants. Later, due to the imperial court's gift, the family settled in the Jiafeng area, and it ended with Lin Daiyu's grandfather's generation. Lin Daiyu's mother Jia Min was the youngest and most favored of Jia's four daughters; her father Lin Ruhai was a former top scholar, served as a doctor in Nantai Temple, and was later promoted to Yangzhou Salt Inspector. When she was five years old, Lin Daiyu went to Yangzhou with her mother. Although the Lin family had limited descendants, they passed down poetry and books from generation to generation, and could be called a family of scholars. Lin Daiyu had a younger brother who died young, so her parents loved her very much, raised her as a son, placed all their hopes on her, and hired Jia Yucun as a tutor to teach her how to read and write.

When Lin Daiyu was six or seven years old, her mother died of illness. Her father Lin Ruhai sent her to the Jia Mansion, and Jia's mother took pity on her loneliness and adopted her. Thus, Lin Daiyu, who was only ten years old, met Baoyu, who was about to turn eleven, for the first time. When they first met, Baoyu asked Daiyu if she had a jade. When he learned that Daiyu did not have a jade, he got angry and threw the jade on the ground in anger, making Lin Daiyu feel guilty and wiped tears alone at night. After winter, Jia's mother gave up the green gauze cabinet for Daiyu to live in, and Baoyu moved to the bed outside. According to the poem written by Fu Cha Mingyi, a poet of the Qing Dynasty, it is the scene of Baoyu and Daiyu living apart at the same time.

Since Lin Daiyu entered Rongfu, she has been cared for by Grandmother Jia and treated like Jia Baoyu. The two of them are close and inseparable day and night. However, the arrival of Xue Baochai breaks this harmonious atmosphere. Daiyu feels depressed because Baoyu is often with Grandmother Jia and is more familiar with Daiyu, so the two have a closer relationship. However, the purer the friendship, the more friction and misunderstanding it is likely to produce.

At the end of winter, ten-year-old Daiyu was escorted by Jia Lian to Yangzhou to visit her father because he was seriously ill. On the third day of September the following year, her father unfortunately passed away and his body was transported back to Suzhou for burial. Not long after, Daiyu and Jia Lian returned to the capital and began to live in the Jia Mansion for a long time. Lin Ruhai's funeral was handled by Jia Lian, and the huge wealth of the Lin family seemed to have become an unsolved case. Tu Ying, a Qing Dynasty scholar, first raised the issue of Daiyu's family property. According to Jia Lian's words in the novel, "It would be nice to make another three or two million now", it can be inferred that Lin Daiyu was supposed to inherit the huge inheritance left by her father Lin Ruhai, but it was taken away by others. Modern scholar Liu Xinwu also agrees with this view, believing that as a salt inspector, Lin Ruhai should have a rich family property, but Daiyu did not get these wealth because Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng embezzled it and may even have misappropriated it for the construction of the Grand View Garden.

Lin Daiyu's eyebrows are like distant mountains with greenery, a pair of eyes that seem to be happy but not happy, two curved eyebrows that seem to be frowning but not frowning, a look of sorrow on her cheeks, and a delicate body full of illness. Tears are in her eyes, she breathes softly, she is like a delicate flower reflecting on the water when she is quiet, and like a weak willow in the wind when she moves. She is more thoughtful than Bi Gan, and her illness is three times better than Xi Shi. The author of "Dream of Red Mansions" describes Lin Daiyu as a woman with both talent and beauty, and her talent is mainly reflected in her poetry. When Yuanchun came to visit her parents, Lin Daiyu wrote a poem for Baoyu, who couldn't help but sigh that this poem was ten times better than his own. And her "Apricot Curtain in Sight" was also praised by Yuanchun as the best of the first three poems. In the famous plot of Daiyu burying flowers, facing the fallen flowers on the ground, she was heartbroken and recited "Burial of Flowers" to express her inner grief, which made Baoyu cry on the hillside when he heard the sound. After the establishment of the Begonia Poetry Society, everyone wrote poems on the theme of Begonia in Qiu Shuang Zhai, and Daiyu's poems were recognized as the best. Li Wan commented that her poems were elegant and unique, ranking second. At the Chrysanthemum Poetry Meeting in Ou Xiang Xie, Daiyu's masterpieces such as "Ode to Chrysanthemum", "Asking about Chrysanthemum" and "Dream of Chrysanthemum" were actually mostly expressing her feelings through scenery, full of melancholy and sentimentality, showing her sensitive and delicate personality traits.

Lin Daiyu was born in a prominent family. She was loved by her parents since she was a child, which made her develop a willful character. After her parents died, she lived in Jia Mansion alone. She suffered from the filthiness of the environment and the coldness of the world, which made her self-respect and cautious. In order to maintain her pure personality, she always prided herself on being aloof and innocent. Her sharp language made people think she was mean and narrow-minded. In front of Baoyu, she denounced the mediocrity of feudal literati and criticized the hypocrisy of the eight-part imperial examination. In the hard life of Jia Mansion, only Baoyu, her childhood sweetheart, was her soulmate, and the relationship between them became her spiritual pillar of survival in this secular world. In the section "Burning Manuscripts to Break the Infatuation", she burned the manuscripts while spitting blood to fight against this dark society. Daiyu showed the buds of new thoughts and consciousness, but under the oppression of feudal ethics, Lin Daiyu suffered from the "wind and frost sword" and finally died in tears on the wedding night of Jia Baoyu and Xue Baochai.

People often compare Lin Daiyu with Xue Baochai, and they are both ranked first on the list of women in the fantasy world. They have a dispute over virtue and talent in human nature, a dispute over good and evil in thought, and a dispute over gold and wood in marriage. However, they appreciate each other because of their same good and evil nature. Tu Shen of the Qing Dynasty mentioned in "A Commentary on the Dream of the Red Chamber": Xue Baochai is good at being gentle, while Daiyu is good at being strong; Xue Baochai uses worldly wisdom, while Daiyu uses true feelings; Xue Baochai dies for love in the secular world, while Daiyu dies for love in the true heart; Xue Baochai saves face, while Daiyu is detached from the world; Xue Baochai wins people's hearts, while Daiyu keeps her true self. But Daiyu's life is destined, and she doesn't know anything else.

[A good hand of cards played badly, a prodigal son's return is a model of gold, historical trivia and historical figures]

He played a good hand badly. Although he was born into a famous family and passed the imperial examination early, he had a bad reputation due to his bad conduct, which led to a bumpy career and mediocre achievements. He left for half his life, but he became the top poet with just one poem, which made Li Bai, who was under the Yellow Crane Tower, sigh in admiration and leave sadly. He is Cui Hao, a Tang Dynasty poet who can be regarded as a model of a prodigal son. In this video, let us learn about Cui Hao's life.

Since the Han Dynasty, many wealthy and prominent families have emerged. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, seven famous families were formed, namely the so-called "Five Surnames and Seven Aspects": Longxi Li, Zhaojun Li, Boling Cui, Qinghe Cui, Fanyang Lu, Xingyang Zheng, and Taiyuan Wang. Among them, Boling Cui is the best and is known as "the crown of clans and the first family in the world". During the Tang Dynasty, the family produced 16 prime ministers, so that Emperor Gaozong of Tang had to order them to forbid intermarriage. Cui Hao was from the Boling Cui family. He was born in Kaifeng, Henan in 704 AD. In 723 AD, Cui Hao, who was only 19 years old, passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, which was really enviable. There was a proverb in the Tang Dynasty: "Thirty years old is old and fifty years old is young Jinshi", which shows the difficulty of the Jinshi examination. According to statistics, there were 280 imperial examinations during the 273 years of the Tang Dynasty, and a total of 6692 people were admitted. The average number of people admitted each time was less than 25, which was several orders of magnitude more difficult than the current civil service examination. For example, Han Yu, the great scholar of the Tang Dynasty, experienced four setbacks before passing the imperial examination. Not to mention Cao Song, who wrote "One general's success is the result of the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers", who did not pass the imperial examination until he was over 4 years old.

Normally, such a talented young man should have a good life even if he did not hold a high position with a high salary. However, Cui Hao of that era, after making a name for himself in his hometown with his talent, fell into trouble because of his conduct. Li Yong, a famous calligrapher, painter and literati, who was eager for talent, became very interested in this young man after learning about Cui Hao's talent, so he invited him to his home. This invitation was undoubtedly a rare opportunity for Cui Hao. If it were someone else, they would definitely prepare carefully and try to leave a good impression on the leader. But Cui Hao didn't! I don't know if he was stupid or intentional, but he actually wrote a poem "The Young Woman of the Wang Family" to Li Yong:

Wang Chang is fifteen years old, and he is still young. He went to visit famous people, but only got one Cui Zi. At the east end of Luoyang City, the road is reflected with flowers and willows. Don't refuse when we meet, because you know it's your hometown.

He cleverly compared Li Yong to Wang Chang, the idol admired by everyone, and himself to the lucky 15-year-old daughter-in-law who was able to get close to the idol. Such a bold and straightforward description was difficult for Li Yong, an old man who adhered to tradition, to accept. He only said "the child is rude" and left, leaving Cui Hao alone in the wind. He was full of doubts: "I'm just making an analogy, is it necessary to be angry?"

After receiving a bad review from Li Yong, Cui Hao's official career prospects were slim. He simply lay down, and in the years of frustration, he indulged in poetry, wine and beauties. The "Old Book of Tang" records that Cui Hao "has talent but no moral conduct, likes gambling and drinking, and only considers whether his wife is pretty or not. If he is not satisfied after marriage, he will directly divorce her and replace her with another one." In fact, everyone has a love of beauty, and there is nothing wrong with liking beauty, but Cui Hao was fickle and repeatedly abandoned his wife. In modern times, he would be a "scumbag". In fact, there are many people who are more heartless than him just because of his indifference; drinking and gambling were not a big deal at the time. Li Bai was called the "immortal of wine", but no one said anything about him. Therefore, the reason may be that most of his poems were too frivolous and gorgeous, and did not write about the love affairs of the boudoir or the love between men and women. They were non-mainstream at the time and were not well received by literati and scholars. Cui Hao could be said to be infamous. Seeing that his future was becoming increasingly bleak, the always arrogant Cui Hao began to think about his life: he was talented and came from a prominent family, but now he was worthless. He was really unwilling to accept this!

Therefore, he learned from his mistakes and began to make changes and regain his strength. In the following twenty years, Cui Hao traveled all over the country, visited the frontiers, strolled around the south of the Yangtze River, and even joined the army in the northeastern frontier. He wrote "Liaoxi Zuo":

It is late in the year in Yanjiao, and the remaining snow freezes the border town. In April, the grass grows green, and the spring water in Liaoyang begins to flow. The Hu people are herding their horses, and the Han generals are recruiting soldiers every day. The heavy dew wets the precious sword, and the golden drums sound in the empty sand. I have worn all my winter clothes, so who can I send my spring clothes to? I send them to the person in front of the window, and they will follow the wind to Luoyang.

This poem is full of character and has changed the frivolous style of the past. The boy who used to have oily hair and powdered face has now transformed into a bold and unrestrained handsome man.

In 744 AD, Cui Hao came to Wuchang. He climbed the Yellow Crane Tower, looked out over the mountains and rivers, and recalled the past. He was filled with emotion and wrote down the masterpiece "Yellow Crane Tower":

The ancients have gone away on the yellow crane, and only the Yellow Crane Tower remains here. The yellow crane has gone and will never come back, and the white clouds have been floating in the sky for thousands of years. The clear river reveals the trees of Hanyang, and the fragrant grass covers the Parrot Island. Where is my hometown at dusk? The misty river makes me sad.

It was this poem that instantly made the previously unknown son of an aristocratic family a shining star among the many poets of the Tang Dynasty. Once the Yellow Crane Tower was published, it became popular immediately, even surpassing the poem Climbing the High Tower by the great poet Du Fu. Later, when Li Bai climbed the tower, he was also inspired to write poetry. When he saw Cui Hao's poem, he repeatedly called it "excellent, excellent", and wrote four lines of doggerel to express his feelings: "I smashed the Yellow Crane Tower with one punch, and overturned the Parrot Island with one foot. There is a scene in front of me that cannot be described, and Cui Hao's poem is written on it." Then he put down his pen and stopped writing.

In 756 AD, Li Bai traveled to the Phoenix Tower in Jinling. Inspiration surged like a spring, and he wrote the poem "Climbing the Phoenix Tower in Jinling":

The phoenix is ​​flying on the Phoenix Tower, the tower is empty after the phoenix leaves, and the river flows on. The flowers and grass of the Wu Palace cover the secluded paths, and the clothes and hats of the Jin Dynasty become ancient hills. Three mountains are half-hidden in the blue sky, and the Egret Island is divided by two rivers. The floating clouds always block the sun, and I am sad when I can't see Chang'an.

Does this poem sound familiar to you? Perhaps Li Bai was paying homage to Cui Hao in his own unique poetic style.

In 754 AD, Cui Hao passed away quietly in Chang'an at the age of about 50.