During the Tang Dynasty, the great poet Bai Juyi lived through the decline following the An Lushan Rebellion. To maintain control, the imperial court doubled down on exploiting the people, leaving them in dire straits. Bai Juyi, deeply moved by their suffering, wrote poems that exposed the harsh realities of the time. His work "The Old Charcoal Seller" famously depicts a poor man whose charcoal is seized by imperial agents, highlighting the cruelty of unchecked power. Through his art, Bai Juyi became a voice for the voiceless, reminding us that even in dark times, words can shine a light on injustice.
Bai Juyi witnessed firsthand the corruption of the imperial court and the suffering of the people, and having come from a humble family of low-ranking local officials, he had a deep understanding of the hardships of ordinary citizens' lives.
Bai Juyi believed that poetry must be understood and remembered by the common people, so he always wrote in simple, accessible language that delighted the public.
It is said that the Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi would first read each new poem aloud to his elderly neighbor, an illiterate old woman, and ask, "Can you understand this?" If she nodded, he would keep the poem; if she shook her head, he would revise it repeatedly until she finally said, "Now I understand."
During Emperor Xuanzong's reign in the Tang Dynasty, repeated large-scale conscriptions forcibly sent able-bodied men to the battlefield, where nine out of ten captured perished, causing immense public resentment. In response, Bai Juyi wrote "The Old Man Who Broke His Arm at Xinfeng":
The idiom "Not Even One Hair" comes from the Warring States period, when the philosopher Yang Zhu was known for his extreme self-interest. One day, a disciple named Qin Guli asked him, "If plucking a single hair from your body could save the entire world, would you do it?" Yang Zhu replied, "The world's problems cannot be solved by a single hair." Qin Guli pressed, "But if it truly could, would you?" Yang Zhu remained silent. Later, Mencius criticized Yang Zhu, saying, "He would not pluck a single hair even to benefit the world," highlighting his refusal to sacrifice even the smallest part of himself for the greater good. Today, the phrase describes someone extremely stingy or unwilling to make the slightest effort for others. Source: *Mencius*, Chapter "Jin Xin"
Children bid farewell to their parents, and husbands parted from their wives.
All who campaigned against the southern barbarians, past and present, say the same.
Of a thousand travelers, not one returns.
This poem, set in Xinfeng (modern Lintong, Shaanxi), tells the story through the voice of an eighty-eight-year-old man who recalls how he once smashed his own arm with a large stone to escape military conscription, leaving himself permanently crippled—a tale that moved many elderly women who had endured the bitter frontier wars of the Tianbao era to tears.
Bai Juyi's poetry was "understandable to old women" because he excelled at expressing everyday events and personal feelings in vivid, accessible language, making each poem relatable and well-loved by the public.
Later, people used the idiom "Understandable Even to an Old Woman" to describe poetry or prose that is simple and easy to comprehend.
Source: Shi Huihong (Song Dynasty), *Lengzhai Night Talks*, Chapter "Volume One"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "老妪能解" came to describe poetry or prose that is simple and easy to comprehend.