Story 71: Take Off Boots

Take Off Boots

Author: Anonymous

An excerpt from the Kunqu Opera “Dabai Drunk Writing”.

Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Longji, and his beloved concubine Yang Yuhuan were admiring flowers in the Chenxiang Pavilion, and summoned Hanlin Li Bai to recite poems to entertain them. Li Bai was drunk and ordered the eunuch Gao Lishi to grind ink and paper for him, and impromptuly wrote three poems of “Qingping Diao”. It was easy for Li Bai to write poems to suit the occasion.

Just as Gao Lishi, who was waiting on the side, said: “Farting can’t happen so fast!” Li Longji was very happy after reading the poem and gave him a drink. Li Bai borrowed wine and asked Gao Lishi to take off his boots and ridicule him. Gao Lishi was the great eunuch. The emperor called him brother, the kings called him weng, and the prince consort and the prime minister called him father-in-law. How could he be so impressive?

How could he be like Li Bai? The boots were taken off by him, but he will hold grudges from now on. mind. Later, he made trouble in front of Yang Yuhuan and gave Li Bai his official position. It turns out that Li Bai’s poem goes like this: “A branch of red dew is fragrant, the clouds and rain on Wushan are breaking my heart. I wonder who in the Han Palace is like it, the pitiful flying swallow relies on its new makeup.”

The allusion to the flying swallow used in the poem is that of Zhao Feiyan. Zhao Feiyan was favored by Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty because of her beauty and was made queen. Later, due to promiscuity, he was deposed as a commoner during the reign of Emperor Ping and committed suicide. Originally, Li Bai used Feiyan’s new makeup to compare the fragrance of famous flowers and did not mean to ridicule Concubine Yang.

However, Gao Lishi said that Zhao Feiyan in the poem refers to Concubine Yang and deliberately insulted her. Concubine Yang “suddenly realized” and was very angry, so she spoke ill of Li Bai in front of Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Bai was a poet, but he was naive. He did not carefully consider the use of allusions and was taken advantage of. He could not even become an idle official in the Imperial Academy, so he resigned from office.

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