Sea of Poetry: Historical Enigma After Yang Guifei's Demise at Ma'wei

Author: Wang Huaisheng
Publisher:
Publishing Time: Not Available
Features: The works of the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai are renowned for their obscurity and numerous spurious compositions, leaving great confusion for later generations. This book begins by examining two of Li Bai's most famous works—Pusizaman and Yiqin'e—gradually unveiling the layers of mystery surrounding his compositions and thereby resolving a series of major enigmas in the history of Chinese literature:
1. In Li Bai's poems and ci poems, a large number of works by Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei are hidden, many of which were written after the Mawei Incident. These works primarily include:
- Most of Li Bai's ci poems;
- Gongzhong Xingleyici (Songs of Entertainment in the Palace), Jiyuan (To the Distant), Changshengsi (Longing), etc.
2. It uncovers the underlying truths of Bai Juyi and Chen Hong's The Longing for the Past, Li Shangyin's Mawei·Sea Rumors of the (Mawei·Rumors of the Nine Provinces Heard from the Sea). They were not embellishing folk tales but were based on solid evidence.
3. It reveals the truth behind Li Shangyin's Untitled Poem, a significant portion of which draws its inspiration from the tragic love story of Li Bai and Yang Guifei after the Mawei Incident. Works preliminarily associated with this include Jingsi (Brocade Zither), Bicheng (Azure City), and Untitled·Difficulty in Parting as Well as Meeting.
4. It solves the mystery of Yang Guifei's fate after the Mawei Incident, with key points as follows:
- Yang Guifei did not die in the Mawei Incident. After being rescued by palace attendants, she fled to the areas of modern-day Hubei and Hunan, and reconnected with Emperor Xuanzong in the first year of the Qianyuan era.
- In July of the second year of the Qianyuan era, Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei had a secret meeting on an island in the Han River outside Xiangyang, where they made the vow, "In heaven, may we be a pair of birds with wings intertwined; on earth, may we be branches intertwined."
- The meeting on the Han River island triggered the rebellion of Kang Chu Yuan in Xiangyang in August of the same year, leading Yang Guifei to decide to flee to Japan. Emperor Xuanzong assigned the Japanese envoy Kōan (Abeno Nakamaro) to serve as the Protector General of Annan as a cover for Yang Guifei's escape. Kōan collaborated with the Japanese embassy to Japan, enabling Yang Guifei to cross the East China Sea to Japan in the third month of the first year of the Shangyuan era.
- Yang Guifei's escape attempt led to the rebellion of Zhang Weijin in Xiangyang in April of the same year, exposing the secret activities of Emperor Xuanzong and others. This ultimately led to the coup in the Western Garden Palace in July of the same year, where Emperor Shaozong imprisoned Emperor Xuanzong in the Western Palace and punished Gao Lishi, Chen Xuanli, and Wei Lun, among others.
- After learning the truth, Emperor Shaozong deeply regretted his actions, apologized to his father, and sent messengers to Japan to bring Yang Guifei back. However, Yang Guifei refused to return, ultimately creating the eternal sorrow that has been lamented through the ages.
This discovery will force significant revisions to the history of Chinese literature and Tang Dynasty history.