"Walking to a waterless place, sitting and watching the clouds rise", what does this poem mean? ——Answer: Go to the end of the water to look for the source. Just sit and watch the ever-changing changes in the rising clouds and mist.
Overview of the work
"Zhongnan Farewell" is one of the representative works of Wang Wei, a poet of the Tang Dynasty.
This poem vividly and vividly describes the author's leisurely enjoyment after retiring, which highlights the open-minded character of the retired person. The poet wanders alone when he is interested. When he reaches the end of the water, he sits down and watches the changing clouds. This vividly depicts the image of a hermit, as if he were seeing the person himself. Talking and laughing with the old people in the mountains, forgetting about the time to go home, it is very free and comfortable. This is a typical example of the poet capturing a typical environment. The whole poem is as plain as words, but it is very powerful, possessing both poetic flavor and intellectual interest.
Original text of the work
Zhongnan Bieyeye
He was quite good at Taoism in his middle age①, and later he came to Nanshan Border②.
Every time when you are happy, you go alone, and you know your victory in vain③.
Walking to a water-poor place, sit and watch the clouds rise.
I accidentally visited Lin Sou ④, and talked and laughed for a long time ⑤.
Words and Sentences
①Middle-aged: middle-aged. Good (hào): like. Dao: This refers to Buddhism.
②Home: settle down. Nanshan: namely Zhongnan Mountain. Frontier (chuí): edge, side, border; Nanshan Frontier refers to the location of Wangchuan Villa, which means the foot of Zhongnan Mountain.
③Shengshi: Beautiful things.
④Value: Encountered. Sou (sǒu): old man.
⑤No repayment period: There is no exact time for repayment.
Vernacular translation
After middle age, he had a strong desire to be good at Taoism, and it was not until his later years that he settled on the edge of Zhongnan Mountain.
When I am interested, I often go out alone to play, and I appreciate and indulge myself in happy things.
Sometimes I go to the end of the water to find the source, and sometimes I sit and watch the rising clouds and mist change ever-changingly.
I accidentally met a village elder in the woods. I chatted and laughed with him and often forgot to return home.
Creative background
This poem was written approximately after the first year of Qianyuan (758) of Emperor Suzong of the Tang Dynasty. It is a work of Wang Wei in his later years. In his later years, Wang Wei was promoted to Shangshu Youcheng, and his position was not small. In fact, due to the repeated changes in the political situation, he had already seen the hardships and dangers of his official career, and wanted to escape from this troubled world. He ate fasting, worshiped Buddha, and lived leisurely. After about forty years old, he began to live a life of both officialdom and seclusion.
Appreciation
The focus of the whole poem is to express the longing for the leisurely taste of self-pleasure. The first two sentences of the poem, "A good Tao in middle age" and "Late home in Nanshan" point out the poet's life destination and ideological conversion of living in seclusion and worshiping Buddhism. "Tao" refers to Buddhism. "You are quite good at Taoism in your middle age." The author emphasizes that after middle age, he disliked the secular world and embraced Buddhism. The word "po" points out his pious mentality of worshiping Buddhism. The word "late" has rich connotations. It can refer to both "late" and "late years". If it is the former, "Late Family Nanshan Frontier" is a depiction of the real life of seclusion; if it is the latter, it is a conception of one's own later life.
The life in the mountains and forests is extremely comfortable. When the mood comes, he often goes for a leisurely walk in the mountains alone. Only the poet himself can understand the feeling of pleasure and freedom. "Every" indicates that "coming and going alone" is very frequent and not accidental. "Independence" does not mean that there are no people of the same tune. In fact, when the poet was in seclusion, there were many people of the same tune who came and sang with him, such as Zhang Yi, Pei Di, etc. This should mean that the poet couldn't wait to invite others to come with him when he was in the mood. The image of a free and easy hermit is revealed to the readers. From a literal sense, it feels vaguely lonely, but who can say that this feeling is not a happy thing? "Victory is empty and self-knowledge" is the same. The word "empty" may be a bit helpless and lonely, but the poet is intoxicated with this kind of mountain and forest scenery.
"Walking to a waterless place, sitting and watching the clouds rise" means "successful things". Walking leisurely in the mountains, before he knew it, he had reached the end of the stream. It seemed that there was no way to go, but the poet felt that his eyes were wide open, so he simply sat down and watched the wind and clouds in the sky. Everything is so natural, the flowing water in the mountains and the white clouds all arouse the author's endless interest, which shows that he is leisurely and comfortable. Shen Deqian, a native of the Qing Dynasty, praised: "Everything you do is nothing but a machine." ("Collection of Tang Poems") "Walking to the end of the water" allows readers to appreciate the magnanimity of "doing what you have to do"; "Sit and watch." "When the clouds rise", while appreciating the most leisurely and comfortable state, you can also appreciate the infinite liveliness of the wonderful state! Clouds are tangible and traceless, erratic, endlessly changing, and continuous, thus giving people the impression of being unintentional, free and idle. Tao Qian once wrote a poem that says, "The clouds are unintentional and come out of Xiu" ("Going Back Xi Ci"), and In the eyes of Buddhists, clouds also symbolize the "impermanent mind" and "non-dwelling mind". Therefore, "sitting and watching the clouds rise" also contains a kind of Zen intention of "should have no place to live but to have its mind". In short, it is "empty". If people can get rid of attachments and be as careless as clouds, they can get rid of troubles, gain liberation, and gain freedom. The poet had an epiphany while sitting and looking at it. Looking at the flowing water and white clouds again, there is no distinction between them, reaching the state of oneness between things and myself. From a structural point of view, the two sentences "Walking to a waterless place and sitting down to watch the clouds rise" are well balanced and consistent. From an artistic perspective, these two sentences are like a landscape painting, which is "a painting within a poem". also.
In the conclusion, the author accidentally met "Lin Sou" in the mountains, so he talked and laughed with him freely, so that he forgot the time. The poet's leisurely nature and transcendent style vividly appeared on the page, and they were related to the poem. The freedom and freedom when admiring the landscape alone in the front are integrated, making the whole poem form a complete artistic conception. The word "accidental" is used throughout, but there is no trace of it. In fact, "walking alone when the mood arises", "walking to a waterless place, sitting and watching the clouds rise", etc., are they not "unintentional accidents"? However, the poet only mentioned the word "accidental" by "Zui Linsou" at this point, which shows the superb artistic means. Because "accidental" is everywhere, it shows the leisure and ease in the heart. The conclusion of "There is no time to talk and laugh" is natural, but it contains hidden philosophy. Because the poet realized the state of forgetting the two things and myself, and thus forgetting the ever-changing secular world, this is the true "empty" state.
This poem does not describe specific mountains and rivers, but focuses on expressing the poet's leisurely and contented state of mind when he lived in seclusion in the mountains. The first six lines of the poem are naturally quiet, and the poet's image is like that of an outsider who does not care about the world. He does not care about worldly affairs and regards the mountains as a paradise. You don’t deliberately explore the beauty of nature, but you can appreciate the beauty of nature anytime and anywhere. The last two sentences introduce human activities and bring a breath of life, making the poet's image more approachable.
Comments from famous experts
"Poet Jade Chip": The idea of ??this poem is so wonderful that it matches the appearance and interior of creation. Is there any painting in the poem? Looking at his poems, one can see that among the cicadas sloughing off the dust, they are floating on the surface of all things. The old man in the valley said: I have been climbing mountains and facing the water for more than a few years, and I have read Wang Mojie's poems. I know that this old chest must be suffering from the disease of gypsum.
"Yingkui Lvsui": You Cheng's poem has the inexhaustible beauty of singing three sighs.
"Wang Meng's Poetry Commentary": The state of silence, the taste that cannot be said, is thought by those who don't know it to be simple and easy, but its quality is such that it is difficult to reach it.
"Selected Tang Poems": Close to the temperament, quietly forgetting the words.
"Mirror of Tang Poems": Five or Six Divine Realms.
"Return of Tang Poems": Zhong Yun: These works only seem to have existed before there were no sound poems. However, reading them is like a new poem coming out of the mouth and seeing it for the first time, without realizing it. It's done, the reason is hard to say. Tan Yun: He is just a human being and behaves in a mysterious way.
"Interpretation of Tang Poems": This is worthy of the title "Jie Lu in the human environment".
"Selected Poems of the Tang Dynasty": Zhou Bi is a unified body of ideas, which is unbridled and unbridled. He Xinzhi is a high ancient style. Monk Huihong said: If you don't express leisurelyness directly, but you can see leisurelyness in intention, it is called the syntax of left-idea. Playing with the word "accidental" is deeply interesting. Lu Dian said: The rules are consistent with ancient times, and the meaning and interest cannot be exhausted in words. There is a kind of leisurely and understanding place, and what you see is nothing but the Tao.
"Selection of Tang Poems": Qing Dynasty is the top tune of the time, and it also makes people want to part with it but can't.
"Tang Lu Xiaoxia Lu": "walking", "sitting", "talking" and "laughing" are not said to be in other industries, but they are all related to other industries. When it comes to the word "good Tao", Mr. Wang said that "it is empty and self-aware", how can I force it to make a footnote? Mr. Yu Youjizhuang said: "If this poem is only read in words, it will betray your kindness. However, the samadhi of words must be understood in these poems before you can have enlightenment." The word "Huanqi" is different from "Farewell" Industry" briefly responds.
"This Muxuan's Compilation of Poems": Looking at its meaning, if one does not want to be a poet, is his poem in a desperate state? "It is empty to know that success is achieved by oneself", and it is not allowed for others to know. There are two words in the poem: "Wuxin".
"Combined Interpretation of Ancient Tang Poems": This poem does not need to be attached to the title, nor does it need to be broken down, it is so clear and subtle.
"The Formation of Tang Poetry": The reason why a family has a separate business. Two separate industries. Three or four inherit one or two. Five or six inherit three or four. Seven or eight inherit five or six knots. There is no word about other karma, but the words are about other karma, which is wonderful. "Mid-year-old" should give birth to "Late Family", "going alone" should give birth to "self-knowledge", "walking" should give birth to "going alone", "sitting and watching" should give birth to "self-knowledge", and "water poverty", "Yunqi" should be "Xinglai", "Shengshi", "Lin Sou", "Talking and laughing" and the word "accidental" should always be used. This law contains ancient methods.
"Poetry of the Tang Dynasty": This poem has created the Tao, and the three couplets are also comparable to the style.
"Near Body Qiuyang": If you don't shed all the mundane world, you may not be able to understand this realm. Can you understand this, is it true that evil is not evil? The current flows against nature and determines the end of the ages. The eight sentences are just like one sentence. The close style is as delicate as the dust, and it is as simple as entering the Tao. It has never been better than this author. Meng Haoranya was proud of his spring stone, but he did not have such a masterpiece. Although his reputation was high-end, his temperament was not as good as that of You Cheng's Yikuang. However, Meng You should have gone too far in his strict conduct.
"Tang Poems from the Rope": This whole poem is directly narrated. Five or six syntax is straightforward. This kind of syntax is not artificial, and it is valuable to be pure, elegant and healthy. Although Tong Shouyan was involved in researching this matter when he was middle-aged, he was inevitably at a loss. Only in his later years did he know that he had a place to settle down and make a life. If you get this handle, your walking will stop and you will know the cold and warm. The water will be exhausted and the clouds will rise. This is all Zen opportunity. The old man in the forest will be idle. This is nothing but wonderful truth. It ends with people and me forgetting each other, which means leisurely contentment.
"Cocoon Studio Poetry Talk": The most difficult thing is to be calm and calm while focusing on everything. The ancient beauty is natural, and you can't do it.
"Biecai of Tang Poetry": Nothing happens, everything turns into a machine. The last sentence "no repayment period" means that the repayment period is indefinite.
"Net Master's Garden Tang Poetry Notes": A refreshing breath (the bottom of the fourth sentence of "Xing Lai").
"Annotated Readings of Poetry in the Past Dynasties": The third to eighth sentences are all generated from one breath, regardless of turns and combinations, but turns and combinations separate themselves, which is a stroke of chemical engineering.
"Review of Ying Kui Lu Sui": Feng Ban: The second couplet is amazing. Check Shenxing: Five or six natures have endless scenery. Ji Yun: The beauty of this poem is from the extremely gorgeous to the ordinary, but it cannot be sought after.
Those who study the prosperous Tang Dynasty should take this as their return to the ruins, and should not take this as their first step. He also said: All these are smelted to the point where all the dross is melted, the cultivation is mature, the impetuousness is gone, and then when the heavenly secret comes, it flows out freely. It cannot be obtained by imitation. Without the power of smelting and nourishing, but using appearance to imitate it, it is a stereotyped statement and a perfunctory air conditioner. Those who pretend to be prosperous in the Tang Dynasty often commit this disease. This is also like the flow of Zen scholars, there is a difference between vacuum and stubborn emptiness, which must be distinguished by those who discuss poetry.
About the author
Wang Wei, a poet of the Tang Dynasty. The word Mojie. Originally from Qi (now part of Shanxi), his father moved to Puzhou (now west of Yongji, Shanxi), so he was a native of Hedong. Kaiyuan (reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, 713-741) Jinshi. Tired of official duties. He was appointed Prince Zhongyun when An Lushan's rebels fell into Chang'an. After the rebellion was over, he was demoted to Prince Zhongyun. Later he became the Minister of Finance, Youcheng, so he was also called Wang Youcheng. In his later years, he lived in Wangchuan, Lantian, and lived a leisurely life of both officialdom and seclusion. The poem is as famous as Meng Haoran, and is also called "Wang Meng". In the early days, he wrote some poems on the theme of frontier fortresses, but the most important part of his works were landscape poems. Through the depiction of pastoral landscapes, he promoted the hermit life and Buddhist Zen philosophy; He is also proficient in music, calligraphy and painting. There is "Wang Youcheng Collection".