Why is Bai Juyi's career so difficult?

Bai Juyi's official career in imperial examinations

Bai Juyi (772-846), a famous Lotte, was a famous poet in the middle Tang Dynasty. He has been very clever since he was a child. When he was a teenager, he wrote a famous sentence "Wildfire will not destroy them, they will be tall again in the spring breeze". During his life, he left many poems, including seventy-one volumes of Bai Changqing Collection.

Bai Juyi's poems are not only beautiful in language, but also easy to understand, elegant and popular. They shine in Tang poetry and are a bright pearl in the splendid culture of ancient China. Chen Li, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, once commented on Bai Juyi's poems, "Who taught ghosts to be poets after 60 years?" Floating clouds are naturally happy if they are not famous and easy to live in. Boys perform "Song of Eternal Sorrow", and Hu Er can sing "Pipa". The article was full of people's ears, and I was once sad. Marshal Chen Yi also spoke highly of Bai Juyi's poems: "I read Lotte's poems, which are simple and meaningful. Life is a simple description, who can inherit it in ancient and modern times? "

Bai Juyi was born in an official family. His grandfather was a county magistrate. He manages the county well, is honest and has a good reputation. His father is an officer in Xuzhou. Influenced by the family environment, Bai Juyi was determined to participate in scientific research and gain fame from an early age. In the Tang Dynasty, in order to get the guidance of a famous teacher, he rashly visited Gu Kuang, a celebrity, and made Gu Kuang laugh at his story that "Chang 'an is expensive, but it is not easy to live in a big place" and "it is easy to live in a talented place".

At the age of 27, Bai Juyi came to Chang 'an to take the Jinshi exam. Chang 'an, Tang Dou is prosperous and has unlimited scenery. It's a pity that Bai Juyi has no intention to see the capital at this time. He knows very well that the success of the exam is very important, because it is related to the entrustment of his family and the expectations of his predecessors. But among nearly a thousand candidates, only a few can succeed, and he has to rely on his own talent and luck. While waiting for the list to be released, Bai Juyi was uneasy until he heard the shouts of the release officer and the drums that followed, and the stone in his heart fell to the ground. In order to celebrate his academic achievements, Bai Juyi followed the example of his predecessors, climbed the Big Wild Goose Pagoda of Ci 'en Temple, and wrote the poem "The youngest of the seventeen Ci 'en Pagoda". In order to let his family share their joy, he interrupted the celebration in Chang 'an and rushed to his hometown. On the occasion of parting from friends in the same year, Bai Juyi wrote a famous poem "After I Left in the same year": "I often studied hard for ten years and gained fame at first. First, it is not expensive, and relatives are honored. When six or seven people, send me out of the imperial city. The mysterious car is moving in color, and the silk tube is lifted away. Don't hate pride. A horseshoe disease, spring back to homesickness. " Fully expressed his smug joy.

Two years later, Bai Juyi came to Chang 'an again to take the official election exam, and only after passing the exam can he be awarded an official position. Regarding the official selection examination, The Book of the New Tang Dynasty once recorded that "four things are desirable: appearance, speech, writing and judgment", "those who get it can stay", "try to get together and judge by looking at their books", and if they are not satisfied with the selection, they will try three articles, which are called "macro speech" and "try three articles". Bai Juyi's grandfather's name is Huang, which is homophonic with the word "macro" in the theme of "macro". In order to avoid his grandfather's taboo, Bai Juyi decided to give up the theme of erudite macro words and become an outstanding theme. The results were equally gratifying, and Bai Juyi was admitted to the department again and was awarded the position of provincial school book lang. This position is responsible for proofreading, which is more leisure. A few years later, when his term of office expired, Bai Juyi took part in the system examination, which was presided over by the emperor himself. Bai Juyi thought he could take this opportunity to see the emperor's "respect", but he didn't come out to preside over the exam. Due to full preparation, Bai Juyi also took the title of "erudite and versatile, and used it wisely" as a captain in Gyeonggi County and Jixian County, and served as a bachelor of Hanlin the following year. Soon, he was promoted to the left and became an important remonstrator in the imperial court, which began the peak of his fable poetry creation.