"Early Spring Rain"
Han Yu
The light rain on Tianjie is as moist as crisp, the color of grass looks far away but not up close.
The best thing about spring is that it is better than the smoke and willows all over the imperial capital.
Appreciation
This poem is a seven-character quatrain written to Zhang Ji, a member of the Ministry of Water Resources, describing and praising the beautiful scenery of early spring. Zhang Ji is the eighteenth among his brothers, so he is called Zhang Shiba. The style of the poem is fresh and natural, almost colloquial. It seems ordinary, but in fact it is anything but ordinary. Han Yu himself said: Difficulty and poverty often lead to mediocrity ("Send Wubenshi back to Fanyang"). It turns out that his mediocrity was hard-won.
The first sentence refers to the light rain in early spring, describing its smoothness and moistness as "moist as crisp", accurately capturing its characteristics. The sentences are fresh and beautiful. It is similar to Du Fu's "Good rain knows the season, and spring will happen. Sneak into the night with the wind, moistening things silently".
The second sentence follows the first sentence and describes the scene after the grass is wet with rain. From a distance, there seems to be something, but up close, there is nothing. It depicts the hazy scene of the grass in early spring after the rain. It describes the characteristics of the spring grass when it just sprouts, vague, sparse, and short. It can be compared with Wang Wei's "Seeing nothingness in the green mist" and "Seeing nothingness in the color of mountains".
The third and fourth sentences greatly praise the scenery of early spring: "The most beautiful thing about spring is that it is better than the smoke and willows all over the imperial capital." These two sentences mean: the light rain and the color of grass in early spring are the most beautiful scenery in spring. The most beautiful thing is far more than the decaying late spring scenery of the city filled with smoke and willows. Poems about spring scenery are often based on the bright late spring in Tang poetry, but this poem is based on the early spring chant, which believes that the scenery in early spring is superior to that in late spring and is unique. The first two sentences' detailed observation of the scenery is already commendable, and the last two sentences are even more unexpected, like the sudden arrival of cavalry.
The best sentence in the whole article is "the color of grass looks far away but is not there up close". In early spring in February, in the north, when there are still icicles hanging on the treetops and under the eaves, not even the shadow of spring can be seen. But if it rains a little, spring will come the next day. The rain feet gently walked across the earth, leaving the mark of spring, that is, the first spring grass buds emerged. Looking from a distance, it looked hazy, as if there was a very light green color. It is the color of early spring grass. Looking at it, people's hearts are suddenly filled with joyful business. But when people came closer to take a closer look with infinite joy, they saw sparse and extremely slender buds on the ground, but they could not see the color clearly. The poet is like a skilled ink painter, using his water-soaked brush to reveal a faint trace of green, which is the color of grass in early spring. Looking from a distance, there is nothing like it, but when you get closer, you can't see it. This sentence "The color of grass looks far away but there is nothing up close". It can be said that it captures both distance and near, and conveys the spirit in the empty space.
The background of this color is the thin drizzle falling on the sky street. Looking at the grass color through the raindrops adds a hazy beauty to the grass color in early spring. And the light rain is as moist as cake. Crisp is butter. After being nourished in this way, the color of the grass will naturally be new; and with such a background to set it off, the color of the grass will naturally be beautiful.
At the end, the poet also made a comparison: "It is better than the smoke and willows that fill the imperial capital." The poet thinks that the color of grass in early spring is many times better than the scenery of smokey willows everywhere in the city. This is because the color of grass, which “looks far away but seems invisible”, is unique to the early spring. It is soft and full of moisture, symbolizing the spring return of the earth and the renewal of everything. And the willow smoke is already the time when "willows pile up smoke", not to mention that it is "all over" the city, so it is not rare. By late spring in March, the colors are thicker and less attractive. The use of contrasting techniques like this is different from the general one. This is a double writing method in order to highlight the characteristics of spring.
“Things are rare and valuable.” The color of spring grass in early spring is also very delicate. "There is no youth even in the New Year, and we are surprised to see grass buds in early February" (Han Yu's "Spring Snow"). This is a state of mind. The harsh winter has just ended, and the remaining cold is still severe. When I suddenly saw this wonderful color of grass, I couldn't help but feel surprised and happy. These light greens were the only decoration on the earth at that time; but in late spring, "the grass and trees know that spring will soon return" (Han Yu, "Late Spring"). At this time, no matter how green the wicker branches are, people have no intention to look at them, because they are already gone. It lacks that sense of freshness.
So, the poet reminded at the turn of the third sentence: "The best thing about spring is a year." The plan for a year lies in spring, but the best thing about spring is in early spring.
This poem not only sings about early spring, but also captures the soul of early spring, giving readers endless aesthetic interest, which is even beyond the reach of painting. The poet did not have a colored pen, but he used the language of poetry to depict colors that are extremely difficult to describe - a color that is plain and seems to be there but not there. Without sharp and detailed observation and superb poetry, it would be impossible to refine the natural beauty of early spring into artistic beauty.
Reference materials
Baidu knows: /question/1704020956964013980.html
Ancient poetry website: http://www.gushiwen.org/mingju_292.aspx< /p>