“孤灯挑尽”:宫禁习俗、艺术渲染和人性意义——读白居易《长恨歌》札记

“The Lonely Glowing Lamp”:Forbidden Custom Artistic Rendering and Humanistic Significance——An Interpretation of The Everlasting Regret by Bai Juyi

白居易《长恨歌》中"孤灯挑尽"的艺术意象,蕴含着无尽的人生况味和历史沧桑,在广大读者心中唤起了生动的艺术联想和深厚的情感共鸣。艺术意象与历史事实不可等量齐观,唐代宫禁中曾有以灯照明的习俗,但"孤灯挑尽"的细节描绘和意象构成,主要还是出于一种超脱而跳宕的想象力,以起到强化诗篇情绪、烘托艺术氛围的审美作用。白居易所同情和叹惋的,并非仅是存在于具体历史生活中的特定人物,而是人生命运的变幻无常,以及连帝王也无从逃避的悲剧命运。正是在这一富于人性意义的精神主题引导下,诗篇以其描绘的细腻、刻画的逼真、结构的宏大、情韵的婉转,成为中国文学史上的不朽篇章。

In Bai Juyi’s The Everlasting Regret,the artistic image of"the lonely glowing lamp"contains endless taste of life and historical vicissitudes,arousing vivid artistic association and deep emotional resonance in the hearts of the majority of readers.Artistic images and historical facts cannot be equated.The custom of lighting with lamps did exist in the Forbidden Palace of Tang Dynasty,but the detail description and image composition of"the lonely glowing lamp"were mainly out of a kind of detached and jumping imagination,which played an aesthetic role in strengthening the mood of poetry and foiling the artistic atmosphere.Bai Juyi’s sympathy and lament was not only for the specific characters in the specific historical context,but also for the capriciousness of life and the tragic fate from which even the supreme emperor could not escape.It is under the guidance of this spiritual theme full of humanistic significance that the poem becomes an immortal chapter in the history of Chinese literature with its exquisite description,vivid description,grand structure and tactful charm.