Let's talk about the general idea of five songs first (the third song)

Bai Juyi

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?

In the fifth year of Yuanhe (8 10), Yuan Zhen, Bai Juyi's good friend, was demoted to Cao Junjun, a scholar in Jiangling, for offending powerful people. During his stay in Jiangling, Yuan Zhen wrote five poems "Free Talk" to express his feelings: "Death is an old and idle life, and I will do whatever I want" (1), "I didn't know my fate until I walked twice, and I won several honors" (5). Five years later, Bai Juyi was also demoted to Jiangzhou Sima. At this time, Yuan Zhen has been transferred to Tongzhou Sima. After hearing the news, he wrote a poem full of affection: "I heard that Lotte awarded Jiangzhou Sima". Bai Juyi is on his way to be demoted. He was deeply moved by the storm and wrote five poems entitled "Free Words" to offer peace.

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 people who have been framed like himself and his friend Yuan Zhen can stand the test of time, so they should take care of themselves and wait for the expiration of the "jade test" and "cross-examination" to clarify the facts and distinguish between true and false. This is a summary of my own experience in the form of poetry.

In terms of expression, although the debate is a poem, the writing is extremely tortuous and full of emotion.

At the beginning of the poem, "Give a gentleman a doubt" is to tell people a doubt, and it is very solemn. He used the word "giving" to emphasize the value of this method, indicating that it is an experience. This has firmly grasped the readers. Because there are many things in life that can't be judged, of course, everyone wants to know what kind of method this is.

What method is this? No need to drill turtles. Good luck. Say what is not and what is not first; What is it, but you don't just say it. This makes poetry twists and turns, waves, and more attractive to readers.

The third and fourth sentences in the poem euphemistically introduce this method: "It takes three days to examine jade, and seven years to distinguish materials." It's simple. To know whether something is true or not, only time can test it. After a certain period of observation and comparison, the true colors of things will eventually appear.

This is to explain the correctness of this method from the front, and then turn the pen around and explain from the opposite side: "Duke Zhou is afraid of gossip, and Wang Mang is modest and does not usurp." If you don't use this method to identify things, you often can't make an accurate judgment. The evaluation of Duke Zhou and Wang Mang is an example. When the Duke of Zhou became king, some people suspected that he had the ambition to usurp power, but history proved that he was sincere in calling the king, and his loyalty was true, saying that his usurpation was false. When Wang Mang was not in the Han Dynasty, he pretended to be modest and once confused some people. According to the legend in Hanshu, he is "the more he respects the title, the more modest he is"; But history has proved that his "humility" is false, and the self-reliance of the Han Dynasty is his true face.

"Shi Xiang died at the beginning. Who knows the truth of his life?" It is the key sentence of an article. The purpose of "definitely suspicious" is to distinguish authenticity. Distinguish the true from the false, and the suspicion will naturally disappear. If you draw a conclusion too early and don't need time to test it, you will easily be blinded by temporary superficial phenomena and can't tell the truth from the wrong.

The meaning of this poem is clear, but the language is euphemistic. The "method" of "never doubting" 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 not only arguments but also arguments. They contain philosophy in the image, show the universal law with concrete things, see the big from the small and make people think. It is very reasonable and interesting to express a profound philosophy in the form of seven-character poems.