An Interchange Of Intoxication And Grievance

Yan Jidao is one of the important poets in Northern Song Dynasty, and is important in the poem history. But he is not recorded in the official history, and few words have been mentioned about his deeds in the record documents, except the profound descriptions on him in the Preface of Xiaoshan Collection written by Huang Tingjian who is the good friend of Yan Jidao. However,"if you cannot understand someone, how can you understand his poem or book?"This article is going to re-analyze the characteristics of Yan Jidao based on the previous comments.First, he hates the politics. Yan Jidao has no great ambition as other Ancient Chinese Scholars. When he was young, he lived a happy life under the wings of his father, the prime minister of that time. But ever since the death of his father, the power of his family in the political world decayed away, and Yan had to live a lonely life to suffer the political thunderstorms. In the 2nd year Xi Ning, Wang Anshi took over the position of prime minister and promoted the new regulations, and thereby started the endless disputes between the old and new parties which lead to the die of North Song. Yan family was involved in that turbulence, including his brother Cheng Yu, brother in law Fu Bi, nephew in law Feng Jing. Yan Jidao himself was judged to jail by the Zheng Xia Event. Although he was set free finally, but he was greatly beaten thereby. The experience of becoming poor from rich and the political blows disappointed Yan so that he hated the politics and was indulged in his own mental world. Yan deliberately avoid politics, and his friend Huang Tingjian commented that he "always failed in the official career, but he...