The original text of the work
Qingming (1)
There is a flurry of rain at the time of Qingming (2), and the pedestrians on the road want to break their souls (3).
Where are the taverns (4)? The shepherd boy points to the apricot blossom village (5).
About the Author
Du Mu (803-852), courtesy name Mu Zhi, was a native of Wannian, Jingzhao, Tang Dynasty (now Xi'an, Shaanxi). In his later years, he lived in a villa in Fanchuan, south of Chang'an city, and later generations called him "Du Fanchuan". Du Mu's grandfather, Du You, was a famous chancellor and historian in the Middle Tang Dynasty, and his book Tongdian was the first to be dedicated to the history of the canonical system. Du Mu in the Tang Emperor Wenzong Daho two years (828) in the bachelor's degree, authorized by the Hongwen Hall School of the book. Later, he served as a staff member in the military government in Jiangxi, Xuanxiang, Huainan and other places for many years. Emperor Wenzong Kai Cheng four years (839) back to Chang'an, served as the left supplementary Que, food, than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After the second year of Huichang of Emperor Wu of the Tang Dynasty (842), he successively served as assassin of Huangzhou (now located in Huanggang of Hubei Province), Chizhou (now located in Guichi of Anhui Province), and Mushu (now located in Jiande of Zhejiang Province). When he was serving in the local government, he reformed the bad government and made outstanding achievements. In the third year of Emperor Xuanzong Dazhong of Tang Dynasty (849), he returned to Chang'an and served as a member of Sihun and a compiler of history. After a period of time as the assassin of Huzhou (now belongs to Zhejiang), and then back to Chang'an to serve as the examination of Langzhong, the system of enjoinment, the official to the Chinese bookkeeper. In the late Tang Dynasty, where he lived, clans and towns had troops, eunuchs were in power, and the people were in dire straits. The A Fang Gong Fu (阿房宫赋), which was written by Du Mu at the age of twenty-three, was written in response to his feelings about the current political situation. Du Mu was the most accomplished poet of the Late Tang Dynasty. People compared him with Du Fu, and called him "Little Du"; his poems were on a par with those of Li Shangyin, and the two of them were also known as "Little Li and Du". Li Shangyin, who was about ten years younger than him, admired Du Mu's personality and poetry, and wrote in one of his poems: "The wind and rain in the high building are like the wind and rain of Sifu, and his short wings are not as good as those of the group. The only person on earth who hurts spring and then hurts goodbye is Du Shixun." (Li Shangyin's "Du Si Xun")
Note Translation
Word and Sentence Notes
(1) Ching Ming: one of the twenty-four solar terms, around the fifth day of the fourth month of the solar calendar. The old custom is to sweep graves, trek in the green and plant willows on that day. Palace to the day for the swing festival, Kunning Palace and the harem are placed on the swing, concubines do swing play.
(2) have: describe more.
(3) want to break the soul: to describe the deep sadness, as if the soul to be separated from the body. Broken Soul: a dismayed and bored look. These two lines are saying that at the time of the Qingming Festival, it was raining continuously, and the rain was pouring down all the time; with such weather and such a festival, the pedestrians on the road were depressed and their souls were scattered.
(4) Lend a hand: please ask.
(5) Apricot Blossom Village: a village deep in apricot blossoms, located in the area of Fengtai Mountain, Qinhuai District, Nanjing. Influenced by this poem, later generations used the name "Apricot Blossom Village" as the name of their hotels.
Vernacular Translation
The rain fell during the Qingming Festival in the south of the Yangtze River, and the pedestrians on the road all lost their souls.
When I asked the local people where they could buy wine to drown their sorrows, the shepherd boy laughed but did not answer. The shepherd boy smiled but didn't answer and pointed to the apricot blossom mountain village in the distance.
Background
This poem was first published in the early Southern Song Dynasty in "The Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers", and was later published in "Selection of Thousand Poems of Tang and Song Dynasty Sages by Sectors and Classes", "Thousand Poems of Tang and Song Dynasty Sages by Xie Fangde of the Ming Dynasty", and "Tang Poems of the Emperor" of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. In Jiangnan Tongzhi, Du Mu, when he was the assassin of Chizhou, used to drink in Apricot Blossom Village in Jinling, which is referred to in the poem.
Works Appreciation
Literary Appreciation
This day is the Qingming Festival. The poet Du Mu, in the middle of traveling, coincidentally met with rain. Although Qingming is a time of green willow and red flowers and bright spring, it is also a period when the climate is prone to change, often catching "disturbing weather". As far back as the Liang Dynasty, it has been recorded: in the Qingming two days before the Cold Food Festival, there are often "fast winds and even rain". If it rains on the day of Qingming, there is a special name for it, "fire rain". The poet Du Mu encountered just such a day.
The poet used the words "one after another" to describe the day's "fire rain", which is really good. "If you are describing snow, it should be a heavy snow, so to speak, "flurry, down a good big snow. But when it comes to rain, the situation is just the opposite, the kind of call people feel "one after another", never heavy rain, but fine rain. This fine rain, that is, the characteristics of spring rain. Fine rain, is the kind of "rain on the streets of the sky moist as crispy" kind of rain, it is different from the summer such as pouring like pouring rainstorms, and the kind of pattering autumn rain is never a flavor. This "rain", is to capture the Qingming "splash fire rain" spirit, conveying the kind of "do cold bully flowers, will be trapped in the smoke willow" of the dismal and beautiful realm.
This "one after another" naturally describes the mood of the spring rain; however, it is more than that, it also has a special role, that is, it actually also describes the mood of the rain walker.
The following sentence: "The pedestrians on the road want to break their souls".
The next sentence: "Pedestrians" is the travelers who go out, "pedestrians" is not the same as "travelers", not those who travel in spring and stroll around the scenery. The "soul" is not the soul of "three souls and seven spirits". In poetry, "soul" mostly refers to mental and emotional matters. The term "broken soul" is used to describe a very strong but hidden emotion that is not clearly expressed on the outside, such as love and longing for each other, despondency and disappointment, dark sorrow and deep hatred. When the poet has this kind of emotion, he often loves to use the word "broken soul" to express his state of mind.
The festival of Ching Ming was felt by the ancients, and today's conception of it is not exactly the same. At that time, the Qingming Festival was a colorful and moody festival, which was supposed to be a family reunion, or to play and watch, or to visit the graves and sweep the tombs, which were the main rituals and customs. In addition to those who are greedy for flowers and wine, such as princes and grandchildren, some of the brains, especially the emotional poets, their feelings are quite complex. If caught up with the lonely traveling, touching the scene sad, it will be more likely to stir up his heart. In the meantime, the rain is pouring down and the spring clothes are all wet, which adds another layer of sadness to the pedestrians. This way to experience, in order to understand why the poet in this moment to write "broken soul" two words; otherwise, a little bit of rain, it is worth "broken soul", that's too unexplained.
Return to the word "have". Originally, the festival of the road, there have been a lot of things, plus the body in the rain and wind piece, have sprinkled, hasten line in the rain, that the state of mind is doubly confused and disorganized. Therefore, it is to describe the spring rain, but also to describe the mood; and it may even be said that to describe the spring rain is to describe the mood. This is exactly the kind of classical Chinese poetry where emotions are blended into the scenery, a kind of perfect art, a kind of winning situation.
The first two lines give an account of the scene, and the problem occurs. The first two lines explain the situation, and the problem occurs. The pedestrians at this time can not help but think: where to find a small hotel is good. Things are very clear: find a small hotel, one to rest his feet, to avoid the rain; two to drink three cups, to relieve the spring chill in the material, to warm the rain wet clothes; most importantly, through this will also be able to dissipate the sadness of the heart. So, ask for directions.
The poet does not say in the third line to whom he asked for directions. The best part is in the fourth line: "The shepherd boy pointed to the village of apricot blossoms". Grammatically speaking, "shepherd boy" is the subject of this sentence, but it is really the object of the previous sentence "to ask" - it complements both sides of the question and answer of the previous sentence. It is not known whether the shepherd boy answered the question or not, but the answer of "action" is more distinct and powerful than the answer. For example, in the play The Little Cowherd, when someone asks the shepherd boy for directions, he points his hand and says, "Follow my hand!" It is the answer with the action--that is to say, the "music" with the "picture", both of which make the viewer enjoy the beauty at the same time; now the poet's method is more simple and superior: he only gives the "picture" to the viewer, but not the answer. He only gives the reader the "picture" and omits the "music".
The word "distant" literally means far away. However, it is important not to stick to the literal meaning of the word and think that the village must be a long way away from here. This finger, has made the reader as see, vaguely red apricot tips, clearly pick out a wine curtain - "wine lookout" to come. If the distance is really far away, it is difficult to occur artistic connection, if it is really in front of you, and then lost the endless flavor: wonderful in not far from not close to each other. In Dream of the Red Chamber, there is a scene in the Grand View Garden titled "Apricot Curtain Looking", and the look of "looking" is exactly what is experienced here, which is a footnote to Du Lang's sentence. The shepherd boy in "Little Cowherd" also said, "Here I am, pointing with my hand,...... the high slopes in front of me, there are a few families, and there is a big signboard hanging on the willow tree", and then he told the female guest, "If you want to eat a good wine, you should eat it in Apricot Blossom Village! "is also from here out. "Apricot Blossom Village" is not necessarily the real name of the village, nor does it necessarily mean that the restaurant. It is only necessary to state that refers to the beautiful apricot blossom deep village is enough, it goes without saying that there is a small hotel waiting to receive the guests traveling in the rain.
Not only that. In real life, asking for directions is only a means to an end; it's only a matter of actually running to the hotel and getting a drink. In the poem, it is not necessary, it is written precisely only to "point to the village of apricot blossoms" and then end abruptly, and then do not spend more words. The rest, the pedestrian how to hear the news and happy, how to put more effort to hasten forward, how excited to find the hotel, how pleased to get the rain, sadness and satisfaction and pleasure ...... these poets can "no matter". He put these are implied in the space outside, pay the reader's imagination, by the reader to seek to understand. He only introduces the reader to a poetic realm, he is not responsible for guiding the panorama; on the other hand, he carries out for the reader a far more extensive imagination than the words and phrases in the language of the psalm show. This is the art of the "more than enough".
This is the poet and the reader's **** the same enjoyment, this is the art, this is also the classical Chinese poetry is particularly good at the place. The ancients once said, a good poem, can be "difficult to write the scene, such as in the present; contains the meaning of the endless, lies outside the words". Take this "Qingming" stanza, in a certain sense, is also deserved.
This small poem, a difficult word is not, an allusion is not used, the whole is very common language, written freely, no management of the trace of artifice. The syllables are very harmonious and complete, and the scene is very fresh and vivid, but also beautiful and interesting. The poem is written in a very natural sequence. The first line explains the scene, environment and atmosphere, which is the "starting"; the second line is the "bearing", which describes the characters and shows their confused state of mind; the third line is the "turning", which, however, also suggests how to get rid of this state of mind. The third sentence is a "turn", however, it also suggests how to get rid of this state of mind; and this directly leads to the fourth sentence, which becomes the highlight of the whole piece - "together". Artistically, this is a technique of rising gradually from low to high, with the climax being placed at the end. The so-called culmination of the apex, but not at a glance, the end, but the afterglow is far, intriguing. These are the poet's cleverness, that is, worthy of posterity to learn the inheritance of the place.