"Girl's Feelings" written by Zhu Qingyu, a poet of the Tang Dynasty:
The red candles were lit in the bridal chamber last night, waiting to pay homage to my uncle in front of the dawn hall.
After putting on make-up, I asked my husband in a low voice, “How dark is my eyebrows?”
1. Translation and annotations
Translation
The bridal chamber was lit up with candles and flowers all night long, waiting for dawn to pay homage to the parents-in-law.
After dressing up, I gently asked my husband: Is my eyebrow painting thick or light according to fashion?
Notes
⑴ Zhang Shuibu: Zhang Ji, who was a member of the Ministry of Water.
⑵Bridal chamber: newlyweds’ bedroom. Stop the red candle: Let the red candle burn all night. Stop: stay.
⑶Uncle: parents-in-law.
⑷Shadow: light or dark. Fashionable: whether it is fashionable or not. Is it appropriate to use a metaphor here?
2. Appreciation
"The Recent Examination of Zhang Shuibu" is published in Volume 515 of "Quan Tang". The following is the appreciation of this poem by Professor Shen Zufen, a contemporary female writer and famous scholar.
Comparing the love relationship between husband and wife or men and women to other social relationships such as monarch and ministers, as well as friends, teachers and students, is a traditional expression that began to appear in Chinese classical poetry from "The Songs of Chu" and developed thereafter. Technique. This poem is also written in this way.
The title "Zhang Shuibu in the Recent Examination" can help readers understand the meaning of the poem. In the Tang Dynasty, scholars who took the Jinshi imperial examination had the custom of writing papers to famous people. When the exam was coming, Zhu Qingyu was afraid that his work might not meet the requirements of the examiner, so he compared himself with the bride, Zhang Ji with the groom, and the examiner with his parents-in-law. He wrote this poem to ask for Zhang Ji's opinion.
It was an ancient custom that the bride would get married the night before and meet her parents-in-law early the next morning. The focus of this poem's description is her mental state before going to see him. The first sentence is written as marriage. The bridal chamber refers to the new house. Stop, place. Stopping the red candle means leaving the red candle burning all night long. The second sentence says goodbye. Since the visit was an important event, she got up early in the morning, dressed up in the light of red candles, and waited for dawn so that she could go to the hall to salute. At this time, she couldn't help but murmur in her heart, is her dress very fashionable? In other words, can I please my parents-in-law? Therefore, the second half will continue to write about her words and deeds based on this mood. After carefully putting on my makeup and drawing my eyebrows, I still felt unsure, so I had to ask my husband for his opinion. Since she was a bride, of course she was a little shy, and it was hard to say this out loud for others to hear, so this low-pitched question became extremely reasonable. This kind of writing is really meticulous and detailed.
Just as "boudoir thoughts", this poem is already very complete, beautiful and moving. However, the author's original intention is to express his feelings as an exam candidate when faced with a situation related to his political future. The uneasiness and anticipation unique to an exam. For the intellectuals at that time, taking the imperial examination was as important as a girl getting married. If you pass the exam, you will have a very bright future; otherwise, you may be stuck for a lifetime. This is just like a woman who marries into another family. If she is loved by her husband and parents-in-law, her status will be stable and her situation will be smooth. Otherwise, her life will be very difficult. The poet's comparison comes from real social life and is very typical under the historical conditions at that time. Even now, readers can't help but marvel at his skill of killing two birds with one stone.
The poem presented by Zhu Qingyu received a clear answer from Zhang Ji. In "Rewarding Zhu Qingyu", he wrote:
"The Yue girl appears in new makeup, knowing that she is bright and beautiful, and even more contemplative.
Qi Wan was not as noble as he was when he was young, and he sang a song. "The enemy of song is ten thousand gold."
Since Zhu's gift poem is written in analogy style, so is Zhang's reply poem. In this poem, he compares Zhu Qingyu to a girl named Lingcai. She is beautiful and has a good singing voice. Therefore, she must be praised by people, implying that he does not need to worry about this exam.
The first sentence describes the girl’s identity and appearance. She is a girl collecting water chestnuts from Yuezhou. At this time, she had just dressed up and appeared in the middle of Jinghu Lake, picking water chestnuts and singing. The second sentence describes her mood. Of course she knew she was beautiful and radiant.
But because the hobby was too much, I started to ponder again. (Shen Yin originally means contemplation and chanting, and it is extended to mean secretly thinking and thinking.) Zhu Qingyu was from Yuezhou (now Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province). Yuezhou was home to many beauties, and Jinghu Lake was a famous attraction there. Therefore, Zhang Ji compared her to a Yue girl who appeared in the center of the mirror. These two sentences are in response to the last two sentences in Zhu's poem. "New makeup" is opposite to "thrush", and "more thoughtful" is opposite to "in time without". The whole poem is based on the three words "when there is no time" as its soul. If the bride is dressed to impress, it is best to ask the groom first if she can please her parents-in-law. The meaning of such a carefully asked question is self-explanatory and amazing. In the second half, he further affirmed her outstanding talents and said: Although there are many other girls wearing clothes made of precious silk produced in Qidi (today's Shandong Province), they are not worthy of people's attention. On the contrary, this Miss Cai Ling's beaded throat is really worth ten thousand gold. This further dispels Zhu Qingyu's concerns about "being in the current situation", so he specifically uses "people of the time" to compare with him. Zhu's gift poem was well written, and Zhang also answered it well. The literati respected each other, and the reward and answer were both wonderful. It can be said that they are a perfect match, and it has been passed down as a good story in the poetry world for thousands of years.
3. Creation background:
This was written by Zhu Qingyu on the eve of taking the Jinshi examination during the reign of Emperor Jingzong of the Tang Dynasty, 825-827. Before taking the Jinshi examination, scholars in the Tang Dynasty popularized "Xingjuan", that is, presenting their poems to famous people, in the hope of their praise and introduction to the Minister of Rites who presided over the examination. The recipient of Zhu Qingyu's poem was Zhang Ji, a doctor in the Ministry of Water at that time. At that time, Zhang Ji was as famous as Han Yu for being good at literature and willing to promote the underachievers. Zhu Qingyu wrote papers for him on weekdays, and he had already gained his appreciation. When the exam was coming, he was worried that his work might not meet the examiner's requirements, so he wrote this poem to see if it would suit the examiner's wishes. This poem is a written work.
4. Introduction to the author:
Zhu Qingyu, whose birth and death dates are unknown, has a long name and is written in words. A native of Yuezhou (today's Shaoxing, Zhejiang), he was a Jinshi in the second year of Baoli (826), and he was promoted to secretary and secretary of the provincial school. His poems can be found in Volume 46 of "Chronicles of Tang Poetry" and Volume 6 of "Biography of Talented Scholars of the Tang Dynasty". His poems are preserved in "Complete Poetry of the Tang Dynasty". Two volumes. He once wrote "Girl's Wishes to Zhang Shuibu" as a "general list" for taking the Jinshi examination to increase the chance of passing the Jinshi examination. It is said that Zhang Ji was very impressed after reading it, and wrote a poem to reply to him: "The Yue girl appears in new clothes, and she knows that she is bright and beautiful, and she sings more deeply. Qi Wan was a noble man when he was young, and a Ling song is worth ten thousand gold." So Zhu Qingyu became famous. .