Original text of Noda Huangquexing:
There are many tall trees and sad winds, and the sea water stirs up its waves. If you don't have a sharp sword in your hand, why make many friends? There are no sparrows in the fence, but harriers are seen throwing themselves into the nest. The Luo family is happy when they get birds, but the young man is sad when they see them. Draw your sword and draw a net, and the oriole will fly. Flying across the sky, come and thank the young man. Translation and annotation by Noda Huangquexing
Translation Unfortunately, the tall trees are often blown by strong winds, and the calm sea is blown into waves. Although the sword is sharp, it is not in my hand. What is the point of making many friends when I have no help? You didn't see the poor oriole on the fence, but it crashed into the net to avoid the fierce harrier. The man who set up the snare was so happy to see the oriole, and the young man couldn't help but feel pity for the struggling oriole. He pulled out his sharp sword and pushed hard against the snare, and then the oriole was able to fly away from the place of suffering. Spreading its wings and flying high into the vast sky, the rescued oriole flew back to express its gratitude to the young man.
Notes 1 Noda Huangquexing: "Collection of Yuefu Poems" is collected in "Xianghe Ge·Se Diaoqu", which is Cao Zhi's later work. 2 Sad Wind: A shrill cold wind. 3. Make waves: Make waves. These two sentences are a metaphor for the dangerous environment. 4 sharp sword: a sharp sword. This is a metaphor for power. 5. Make friends: Make friends. Why need: Why need, what use. 6 Harrier (yao): A very fierce bird, a type of eagle, like an eagle but small. Luo: A net used to catch birds. 7 Luo Jia: A person who sets a net to catch birds. 8掎(xiāo): to strike; to cut; to remove. 9 Feifei: free flying appearance. Ten Mo: approaching, approaching. "Mo Cang Tian" describes the oriole flying very high. Appreciation of Noda's Yellow Bird's Journey
The whole poem can be divided into two paragraphs. The first four sentences form a paragraph. "The tall trees are full of sorrowful winds, and the sea water stirs up its waves." The two sentences start with a metaphor, and the words are astonishing. "Book of Changes" says: "The thing that scratches all things is the wind." ("Shuo Gua") A proverb says: "A big tree attracts the wind." The wind blowing from a tall tree can be imagined to have the power to destroy it. The word "sad" is placed before "wind", which further strengthens the subjective feeling of this natural landscape. The sea is boundless, the waves are standing on the mountains, the wind is blowing and the waves are blowing, and the rafters are toppling. It and the harsh natural environment described in the first sentence are actually symbols of the real political climate, and tortuously reflect the sinister waves of the officialdom and the political situation. The author's inner grief, anger and fear caused by the setbacks. It was in such a political environment and under the control of such a mood that the author learned from the painful experience. After a thousand twists and turns, he shouted out with grief and anger, "If you don't have a sharp sword, why make many friends?" This is what he learned from his own painful experience. conclusion. If you don’t have power, you don’t need to make friends. This is really a ground-breaking statement! No matter from traditional concepts or from the actual life of ordinary people, we cannot draw such a conclusion. Confucianism has always emphasized that "it is a great pleasure to have friends come from far away!" ("The Analects of Confucius·Xueer"), emphasizing that "all the people in the four seas are brothers" ("The Analects of Confucius·Yan Yuan"). From the "Book of Songs: Logging" "Listen to the sound of the wood, ask for the sound of your friends" to today's popular saying "Rely on your parents at home and rely on your friends when you go out", it is emphasized that the more friends the better. However, precisely because of its unnaturalness, it has a stronger shocking power and reflects the author's inner grief and indignation more deeply. From Cao Ji's "Gift to Xu Qian" "Friends and friends are in Dun", "Gift to Ding Yi" "Friends and friends are not thin", "Gift to Yingshi" "I miss my lifelong relatives", "Honghou Yin" "Friends and relatives travel with me" ” Judging from the poems, the author is a person who likes to socialize and values ??friendship. Such a suave and graceful young man is now shouting out words that are completely incompatible with his own nature, not only to warn himself, but also to warn the world. It is self-evident that the sorrow and pain in his heart are intense and profound. .
The following is the second paragraph of the poem. If you don't have power, you don't need to make friends. This is of course not the author's true inner thoughts, but the extremely sad and angry complaints made under special circumstances. This view cannot be accepted by readers, and the author cannot cite scriptures to prove it. Therefore, he used an allegorical approach and used the word "missing" to tell the story of a young man with a sword rescuing a bird. On the surface, this story is a negative argument for the difficult-to-accept idea of ??"If you don't have a sharp sword in your hand, why make many friends?" But in fact, it closely follows the previous paragraph and further expresses your inner sadness and indignation.
The oriole is a docile bird. The addition of the word "between the hedges" shows that it has no ambition to reach the sky, but just spends its days playing among the hedges. However, even such a small bird, which is harmless to people and things, cannot be seen in the world. If you set a snare and release the hawk, you will surely drive it away quickly. How vicious is the harrier that chases away the birds, how pitiful is the oriole that throws itself at the harrier, how despicable are the Luo family who rejoice at the sight of the birds. Although the author does not have a single word of praise or criticism, his emotions are deeply integrated into the narrative. The author's hatred for those in power and his sympathy for the weak and innocent victims are not difficult to express beyond words.
The author further imagined a young man with a sharp sword, opening the snare and letting the oriole go. The oriole escaped death and flew straight into the sky, but then swooped down from the sky, circled around the boy and sang, thanking him for saving his life. Obviously, the handsome young man who "draws his sword and drags the net" is actually the incarnation of the author's self-image in his imagination; the lightness and joy shown by the oriole "flying across the sky" are actually what the author felt after rescuing his friend from danger in his imagination. of lightness and pleasure. Admittedly, this is just the author's fantasy. It is also sad to be unable to do anything in reality and have to seek spiritual relief in the imaginary realm.
However, in this illusory imagination, there is also hidden the author's anger and resistance to the net-breakers.
Regarding the characteristics of Cao Zhi's poetry, the eight words "exceptionally high-minded and luxuriant in diction" in Zhong Rong's "Shipin" are the most accurate and most commonly quoted. But as far as the song "Noda Yellow Bird Goes" is concerned, the "backbone" (ideological content) is indeed high, but the diction cannot be said to be "luxurious". On the whole, this poem has more of the simple flavor of Han Yuefu folk songs. First of all, the plot of drawing a sword to carry a net and a yellow bird to express gratitude is obviously influenced by many allegorical works in Han Yuefu folk songs. Among the eighteen songs of the Western Han Dynasty's "Zhao Ge", the song "Ai Ru Zhang" contains the line "There are also yellow finches in the mountains, but where are the finches after they have soared high", which is even more obvious as the inspiration for the conception of this article. Secondly, the words and sentences in this poem are also simple and unpretentious. The sentence pattern "The Luo family is happy to see the birds, but the young man is sad to see the birds" is completely spoken. The overlapping words and true rhetorical techniques in the two sentences of "The oriole flies, flying across the sky" are also Yuefu folk songs. common among. These simple words and sentences are in perfect harmony with the content of the poem. If they are deliberately crafted, their touching power may be diminished. This shows the achievements of Cao Zhi, a talented writer, who learned from folk songs. The creative background of Noda Huangquexing
This poem is selected from Volume 6 of "The Collection of Cao Zhi". According to historical records, in the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an (219), Cao Cao killed Cao Zhi's confidant Yang Xiu for an excuse. The following year, Cao Pi succeeded to the throne and killed Cao Zhi's close friends, the Ding brothers. Cao Zhi was in a difficult situation where he was easily to blame and unable to save his friends. He felt deeply angry and in pain, so he could only write poems to express his feelings. He suffered from the lack of power in his hands, so he created a young chivalrous man in the poem who "draws a sword and drags a net" to save innocent people to express his heartfelt feelings.
Poetry work: Noda Huangquexing Poetry author: Wei Jin Cao Zhi Poetry classification: Yuefu, Praise, Chivalrous, Expressive