Ba Ting Willow

The novel is named as Ba Ting Willow: In ancient days, Ba Ting Willow was a symbol of Liu Zongyuan's spiritual personality and the ideal poetic presentation. In Dezong 790, when his father Liu Zhen was exiled and passed Ba Bridge, he said to his son: "e;look at the willow here...with the roots, they can still come up in the next spring."e; In 815, Liu Zongyuan was exiled to Liu Zhou. Han Yu sent him off to Ba Bridge and encouraged him: Though Liuzhou is far away, but the journey won't break you. Though Liuzhou is small, it cannot ban your wings in your heart!"e; However, their political career dreams were in valid. Brilliant politics will always be the ideal of literati culture. Cao Yong once said the "e;meat eater"e; would inevitably have some despicable disadvantages. Confucius spent his whole life weaving the governance system, requiring "e;meat eaters"e; should have the "e;gentleman demeanor so as to realize the virtuous politics. After hundreds of years, Zhu Xi understood this point better than Liu Zongyuan and Han Yu. Zhu Xi, a super-philosopher and social practitioner who had a sense of security, was able to say privately and frankly: "e;The believes promoted by Yao, Shun, Three Kings, Chou Kung and Confucius were not built in one day."e; (The Book of Zhu, Four Preparations. Vol. 36, p.21) Based on this, the author seems to turn the "e;dream"e; of the protagonist into the surreal psychic reality which is both ambiguous and coincidental. The novel wrote that Long Zongyuan had a dream that the willow fell to the ground before he left. Same dream, different time, different people make different explanations. It is a poetic interpretation by Liu Zongyuan. It is an irrational non-logical interpretation, not only implying the protagonist's historical fate, but also indicating the tragedy of his ideal. As a saying goes, "e;Ba Ting Willow soul still exists, imaginal dream is also true"e;.