In the Song Dynasty, the imperial examination was the only way for scholars to honor their ancestors and change their fate. When the imperial examination failed, poets could only use poetry to express their pain, which formed a kind of poetry with unique characteristics of the times - failed poetry. From this kind of poetry, we can feel the different moods of different poets in dealing with failure, either extremely desperate, or cynical, or optimistic and enterprising, facing difficulties. This also injected a fresh and infectious flowing water into the literary world of Song Dynasty, which took "discussion, writing, talent and learning" as poetry, which continued and unfolded.



Thousands of miles of blue clouds are deeply frustrated



Zhao Xiang, a representative poet of the late Tang style in the early Song Dynasty, wrote in his "farewell to Shen Tianxi under the chariot": "before the end of every flower, the setting sun shines on the ferry. It rains frequently when you enter the customs, and you follow the gull alone when you return. There are songbirds hidden in the trees, and the mountain sky meets the overflow flow. The piano and calligraphy are different, but they are still in the restaurant." Falling behind is already a fatal pain for scholars. The sadness of parting with friends after falling behind and the long journey of returning to their hometown make them heartbroken. However, this poem is unusual, and does not directly write how painful it is, but through the scenes of "flowers are exhausted", "setting sun", "frequent rain", "alone with gulls" and so on, it sets off the sadness with sad scenes, and the sadness is fully displayed. His other song, "seeing Ding e off the first guest Tour", is even more sad: "before your honor, I cry and sing again, and my tears and wine are in harmony. The spring breeze on the other bank is quiet, and the night rain on the lonely boat is much. Birds sing, tobacco dew, and flowers chase the sunset waves. I have no slayer, and what do I want?" This is because Zhao Xiang realized that he was also "the first guest without sending Ding e off", and he didn't know where to go. Only then did he have such a sad scene of "crying in front of him and singing again, and making peace with clear tears and wine". Then the bleak scenes of "calm wind", "lonely boat" and "more rain" set off the sad mood, "bird singing" and "flower chasing" set off the static with movement, further highlighting the desolation and sadness of the heart.



Li Li, Su Shi's favorite student, also wrote poems about the end of the century, His "a certain Qing Yuan is blessed for three years in the spring, the Ministry of rites is not the first, and Mr. Meng Dongpo sent it to him with a poem" said: "half a life is empty, old and peaceful, and one day I don't know people and don't know people. My sideburns are black, and gradually become the same as the cloth clothes. Usually, I'm expected to be famous, and I'm surprised to live up to the responsibilities of my teachers and friends. The world is a long thing, poor and tolerant, and I'm still looking at the heroes and virtues of the princes. I want to return to Yingchuan with my cow clothes, and I'll hold Lei Jiqian in my hand. I'll only ask Yingzhou Zifu immortal in the disabled age school farm." This poem was written after he fell to the throne in the third year of Yuanyou (1088). Su Shi, who was a member of this branch, was very confident that he would be able to compete with Su Shi in this scientific examination, and Su Shi was also willing to help him. However, things backfired, and Li Lin finally fell to the throne. It is conceivable that Li Lin's inner pain and despair, but he can only blame himself for his inability to learn, so the emotion of his poem is more implicit and sad, with grief between the lines. The whole poem has not only the helplessness of "half life empty old", the desolation of "sideburns", but also the self blame of "failing to live up to teachers and friends", and the dilemma of "being poor and tolerant".



Unlike Li Lin's self pity, Liu Guo, a famous scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty, was much more radical in the face of his failure. He blamed his lifelong failure on the corruption and darkness of social politics, and his character became more and more wild under pain and anger. For example, his poem "the next chapter" says, "when the gate of heaven swings, it should not be called. Get up and look for the way home and sigh for going south. The new pavilion may not be Zhou Kai, and the propaganda room must eventually call Jia Sheng. The waves of the sea are surging in spring, and the air of the sword of heaven is towering at night. The first trip to Yuhang is three thousand miles away from my sad hometown." There was a wild spirit in the deep pain. The whole poem begins with "the gate of heaven should not be called". The "gate of heaven" is not a "palace gate". The poet is full of talent and full of confidence in the imperial examination, but in the end he has no ambition to serve the country. This sigh has written the aspirations of many frustrated people! The two sentences of "shaking the sea, the sound of spring, the air of the sword in the sky, and the towering night" depict the magnificent natural scenery from the perspective of hearing and vision, and further foil the depression and pain of falling. And "the first journey of Yuhang is to be sad about his hometown for threethousand miles". It is very sad about his long journey back home full of pain.



Similarly, Zheng Yu's "drink with sun Zhongshu after the next day": "thousands of miles of green clouds are frustrated, and the painting house wine arrives together. Not ashamed to fall behind the crowd alone, but it is a heavy betrayal of the old heart. If there is no shortage, it is not to break the sword, but to be strong and unyielding is fine gold. A man is thirty years old, why should he respect his front with tears." In the first couplet, "thousands of miles of green clouds" is written to meet and drink with friends to relieve loss and depression. The poet is not ashamed of falling behind, but only ashamed of betraying his relatives and friends again. The tail couplet comforted itself by not having to "cry all over the neck" and swept away the disappointment of being defeated. On the contrary, it had a kind of heroic and generous feeling and a passionate heart of struggle.



Who is the general? What kind of cloud



"The vast palace gate opens in the daytime, and the king tests the materials with high arches. If you learn like my son, why should you worry about losing it? Your fate belongs to heaven and cannot be guessed. If you are not angry, you should sigh lightly, and the article should especially avoid counting sadness. A man is alone in an unknown person. Who is the general?" This poem was written by Wang Anshi to comfort and encourage Li Zhang after his death. The first couplet wrote that the king presided over the imperial examination in the main hall, selected talented people in the world, and pointed out the importance the court attached to talents. Then he pointed out that a learned person like Li Zhang had no need to "worry about losing" an imperial examination. People's life will always be affected by external uncontrollable factors, so in the face of falling behind, we should have the consciousness of "not feeling light, and the article especially avoids counting sadness". Never indulge in sorrow, but should regain confidence and look forward to the future. As long as you have talent and keep striving and forging ahead, there is hope for the imperial examination and even the position of king, marquis and general. Wang Anshi himself was a scholar and had served as an official in many places and made great contributions to the reform of the imperial examination system in the Song Dynasty. Therefore, it is very appropriate for him to comfort and encourage such a loser as Li Zhang. This poem is heroic and magnificent, with extraordinary bearing, reflecting the spirit of the Song Dynasty and showing the new style of the song people. And his own life experience is the best example of "a man suffering from an unknown person alone, who will be kind" in that era.



Under the influence of the imperial examination system, which was more perfect in the Song Dynasty than in the previous generation, most people in the Song Dynasty were calm and had a broad vision. They would not be bitter about failure. Even if they were depressed when they fell, they would always cheer up quickly and find new hope in adversity. For example, Wei Ye's "send Xiao Zi to the west": "the donkey is thin and lazy, and he belatedly wants to return alone. Listen to the chicken walking in the morning and the moon, and sigh that the pheasant has crossed the spring mountain. The Wei River enters the Yellow River and the clouds return to the purple Pavilion. If justice is available next year, don't cover the songguan pass." The first three couplets use images such as "thin donkey", "crowing chicken" and "dawn moon" to fully show a picture of hardship and sadness when the loser returns. The first couplet depicts the lonely state of mind of the loser, conveying his helplessness of being lazy to go back, ashamed to go back, but having to go back. The scenery along the way also lost its luster and became gloomy and desolate. At the end of the two sentences, the realm suddenly opened up, comforted the losers not to retreat because of depression, and encouraged them with "next year is fair", believing that Xiao Zi will eventually stand out in the fair scientific examination.



Wei Ye's another song, "feeling at the news of Ang Lee's downfall", is also related to this: "the guest brings the spring to the list, and the opening place relies on firewood and thorns. Before looking at the imperial title, look for the name of the king first. In this issue, you dare to sigh the stagnation of civilization. You won't have a mysterious meaning, but silently empty feeling." When the spring list was announced, the poet didn't even have time to read the title, and began to look for whether Ang Lee had passed the exam. However, it was "not mysterious, silent and pathetic", silent and pathetic, he still believed that Ang Lee's talent would eventually win the crown. At the same time, the first three couplets in his "Yi Yun and Ang Lee see the mail" are "three lifts, Hugh and Lu Chen, and the dedication of the book has won the emperor's bosom friend. Burn the ashes, divide the jade, and wear the sand before you see the gold. Think hard, let pan yuebin become the temple, and don't move Meng Ke's heart when the road is poor". He also highly praised Ang Lee's talent, and wrote the hardships of the imperial examination road with philosophical sentences, but after the ashes, divide the jade, and the sand filters before you see the gold. As long as you have talent, Eventually, "it's not too late to call the bus again, and it's still hard to find laziness.".



Yang Wanli's "send Xue Zi to make an appointment to return to Yongjia" also wrote: "the Zhuo in the east of the river is blue in the sky, and the kylin in the north of Hebei is beaten by jade. Twenty years ago, the yuan broke off its Ying, and 5000 people left their sages. Please pay more attention to the grass Lingyun Fu, and I will pay more attention to the GUI fairy. Take advantage of the spring breeze and green temples, who will be the first to receive it." Zhuo is one of the five phoenixes in ancient Han folklore, symbolizing the quality of constancy and unyielding; Kylin is one of the four spirits in Chinese mythology, symbolizing auspiciousness and longevity. With these two leads to the loser of Yongjia, we can see Yang Wanli's attitude towards him. It can be seen from the poem that the loser was talented and ambitious, but unfortunately he failed to win the exam for 20 years. Yang Wanli believed that this was the loss of talents by the imperial court, and encouraged him not to be discouraged. He believed that one day he would be able to win the throne.



Mei Yaochen's "sending Tang Yan and appreciating the scholar's return to the next place": "on the jagged green willows, the Yellow parrots fly. Frustrated for a while, they bend and return thousands of miles alone. The Huai River boat is about to gallop, and the river is going to respond to the fertilizer. Thanks for guarding my hometown, I am glad to see the colorful clothes." In the beautiful spring with green willows and Yellow Warblers flying in disorder, Tang Yanshang failed to see the scholar off. However, Mei Yaochen did not stop in the sadness of seeing him off. He thought of the plumpness of the river fish on his way home, and the beautiful scenery of his hometown, which once intoxicated Xie Xie, a landscape poet, would bring great comfort to the loser.



Peng Nian's mind is too cold



Long gun of Song dynasty recorded in Volume VII of unofficial history of Jiangnan: "(Chen) In the year of Peng, Dazhong Xiangfu first knew Gongju together with neihan Chao Gong and Jin Xiang Wang Jun. The provincial list will come out and be included in the playing test paper. All people in the world block the thoroughfares and watch them go out of the province. All the princes frowned and looked arrogant and dazzled in the year of Peng. The list showed that his nephew was not selected, so he was angry into his first place. Meeting Peng Nian's future, I got Huang Chi on a few days, but I wrote on his back: "Peng Nian's mind is too winter, and his eyes are like vermilion temples.". Within the three words of error and luck, absurdity is still predicted among the four. He let his power deceive the Lord, but sold his family to the public. Thousands of lonely and cold people shed tears together, saying that there was no way to enter Yao Cong. " Peng Nian saw that he was angry, so he hugged him and played. The true believer is not happy because he is excused. " Chen Pengnian, as one of the best known tributes, was arrogant and arrogant. Therefore, when he was out of the list, his nephew who fell in the first place ridiculed him for deceiving others, only taking bribes and not thinking about family affection. However, the scientific examination in the first year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1008) has implemented the name pasting system, and the examiner simply does not know the name, native place and other information of the examinee, so the failure of Chen Pengnian's nephew was not caused by the examiner's secret operation. However, his nephew thinks highly of himself and can't accept the reality of failing, so he is angry and points the spearhead at his uncle as an examiner. Such extreme behavior is also rare among those who fail.



Coincidentally, Rao Cheng, the loser, also wrote in his poem "go down to Jinggong" that "he is still flying down the clouds, referring to the distance from Linchuan to Lu Yao. Two acres of wasteland must be sold, and he wants money to prepare for the young crops." The "young crops law", also known as the "Changping new law", is one of Wang Anshi's reform measures. It was originally intended to curb mergers and relieve the people in times of scarcity, but there was a deviation in the actual implementation, which became the tyranny of the government to turn to usury. The people have to borrow even if they don't, which is unbearable. Therefore, in Rao Cheng's poem, "two acres of barren land must be sold, and money is needed to prepare for the young crops." the irony and scolding of Wang Anshi is very strong, but it is not as radical as Chen Pengnian's nephew's poem. The scolded Wang Anshi is also different from Chen Pengnian. After seeing this poem, he not only doesn't get angry, but also gives ten gold, which is difficult to measure and expensive.



The above two poems are the two most intense poems in the Song Dynasty, which ridicule and scold officials between words. Zheng Yu's "riding white jade Lin, the capital of killing Qing, and returning drunk, Chi Chun. There are ordinary things in the world, and I don't avoid Lang Jun's horse dust" (the next trip to jinmingchi), although full of indignation and taking advantage of alcohol to relieve my worries, it also has the element of self remorse. In Liu Kezhuang's poems, "there will be a gathering of voices in the world, willing to be in the prime of life without matchmaking. Where to find Longquan in the fighting candle King's paper" (Fang Ruyi's first farewell poem also continued), such a chaotic society makes the poet resentful, revealing the phenomenon that talented people do not know where to realize their ambitions and are finally excluded, which is full of indignation.



In addition to the above discussion of resentment and scolding the examiners and the imperial court, there is a special kind of poetry, which mocks the completely different performance of scholars and the former and the latter. For example, Wang Mai wrote in the poem "Jane Diaoshi zhongjunqing's poem in the same year" that "when reading the poems of Jun and Lao Nong, one should read three Taixi. When the monarch is not in the first place, he cares about the people and is really compassionate. He directly kills the county officials and says that the rainbow runs through the sun". This poem is an ironic admonition of Wang Mai by using the poem "Lao Nongxing" written by Diaoshi Zhongwei in the first place. Diao had a deep sense of concern for the people before he was in the middle of the time, but he and after he became an official, "when he came to Donghu camp for 2000 years, the cities were tired of responding to orders, and the people were haggard in Kemu". Instead of caring for the hardships of the people, he added more burdens to the people. When Wang Mai wrote this poem, he used diaoshizhong's satirical poems to satirize his behavior as an official, and expressed his strong indignation. (Li Qingtang, associate professor of Humanities College of Zhejiang Shuren University)