罗隐的一生行迹（833-909）
罗隐（833-909），本名横，字昭谏，余杭（今杭州）人。十举进士不第，诗文名满天下却屡遭黜落，以讽刺诗文著称。后依钱镠，为钱塘令，官至谏议大夫。诗文锋利如匕，讽刺辛辣，世称"罗讽"。《蜂》《自遣》传诵千古。
余杭（833） · 余杭少年
唐文宗大和七年（833年），罗隐出生于余杭（今杭州）。他本名横，少年即以文才名动乡里，但因相貌丑陋，常遭人嘲笑，这反倒磨砺了他辛辣的讽刺之笔。
长安（859） · 十举不第
唐宣宗大中十三年（859年），罗隐首次赴长安应进士举，不第。此后二十余年间，他十次入京赴考，十次落第，科场蹭蹬之苦成为他讽刺诗的不竭源泉。
钟陵（870） · 十举不第
唐懿宗咸通十一年（870年）前后，罗隐落第后南归，途经钟陵（今南昌），在豫章一带与同落第的友人们诗酒唱和，写下《赠妓云英》等讽刺名篇。
长沙（875） · 长沙漂泊
唐僖宗乾符二年（875年）前后，罗隐游历长沙，在湖南观察使李皋幕中暂留。他漂泊江湖、依人作客，对底层人民的苦难有切身的体验，讽刺诗文愈发深刻犀利。
成都（880） · 长沙漂泊
唐僖宗广明元年（880年），黄巢陷长安，僖宗奔蜀。罗隐亦避乱入蜀，在成都一带滞留。他在蜀中目睹战乱与流亡，写下多首伤时感事之作。
钱塘（887） · 钱塘佐政
唐僖宗光启三年（887年），罗隐归乡依钱镠，被辟为钱塘令。钱镠时任镇海节度使，雄踞两浙，罗隐在钱镠幕中深受倚重，结束了二十余年落魄漂泊的生涯。
吴越（900） · 吴越暮年
唐昭宗光化三年（900年）前后，罗隐在吴越幕中官至谏议大夫、给事中。钱镠封吴越王，罗隐为其核心幕僚，参与军政大计，但讽刺之笔始终不辍。
钱塘（终老）（909） · 吴越暮年
后梁太祖开平三年（909年），罗隐卒于钱塘，享年七十七岁。此时唐已亡（907年朱温篡唐），吴越国在钱镠治下偏安一隅。罗隐以讽刺诗人终老于新朝，见证了唐的覆亡与五代的开启。
The Life Journey of Luo Yin, the Knife of Late Tang Satire
Luo Yin (833-909), born Luo Heng of Yuhang, failed the jinshi ten times in twenty years and turned the failure into a blade: satires so sharp they were quoted like proverbs. In old age he found the one warlord worth serving — Qian Liu of Wuyue — as magistrate of Qiantang and councilor. 'The bee': 'you gather a hundred flowers' honey — for whom is the sweetness, for whom the toil?'
Timeline of the Journey
- 833 · 余杭 — Born in Yuhang, homely and quick; mockery received young sharpened the tongue that would feed him.
- 859 · 长安 — First examination, first failure — then nine more over twenty years: 'Luo the tenth-time loser' famous before any office.
- 870 · 钟陵 — On the road home, Zhongling, the singer Yun Ying: 'twelve years since I saw you — you are not yet famous, and I am not yet married' — the joke both aimed and wounded.
- 875 · 长沙 — Drifting staff-work in Hunan: 'the bee' — 'gathering all the flowers to make honey — for whom the sweetness, for whom the toil?'
- 880 · 成都 — Huang Chao took Chang'an, the emperor fled to Shu; Luo Yin followed the roads west — 'the money-flower' among the ruins-poems.
- 887 · 钱塘 — Home at last to Qian Liu's rising power in Liangzhe, magistrate of Qiantang — the satirist finding the one honest throne in the age.
- 900 · 吴越 — Grand Master of Remonstrance in the Wuyue administration, keeper of its documents and conscience: 'they gave the monkey-trainer a red sash' — court satire even now.
- 909 · 钱塘 — Died at seventy-seven in Qiantang, the Tang two years dead, Wuyue the one safe corner of the wreck — and the sharpest tongue of the age at rest.
'Today there is wine — so today we drink.' Everyone in China can finish that line; almost no one remembers it was a failure's armor. Luo Yin made losing eloquent, and outlasted the empire that lost him.
