Bai Juyi's hometown
Bai Juyi, whose courtesy name was Letian, was born in a family of officials. His ancestral home was Taiyuan. When his great-grandfather arrived, he moved to Xiaye (now north of Weinan, Shaanxi). Bai Juyi's grandfather Bai Huang once served as the magistrate of Gong County and was a good friend of the then magistrate of Xinzheng County. Seeing the beautiful mountains and rivers of Xinzheng and the simple folk customs, Bai Huang liked it very much, so he moved his family to Dongguozhai Village (today's Dongguo Temple) in the west of Xinzheng City.
On the 20th day of the first lunar month in the seventh year of Dali (AD 772), Bai Juyi was born in Dongguo House. Regarding the origin of Bai Juyi's name, there is a legend circulating in Dongguosi Village: Dongguosi Village is low-lying and was once flooded. When Bai Juyi was born, all the men went out to drain the water, and the women were so anxious that they burned incense and prayed at home. At this time, 44-year-old Bai Jigeng gave birth to a son. His 18-year-old wife Chen gave birth to a baby boy. His grandfather Bai Huang named his grandson "Juyi", which means that he hoped that his grandson would find an easy place to live. Xinzheng then became the hometown of Bai Juyi.
It is said that Bai Juyi was frail when he was young, but he was an extremely intelligent prodigy. When he was half a year old, his mother would often hold him in front of the screen and teach him how to read and see pictures. Six or seven months after he was born, little Juyi could recognize the words "zhi" and "wu". This incident became a legend for a while.
Bai Juyi’s grandfather Bai Huang, father Bai Jigeng and maternal grandfather were all poets. In this family background, Bai Juyi studied very hard. Later, recalling his studies as a teenager, he wrote an article: "Day Class Fu" , studying books at night, and poetry classes at intervals, without skipping a night's sleep, so that his mouth and tongue developed sores and his elbows became calluses. "With a good education, Bai Juyi learned to write poetry at the age of five or six, and he was proficient in rhythm at the age of nine. (Music), can interpret poetry and books at the age of 10. These experiences created Bai Juyi, an outstanding poet.
Bai Juyi is a great poet. This is something that even primary school students know. Few people have noticed that Bai Juyi is also a good official praised by the people.
When Bai Juyi was 12 years old, war broke out in Henan, so Bai Jigeng sent his son to Yuezhong (today's Jiangsu and Zhejiang) to escape the chaos. From then on, Bai Juyi left his hometown of Xinzheng and began a wandering life.
The culture of the Central Plains is the fertile soil for Bai Juyi to grow into a great poet. Although he only lived in his hometown of Xinzheng for 12 years, Bai Juyi loved the land where he was raised. Every plant and tree in his hometown is in the poet's heart. It left a deep impression on my heart. According to the "Xinzheng County Chronicle", 44 years after leaving his hometown, 56-year-old Bai Juyi made a special trip to Xinzheng on his way back to Luoyang after resigning from Suzhou. He came to the Qinwei River and stayed for a long time. Facing the sunset in the sky, he felt infinite nostalgia. The poet's writing:
Ride in the setting sun, pondering the nostalgia of the past. Zheng Feng's changes have been completed, and Qin Wei is still clear. Ruyunnu was not seen, but the name of peony was heard.
In his childhood, Bai Juyi often came to the Qinshui River in Xinzheng to play. From Bai Juyi's poem in memory of his childhood life, we can clearly feel that the Qinshui River in the poet's hometown was gurgling and full of tourists. The birds chirp and the orioles chirp, the bees fly and the butterflies dance, so poetic and picturesque!
It was almost dusk after the poem was written. Bai Juyi rode his horse back to Dongguo Temple, where he had been away for many years, and stopped all night in his old house. On this day, the poet, who had been sleepless all night, wrote his life experience on a stone tablet, expressing his true feelings for the hometown that nurtured him. Unfortunately, this stone tablet has now been lost.
The poet also wrote the poem "Staying in Xingyang". Historical data records that Xinzheng was under the jurisdiction of Xingyang County in the Tang Dynasty. In the poem, "big" is used instead of "small". "Su Xingyang" actually refers to the poet Su Xinzheng. The poem goes:
Growing up in Xingyang, I sang songs about hometown when I was young. After traveling for forty years, I returned to Xingyang. I was eleven or twelve when I left, and I am fifty-six this year. When I think about the children's play, I feel like it is still in my mind. The old place has been lost, and there is no clan in the hometown. Not only did it change the city and dynasty, but it also moved to the mausoleum valley. The unique Qinmei River is ruthless and still green.
From this poem, we can also see that the poet's memory of his hometown is "still in his eyes" and how sincere his feelings for his hometown are.
Bai Juyi spent his childhood in Dongguozhai. His grandfather Bai Huang died and was buried in Xindian Town, Xinzheng. There are about 100,000 Bai family members in Xinzheng, widely distributed in 14 counties and cities including Yuzhou and Xuchang. Their roots can be traced back to the descendants of Bai Juyi. No matter where they migrate, descendants of the Bai family believe that Xinzheng is their birthplace and first hometown. Every year on July 15th of the lunar calendar, descendants of the Bai family return to Xinzheng to worship their ancestors. Over time, an ancient gathering was formed, which has been followed to this day.