Niaosong Stream is a place with extremely beautiful scenery. Jian is a mountain stream, a ravine sandwiched between two mountains.
This poem describes the unusually quiet scene at night in Spring Mountain. The main idea of ??the poem is: In the quiet environment without human voices, the sweet-scented osmanthus blossoms and falls by itself, as if you can feel the sound of the sweet-scented osmanthus falling to the ground. When the night becomes quieter,
the spring mountains with their many scenery seem to be empty. The moon had just risen, and as soon as the light came out, it startled the birds in the trees. They chirped from time to time in the spring stream.
This poem mainly writes about the quiet night in the spring mountains. The flowers fall, the moon rises, and the birds sing, they are all moving. The author uses movement to contrast the stillness, and achieves the artistic effect of "the mountains with birdsong are more secluded".
Five-character quatrains in the genre of Birdsong Stream
Author: (Tang Dynasty) Wang Wei
When people are idle, osmanthus flowers fall,
The night is quiet in the spring mountains null.
The moonrise scares the mountain birds,
It sings in the spring stream.
[Edit this paragraph] Literary knowledge
1. Author information
Wang Wei (701-761), courtesy name Mojie, was a famous poet in the prosperous Tang Dynasty , official to Shangshu Youcheng, originally from Qi (now Qixian County, Shanxi), moved to Puzhou (now Yongji, Shanxi), believed in Buddhism, lived in Wangchuan Villa in Lantian in his later years, Han nationality. His achievements in poetry and painting were both very high. Su Dongpo praised him for "when you taste Mojie's poems, there are paintings in the poems; when you look at Mojie's paintings, there are poems in the paintings." He was especially accomplished in landscape poetry, and together with Meng Haoran, he was known as "the king". Meng" had no intention of pursuing an official career in his later years and dedicated himself to worshiping Buddhism, so later generations called him the "Poetry Buddha". He is the author of "The Collection of Wang Youcheng" and has 400 poems. He is good at painting figures, bamboos, and landscapes. People in the Tang Dynasty recorded two types of landscape features: one is similar to that of Li and his son, and the other is painted with broken ink. His famous work "Wangchuan Picture" is the latter. Unfortunately, no authentic work has been handed down to this day. The "Snowy Stream Picture" and "Jinan Fu Sheng Statue" that are said to be his are not authentic. Wang Wei obviously had higher achievements in the field of Tang poetry. He was a representative of the landscape pastoral school in the Tang Dynasty. Ranked first in the Jinshi department in Kaiyuan (i.e., the number one scholar). He served as Dalue Cheng, You Shiyi and other officials. During the Anlushan Rebellion, he was forced to take a pseudo-post. After the two capitals were recovered, he was demoted to Prince Zhongyun, Fu Lei moved to Gishizhong, and finally became Minister You Cheng.
Wang Wei was rich in literary talent in his youth. In the ninth year of Kaiyuan (721), he was awarded the rank of Jinshi and became Lecheng. For some reason, he was relegated to Sicang, Jeju to join the army. Later he returned to Chang'an. In the 22nd year of Kaiyuan, Zhang Jiuling was appointed Zhongshu Ling. Wang Wei was promoted to the position of Youshiyi. At that time, he wrote the poem "Xian Shi Xing Gong", which praised Zhang Jiuling's political ideas of opposing party establishment for personal gain and excessive use of honorary rewards, which reflected his mood at that time to demand something to be done. In the twenty-fourth year (736), Zhang Jiuling resigned as prime minister. The following year he was demoted to the governor of Jing. Li Linfu was appointed Zhongshu Ling, which was a turning point in the Xuanzong period from a relatively clear political period to an increasingly dark one. Wang Wei was very frustrated by Zhang Jiuling's demotion, but he did not withdraw from officialdom. In the twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan, he was sent to Hexi Province to serve as deputy ambassador Cui Xiyi. Later, he was appointed as the imperial censor Zhi Nanxuan. In Tianbaozhong, Wang Wei's official position was gradually promoted. Before the Anshi Rebellion, when officials were in trouble, he was tired and worried about the officialdom at that time, but on the other hand, he was still attached to his family and could not leave decisively. So he followed the customs and lived a semi-official and semi-hidden life for a long time.
He originally believed in Buddhism, but as his thoughts became increasingly negative, his Buddhist beliefs also developed. When he was young, he lived in the mountains and forests. After his middle age, he once lived in Zhongnan Mountain. Later, he got a separate business in Lantian and Wangchuan in Song Dynasty, so he and his friend Pei Diyou traveled there and wrote poems to entertain each other. In the fifteenth year of Tianbao (756), Anshi's rebel army fell into Chang'an, Xuanzong entered Shu, and Wang Wei was captured by the rebels. After taking medicine and pretending to be ill, he was still sent to Luoyang and assigned to a pseudo-official position. After the two capitals were recovered, those who received false posts were sentenced in equal measure. He was praised by Suzong for his poem "Ningbi Pond" in memory of the Tang Dynasty, and his younger brother Wang Jin had already reached a high official position. He asked to be demoted to atone for his sins, so he was only demoted. He was appointed Prince Zhongyun, and later moved to Gishizhong after Fu Lei, and eventually became Minister Youcheng.
There are less than 400 poems by Wang Wei in existence. Among them, the most representative of his creative features are poems depicting natural scenery such as mountains, rivers and pastoral areas, and singing about hermit life. Wang Wei's high achievements in depicting natural scenery made him unique in the poetry world of the prosperous Tang Dynasty and became a representative figure of the landscape pastoral poetry school. He inherited and developed the tradition of writing landscape poetry initiated by Xie Lingyun, and also absorbed the freshness and nature of Tao Yuanming's pastoral poetry, which brought the achievement of landscape pastoral poetry to a peak and thus occupied an important position in the history of Chinese poetry. Together with Meng Haoran, he is a representative figure of the landscape pastoral school in the Tang Dynasty. "Old Book of Tang·Biography of Wang Wei" states that during the reign of Emperor Daizong, Wang Jin compiled more than 400 poems by Wang Wei. Wang Jin's "Jin Wang Youcheng Ji Biao" also compiled 10 volumes of Wang Wei's poetry and prose. Shugutang originally had 10 volumes of the Southern Song Dynasty's Ma Sha version of "Collected Works of Wang Youcheng", which were later returned to Lu Xinyuan's Songlou. The Beijing Library has 10 volumes of the Song and Shu editions of "Collected Works of Wang Mojie", which were photocopied and published by Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House in 1982. In the Yuan Dynasty, Liu Xuxi commented on "The Collection of Wang Youcheng" (Collected Poems) in 6 volumes, and the "Sibu Congkan" was copied based on it, which included works by Qian Qi, Lu Xiang, Cui Xingzong and others. Gu Qijing of the Ming Dynasty has 10 volumes of "Leijian Collection of Poems by Tang Wang Youcheng" and 4 volumes of attached essays. This is the earliest existing annotated version of Wang Wei's poems. "Wang Youcheng's Collection of Notes" by Zhao Diancheng of the Qing Dynasty is by far the better annotated version.
In addition to explanatory notes on all the poems, it also includes comments, explanations of the poems whose authors are doubtful, and occasional textual research. It also collects information about Wang Wei's life and poetry and painting criticism as an appendix. In 1961, the Shanghai Editorial Office of Zhonghua Book Company revised and revised Zhao's annotated version, typed and published it. In addition, Zheng Zhenduo used the "Sibu Congkan" edition as the base, revised it with Zhao Diancheng's annotated edition and other four editions, and included it in the "World Library". Deeds can be seen in the new and old "Tang Shu" biography. Both Gu Qi Jing's annotated version and Zhao Diancheng's annotated version are accompanied by Wang Wei's chronology written by the annotator. Today's Chen Yi has an article "A Preliminary Study of Wang Wei's Life and Deeds", followed by a "Brief Chronology of Wang Wei" (contained in "Tang Poetry Series").
[Edit this paragraph] Wang Wei's life experience
Both he and his younger brother Jin were extremely talented since childhood. When he was fifteen years old, he went to the capital to take the exam. Because he could write good poems, was good at calligraphy and painting, and had musical talent, the young Wang Wei immediately became the favorite of the princes and nobles of the capital as soon as he arrived in the capital. Regarding his talent in music, there is a story: once, a man got a music picture, but he didn't know why he titled it. After seeing it, Wang Wei replied: "This is the first beat of the third stack of "The Song of Colorful Feather Clothes"." He invited musicians to play, and it turned out to be exactly the same.
In terms of poetry, there are documented materials written when he was fifteen, seventeen, or eighteen years old. It can be seen that he was already a famous poet in his teens. This is rare among poets. At that time, in that aristocratic society, a versatile talent like Wang Wei would naturally be highly appreciated. Therefore, he passed the Jinshi examination at the age of twenty-one.
After becoming an official, Wang Wei used his spare time in bureaucratic life to build a villa at the foot of Nanlantian Mountain in the capital to cultivate his body and mind. The villa was originally owned by Song Zhiwen, a poet in the early Tang Dynasty. It was a very spacious place with mountains, lakes, woods and valleys, and several buildings scattered among it. At this time, Wang Wei lived a leisurely life with his close friends. This is his semi-official and semi-hidden life.
Wang Wei, who had always lived a comfortable life, was involved in unexpected troubles in his later years. The Anshi Rebellion broke out in the fourteenth year of Xuanzong Tianbao's reign (755). During the war, he was captured by the rebels and forced to become a puppet official. This became a serious problem after the war subsided, and he was handed over for interrogation. Fortunately, during the chaos, he had written a poem about longing for the emperor, and with the intercession of his younger brother, who was the Minister of Justice at the time, he was able to escape the disaster and was only demoted. Later, he was promoted to the position of Minister Youcheng.
Wang Wei had positive political ambitions in his early years and hoped to accomplish a great cause. Later, when the political situation changed, he gradually became depressed and started eating fast and chanting Buddha's name. When he was in his forties, he specially built a villa in Wangchuan, Lantian County, southeast of Chang'an, and lived a semi-official and semi-hidden life. This poem is a chapter in his secluded life. The main content is "statement of ambition", which describes the poet's desire to stay away from the world and continue to live in seclusion. The scenery described in the poem is not deliberately laid out, it is natural and fresh, as if it were picked up at hand, and the distant scenery can be seen by itself, which is very much in the style of Tao Yuanming.
[Edit this paragraph] Analysis
This poem is all about the tranquility of spring mountains. "Quiet" was strongly felt by the poet. Why? It is because "people are idle", that is, people are quiet. People's tranquility is due to the tranquility of their hearts, so they are aware of the fall of the sweet-scented osmanthus.
Flowers fall, the moon rises, and birds sing, these "moving" scenes set off the tranquility of the spring stream.
Birdsong Stream is a place with extremely beautiful scenery. Jian is a mountain stream, a flowing water sandwiched between two mountains. This poem describes the unusually quiet scene in Spring Mountain at night. The main idea of ??the poem is: In a quiet environment with no human voice, the sweet-scented osmanthus blossoms and falls by itself, as if you can feel the sound of the sweet-scented osmanthus falling to the ground. When the night is deeper and quieter, the spring mountains with many scenery seem to be empty. The moon had just risen, and as soon as the light appeared, it startled the birds in the trees, and they chirped from time to time in the spring stream.
This poem mainly writes about the quiet night in the spring mountains. The flowers fall, the moon rises, and the birds sing, they are all moving. The author uses movement to contrast the stillness, and achieves the artistic effect of "the mountain with the singing of birds becomes more secluded".
"Leisure" means that there are no disturbances of human affairs around, and it shows the quietness of the poet's heart. With this as a premise, the subtle sweet-scented osmanthus fell from the branches and was noticed. The poet can discover this kind of "falling", either by the touch caused by the flower falling on the skirt of the clothes, or by the sound, or by the trace of fragrance emitted when the petals fall. In short, the factors that "fall" can affect people are very subtle. And when this subtle factor can be clearly felt from the surrounding world, the poet can't help but marvel at the silence of the night and the emptiness particularly revealed by the silence. Here, the poet's state of mind and the environmental atmosphere of Chunshan are consistent with each other and interact with each other.
Writing about an ethereal and quiet environment and state of mind, the protagonist uses all his heart and soul to listen carefully to the sounds of falling flowers and birds singing. His heart is peaceful and indifferent, but also full of elegance and elegance. The extremely quiet nature is vivid and full of life in the poet's writing. The moonrise is silent, while mountain birds fly in fright. This is an artistic scene that contrasts movement and stillness. "Er'an Shuo Tang Poetry": "Youcheng is good at Zen theory, and his poems are all in line with the holy teachings." "Notes on Tang Poetry": "It is wonderful to have leisurely things and leisurely people to lead this leisurely fun." "Poetry Methods Yi Jianlu": " Birdsong refers to a motive; stream refers to a narrow environment. If you first write the five words "Jingyue Spring Mountain Sky" in front of it, and then point out the bird singing stream, you will feel an empty and quiet scene, which becomes more obvious due to the birdsong. It is revealed beyond the words and ink. It is a piece of machinery that cannot be reached without human effort.
"
This poem is one of the representative works of Wang Wei's landscape poetry. From the perspective of literary creation, the subtlety of this poem lies in the contrast between "motion" and "quietness" and the poetic and picturesque atmosphere. The first sentence, "Osmanthus flowers fall when people are idle, and the spring sky is clear at night" uses sound to describe the scenery, and cleverly uses synaesthetic techniques to combine the dynamic scene of "flowers falling" with "people are idle". All belong to the sound of nature. Only when the mind is truly free and lets go of the obsession with worldly distractions can the personal spirit be raised to an "empty" state. The background was "late night", and the poet obviously could not see the sweet-scented osmanthus falling. But because of the "quiet night" and the "quiet mind" of the person watching the scenery, he still felt the process of the blooming osmanthus falling off the branches, floating down, and landing on the ground, and we seemed to have entered into it while reciting. The beautiful scenery of "Fragrant Forest and Rain of Flowers". The "Spring Mountain" here leaves a blank in our imagination. Because it is a "Spring Mountain", we can imagine the noisy scene during the day: the beautiful spring day, the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers, and the laughter. At that time, the night is quiet, the tourists have left, the noise of the day has disappeared, and the mountains and forests have become idle. In fact, what is "empty" is the poet's state of mind as a Zen practitioner. Only his free and easy state of mind can capture scenes that others cannot feel.
The last sentence, "The moonrise scares the mountain birds, and they sing in the spring streams." It uses movement to describe stillness. One "startle" and one "sing" seem to break the tranquility of the night, but in fact, it uses sound. The description sets off the tranquility and leisure in the mountains: the moon emerged from the clouds, the quiet moonlight streamed down, a few birds woke up from their sleep, murmured a few times from time to time, and sang softly with the spring mountain stream. The sound of water flowing brings the overall artistic conception of this silent mountain forest to the reader's eyes, which is similar to Wang Ji's "The forest is noisy with cicadas, and the mountain with singing birds is even more secluded" ("Entering Ruoye Creek").
"Articles are made by nature, and by chance they can be found by good hands." In ancient times, good poems were made by nature, and were narrated by good hands. And when we are chanting and drinking, our minds and hearts seem to follow. The poet's words enter into that quiet and elegant picture.
[Edit this paragraph] Poetry
The spring night is silent, and the moonlight fills the earth. The mountains at night feel even more empty. When the moon comes out, the birds are startled by the moonlight, and their chirps echo in the mountain streams.
[Edit this paragraph] The scenery of the poem
< p> There are quite different opinions about the osmanthus in this poem. One explanation is that there are different types of osmanthus such as spring flowers, autumn flowers, and four-season flowers. Another opinion is that the one written here is the one that blooms in spring. Literary and artistic creation does not necessarily have to copy life. It is said that Wang Wei's painting "Yuan An Lying in the Snow" contains green bananas in the snow. Things that cannot appear at the same time in real life are allowed in literary and artistic creation. However, This poem is one of the "Five Miscellaneous Poems on Huangfu Yue Yunxi" written by Wang Wei about his friend's residence. Each of the five poems describes a scenery, which is close to landscape sketching and different from ordinary freehand paintings. Therefore, it is used for interpretation. It is appropriate for the spring osmanthus that is actually present in the mountains at this time. Another explanation is that "Osmanthus Falls" is a song from the Tang Dynasty.Birdsong Stream The osmanthus branches have lush leaves and small petals. Falling flowers, especially at night, is not easy to detect. Therefore, the word "人 leisure" at the beginning cannot be easily read. "People are free" means that there are no human disturbances around, and it shows the quietness of the poet's heart. With this as a premise, the subtle sweet-scented osmanthus fell from the branches and was noticed. The poet can discover this kind of "falling", either by the touch caused by the flower falling on the skirt of the clothes, or by the sound, or by the trace of fragrance emitted when the petals fall. In short, the factors that "fall" can affect people are very subtle. And when this subtle factor can be clearly felt from the surrounding world, the poet can't help but marvel at the silence of the night and the emptiness particularly revealed by the silence. Here, the poet's state of mind and the environmental atmosphere of Chunshan are consistent with each other and interact with each other.
In this spring mountain, Wan Lai is intoxicated with the color of the night and the tranquility of the night. Therefore, when the moon rises and brings a bright silver glow to the empty valley shrouded in night, the mountain birds are startled. The birds were frightened, of course, because they were accustomed to the silence of the valley, and it seemed that even the moonrise brought new excitement. But the brightness of the moonlight caused an immediate change in the scenery before and after the valley, as can be imagined. As the saying goes, "The moon and stars are sparse, and the magpies are flying south." Wang Wei lived in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, which was different from the war and chaos of the Jian'an era. Even birds and animals were in a state of panic. Wang Wei's "Moonrise Startles the Mountain Bird" is set in the stable and unified society of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Although the bird is frightened, it is by no means "circling the tree three times with no branches to rely on". They did not fly away from the spring stream, or even took off at all. They only made occasional calls among the trees. "The time is ringing in the spring stream", they are not so much "surprised" as they are fresh about the moonrise. Therefore, if we compare it with Cao Cao's "Dan Ge Xing", in Wang Wei's poem, we can not only see the charming environment of the spring mountain decorated with the bright moon, falling flowers and birdsong, but also feel the prosperous Tang Dynasty. The peaceful and stable social atmosphere of the era.
In his landscape poems, Wang Wei likes to create a quiet artistic conception, and this poem is also written in this way. But what is written in the poem is the falling flowers, the moonrise, and the singing of birds. These moving scenes make the poem appear full of vitality and not dull, and at the same time, through movement, they more prominently show the tranquility of the spring stream. Moving scenery can achieve a static effect instead. This is because the contradictory sides of things are always interdependent.
Under certain conditions, the reason why movement can occur or be noticed by people is precisely based on stillness. "The mountains are more secluded when birds sing", which contains the dialectics of art.
[Edit this paragraph] Notes
Stream: It is a mountain stream, a ravine sandwiched between two mountains, and a flowing water sandwiched between two mountains.
Xian: quiet.
Empty: empty.
Time: sometimes, occasionally.