For those who are interested in Luo Yin, the History Encyclopedia editor has brought relevant articles for your reference.
Luo Yin was a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, living in the late Tang Dynasty and early Five Dynasties period. Perhaps you have never heard of his name, but you must know his famous poem about writing wine: “There is wine in this morning, drunk in this morning, tomorrow sorrow comes tomorrow sorrow”. Seeing these two lines of poetry, you must want to know what kind of person Luo Yin is who can write such a “famous poem”. Don’t worry, let me slowly explain it to you.
Luo Yin is from Hangzhou. He is intelligent, talented, and has a literary talent. He was able to write poetry at the age of 5. According to modern standards, Luo Yin can be considered a child prodigy. In the year 859 AD, the spirited and confident Luo Yin set off from his home, preparing to go to Chang’an City to gain fame and fortune. In history, there have been many stories of scholars quickly meeting beautiful women, and the great scholar Luo Yin is no exception. Luo Yin took a waterway and traveled north by boat. When he passed by Zhongling, he met a beautiful woman named Yunying.
Yun Ying may not be as beautiful as a fairy, but after dressing up, she is still very charming. When she was young, her family encountered a crisis and she had no choice but to become a geisha. In addition to playing the piano and singing, Yun Ying can also recite some poems, which can be considered a talented woman. Yun Ying admires Luo Yin’s talent, while Luo Yin likes Yun Ying’s beauty. However, he has not yet achieved fame, and Yun Ying also has self-awareness. She is just a courtesan who cannot give Luo Yin everything that an ordinary woman can do. After a short period of happy time, she hastily parted ways, and Luo Yin silently wished Yun Ying to find a suitable husband to marry soon.
However, in the first imperial examination, Luo Yin ended up failing. In the following decades, he took more than ten consecutive imperial examinations but failed to pass the jinshi exam. Luo Yin became disheartened and cynical, vowing not to take the exam again in this life. He regarded fame and fortune as worthless, constantly writing poems that criticized current society, even mocking Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei.
Once again, Luo Yinlai arrived at Zhongling and revisited the old place, leaving him with a myriad of emotions. And here, unexpectedly, I met Yun Ying again. At this moment, Yun Ying was still a courtesan, dressed in a charming and charming manner, with a dazzling array of flowers. At this moment, Yun Ying was still like a different person. She saw that Luo Yin was much older than before, and the green hair still appeared on her head. So she had some answers in her heart. She estimated that Luo Yin might not have passed the imperial examination yet, so she asked, “Luo Xiucai has not yet become a scholar? In the Tang Dynasty, scholars who did not pass the imperial examination were called ‘Bai Ding’, so Yun Ying meant that you have not yet passed the imperial examination?
This is about the pain of Luo Yin, but Luo Yin is Luo Yin, and the poet is the poet. He did not fly into a rage, but instead wrote a poem in the style of a literati as a response. The name of the poem is the famous “Mocking the courtesan Yun Ying in Zhongling”:
Zhong Ling bid farewell after more than ten years of drunkenness, and once again saw Yun Ying in the palm of her hand.
I have not yet become a celebrity or married, so I may be inferior to others.
Palm and upper body “refers to the graceful and graceful figure of a woman who is skilled in dancing. The meaning of this poem is also simple and clear: it has been more than 10 years since Zhong Ling got drunk when we met. Today, we met Yun Ying again, and her figure is still flawless. Now that I have not yet achieved fame, and Yun Ying has not married, the reason may be that neither of us is as good as others.
This poem adopts the technique of suppressing one’s desire before the other. The first two lines are mainly narrative, recalling the scene of their encounter back then. At the same time, the poet Luo Yin also praises Yun Ying for maintaining a good physique and appearance. The last two lines express the poet’s anger towards achieving fame and fortune, and also express the tragic situation of Yun Ying and himself being “both fallen from the ends of the earth”. They also make a good joke about their experiences. The poet did not directly respond to his own feelings of loss, but instead allowed Yun Ying to empathize with his own experiences and experience the simple and inspiring meaning of the answer.
Nowadays, the saying ‘I am not yet famous, my lord is not married, perhaps I am inferior to others.’ has become a timeless saying. When a person is mocked by someone who is in a similar situation to them, they usually quote this poem by Luo Yin as a counterattack, which often has an unexpected effect.
