Who knows the truth of seven-character poems for a lifetime?

It means: if this person died from the beginning, who knows the truth of his life?

Said by: Say five songs first, and the third one.

Author: Bai Juyi

Dynasty: Tang Dynasty

Original text:

I'll give you a solution to the problem. This method does not need tortoise shells, and yarrow can bring wealth and luck.

It takes three days to test the authenticity of jade, and it will take seven years to distinguish wood.

In the days of the Duke of Zhou, he was afraid of gossip and paid homage to the throne before Wang Mang usurped the throne.

If this man died from the beginning, who would know the truth of his life?

Translation:

I'll give you a solution to the problem. You don't need tortoise shells and yarrow stems to predict good or bad luck.

It takes three days to identify the authenticity of jade and seven years to identify the wood.

On the day when Duke Zhou was afraid of gossip, Wang Mang was respectful before usurping the throne.

If this man dies, who will know the truth of his life?

Extended data:

In 8 10 (the fifth year of Yuanhe), Yuan Zhen was demoted to join the army as a scholar Cao in Jiangling. During his stay in Jiangling, Yuan Zhen wrote five "Yan" poems to express his feelings. In 8 15 (Tang Xianzong Yuanhe decade), Bai Juyi was demoted to Jiangzhou Sima. At this time, Yuan Zhen wrote a poem full of affection after hearing the news, "Wenle Tiancai Jiangzhou Sima". Bai Juyi wrote five poems "Yan Fang" on his way to relegation to show peace. This poem is the third.

This is a rich and interesting poem. It tells a truth in very popular language: to fully understand people and things, we must pass the test of time, measure and judge from the whole history, and we can't draw a conclusion based on the phenomenon of one thing at a time, otherwise we will regard Duke Zhou as a usurper and Wang Mang as a humble gentleman.

The poet said that framed people like himself and his friend Yuan Zhen can stand the test of time, so take care of yourself and wait for the expiration of "jade inspection" and "material identification", which will naturally clarify the facts and distinguish the truth from the false. This is how he summed up his experience in the form of poetry.

The meaning of the poem is very clear, but the language twists and turns euphemistically, and the "law" of "no doubt" before and after is not directly revealed. The former cited two examples of "examining jade" and "distinguishing materials", while the latter cited two examples of Duke Zhou and Wang Mang to make readers think. These examples are both arguments and arguments. Philosophy is embodied in the image, and the universal law is expressed through concrete things, which makes people think. It expresses a profound philosophy in the form of seven-character poems, which makes readers think rationally and read with interest.