The sunset is infinitely beautiful. What does it mean to be buried in the coming night?

"to see the sun, for all his glory, buried by the coming night." This sunset is really beautiful, but it's already dusk.

These two poems are from Le You Tomb written by Li Shangyin, a poet in the Tang Dynasty. This poem was written in Huichang in 1944 (844, 845). Li Shangyin lived in Taiyuan, Heyang, and traveled to the capital, passing through Leyuan Scenic Area.

This poem reflects the author's sadness. When the poet boarded the Leyuan Scenic Area to dispel the feeling of "discomfort", he saw the splendid sunset and was filled with emotion.

The original poem is as follows:

In the evening, I was unhappy and drove to Gu.

Sunset, infinitely beautiful, only near dusk.

Translated into vernacular as follows:

In a bad mood at night, I drove to Leyuan Scenic Area alone.

This sunset is really beautiful, but it's already dusk.

Some words, I think it is necessary to explain them separately:

Leyuan Scenic Area: In the south of Chang 'an (now Xi 'an), it was the highest place in Chang 'an in Tang Dynasty. Xuan Di, Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty, established Leyou Temple, also known as Leyou Garden. Boarding it is expected to be Chang 'an. Le Garden Scenic Area is a part of Yichun Garden in Qin Dynasty, which was named after the early Western Han Dynasty. "History of Han Dynasty Xuandi Ji" states, "After three years as a god, I will be happy in the garden". Xu, the first empress of Xuan Di, Emperor Gaozu, died after giving birth and was buried here. Because "Yuan" and "Yuan" are homophonic, Leyuan Garden is called "Leyuan Garden Scenic Area". There is a record in Records of Guanzhong: "Xuan Di Hou Xu was buried in Leyou Lane, Chang 'an County. The temple was built in the north of Qujiang Pool, and it was named Leyou Temple because of the garden (Chang 'an Records was mistakenly written as a burial word)."

Night: Night. Discomfort: displeasure, unhappiness.

Ancient Garden: refers to the scenic spot of Leyuan Garden.

Near: Soon.

The first two sentences of this poem, "There is a shadow in my heart, and I have driven up among the tombs of Leyou", pointing out the time and reason for going to Guyuan. "Night" means it's getting dark, and "uncomfortable" means unhappy. The poet is in a melancholy mood. In order to relieve boredom, he drove out to see the scenery, so he boarded the ancient plain, that is, Leyuan Scenic Area. Since ancient times, poets have been sentimental and sentimental, but whenever they look far up, they are more likely to arouse endless thoughts: the sadness of home and country, the feeling of life experience, the feelings of ancient and modern times, and the thoughts of heaven and man are often intertwined, full of grievances, and almost unspeakable. As soon as Chen Ziang boarded the Youzhou Ancient Terrace, he uttered a sigh of "I miss heaven and earth, and there is no limit, no limit", which is probably the most representative example. Li Shangyin's visit to "I'm already in Leyou Graves" is not to find love, but to dispel his feeling of "twilight in my heart".

The word "sunset" has always been regarded as a poet's lament about the imminent decline of the Tang Dynasty empire. The Tang dynasty flourished for a while, and now it is just like this sunset, not for long. So this poem has long been translated into this: "The sunset is infinitely beautiful! It's just going to fall. " In the late Tang Dynasty, Li Shangyin always had a sense of decadence after extreme luxury, so this poem was understood as Li Shangyin's exclamation of the Tang Dynasty empire. The sense of loss that this beautiful thing is about to disappear and sink is deeply imprinted on every poet in the late Tang Dynasty. Therefore, compared with the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the poems of poets in the late Tang Dynasty always lacked that heroic self-confidence, and most of them were gloomy and implicit. Just like this poem, after being brought into the era of Li Shangyin, it is an ordinary and simple language, but it has a faint sense of loss. After all, it was the most prosperous empire in China and even in human history. How can its decline not be sad?

But this poem also has another interpretation angle, which has been recognized by many academic circles in recent years: this view holds that the word "gang" is not a turning point here, but a rational explanation. So the last two sentences should be translated into: the sunset is infinitely beautiful! Because it's close to dusk when I watch it! The author has researched many materials about this poem and found that there have been different views on the interpretation of the latter two sentences since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Moreover, with regard to the usage of the word "just", more and more data show that there was a meaning of "because" in the late Tang Dynasty, such as Li Shangyin's own "and a moment that should last forever came and went unconsciously." Moreover, this poem was written on a whim when the poet was playing. Perhaps the image of "sunset" could not be deliberately compared with that of the late Tang Dynasty, but it was just natural at that time. This explanation naturally makes the whole poem without the sadness explained above, but has a strong feeling of admiring the beauty of nature. Although it is near dusk, we can still feel the beauty, which is positive, contrary to the previous explanation.

This poem is a rare masterpiece of Li's poetry with clear language, no carvings, lively rhythm, profound regret and rich philosophy.