Summer Readings｜In the Name of Poetry: Exploring Li Bai, Du Fu and Xue Tao with Bill Potter

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Searching for Li Bai, Du Fu and Xue Tao

and Bill ·Porter Together

In the name of poetry

This is a poem by William Horris, an admirer of Xue Tao. In a place called Xue Tao Alley in the east of Chengdu, Bill Potter, who believes that he was “Chinese in his last life”, walked here and poured three glasses of wine. recite. He was in Chengdu, walking around in Xue Tao’s poems to understand the poetess, and “hopes that Xue Tao can understand and feel that she is still loved and worshiped.

The statue of Xue Tao in Wangjiang Park in Chengdu (photo by Wang Xiao)

Bill Potter loves China Classical poetry, as a foreigner, he is not willing to just sit at home and appreciate the works of Chinese poets. He uses his own steps to explore the traces left by ancient Chinese poets in this world, and then to understand these words and phrases that have long entered history. Therefore, he once took a 30-day trip in China to visit the cemeteries or former residences of ancient Chinese poets he admired, such as Li Bai, Du Fu, Xue Tao, Chen Ziang, Xie Lingyun, etc.

He likes the poetry of these people , let himself walk in their history, he went to Shimen Mountain where Li Bai and Du Fu met for the last time, while watching the scenery, while imagining how the two great poets met, “In these places, you will feel that you are really in Talk to the Ancients”.

One

Starting from Beijing, Bill Potter embarked on the first stop of this walk: looking for the birthplace of Confucius – Nishan.< /p>

Nishan is only a short distance from Qufu Railway Station Only 30 kilometers away, the air on the banks of the Yi River is so fresh that you can smell the fragrance of moist soil. Farmers spread pine branches on the road and let passing vehicles roll down the pine cones and sell them to manufacturers of essential oils. These crushed pine cones make the whole road fragrant and refreshing.

Giant Confucius statue in Nishan (according to Vision China)

It is rumored that Confucius was abandoned by his mother and raised by a tigress and an eagle. Bill Potter was so interested in this rumor that he and his companions did not follow the regular tour route, but went to Confucius first The Confucius Cave abandoned by the mother. The group bent down, stepped on the stones on the ground, and went all the way to the deepest part of the cave where the rock wall was constantly seeping water, where there was a large and flat stone.

From Out of the cave, passing through the Guanchuan Pavilion, standing in the pavilion feels condescending, looking down at the confluence of the five rivers. Confucius once stood here and sighed the passing of life: “The deceased is like a gentleman, and he does not give up day and night! “Bill compared Confucius to the philosopher Heraclitus,” Heraclitus also said, ‘A man cannot step into the same river twice’. What are we missing? What is left? “Then, he shrugged, “Yes, I only have a pilgrimage. ”

Confucius’ Tomb (Created by Tu Wo)

Kong The tomb of Confucius is located in the temple north of the Sushui Bridge. It looks very simple, even rudimentary – just a grassy mound and two stone steles. The smaller stele is engraved with “Xuansheng Tomb” in seal script. Three characters, the larger one is engraved with “Dacheng Supreme Holy King Wenxuan”.

When the tourists were gone, Bill stepped forward by himself and poured two glasses of sweet corn whisky very reverently. , according to the “Analects of Confucius” records that Confucius is very drinkable, he agrees with Confucius said “beautiful! But the wine is immeasurable, and it is not as chaotic. “He drank his cup and poured another on Confucius’ stele and tomb.

Ⅱ

Bill came to Chengdu to visit the Huanhuaxi and Caotang where Du Fu once lived. Xue Tao is the main purpose of his trip to Chengdu. He is not interested in scenic spots and historical sites. For him, Wangjiang Tower only needs to walk around and watch flowers. “Here is everything that Xue Tao fans want to see: a memorial hall, an exhibition hall. , a false grave”.

The statue of Du Fu in the Huanhua Stream in Chengdu contrasts with the plum blossoms in full bloom (Wang Photo)

So, from the center of Chengdu, Bill hurriedly started a journey to find Xue Tao’s tomb. After more than a thousand years, there is very little information about Xue Tao’s tomb Yes, it is recorded in the historical data that Duan Wenchang, the military envoy of Jiannan, wrote an epitaph for Xue Tao, but the whereabouts of this stele, or Xue Tao’s cemetery, are still unknown.

Some scholars It is believed that Xue Tao should be buried in the southeast of Chengdu. Both editions of “Huayang Guozhi” in the Qing Dynasty stated that Xue Tao was buried in a place called Xuejiaxiang. I found on the map that there is indeed a place called Xuejiaxiang in the southeast of Chengdu.

Xue Taojing Qiujing(according to the idea of ​​Tu Wo)

Actually, This place is named because most of the people living here are surnamed Xue. Under the kind guidance of a farmer with a hoe, Bill found the oldest cemetery on this piece of land that was about to be developed at that time, probably more than 200 years old. . Bill also knew that this was not the tomb of Xue Tao, but he felt that it was not important. This was what he thought was the most suitable place to pay homage to Xue Tao.

Here, he poured three glasses of wine and recited a piece of “Poems of Poetry” by William Horris for Xue Tao, hoping that Xue Tao could perceive that even after more than a thousand years, she still To be loved, to be worshipped.

Three

The last poet Bill visited was Xie Lingyun.

Lingyun Village, named after Xie Lingyun, is located in the north of Xie Lingyun Shi Ningshu. Xie Lingyun’s “Mountain Residence” describes the beginning of Ningshu: “If you live in the north and the south, the water and the land are blocked. When you watch the wind and the clouds, you will know the place.”

Spring to Cao’e River (according to IC photo)

Leading StoneOn a bend in Menshan, Cao Ejiang suddenly narrowed. After 30 minutes of driving on a winding mountain road, he finally came to the “Cheqi Mountain” named after Xie Lingyun’s uncle, General Cheqi. “Yanlu·Ancient Miracles” records that until the Southern Song Dynasty, there were still Xie Cheqi’s sitting stones on Cheqi Mountain. Today, Tongting Building and Sanjingshe are no longer visible, but there are still the Xie Cheqi Sitting Stone, the ruins of Baoji Temple, the ancient road of Chishuling and so on.

Walking through the waist-deep tea forest to find a clearing, Bill set the glass. The mountains are filled with fog and the aroma of wine wafts. Bill alone recited a piece of “Shibi Jingshe Returning to the Lake” by Xie Lingyun. At the beginning, Xie Lingyun studied in Shibi Jingshe on the south bank of Wuhu Lake, and Shining Villa is located on the north bank of Wuhu Lake. Bill calculated that the place where Xie Lingyun wrote this poem should be five kilometers north of where he was standing. When he recited poetry about wine, he seemed to have started a dialogue with Xie Lingyun that spanned a thousand years.

Small scene of Xie Lingyun Memorial Hall (according to the idea of ​​Tu Wo)

< p> On this journey of poetry, Bill sighed: The cemeteries of the poets I visited were so different from each other. Some are simple, some are grand, and some have become farmland for farmers… But their poems have been handed down, and they are still alive even in the fireworks of farmers. Those poems are not exclusive to wealthy businessmen or high-ranking officials. Poetry can go beyond wealth and power. It penetrates directly into people’s hearts and can make people forget themselves. （Text/Mao Yuchuan）

“No One Finds”< /span>

Bill Porter/Sichuan Literature and Art Publishing House

“Nowhere to be found” is A collection of travel essays by the famous American sinologist and writer Bill Potter on a pilgrimage to ancient Chinese poets. With his boundless love for Chinese culture, and with whiskeys and wine glasses collected from across the ocean, Bill embarked on a brand new journey—seeking the former sites of many ancient Chinese poets he admired. Along the way, 69-year-old Bill walked along the Yellow River and Yangtze River, from Qufu, the hometown of Confucius, to Jinan(Li Qingzhao), to Xi’an(Bai Juyi), via Chengdu (Du Fu, Xue Tao), went to Hubei (Meng Haoran), Hunan (Qu Yuan), and went all the way to the south, intoxicated by the landscapes of Tao Yuanming and Xie Lingyun , and then arrived at the place where Han Shan, a poet and monk, lived in seclusion in Tiantai Mountain, Zhejiang Province. “Looking for People but Not Encountering” reproduces the noble poetic spirit of ancient China.

(Edit Duan Xueying)