Li Fanming looked at Prefect Yao helplessly and said, "Mr. Yao, I attended your class in those days, but so many years have passed. You can't keep asking me questions as if I were a student in the school. I'm already a Jinshi and don't need to take the imperial examination."
"As a member of the Zhenglou Society, you actually helped Fang Xusheng. What's wrong with me asking you a question?" Prefect Yao said with a smile.
"Yes! Come on! You are a good friend of Fang Xusheng, so it's interesting to comment on Zhang Longxiang's poems."
"That's right! That's right!"
Seeing that everyone was making a fuss, Li Fanming could only say, "Okay, okay, isn't it okay for me to say it?"
Everyone looked at Li Fanming with a smile.
"The first couplet of 'I heard about Dongting Lake in the past, and now I am at Yueyang Tower' is not special in itself, but if you look at the whole poem, you will find that there is a slight sense of relief between the past and the present, as if a wish has been fulfilled. In addition, the Dongting Lake and Yueyang Tower here, like 'the bright moon in Qin and the pass in Han', should be interpreted as: I heard about Dongting Lake and Yueyang Tower in the past, and today I finally arrived. The two are one, not isolated."
Everyone nodded slightly.
"In fact, Zhang Longxiang's previous poem has already described Dongting Lake as very magnificent. In August, the lake is calm, and the sky is clear. The mist rises from Yunmeng Lake, and the waves shake Yueyang City. These four lines make Dongting Lake seem endless, with waves rising and falling, and even seem to swallow up Yueyang City, making it as magnificent as the sea."
"However, the two lines of the second couplet, 'Wu and Chu split in the southeast, the heaven and earth float day and night', are even better than the previous one and impressed me. These two lines describe that when you climb up the tower and look into the distance, you can see that Dongting Lake is so vast that it divides Wu and Chu. The lake is so wide that it seems as if the heaven, earth, sun and moon are floating in the water. If you extend it a little, you can say that the rising and setting of the sun and moon seem to take place in Dongting Lake. Such magnificent poems are rare, and the previous one is far from comparable. If the previous one describes Dongting Lake as a sea, then this one describes Dongting Lake as an independent world that breeds the sun and the moon. It was when I saw these two lines that I was speechless for a long time and had to praise it. In terms of grandeur, Zhang Longxiang is not inferior to Fang Yun at all, and Zhang Longxiang's poems seem to be more profound than Fang Yun's."
"Well said!" Prefect Yao was the first to praise, and the other scholars in Qi State also echoed.
There were not only scholars from Qi State nearby, but also scholars from other countries. When they heard Li Fanming say this, they were all moved. Fang Yun's friends were so broad-minded and praised Fang Yun's opponents. They believed that Fang Yun was also worthy of making friends.
Li Fanming changed the subject and said, "However, Zhang Longxiang is not omnipotent or perfect after all. I have read all his poems. It is true that his characteristics and advantages are to put emotions into his poems and blend emotions and scenes. However, he seems to have suffered too much from the ten years of imprisonment and has not been able to completely let go. For example, the sadness of "The flowers shed tears when they feel the time, and the birds startle my heart when I feel the separation" in "Spring View", the regret of "Looking northwest to Chang'an, I feel sorry for the countless mountains", the longing of "My heart is loyal to my country, and I shed two lines of tears for my relatives", the resentment of "I look at the flowers with tears, and I don't talk to the King of Chu", the anger of "I can't bear to see my friends become new ghosts, and I look for poems in anger at the swords", and so on. When there are too many poems of this kind, the emotions are more important than the scenes, or even more important than the poems, which is a bit overwhelming. His talent expresses too much of his feelings, and his pattern and mind seem to be a little behind Fang Xusheng."
"This viewpoint is very fresh and brilliant!" Magistrate Yao said with a smile, while the other scholars looked thoughtful.
Li Fanming added: "Of course, this is his misfortune, but also his luck. If he had not been in prison for ten years, he might not have been able to write such a beautiful poem with such rich emotions. We cannot blame him for the fact that his personal emotions in his poems are too strong and destroy the whole of the poems. If poetry has blood, then this overflowing emotion is an inseparable part of his poetry blood. We may not like it, but we cannot completely deny it."
The scholars nearby all agreed.
"As for the last four lines, their value to poetry is obviously not as good as the first four lines, but to him, they are far more important than the first four lines. If you were Zhang Longxiang, what would the vast Dongting Lake and the magnificent Yueyang Tower do? Coming to Shengyuan Continent, I have difficulty in contact with my relatives and friends. I am not used to the climate here, and I have to compete in literature with only a lonely boat. Thinking of the wars in the north and in various parts of the human race, I found that I had no ability to stop them. I could only lean on the railing upstairs and cry for the suffering people and the beautiful mountains and rivers of the human race. If this poem is interpreted independently, it is like this. If it is connected with the previous poem, it is hard to say."
"It's hard to say, but you have to say it. Keep going!" Prefect Yao said with a smile.
Li Fanming looked around helplessly and found that everyone's expression was very similar to that of Prefect Yao. He shook his head and said, "If it is related to what happened today, the last four lines of this poem are even worse than the previous one! Not a single word of relatives and friends can be understood, but the old and sick have a lonely boat, which is an allusion to the fact that he was rejected by Shengyuan Continent and only the lonely boat of 'Qingguo' supports him. The rest of the scholars of the human race have already preconceived that Fang Xusheng is the leader of the four great talents. These two lines are complaining and crying."
"As for 'The army is at the pass of the mountains in the north, and tears are flowing from the pavilion', the intention is even more malicious. This is obviously mocking Fang Yun. The war has already started in the north of Jing Kingdom, and he still has the leisure to serve as the governor of two states. But he, Zhang Longxiang, is different. He is a hero who participated in the battle of Liangjie Mountain, so he can only stand on the Yueyang Tower and shed tears for the fallen land of the human race."
A scholar asked: "Brother Fanming, isn't your interpretation too... extreme?"
Li Fanming said helplessly: "I don't want this kind of interpretation either, but since he has accepted the position of Grand Tutor of Qing State, I can only interpret this poem in this way. However, I have to say that Zhang Longxiang is very talented. He obviously wants to participate in the literary gathering, but he has thrown out two excellent poems in succession, which is really a rare talent."
“Alas, if we count carefully, with Fang Xusheng’s "Climbing Yueyang Tower" and these two poems by Zhang Longxiang, it is basically certain that no better poem or essay will appear in the Yellow Crane Tower within the next five years. The crown of the world’s number one tower has already fallen on Yueyang Tower.” A Qing country Jinshi said helplessly.
"Maybe not."
Yao Zhifu said: "If you are not as good as others in poetry and prose, you are not as good as others. It is not shameful to lose to Fang Xusheng and Zhang Mingzhou. It is shameful to be stubborn and refuse to admit defeat. After this literary gathering, the Zhenglou Society will naturally disband, but now, we still have to go to Yueyang Tower. We can't let the reputation of Yellow Crane Tower fall!"
"That's what your Excellency said."
"Our Zhenglou Society has basically withdrawn from the fight, but it seems that today's literary gathering is more interesting than expected. The five family heads of Jingguo should have arrived at Yueyang Tower by now. I wonder if Liu Shan will come. If Liu Shan comes, there will definitely be something interesting to watch."
"It's a pity that Master Jianmei has been training outside for many years and has not returned yet, so he missed this grand event."
"There is no other way. The training of new great scholars is extraordinary. It can take as short as three years or as long as more than ten years. Many great scholars even die in the training."
"I hope those great scholars who are honing their skills in dangerous places can also have a good Mid-Autumn Festival." Li Fanming said.
.(To be continued.)