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Evan Lin

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Book Sharing: Ruined Chinese - Many Losers by the Chang'an River? Tang Dynasty Literature and Its Authors 


Collapsed Chinese: Many Losers by the Waters of Chang'an? Tang Dynasty Literature and Their Authors
Author: Xie Jinyu
Illustrator: King WF
Publisher: Yuan Shen Publishing
Publication Date: 2017/11/01
ISBN: 9789861336367
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Book Recommendation Website: http://moo.im/a/1szKQS

Preface:

(2020's First Book)

When I was young, because I loved playing video games, my family forced me to read a poem from the "Three Hundred Tang Poems" before I could play. The five-character quatrains were quite simple at first, but the later Yuefu poems were really difficult to recite. Seeing that this book contained many familiar stories of Tang Dynasty poets, I wondered how the real Tang Dynasty poets could come up with such beautiful verses? This book's vivid writing style and interesting text will make you want to read it all at once.

Recently, I really enjoy reading this series of interesting leisure books, in addition to my love for poetry and historical stories. These authors can use a vivid and interesting narrative style to make readers more interested in understanding these Chinese and historical stories. I really buy one book after seeing one. XDDD

Content Introduction: 

We see in our Chinese textbooks a generation of literary masters, outstanding poets, prime ministers, and calligraphers. They are either dignified and imposing, or they are worried about the country and homesick. It seems that they were born with a lofty mission, and even their setbacks and disappointments are sacrifices or foreshadowing for a more long-term ideal.

But, is that really the case?

In fact───
There is a kind of fame that is called the ancient people's fragile hearts.

The famous masters of the Tang Dynasty are very different from what you think!
Besides being talented, their lives are either sarcastic, or losers, or useless, or naive,
They are not much better than us!
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Introduction from DuMo: http://moo.im/a/1szKQS

This book uses a very interesting title, "Many Losers by the Waters of Chang'an?" to subvert your stereotypes of these poetry masters. Here are some of the related poets:

  • Han Yu's Seafood Feast
  • Liu Zongyuan's Betel Nut
  • Bai Juyi's Useless Life
  • Yuan Zhen's Wine

Listing the first four chapters allows you to understand that the author's writing style seems to have turned all the great Tang Dynasty poets in their minds into losers. Liu Zongyuan, because he was exiled to the southern regions, fell in love with the local aristocratic food (betel nut). The details are described in detail in the book. These descriptions are not only very interesting but also very valuable for learning.

Thoughts:

Being able to appreciate the historical background behind each poem again makes these poems come alive in my mind. The chapter arrangement is really interesting.

And the last few chapters also talk about the stories of An Lushan and Shi Siming, which made a part of Tang Dynasty history that I always couldn't remember come alive in front of me again. And after knowing the ethnic history of An Lushan, I can fully understand the cause of the "An Lushan Rebellion".

I highly recommend everyone to read this book. I believe that the rigid poems and historical stories in your mind will become real people with flesh and blood.

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