Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 163 Celestial Phenomena and the New Times

Zhezhi dance is a very popular Hu-style dance. Originally a solo dance for women, it became popular among all social classes in the Tang Dynasty and gave rise to many other forms of dance, including solo dances for men.

The male version of the Zhezhi dance is more vigorous and powerful than the original, and the music is more sonorous and stirring. The opening pipa sound is like the sound of metal breaking and silk being shattered, bringing a great auditory impact.

Wang Rou Niang received singing and dancing education from a young age, so she was naturally familiar with the Zhe Zhi dance. Holding the pipa, she casually began to play, and the music was very powerful. However, the pipa music soon weakened. Although it was still the melody of the Zhe Zhi dance, the tone and rhythm became more relaxed.

This was undoubtedly a serious mistake. Prince Ruyang was already poised to dance when the sudden slowing of the melody nearly caused him to twist his back. Many others in the hall shook their heads and sighed upon hearing the change in the tune.

"Young lady, concentrate!"

Wang Maozhong was initially pleased that the invitation from the Prince of Ruyang had given his daughter another opportunity to shine, but he didn't expect such a big mistake to occur right from the start. He couldn't help but frown and scold her in a low voice.

The girl failed to grasp the changes in the melody, and then she was scolded by her father. She became increasingly uneasy, and her plucking became more and more chaotic, completely losing its melody.

"Fine, let's get a different seated plectrum player!"

The sage did not criticize him harshly, but was somewhat disappointed, and then raised his hand to give another order.

Soon a new pipa player stepped forward to take over from the girl, who simply apologized and withdrew with a gloomy expression. She returned to her father's seat with her head down, then glanced nervously at Zhang Dai, who was still deep in thought. Noticing her father's angry gaze, she lowered her head guiltily.

As a new pipa player entered the stage, the stirring dance music began again, and as the music progressed, various other instruments joined in the performance.

The characteristic of Zhezhi music is that it is orderly in chaos. It maintains an exciting melody in the midst of extreme noise. At the same time, the dancers must use various leaping and jumping movements to draw the audience's attention from the music to the dance. Therefore, it is also a great test of the dancers' skills.

If the dance and music complement each other perfectly, it will undoubtedly be a wonderful audiovisual experience.

Therefore, musicians and dancers need to cooperate and complement each other. That's why when the Prince of Ruyang invited Wang Rou Niang to accompany him, he confidently said that it didn't matter if she made a mistake, because he was confident that he could make up for the mistake in the timing of the music with his dance skills. He just didn't expect that the girl's mistake was too outrageous.

However, after the skilled musicians from Yichun Courtyard took over, Prince Ruyang no longer needed to be distracted by the music and could dance with complete focus. His figure was already tall and handsome, and his dance movements were vigorous, powerful, and beautiful. The golden bells on his body perfectly echoed the music, which made the surrounding audience applaud and cheer.

For a moment, the entire hall was filled with chaotic music, the sound of bells, and cheers from the audience. The environment was extremely noisy, making it very difficult for anyone to calm down and think things through.

Even Zhang Dai, who was composing a poem, couldn't help but look up and glance at the Prince of Ruyang, who was performing a vigorous dance in the hall. He then understood why the Prince of Ruyang had chosen this particular dance to perform.

Composing a decent poem in a short time is already quite difficult, and the sage's restriction that the poem must be finished by the end of the dance made composing a poem even more challenging in such a noisy environment. If Zhang Dai's poem was still unfinished after the Prince of Ruyang finished his dance, then he would naturally lose.

Zhezhi dance is a vigorous dance with a strong rhythm, so the dance time is not very long, usually around 15 minutes. If it lasts any longer, the dancers will not be able to keep up.

An ordinary person might have been stumped by such a challenge. But Zhang Dai's poetry was unconventional, and after some initial thought, he quickly came up with a plan.

He then raised his head to admire the Prince of Ruyang's dance for a moment. It was indeed a sight to behold. In later generations, this level of skill would at least qualify him as a young idol trainee who could debut as a center.

"Sixth Brother, the dance is almost halfway over!"

When Consort Wu Hui saw that he was actually looking up at the dance, she couldn't help but whisper a reminder to him.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai nodded slightly, then picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and began to write swiftly.

At this moment, in addition to enjoying the dance, many people in the hall were also paying attention to him. Seeing him wielding his brush and ink, even though they did not know what he was writing, they were amazed that he could come up with a composition so quickly.

The Zhezhi dance reached its climax in the latter half, with increasingly larger and more expansive movements, posing a great challenge to the dancers' skills and stamina. But this was no problem for Prince Ruyang. He had studied the dance for a long time and had performed it at least a thousand times, having knocked away or lost more than a hundred golden bells in the process. Now, he performed it with ease.

The dance quickly reached its final section, and Prince Ruyang was only slightly out of breath, even having time to glance at Zhang Dai, who was scratching his head and still struggling to compose a poem.

But when the Prince of Ruyang turned his gaze, he saw that Zhang Dai had already put down his pen and was sitting behind his desk, smiling as he watched him dance. Had he finished writing his poem?
Although Prince Ruyang was already very skilled at the dance, the rhythm of the second half of the Zhezhi dance was too fast. Because of this distraction, he still missed a few beats. When he realized it and tried to catch up, his movements were inevitably messy and deformed, and his performance was far below his usual standard.

Fortunately, everyone's attention was no longer on him at this moment. Even the sage withdrew his gaze from the dance and looked at the paper with the ink still wet on the table, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.

After a while, the dance finally ended, and the Prince of Ruyang also stopped and stood still. However, Zhang Dai, who had been calm and composed, changed his expression slightly and suddenly picked up his pen to scribble and rewrite on the paper.

"Stop writing! Stop writing! The dance and the poem are over, the king has stood still, but Zhang's son is still holding the pen. You have lost!"

Several members of the imperial clan in the hall saw this and pointed at Zhang Dai, shouting to stop him.

Zhang Dai only made a few revisions before stopping again. He then smiled at the shouts of the princes and nobles and said, "This is merely a performance to add to the festivities. How could I presume to be able to surpass the nobles? I have indeed lost, and I dare not make excuses."

There was no competitive meaning in this matter. Zhang Dai was simply forced into it. His purpose was not to humiliate the Prince of Ruyang, but rather to have a deeper meaning. Therefore, he simply took the initiative to admit defeat.

Compared to the younger members of the royal family who were obsessed with winning and losing, the emperor and others were more concerned about Zhang Dai's poetry. Before the Prince of Ruyang's dance was even finished, Zhang Dai's poem was already completed, which they had all witnessed. After the dance ended, he only made slight revisions, so it was meaningless to dwell on the outcome.

The emperor did not speak, but simply gestured for a servant to present Zhang Dai's poem. The title was "Responding to the Emperor's New Year Poem," followed by the poem's content: "The Big Dipper turns eastward, bringing spring to the six directions; the celestial calendar is renewed with the seasons. Auspicious vapors linger from the bronze vessel, and auspicious winds swirl around the painted carriage..."

This is a seven-character regulated verse with six rhymes and twelve lines, which is not common nowadays. The subject matter alone is enough to make people marvel.

The rules of rhythm and structure in regulated verse are as meticulous and rigorous as military law. Although this extended regulated verse has only two more lines and a couplet than a seven-character regulated verse, the difficulty of making the poem neat and proper is almost double that of a simple seven-character regulated verse.

Within the time it takes to listen to a dance, Zhang Dai conceived and wrote a seven-character regulated verse. Even without considering the content, the mere act of piling up words to form a regulated verse demonstrates his extraordinary mastery of prosody.

This poem was written in one go, with elegant diction and perfect parallelism. It praises the enlightened ruler's prosperous reign and celebrates the Spring Festival, making it a superior work among poems written in response to imperial commands. If Zhang Dai hadn't conceived and written it right under his nose, even the emperor wouldn't have believed that such a poem could be completed in such a short time!
However, the sage's attention was soon drawn to the ink marks on the paper. Due to the hasty writing and insufficient ink diffusion, the original outline of the characters was still faintly visible.

Because of this modification, the paper was completely blackened, like a huge flaw on a white jade, which was both regrettable and a pity.

When the sage looked closely, he discovered that the altered character was the first character of the second line of the poem. Originally, it was the character "尧" (Yao), meaning "the celestial signs of Yao are ever-changing." However, after the alteration, it became the current character "皇天" (Huangtian).

The sage savored the poem for a moment, then his eyes suddenly lit up, his eyebrows rose, and he looked down at Zhang Dai with a deep gaze. Then his expression returned to its calm and composed state, and he handed the poem to Prince Ning, saying with a smile, "Please, elder brother, appreciate this lad's humble work."

Zhang Dai also took in the changes in the emperor's expression, and felt a slight smile to himself, knowing that he had accurately guessed the emperor's mind this time and had captured the emperor's heart.

"The reign of Yao and Shun" is an allusion used to praise the emperor's great virtue and the peace of the world. However, in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, it also had another meaning, referring to the sage who reached the pinnacle of merit and the Prince of Ning who abdicated and yielded the throne to a worthy successor. The so-called "the deputy heir is a public instrument of the world. In times of peace, the eldest son of the legitimate wife is given priority, and in times of national crisis, the one who has made meritorious contributions is given priority."

The current emperor was established as the heir apparent because of his meritorious service in the Tanglong Coup against the Wei clan, while Prince Ning, as the eldest son of Emperor Ruizong, remained relegated to the ranks of subjects. Therefore, the emperor always treated Prince Ning with great courtesy throughout his life, and even after Prince Ning's death, he was posthumously honored as Emperor Rang in praise of his virtue.

This kind of understanding and atmosphere has always been prevalent in the political arena of the Tang Dynasty. For example, Zhang Yue wrote in his poem "Responding to the Emperor's Poem on Passing by the Residence of Prince Ning" that "Emperor Yao valued kinship and Prince Ji valued brotherly affection."

Emperor Yao was the son of Emperor Ku. He was initially enfeoffed in Tao Tang, but his elder brother Emperor Zhi was not virtuous, so he abdicated the throne to Yao. Wang Ji refers to Ji Li, the ancestor of the Zhou dynasty. Although Ji Li was young, he was virtuous and had a wise son named Ji Chang. His elder brothers Tai Bo and Zhong Yong fled their country, cut their hair and tattooed their bodies to give way to Ji Li, and thus the Zhou dynasty prospered.

Both stories refer to choosing a virtuous heir and the brotherly love and respect between brothers, glorifying the sage's attainment of the throne and praising Prince Ning's benevolence and humility.

However, when Zhang Dai copied Yan Shu's poem written in response to the imperial order, he deliberately erased the words "Yao Tian" and replaced them with "Huang Tian," meaning "the imperial heavens are as new as the times!"
He was showing the emperor that he was a citizen of the new Tang Dynasty, and that there was no need for the old clichés of Emperor Zhi and Taibo abdicating in favor of a worthy successor. The Prince of Ning was nothing to him! The current sage was the chosen one, the one with the support of the people, and the rightful supreme emperor of the Tang Dynasty!
(End of this chapter)