Li Qingzhao
Living as an outstanding person,
Death is also a ghost.
I still miss Xiang Yu,
More important than crossing the river by boat
[Notes]
1. Hero: a hero among the people. Emperor Gaozu once praised the founding heroes Sean, Xiao He and Han Xin as "outstanding figures".
2. Ghost hero: the hero in the ghost. Qu Yuan's national mourning: "When you die, God takes the spirit, and the soul is a ghost."
3. Xiang Yu (232 BC-202 BC): He was born in the late Qin Dynasty (now Suqian, Jiangsu). He led the rebel army to destroy the main force of Qin Jun and became the overlord of Chu. After being defeated by Liu Bang, he broke through to Wujiang (now Hexian County, Anhui Province) and committed suicide.
[Modern Translation]
Living in a crowd like a hero,
Dead should also be a hero among ghosts.
People still miss Xiang Yu,
Because he refused to drag out an ignoble existence and went back to Jiangdong.
[explanation]
This poem clearly puts forward the value orientation of life: people should be heroes in life and make contributions to the country; Even if you die, you have to die for your country and become a hero in ghosts. Patriotic passion, beyond words, was really inspiring. The rulers of the southern song dynasty, regardless of the lives of the people, only care about their own escape; Abandon the rivers and mountains of the Central Plains, but beg to drag out an ignoble existence. Then, the poet remembered Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu broke through to Wujiang River, and the director of Wujiang Pavilion advised him to cross the river quickly, return to Jiangdong and beat the drums again. Xiang Yu felt ashamed to see his elders in Jiangdong, so he turned around and killed hundreds of enemy troops, and then committed suicide. The poet lashed out at the shameless behavior of the rulers in the Southern Song Dynasty, and used the ancient times to satirize the present, which was awe-inspiring. There are only twenty words in the whole poem, and three allusions are used in succession, but it's no harm to pile them up, because they are all the poet's voices. The poems that hit the floor are so generous and vigorous, all written by women, which really makes people overwhelmed.
Guo yang
When hard work comes,
There are few stars around.
The mountains and rivers are broken and the clouds are surging.
Life experiences ups and downs.
Fear. The beach says fear,
Sigh in the ocean.
People who have never died since ancient times,
Take the heart of Dan and follow history.
Modern translation
Looking back on my early experience of being an official through the imperial examination,
Now the war has subsided for four weeks.
This country is in danger,
How can a person take a bath be described as duckweed?
Fear of the fiasco at the beach still scares me.
It's a pity that I am alone in the ocean below zero.
Who can live forever since ancient times,
I want to leave a patriotic heart to reflect on history.
Brief introduction of the author
Wen Tianxiang (1236— 1283) was a patriotic poet in the Southern Song Dynasty. The word good, the word Song Rui, Wenshan luling (now Ji 'an City, Jiangxi Province) people. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, he struggled to resist the enemy, was defeated and captured, never succumbed to the intimidation and inducement of the Yuan people, and finally died calmly. His later poems mainly described the difficult course of fighting against the Yuan Army, showing firm national integrity, generosity, tragic and touching.
To annotate ...
① Lingdingyang: In the Pearl River Estuary south of Zhongshan, Guangdong. Wen Tianxiang was captured by the Yuan Army in December of the first year of Zhao Minxiang's reign at the end of the Song Dynasty (1278) and imprisoned in the Lingdingyang warship. In the first month of the following year, Yuan Marshal Zhang Hongfan attacked Cliff Mountain, forcing Wen Tianxiang to hand over Zhang Shijie, the commander-in-chief who stuck to Cliff Mountain. So, Wen Tianxiang wrote this poem. ② "hard work" sentence: trace back his early life experience and all kinds of hard work since he became an official. Encounter, encounter the court selection; It used to refer to an official who passed the imperial examination because he was proficient in a certain classic. Wen Tianxiang has been in Baoyou, Song Lizong for four years (1256), ranking first among Jinshi. 3 fight and be thin: being thin is barren and thin. Here, song and yuan war is drawing to a close. The Southern Song Dynasty died in this year (1279), and at this time it was unable to resist. Surrounding stars: Zhou Xing is the annual star, which circulates in the sky for twelve years, so Zhou Xing refers to twelve years. Surrounding the stars, that is, in 48 years, Wen Tianxiang was 44 years old when he wrote this poem, and the surrounding stars here are integers. In the old notes, "the surrounding stars" were mostly used as the four years since Wen Tianxiang 1275 applied for the diligent king. In fact, the first two sentences of this poem should be understood together, which is a review of the poet's life experience. (4) The phrase "a leopard cannot change his spots" means that the national situation and personal destiny are irreversible. ⑤ Fear Beach: In today's wanan county, Jiangxi, the current is fast, and it is one of the eighteen beaches in Ganjiang. In the second year of Zong Jingyan, Song Rui (1277), Wen Tianxiang was defeated in Jiangxi and retreated to Fujian through the beach. ⑥ "Zero Ding" sentence: lamenting the current situation and one's own courage and isolation. After the poet was captured, he was imprisoned in a warship in Lingdingyang. ⑦ History: History. Before paper was invented, bamboo slips were used to take notes. When making bamboo slips, bamboo sweat (moisture) must be removed by fire, so it is called a history book.
Make an appreciative comment
This poem was written after Wen Tianxiang was captured. The poet recalled a sentence or two of his life, but limited by space, in his writing, he cited two things: becoming an official and losing the battle. The four sentences in the middle are closely related to "war and death", which clearly expresses the author's understanding of the current situation: the country is in turmoil, the tragedy of national subjugation is inevitable, and personal fate is even more out of the question. However, in the face of this great change, the poet did not think of his personal way out and future, but deeply regretted that he failed to win a military victory in air navigation two years ago, thus turning the situation around. At the same time, I feel particularly sad for my isolation. Between the lines, it is not difficult to feel the great pain of the author's country's ruin and death, as well as the bleak mood of self-blame and self-sigh. The last two sentences are a poet's choice of his own destiny without hesitation. This adds a tragic and passionate strength and self-confidence to the previous feelings and grievances, showing a unique lofty beauty. This is not only the embodiment of the poet's personality charm, but also the unique spiritual beauty of the Chinese nation, far beyond the scope of language and writing.