From Yan Zhenqing's "Persuasion" in the Tang Dynasty.
Original text:
Every day when the cock crows, it is the best time for boys to read.
Teenagers only know how to play, but don't know how to study hard. When they are old, they regret why they didn't know how to study hard when they were young.
Translation:
Midnight is the best time for boys to study every day. Teenagers don't know how to get up early and study hard, and it will be too late to regret reading less when they are old.
Extended data:
"Night light night chicken" refers to hardworking people and diligent students who are still working and studying in the middle of the night, and the lights are still on at night. After turning off the lights and lying down for a short rest, chickens crow at night, and these hardworking people have to get up and be busy again. The second sentence, study hard and get up early, expresses that you should study day and night when you are young. Only by studying hard can we serve our country and make contributions.
"Black hair doesn't know how to study hard early, and Bai Shoufang regrets studying late." It is written that I didn't study hard when I was young, and it is too late to learn now. "Black hair" and "bald head" in the sentence are metonymic figures of speech, referring to youth and old age. Through the method of comparison, it is emphasized that reading and learning should be early, and it is not necessary to regret it when you are old.
This poem is easy to understand, natural and fluent, and full of philosophy. The core is "black hair learns early, white hair learns late". As ambitious people, we should pay attention to seize the time to study, study and cultivate self-cultivation. The best reading time is in the third and fifth watch, and you should read in the morning. Moreover, only by hard work year after year can we really learn the skills of serving our country and starting a family.
From the perspective of study time, we should encourage young people not to waste time and study hard as soon as possible to avoid regret. The poet conceived from the perspectives of the significance, function, attitude and methods of learning, hoping that people would pay attention to the acquired learning in order to strengthen their own behavior cultivation.