Nalan Ci Annotations

Author: Zhang Bingshu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-05-01
Features: When mentioning the works of Nalan Xinde, people first think of his love poems. Indeed, love poems can be said to be the most distinctive and representative works of Nalan Xinde's personality. These works not only occupy more than one-third of the volume of Nalan Xinde's poetry but also represent the essence of his entire oeuvre. They are treasures forged from the poet's heart, tears, and ink. As predecessors once described Nalan Xinde's poems as "melancholy yet passionate," using these four words as a general assessment of his love poems can still be considered appropriate. Love is an indispensable part of human life, and it is also a timeless theme in literary and artistic works, a consensus shared by all, needing no further elaboration. However, love manifests in countless different ways for each individual—,, and so on. How was the love life of Nalan Xinde and his love poems? Professor Huang Tianji described them in his book "Nalan Xinde and His Poetry" as "rosy and gray." Indeed, Xinde's love life and his love poems were exactly like this—more disappointments than joys, more tears than happiness, filled with sorrow, sadness, and grievances. Although we can also find a few poems that depict the joy of love, such as "Xianxi Sha" (Eighteen Years in This World), which portrays the beauty and charm of his wife, Lushi, and expresses the poet's boundless tenderness and admiration for her; or "Huanxi Sha" (Whirling Light, Writing the Goddess of the Luo River) and "Yan'er Mei" (Reunion with the Starry Lady in the Blue Sea), which describe the happiness of reuniting with his beloved after separation, and so on, such works are indeed scarce. On the other hand, his poems that express the pain of love, depict sorrow, and tears are everywhere to be seen. Among them, the poems that most move the soul and stir emotions are his elegies.