Original works:
An elephant 30 meters long.
Wu Diqing [Qing Dynasty]
When eating meat, did you do it to the extreme? In 30 years, you wrote a sword, sea, sky and autumn.
Fortunately, the article didn't meet Huang Zu, so I was embarrassed by Ma Zhou today.
Naturally, it is difficult for you to use this world, so I am not suitable or established.
You know, Yun Zhi used to be world-class.
Vernacular translation:
Has anyone in a high position ever looked like a tiger? Why do you still have nothing to do after studying for 30 years, as bleak as autumn with the same sky and sky?
I'm glad I didn't meet Beowulf who killed a scholar like Huang Zu, but now I'm as embarrassed as Ma Zhou.
I don't think my talents have been brought into full play. Is it really because I don't have a seal face?
You know, when I was a teenager, I decided to go to heaven and promised to be a world-class person.
Comment on words and phrases:
30: China people's substitution for the number 30.
Quilt: It means to wrap clothes and quilts into a bundle, which means to arrange luggage.
Talent: talent.
Lara: Here.
Appreciation of works:
The first sentence of the first couplet uses the code name of "tiger head eats meat" The ancients believed that the appearance of tiger head was the phase of prosperity. The poet here says that although he has the appearance of a tiger's head, he has no life of wealth. "Book Sword" refers to academic career. The sea, the sky and the autumn are bleak, and nothing has been done for 30 years.
Zhuan Xu used two more allusions. Huang Zu in the last sentence is the satrap of Jiangxia during the Three Kingdoms period. At that time, people valued celebrities and generally didn't kill them, but Huang Zu killed the celebrity Mi Fei. So what the poet means is that he has never met such a rude warrior, and it may be meaningful to compare himself with celebrities. The latter sentence is obviously compared with Ma Zhou, which was appreciated by Li Shimin of Emperor Taizong, and there is a beautiful talk of "four invitations to Ma Zhou". Of course, Li Shimin sent someone. After Ma Zhou entered the DPRK, he rose steadily, from official to official secret, and the prince was the right bastard, acting as the minister of rites. However, in his early years, he was embarrassed and lived in a patron's house.
The necklace couplet is a direct expression of one's mind, lamenting that one's talent has not been met, life is not at the right time, and one is destined not to be worshipped. There is also an allusion here. Li Guang won many battles in the Han Dynasty. He hated, don't I want to be evil? Can't I be born like this? The implication is that he has the merit of sealing Hou, but there is no result of sealing Hou. This is an external factor, not his own.
Couplets remind me of the great ambition I set when I was a teenager, as explained above. The whole poem is a typical feeling of talent failure, and it is the resentment of the author after he failed the list.
Creative background:
Wu was a scholar in the 12th year of Guangxu (1886). He was 30 years old when he wrote this poem. At that time, he was not a scholar, so there were some complaints in the poem. He later worked as an editor of the Hanlin Academy and studied politics in Sichuan, and his official position was not low. When he was appointed as the ambassador to Hunan, he visited Japan and established a school in Hunan. Hunan Tongzhi is very grateful to this Hangzhou official.
After the Revolution of 1911, Wu moved to Shanghai and made friends with Shen Cengzhi and others. Two years later, he and Shen Cengzhi were invited to compile Zhejiang Tongzhi before returning to their hometown in Hangzhou. 1924 died in Hangzhou Juxueguan Lane at the age of 77.
About the author:
Wu (1848-1924) has a word "zi xiu", and the word "Jing Jiang" is also used to supplement the elderly. A native of Qiantang (now Hangzhou), he was a scholar in the 12th year of Guangxu, and was changed to Jishi Shu, imperial academy. After the museum was scattered, he was granted an editor. He has served as a scholar in Sichuan, ambassador to Hunan, general office of the administrative office, and member of the national advisory Committee proficient in Confucianism. Good poetry and calligraphy, iron statue of Ganoderma lucidum near Jiangsu. Participate in the collection and restoration of Hangzhou Fuzhi and Zhejiang Tongzhi.