The Sapphire Case · Yuan Xi①
[Song Dynasty] Xin Qiji
The east wind blooms thousands of trees at night,
and even blows them down, Stars are like rain③.
BMW carved cars fill the road with fragrance.
The phoenix flute ⑤ sounds, the jade pot ⑥ light turns, and fish and dragons dance all night long ⑦.
The golden strands of moth snow willow ⑧,
The laughter is full of ⑨ and the secret fragrance ⑩ goes away.
The crowd searched for him thousands of times,
Suddenly looking back, the man was there, in the dim light. Note: There are two missing words in the brackets. The Ming Dynasty edition was written as Denghuo.
Notes
① Yuanxi: The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival and the Lantern Festival. This night is called Yuanxi or Yuan Ye.
②Thousands of flowers and trees: There are as many lanterns as a thousand trees in bloom.
③Stars like rain: Refers to fireworks falling in disorder like rain. Star refers to fireworks. Describe the sky full of fireworks.
④BMW carving: a luxurious carriage.
⑤Fengxiao: the name of Xiao.
⑥Jade pot: a metaphor for the bright moon.
⑦ Fish and dragon dance: refers to dancing fish-shaped and dragon-shaped lanterns. (That is, the fish and dragon dance. It is a performance of the Lantern Festival)
⑧Moths, snow willows, and golden strands: all are various decorations worn on the heads of ancient women during the Lantern Festival. This refers to women in costumes.
⑨ Yingying: The voice is light and sweet, and it also refers to the delicate appearance.
⑩Secret fragrance: Originally refers to the fragrance of flowers, this refers to the fragrance exuded by women.
?He: Refers generally, including "her" at that time
?Qianbaidu: Thousands of times.
?Suddenly: suddenly, suddenly.
?Lanshan: Scattered and sparse appearance.
Translation
The east wind blows, and countless lanterns sway, as if they are urging thousands of flowers to bloom. The fireworks are chaotic and falling, and it is like the stars in the sky being blown away. It fell like a shower of stars. Gorgeous cars and BMWs come and go on the road, and all kinds of intoxicating aromas fill the streets. The sweet music of Feng Xiao echoed everywhere, and the moon emitted bright fluorescence in the sky, and its brilliance circulated. In the lively night, fish and dragon-shaped lanterns are tumbling. The beauties all wore bright ornaments on their heads and colorful clothes, swaying in the crowd. They pass by with smiles on their faces and a faint fragrance. I looked for her thousands of times but never saw her. When I turned around inadvertently, I saw her standing in the scattered lights.
Analysis
The first half of this poem describes the grand occasion of the Lantern Festival night.
"The east wind blows thousands of flowers and trees at night, and even blows them down, and the stars are like rain": Clusters of fireworks fly into the sky, and then scatter down like a rain of stars. From the very beginning, people are brought into the festive carnival of "Fire Trees and Silver Flowers".
“The road is full of BMW carvings and cars”: dignitaries and dignitaries also take their families out to watch the lanterns. Together with the "fish and dragon dance" in the next sentence, it forms a scene of joy for all people.
"The sound of the phoenix flute moves, the light of the jade pot turns, and the fish and dragons dance all night": "Fengxiao" is a wind instrument such as panpipes, which generally refers to music; "jade pot" refers to the moon; " "Ichthyosaurus" is in the shape of a lantern. This sentence means that under the moonlight, the lights are bright, and people immersed in the festival sing and dance all night long.
The lower column still writes about the joy of "New Year's Eve", but the upper column writes about the entire scene, while the lower column writes about a specific person. Through his ups and downs of emotions, personal joy is naturally conveyed. Melted into the joy of the festival.
"The moths are like golden strands of snow and willows, and the laughter is full of hidden fragrances.": This sentence is written about the women who watch the Lantern Festival. They wear beautiful clothes and beautiful jewelry, and run forward happily. , wherever you pass, bursts of faint fragrance float in the wind. "Snow willow" is a headdress like hosta.
"Looking for her thousands of times among the crowd": (This man) identified the many women passing by one by one (but none of them was the one he was waiting for).
"I suddenly looked back, but that person was in a dimly lit place": Occasionally I turned around, only to find my sweetheart standing in the dark place.
"Lights dim" should not be interpreted as "the good night is about to pass". Although "Lights dim" means that the lights are gradually going out, what we are talking about here is the fireworks falling from the sky, which have already been extinguished by the time they approach the ground. It disperses, so even though there is a stream of light above the head, the place where you stand is dim.
This poem is familiar to everyone, especially the last line "Looking back suddenly, that person is in the dim light" has been a famous line that has been chanted for a long time. The whole poem ends abruptly at the most exciting place, but leaves the reader with an extremely wide space for imagination. After waiting, searching, being anxious, and being disappointed, you can suddenly discover that the person you love is right behind you. No one can imagine the surprise that fell from the sky.
The "person" in the word "dim light" is, needless to say, a young girl. Her face was only revealed in the vague darkness at the end of the word. However, readers can feel that this is a smart, lively and somewhat naughty girl. The person waiting for her was in the light and she was in the dark. Maybe she had discovered him a long time ago, but she was not in a hurry to meet him. She tested his patience first, looked at his anxious look, and then quietly Follow him and wait until he is about to collapse before giving him an unexpected surprise.
As for the young man, he turned a blind eye to the lively grand occasion of the Lantern Festival and didn't care. He only cared about the girls floating in front of him with their colorful branches, and he eagerly wanted to find out the girl among them. Lovely familiar faces. If he cannot find his beloved, then the entire Lantern Festival will be overshadowed, and all the excitement will only make him feel lost and lonely. Only when he meets "that person" he is looking forward to, will the whole joyous scene be activated, and will he truly enjoy the double ecstasy brought by the festival.
At the same time, there is also a saying that the man standing in the dimly lit place is a portrayal of himself. According to the historical background, it can be seen that at that time, he was not reused and could not display his literary and military skills. He felt extremely melancholy in his heart, so he could only admire himself on the sidelines. Just like the person standing outside the lively atmosphere, it gives people a sense of nobility, embodying the style of a high scholar who refuses to join the crowd after being left out.
As a graceful poem, "The Sapphire Case" is not inferior in artistic achievements to Yan Shu and Liu Yong, the masters of the graceful school in the Northern Song Dynasty. From the beginning of the poem, "Thousands of flowers and trees bloom on an east wind night", it tries its best to exaggerate the lively scene of the Lantern Festival: the city is full of lights, the streets are full of tourists, the trees and trees are lit with flowers, and people sing and dance all night long. However, the author's intention is not to describe the scene, but to highlight the difference of the person in the "dim light". This word describes the lively scene of the Lantern Festival with lights all night long. Liang Qichao said that "self-pity is lonely, and there is no embrace for sad people." He believes that this word has sustenance and can be called a close friend. The first film depicts the lively scene of the New Year's Eve night with bright lights and crowds of tourists, while the second film depicts the image of a beautiful woman who does not crave glory and is content to remain lonely. The image of beauty is the embodiment of the author's ideal personality. "The crowd has searched for her for thousands of times, but when I suddenly looked back, there she was, in a dimly lit place." Wang Guowei called this state of becoming a great person. The third state of a great inquirer is indeed the true knowledge and insight of a great inquirer. .
The whole text mainly uses contrasting expression techniques to express the author's pursuit of not conforming to the world (the poet's persistence and hardship in pursuing his ideal).
Appreciation
There are countless poems written by ancient poets about the Lantern Festival. However, no one considers this poem by Xin Qiji to be dispensable, so it can also be called A hero. However, in reality, apart from exaggerating the lively grand occasion, there is nothing unique about Shangyu. The author writes fire trees as fixed lights, and "star rain" as flowing fireworks. If you say yes, just imagine: the east wind has not yet urged the flowers to bloom, but it has first blown away the fireworks of the Lantern Festival. It not only blew away the lights on the ground, but also blew down a rain of colorful stars from the sky - the fireworks first shot up into the sky and then fell from the sky, like a shower of meteors. "Thousands of Flowers and Trees" depicts colorful lights filling the streets, just like thousands of trees and flowers blown open by the spring breeze overnight.
This is a paraphrase of the Tang Dynasty poet Cen Shen's "Suddenly a spring breeze comes overnight, and thousands of pear trees bloom." Then he wrote about the "Jade Pot", a fairyland on earth with carriages, horses, drums, lights and moonlight, and the "Shehuo" opera where folk artists sang and danced and fish and dragons were scattered. It was extremely prosperous and lively, and it was dizzying. The words "treasure", "diao", "phoenix", "jade", and all kinds of beautiful words are just to convey the atmosphere of the lantern and night and describe the state. Probably, the state cannot be conveyed by pen and ink. Fortunately, there are still these beautiful words, just to help. This is also a tacit compliment to the heroine in the poem.
The lower column is dedicated to writing about people. The author starts from the beginning: These wandering girls, all with misty hair and clouds, are wearing the unique moths and snow willows of the Lantern Festival. These wandering girls in costumes kept talking and laughing while walking. After they left, , only the fragrance of clothes is still floating in the dark. These beauties are not the ones the author cares about. He is looking for just one among hundreds of thousands of people - but they are always elusive. There is no hope. ...Suddenly, my eyes lit up, and I clearly saw it next to the broken lamp in the corner. It was her! It's her! That's right, she was in this lonely place, and she hasn't returned yet, she seems to be waiting for something! The moment of discovering that person is the condensation and sublimation of the spirit of life, and the inexplicable gratitude inscription of sorrow and joy. The poet has such a skill, he actually turns it into a trace of pen and ink, which will never be destroyed! -After reading the final scene, I suddenly realized: the lanterns, moon, fireworks, sheng flutes, social dances, and the intertwined joy of New Year's Eve, and the dazzling groups of beauties below, It turns out that they are all just for the one person you like, and if there is no such person, what is the meaning and interest of everything!
This word cannot be spoken at first, but as soon as it is spoken, it becomes a snake, destroying the beautiful realm of priceless happiness and bitter moment in life. However, once the painting of a snake has been completed, more needs to be added: Literary scholars should not forget to note that at the end of the poem, the words "One night!" have already appeared. Why is this? Gai had already devoted countless hours of painstaking efforts and infatuation to find her, so when he came out of "The Lights Dimmed" at the bottom of the palace, he echoed the words before and after. It is a pity that critics often call Jiaxuan "bold" and "bold", as if they regard him as a rough man and a strong man. Isn't this a disservice to scholars?
Wang Guowei once mentioned this word in "Human Words", believing that those who achieve great things must experience three realms, and the realm of Jiaxuan's word is the third and final highest realm. This special use of words to describe things has nothing to do with literary appreciation. Mr. Wang has already made it clear in advance that we have no need to get involved here.
In terms of tone, "The Sapphire Case" is very unique. It was originally a double tone, with the upper and lower lines the same, except that the second sentence of the upper line became a three-character refrain, which is full of ups and downs. There is no such interruption in the lower part. There are three seven-character sentences arranged in one piece. They can be parallelized and changed according to the poet's intention. However, the arrangement of the sentences is done in one go. It is only until the parallelism is completed that the shocking warning sentence is forced out. .