王之涣的一生行迹（688-742）
王之涣（688-742），字季凌，晋阳（今山西太原）人，后徙绛郡。盛唐著名诗人，曾任冀州衡水主簿，去官后漫游黄河上下十五年，晚年复补文安县尉，卒于官。其诗雄浑豪放，惜多散佚，仅存六首，《登鹳雀楼》《凉州词》皆为千古绝唱。
晋阳（688） · 河东少年
武则天垂拱四年（688年），王之涣出生。其先世为晋阳（今山西太原）人，后徙居绛郡。他出身于太原王氏一脉，自幼倜傥任侠，聪颖过人，及长博览经史，尤工诗歌。
衡水（715） · 衡水宦游
唐玄宗开元三年（715年）前后，王之涣以门荫调补冀州衡水县主簿，掌管文书簿籍。任上他清正能干，县令李涤赏识其才华风骨，将第三女许配为妻，一时传为佳话。
蒲州（720） · 漫游河山
唐玄宗开元八年（720年）前后，王之涣遭人诬谤，愤而拂衣去官，开始漫游黄河两岸。他返归河东故乡，登蒲州鹳雀楼远眺，但见白日依山、黄河入海，挥笔写下千古绝唱《登鹳雀楼》。
玉门关（722） · 漫游河山
唐玄宗开元十年（722年）前后，去官漫游的王之涣沿黄河西上，远至河西走廊与玉门关外。大漠孤城、羌笛怨柳的苍凉景象，催生了他边塞诗的巅峰之作《凉州词》。
拂云堆（723） · 漫游河山
唐玄宗开元十一年（723年）前后，王之涣漫游至河套以北的拂云堆一带。拂云堆上有突厥神祠，黄河北岸的朔漠风光与受降城遗迹，令他写下《凉州词》第二首的雄浑篇章。
邺城（726） · 漫游河山
唐玄宗开元十四年（726年）前后，王之涣漫游河北，行至漳河流域的邺城故地。他凭吊铜雀三台遗迹，在漳河长堤上送别友人，春水桃溪之间写下深婉的《宴词》。
幽州（730） · 漫游河山
唐玄宗开元十八年（730年）前后，王之涣北游幽州蓟城。重阳之日，他在萧瑟的蓟门城外登高送友，菊花酒暖，离绪纷飞，《九日送别》写尽了北地深秋的苍凉别意。
长安（735） · 名动京师
唐玄宗开元二十三年（735年）前后，王之涣寓居长安，与王昌龄、高适齐名交好。一日天寒微雪，三人共诣旗亭饮酒，以歌妓所唱诗篇多少赌胜，留下"旗亭画壁"的千古佳话。
文安（742） · 文安谢幕
唐玄宗天宝元年（742年），家居多年的王之涣复补文安郡文安县尉，在任清廉，颇有政声。同年二月十四日，他忽染疾病，卒于文安县尉官舍，享年五十五岁，天下文人同声悼惜。
The Life Journey of Wang Zhihuan, Two Quatrains for a Thousand Years
Wang Zhihuan (688-742), of the great Wang clan of Jinyang, survives in six poems — and two of them are among the most recited lines in the language: 'Climbing Stork Tower' ('to see a thousand li farther, climb one more story') and 'Liangzhou' ('The Yellow River runs up into the white clouds... the spring wind never crosses Jade Gate Pass'). A county registrar who quit at slander, fifteen years of free travel by the Yellow River, and the famous wine-shop wager with Wang Changling and Gao Shi — the 'flag-pavilion' story — complete the biography.
Timeline of the Journey
- 688 · Jinyang — Born into the Taiyuan Wangs: a gallant, unconventional boy — 'young and chivalrous, at ease with heroic company' — before the books took him over.
- 715 · Hengshui — Registrar of Hengshui by family privilege; so honest and capable that the magistrate gave him his third daughter in marriage.
- 720 · Puzhou — Slandered, he flung off the office and went to the Yellow River. Home to Hedong, up Stork Tower at Puzhou: 'The white sun leans on the mountains; the Yellow River runs into the sea.'
- 722 · Yumen Pass — Up the river and out the corridor: desert, lone city, the Qiang flute complaining of willows — 'Liangzhou' drawn from the very road.
- 723 · Fuyun Dui — North to the great bend of the river and the old Turkish shrine-mound: the second Liangzhou quatrain in its full northern weight.
- 726 · Yecheng — The Three Terraces of Cao Cao's old capital: spring water and peach streams, a farewell on the Zhang river dikes — 'Feast Words,' his softest poem.
- 730 · Youzhou — North again to Jizhou: a Double-Ninth parting outside the Ji gate, chrysanthemum wine, north-country sorrow.
- 735 · Chang'an — In the capital with Wang Changling and Gao Shi: the wine-shop, the singers, the wall secretly marked for each poet's quatrains — the flag-pavilion tale, won when the loveliest voice of all sang 'The Yellow River runs up into the white clouds.'
- 742 · Wen'an — Back to service: defense officer of Wen'an, clean-handed and praised — dead in office in the second month, fifty-five, universally mourned.
'To see a thousand li farther, climb one more story.' Six surviving poems, two immortal — Wang Zhihuan is Chinese poetry's proof that time keeps nothing but the best.
