Introduction to the work
The author of "Staying in Zhengzhou" is Wang Wei, and it was selected into the 65th volume of Volume 125 of "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty". In the melancholy of the journey, the whole poem uses simple and natural writing style to weave into the tranquil scenery of the countryside, and uses the tranquil scenery to express the frustration, depression and loneliness of the ups and downs of officialdom. The poetry and the painting in the whole poem penetrate and unify each other, and finally reach the wonderful state of "painting within the poem and poetry within the painting".
Original text
Stay in Zhengzhou
Author: Tang Wang Wei
Volume 125_65 Stay in Zhengzhou Wang Wei
Say goodbye to Zhou people in the morning and stay with Zheng people in the evening.
A married couple in a foreign land, a solitary guest with his own children and servants.
Wanluo is out of sight, and the autumn rain is dimming the land.
The father of the field returns home, and the village boy grazing in the rain.
The owner went up to Donggao, and the crops were surrounding the thatched hut.
Insects think about machines and feel sad, birds noisy and grains are ripe.
Tomorrow we will cross the Jingshui River, but last night we were still in the Golden Valley.
What do you want to say after leaving? I am poor and care about a small salary.
Notes
① Written on the way to Jeju in the ninth year of Kaiyuan. Zhengzhou: the name of Tangzhou, where it is governed today in Zhengzhou, Henan. This actually refers to Xingyang, a county under the jurisdiction of Zhengzhou (now Xingyang, Henan).
② Zhou: refers to the Luoyang area. After King Ping of the Zhou Dynasty, Luoyi was established as the capital, and the territory under its jurisdiction was shrinking day by day. By the Warring States Period, it only occupied the area around Luoyang.
③Zheng: The name of the ancient country. In the Spring and Autumn Period, the capital was Xinzheng County, Zhengzhou, Tang Dynasty.
④Wanluo: actually refers to Luo.
⑤Thinking: Sadness. The whole poem is: "Yi Zuoming." Zhu: the shuttle on the loom. Ming: The whole poem was originally written as "Sorrow", which was modified according to Jingjiatang's original version.
⑥Jingshui: Today, the Jialu River in Henan Province flows out of the south of Xingyang County, passes through Zhengzhou in the northeast, then passes through Zhongmou County and Weishi County in the southeast, and ends in Shangshui County where it enters the Yinghe River. From Zhengzhou and above, it was called Jingshui in ancient times.
⑦Inquiry: Qu Cong.
Appreciation
"I bid farewell to Zhou people in the morning, and stayed with Zheng people in the evening. I am a married couple in a foreign country, and I am a solitary guest with my children and servants." These four sentences explain the journey. I said goodbye to Zhou people in the morning and stayed in Zhengzhou in the evening. I was getting farther and farther away from my relatives, and a desolate feeling of loneliness emerged spontaneously. In this lonely journey, the only person close to the poet was the boy servant. These last two sentences describe human feelings with great authenticity, depict deep psychology, and vividly express an indescribable desolation. Cui Tu's poem at the end of the Tang Dynasty, "Gradually distanced from flesh and blood, turned to be close to children and servants" ("Expressing Feelings on a Rainy Night on Bashan Road") was derived from these two sentences.
The next eight sentences shift from narrative and discussion to scene description. The poet externalized this desolate and lonely feeling into a concrete and tangible "Autumn Scenery in the Rain": "Wanluo can't be seen, the autumn rain dims the flat land. The field father returns home on the edge of the grass, and the village boy grazing in the rain. The master Donggao goes up, when Crops surround the huts, insects are chirping, birds are noisy, and millet is ripe. "Nanyang and Luoyang gradually blurred and disappeared from the sight, and the vast and vast wilderness was shrouded in the falling rain and misty smoke. At the head of the village, the field father returns from an outing with his hoe, and the shepherd boy plays the piccolo happily. The owner's house on the high ground by the waterside to the east of the village is surrounded by a field of bright green crops. There are also mournful autumn insects, shaking machines, and noisy birds.
The last eight lines of the poem change from describing the scene to directly expressing emotions. "I'll cross the Jingshui tomorrow, but I'll still see the Golden Valley last night." Jingshui originates from Gaozhu Mountain in Xingyang County. It is called Jingshui above Zhengzhou and Jialu River below Zhengzhou. Jingu, the garden of Shi Chong, a wealthy man in the Jin Dynasty, refers to the prosperity of the past. These two sentences mean: Yesterday I was in the prosperous Luoyang, but tomorrow I will go to the remote Zhengzhou. The meaning of the sentence echoes the first two sentences "I bid farewell to Zhou people in the morning, and I stay with Zheng people in the evening". It not only reflects the cohesion and deepening of emotions, but also gives people great artistic appeal; on the other hand, it opens and closes in a measured way. It can be retracted and released freely and integrated. "What do you want to say when you go here? I will go to a poor and remote place for a meager salary." These two sentences are deeply emotional and full of charm without being straightforward and passionate words. They reveal a deeper melancholy in the self-mockery - deep in love, people are lonely.
The whole poem is woven into the peaceful scenery of the countryside with simple and natural writing style in the melancholy of the journey, and the tranquil scenery is used to express the frustration, depression and loneliness of the ups and downs of officialdom. The poetry and the painting in the whole poem penetrate and unify each other, and finally reach the wonderful state of "painting within the poem, poetry within the painting".
Introduction to the author
Wang Wei (701-761), whose courtesy name was Mojié, was known as the Poetic Buddha, and his given name was Vimalakīrti, which is In Buddhism, he is a lay Buddhist of Mahayana Buddhism. He is a famous lay bodhisattva, which means a person who is famous for his purity and no pollution. It can be seen that Wang Wei's name has an indissoluble bond with Buddhism.
Wang Wei’s achievements in poetry are multifaceted. Whether it is frontier fortresses, landscape poems, rhymed poems or quatrains, there are all excellent poems that have been passed down to the public. His poems were called by Su Shi "the poems of Tao Mojie, there are paintings in the poems, the paintings of Mojie, there are poems in the paintings". He indeed has unique attainments in describing natural scenery.
Whether it is the magnificence of famous mountains and rivers, the vastness and coldness of frontiers and fortresses, or the tranquility of small bridges and flowing water, they can accurately and concisely create a perfect and vivid image, without much ink, lofty artistic conception, and complete poetic and painterly feeling. Fusion into a whole.
The Landscape Pastoral Poetry School was one of the two major poetry schools in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Its main writers were Meng Haoran, Wang Wei, Chang Jian, Zu Yong, Pei Di and others. Among them, the one with the highest achievement and greatest influence was Wang Wei and Meng Haoran, also known as "Wang Meng".