A prime-age man in his forties slowly crawled to the foot of Mount Ibaraki. He had a serious illness and had long since lost the ability to walk, so he had to choose to crawl. He had people carry themselves into the graves dug beforehand, quietly waiting for life to pass.
But as soon as he closed his eyes, the image of a young girl would appear in his mind, which made him feel very painful. So he crawled out of the grave and slowly crawled toward the edge of the water. There is only a long-dead banyan tree left on the edge of the water, and on the surface of the water, a pair of Mandarin ducks are happily playing in the water.
The man looked at the pair of Mandarin ducks, suddenly smiled, and thought to himself: The girl should find her own happiness, her children should be able to read poetry...
This person is Lu Zhaolin, one of the "Four Masters of the Early Tang Dynasty", and that girl is the love of his life. Why deep love is not together, the story begins in 663 AD.
Lu Zhaolin was born into a noble family and showed amazing talent from an early age. When he was a teenager, he served as the royal palace of Li Yuanyu, the King of Deng. King Deng admired him very much and often said to people, "This is what I am like (Sima Xiang). "However, King Deng died prematurely, and Lu Zhaolin lost his political backing.
Lu Zhaolin, who had no political background, was ostracized by the imperial court and in 663, he was transferred to the county lieutenant of the new capital of Yizhou. A teenager originally had the ambition to lingyun, but now he is far away from the court, which is really helpless and sad. Just when he was full of loss, a young girl surnamed Guo suddenly broke into his life.
On that day, the spring breeze was gentle, and the grass was long and warblers flew. Dressed in white, Lu Zhaolin met a woman surnamed Guo on an unknown street. He looked at the flushes and charming dimples on her face, and he really felt cute and beautiful. Like all love, they go from first acquaintance to acquaintance, and finally to deep love.
Guo's life has completely changed Lu Zhaolin's life, allowing him to discover many beautiful things in life. Soon after, Guo became pregnant. Lu Zhaolin had planned to take good care of his wife, but at this time, Chang'an's "canon selection" was about to begin. He felt that only by participating in the "canon" and finding a good way out could he bring a better life to his wife and children.
So he bid farewell to Guo and agreed to return to Yizhou after the canon. Shortly after Lu Zhaolin left, Guo gave birth to a child, but unfortunately the child died soon after. The sad Guo Clan could only hope that Lu Zhaolin would return early to reunite with him, but Lu Zhaolin had been gone for two years, but there was no news.
Guo eventually thinks that Lu Zhaolin is a complete scumbag, and she hates Lu Zhaolin. By chance, Guo Shi met Luo Binwang. After listening to the story of Guo and Lu Zhaolin, Luo Binwang personally composed a poem called "Erotic Love for Guo's Answer to Lu Zhaolin". In this poem, Luo Binwang fully expresses Guo's deep affection and Lu Zhaolin's scumbag nature.
And is Lu Zhaolin really a scumbag?
After Lu Zhaolin arrived in Chang'an to participate in the "canonical election", he finally failed. He wanted to return to Yizhou immediately, but his father died suddenly. In the ethical concept of the ancients, the son must keep filial piety for the father. Although Lu Zhaolin missed Guo, he could only quietly guard his father's tomb.
When he finished his filial piety and was preparing to return to Yizhou, bad luck ensued, and he suffered from "wind disease". This disease made his legs and feet begin to disobey the call, and the pain was even more unbearable when the disease began. He gradually became disabled and became unable to walk.
With his family in decline, a bad career, and a physical disability, he knew that returning to Yizhou would only bring a burden to the Guo family, so he dismissed the idea of returning to Yizhou. Later, whenever Lu Zhaolin was in unbearable pain, he would think of the Guo family he loved deeply. Life is bitter, but she is the taste of crystal persimmons.
Lu Zhaolin then worshiped the medicine king Sun Simiao as his teacher, and put the last glimmer of hope for recovery on the divine doctor. However, Sun Simiao could do nothing about this, and could only try his best to reduce Lu Zhaolin's pain. Lu Zhaolin's condition became more and more serious, and eventually his feet shrank and one hand was completely crippled.
He tried his best to resist every blow of pain, just to remember Guo's voice and smile. But he was just a mortal, and as the pain grew deeper, he thought of suicide countless times. He could restrain the idea of suicide again and again, but how long could he persist.
After a painful attack, the thoughts in his heart were gushing, so he wrote a poem "Chang'an Guyi", in which a few sentences are like this:
How to die,
May the Mandarin Duck not envy the immortals.
Flounder ducks are really enviable,
Double to double to come to jun?
Flounder refers to the flounder, and because its two eyes are connected to one side of the head, it is used as a metaphor for a loving couple. And the Mandarin Duck has lived together all his life, and the two sides will never be separated. Their love is worthy of people's envy, and the life of the gods is not so beautiful. However, although Lu Zhaolin and Guo Shi are deeply in love, the actual conditions force Lu Zhaolin to choose to let go and not become a Mandarin Duck.
When Lu Zhaolin ran out of last shreds of faith in the pain, he crawled to the edge of the yingshui. He looked at the Mandarin ducks in the middle of the water, then slowly crawled toward them. Eventually calm returned to the river, as if nothing had happened.
Thousands of years later, the movie "Ghost of a Lady" was released, which touched countless people. The background interlude is a poem called "Ten Mile Ping Lake":
Ten Mile Flat Lake frost sky,
Inch of green silk is sad for the year.
Looking at the moon alone,
Only envy Mandarin ducks do not envy immortals.
Because of "The Ghost of Qiannu", "only envy the Mandarin Duck and not envy the Immortal" has become a well-known verse for all, but few people know that it is based on Lu Zhaolin's "Willing to be a Mandarin Duck Not Envious Immortal", and along with the history buried, there is also the love story of Lu Zhaolin and Guo.
The love of loving each other but only letting go makes us feel more empathy than the special path of people and ghosts. Because at this time, we who read this article once had a love that we had to choose to let go for various practical reasons.
In the next life, love again.