ChineseStudy

292. Mawei Slope | Zheng Tian

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English translation

Xuanzong turned his horse about and Yang the Consort died; the clouds and rain are hard to forget, the sun and moon made new.

Turning his horse about means Xuanzong returning from Shu to Chang'an after the two capitals were recovered, while the An Lushan Rebellion was not yet fully suppressed. Clouds and rain, from Song Yu's Rhapsody on Mount Wu, became a byword for love, here the bond between Xuanzong and Yang Guifei; hard to forget tells its depth. The sun and moon made new means the two capitals were recovered and the dynasty restored. In a single line, the private grief is set beside the state's renewal. (Hard to forget is written in one edition as though their love had perished; I follow the usual text.)

In the end it was the deed of a wise son of Heaven; but who, then, was in the Jingyang Palace well?

Wise son of Heaven seems to praise Xuanzong for seeing the greater matter and being able to let go; yet in the end keeps a reservation. The Jingyang Palace well draws on the story of Chen's last emperor: when the Sui soldiers broke into the city, he and his favorite consort Zhang Lihua hid in a dry well in the Jingyang Palace and were still taken captive. The poet sets that emperor against Xuanzong: putting the consort to death was better than ruin and capture—but under the word wise there lurks a gentle mockery.

赏析 · Commentary

咏史里的两难 · An Impossible Choice in History

玄宗一边“回马”收复旧都，一边是“杨妃死”。国家的重振与爱人的死亡被放在同一句里，无法两全。诗人不替玄宗辩解，也不斥他无情，只把这两件事并排摆出，让读者自己去掂量这份“圣明”的代价。

On one side Xuanzong turns his horse back and recovers the old capital; on the other Yang the Consort dies. The state's revival and a beloved's death are placed in one line and cannot both be had. The poet neither defends Xuanzong nor calls him heartless; he sets the two facts side by side and lets the reader weigh the price of that wisdom.

拿陈后主作反衬 · Chen's Last Emperor as Foil

末句把玄宗与陈后主放在一起比：同样是危亡之际、同样有宠妃，陈后主躲进井里做了俘虏，玄宗却下令赐死了杨贵妃。说是“圣明”，其实是说玄宗只比陈后主强一点。讽意藏在“又何人”的问句里，话说得婉转，分量却不轻。

The closing line compares Xuanzong with Chen's last emperor: both at a moment of ruin, both with a favored consort—Chen hid in a well and was taken captive, while Xuanzong gave the order for Yang Guifei's death. To call him wise is really to say he was only a little better than Chen. The irony hides in the question who, then—the words are tactful, but their weight is not light.

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