It's really interesting to talk about the origin of the name Zheng. According to Shuo Wen Jie Zi, during the Qin Dynasty, a pair of brothers had a dispute over drums and musical instruments (musical instruments are also musical instruments), and an elder came forward to mediate and said, "In my opinion, you two don't have to argue anymore. So, divide it into two parts, and each person takes one. Do you need to call again? " That's settled; So people call it "Zheng" because of its homophonic relationship. There are two kinds of guzheng: playing guzheng and playing guzheng, but they are all lost now. Just according to the book Le Jian, "a zither is like a piano, six feet long, and it is combined with six methods. There are twelve strings, just like the pillar at twelve o'clock is three inches high, just like three inches. " Of course, there are thirteen strings. It's just that these statements are far from Zheng, which people are still using now. Compilation and Drawing of Su Wen's "Wuzhong Ren Xian Spectrum"
But one thing is certain, as a poetic art that is closely related to music, it is naturally inseparable from music. Therefore, it is natural for poets to use musical instruments intentionally or unintentionally to enter poetry. Li Yuan, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem "Give a prostitute", which is enough to prove an ending.
After talking about the background of this "Zheng", we will tell an interesting story about another poet, who is happy to play the Zheng because he wrote a good poem about it. Li Yu's son Xu, the second son of King Fenyang, made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty and was a smart and talented person. What is especially rare is that, as Princess Shang Shengping, Ai Guo likes to associate with literati with high poetry level and good moral quality. To this end, he often invites some literati to his house to talk about poetry and papers, hold banquets and invite songs and dances. It is really at all costs. At that time, celebrities gathered, including Li Duan, the "Ten Talented Talents of Dali" who once lingered in his home.
Once Guo Wen was promoted again and hosted a banquet to entertain guests from all walks of life; The poet Li Duan was also present. After three rounds of drinking, everyone was in a good mood. Earlier, Princess Shengping, who knew that Li Duan was good at writing poems, warmly invited him to write poems on the spot to spoil the wine. Li Duan also you're welcome, immediately became a melody; Qian Qi, a famous poet in the same seat, was unconvinced, saying that it must have been written by Li Duan a long time ago, and he couldn't count it himself. He asked Li to rhyme his poems with his surname. But this still can't beat him, but it will make everyone more convinced. (1) so, as a guest of Guo Wen Li Duan, many occasions without him.
At home, there is a maid named Jinger, who is very beautiful, and she is also good at playing the Zheng. Li Duan likes her very much and often glances at her, which is really affectionate; This incident was later discovered by Guo Wen. At the banquet, Ai Guo smiled and said to Li Duan, "If Mr. Li Can writes a poem with the theme of' Playing the Zheng' and makes all the guests present happy, then I will definitely not let this beautiful maid go and give her to you."
Li Duan listened to the hilarious, suddenly stood up, then holding a glass with a face of poetic smile:
Jin Su's guzheng makes a beautiful sound, and the beauty of guzheng sits in front of the jade house.
Trying to please Zhou Lang as much as possible, you see she deliberately dialed the wrong string. ②
The first two sentences of this poem are not too difficult to understand except that proper nouns are used to get to the point. The last two sentences involve an allusion, and the protagonist is Zhou Yu, the commander-in-chief of Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. Like Meng Tian, a general in Qin Dynasty, Zhou Yu was also a Confucian general who was proficient in music and made outstanding achievements. At the age of 24, he was famous, personable and brilliant, and was called Zhou Lang by Wuzhong people. As long as a person plays the wrong tune, he immediately knows where the other person is wrong, so there was a proverb at that time: "If the tune is wrong, Zhou Lang will take care of it." In this poem, Li Duan explained in a euphemistic tone that the beauty he wanted would be like a beauty playing the piano, asking for advice on purpose. In fact, Li Duan is also a poet who is proficient in music; Later, he quit his job, enjoyed playing the piano and reading Zhouyi, and even spent the rest of his life.
The poet has now written this poem according to Ai Guo's request. It is so elegant and meaningful that everyone immediately gave warm applause. Needless to say, the son of Shuaifu naturally refused to break his word. He gave this beautiful mirror to poet Li on the spot, not counting, but also gave him all the gold utensils placed on the banquet. In this way, the original lively banquet immediately set off a new round of high spirits.
Press: ① See the book Interview with zhanghua Based on Ma Cheng, which will not be repeated here. (2) This poem has been selected into Three Hundred Tang Poems compiled in the Qing Dynasty. (3) see the reflection.