(Nguoinoitieng.vn) – Poet To Lan wrote only one poem in his life, one poem is only 2 sentences long, but posterity should take this as a lesson by heart.
| “Near the fairy castle of the moon, sunflower, rustic flower, spring.” |
In ancient, medieval, modern and modern history, poets are the most interested group of people. Even today, until thousands of years later, there have been and will be poems that are sung in verse, some of which teach modern people certain rules of behavior with the surrounding world.
“Near the fairytale castle of the moon, sunflowers and rustic flowers in the spring.”Such as Ly Bach, Do Phu, Luc Du and other poets.
But only one poet circulated a poem, in this poem there were only two lines, which is strange. This poet is To Lan. He has been called the laziest poet in history, having only one poem in his life.
| “Near the castle water can see the moon, close to the sun, the plants turn into spring. |
On the surface, when translated, the poem looks like prose with a line break, a hyphen, describing scenes of natural phenomena, but in fact the poet is waging a very intense inner struggle.
The verse is so famous, it is quoted a lot, while people hardly know anything about the author; It is a rare phenomenon in history. Two lines of classic poetry that many people know by heart. Castles near water will see the first moonlight, but if they are close to the sun, flowers and grass will also turn beautiful like in mid-spring.
During his lifetime, To Lan was a poet in the Northern Song dynasty, he held the position of a petty official in the district of Hangzhou, just like the current inspection officer. To Lan has literary talent. But he was very quiet, never talked and didn’t like to write poetry, without punchy or thunderous sayings.
He is pursuing a political career.
Working as a Mandarin for many years, he was not promoted, while his friends around him competed with each other, but To Lan was still diligently patrolling day and night. It didn’t make him sad. Officials are not what To Lan desires, although he understands that the higher the official position, the more beneficial it is for the people.
But one day, when the great mandarin Pham Trong Yem came to Hangzhou and appointed a series of officials, To Lan was suddenly surprised, he thought why not try to find an opportunity himself. If he gets promoted, isn’t that too good, he’ll get more contributions.
Pham Trong Yem was an excellent politician, military genius, brilliant thinker, revolutionary reformer and famous educator in the Northern Song Dynasty. But his poetic career is much more famous. His works are not only good in terms of words and artistic views, but also contain timeless aesthetic, ideological and philosophical elements; His poetry is still included in school textbooks.
He was also known as a competent and honest mandarin.
His whole life as an official Pham Trong Yem was not involved in trivial things, even if someone made a mistake, as long as he was dedicated and did his best with real talent, he would always do it .
After Pham Trong Yem became governor of Hangzhou Province, most civilian and military officials were promoted except To Lan. The reason why To Lan is on patrol all day. He was rarely present in front of the government, so Pham Trong Yem forgot, not because To Lan could not advance.
Seeing that everyone around him was being promoted, To Lan couldn’t help but be disappointed, but he couldn’t tell that to Pham Trong Yem, because he didn’t have the courage to recommend himself and he didn’t want to. not use love feel sorry.
Finally, he found a way: write poetry!
For Lan considered it very carefully, he thought he should write an excellent poem, surpassing all other poems, and put his thoughts and thoughts into it, so that Pham Trong Yem could understand what he was thinking.
“Near the fairy castle of the moon,
sunflower, rustic flower, spring.”
Squatting near the water, the splendid castle will see the beauty of the first moonlights. Towards the sun, single flowers and grass also become lush, just like spring.
“Near the fairytale castle of the moon, sunflowers and rustic flowers in the spring.” It can be said to be the shortest, most unique, best and most effective promotion app in the history of mankind. There are many hidden meanings in this poem. To Lan wants to say that for many years he worked diligently and was close to people, so he felt happy, but happiness is like a castle leaning on water all day, only to see virtual moonlight; While the plants and trees are mediocre, just being close to the sun can enjoy a lush spring.
Pham Trong Yem was surprised by this “application”.
Immediately, he noticed To Lan, had admiration for To Lan’s personality and intelligence, and finally regretted having acted without caring about such talent. Lan’s wish has been granted. Pham Trong Yem recommended To Lan to the court, King Tong Nhan Tong arranged for To Lan to have an official position suited to talent and virtue; But it is also strange, the three times he was promoted, To Lan refused, he returned to Hangzhou to work hard as a weekly official and was loved by everyone.
The poem also awakens Pham Trong Yem.
He uttered an immortal saying: “Ning minh son, regardless of birth” – this is the precursor to the saying “it is better to die with honor than to live with shame”. If life is not satisfied, it is better to give up than to be silent and suffer.
Perhaps the poem has two extra lines:
| “Ancient literature tests the tongue by singing, Jiangxi is the first person from Jiangxi.” |
Meaning: I have heard of it since ancient times, but only now have I seen real people appear in Jiangxi. These two sentences many people think that To Lan is a master of flattery. But the majority said that To Lan blamed Pham Trong Yem and affirmed, that everyone got promoted, while in Jiangxi, only the talented To Lan was praised like that but forgot. .
After all, an opportunist will not succeed in his career, but must be truly talented enough to receive the evaluation and recognition of his predecessors. To Lan is such a typical person. Although he only held the position of a small weekly officer & had no other work to leave behind, so he was not noticed by the history books, but with his exceptional talent , he easily wrote a “request” for promotion that thousands of years later has yet to spread, many people know it by heart.
Too bad To Lan is too lazy to write poetry!
The whole career is only two verses recorded, the last two are variations, not corresponding to the first two, so it could have been written by posterity. But with only two famous verses, To Lan has been recognized and praised by thousands of generations as the most talented and lazy poet.
It doesn’t matter, because like Emperor Qianlong, a famous poet of the Qing Dynasty, he wrote up to 42,000 very long poems during his lifetime, but never made a name like To Lan.
| “Near the fairy castle of the moon, sunflower, rustic flower, spring.” |
Doctor Tran Van Phuc