It means that I treat you with good intentions, but you are indifferent and don't appreciate it. My sincere efforts have not received the rewards and respect they deserve.
From "Pipa Ji" written by Gao Ming in the Yuan Dynasty.
Original text: This girl is rude, but she uses her words to attack me. My words are not right, my child. My husband listens to my father's words and goes against his words. I regret that my child is ignorant. I originally placed my heart in the bright moon, but who knew the bright moon would shine on the ditch.
The famous line "I originally set my heart towards the bright moon, but the bright moon shines on the ditch" first came from "Chronicles of Qing Poetry" (Volume 21), page 15106, the last line. This is a popular verse that has been quoted too many times in literary works. ?
Extended information:
"The Story of Pipa" is a famous southern opera written by Gao Ming (Gao Zecheng) in the late Yuan Dynasty. It mainly tells the love story of the scholar Cai Bojie and Zhao Wuniang.
The story tells the story of a scholar, Cai Bozhe, who wanted to live a happy life after marrying Zhao Wuniang, but his father, Cai Gong, refused. Bojie was forced to take the imperial examination and was asked to marry the prime minister's daughter. Although he refused, Prime Minister Niu refused. After becoming an official, his family encountered famine and his parents died, but he did not know it.
He missed his parents and wanted to resign and go home, but the court refused. Zhao Wuniang begged all the way to Beijing to find her husband, and finally found her husband, and they were reunited. These "three disobediences" are Gao Ming's key points in describing Cai Bojie's complete loyalty and filial piety.
Scholar Cai Bojie and Zhao Wuniang were married not long ago, and it happened that the imperial court was opening schools to recruit scholars. Bojie wanted to resign and stay at home to serve his parents because his parents were old. But Duke Cai refused, and his neighbor Zhang Dagong also tried to persuade him. Bojie had no choice but to say goodbye to his parents and wife and go to Beijing to take an exam. Passed the exam and won the top prize. Prime Minister Niu has an unmarried daughter, and he is ordered to recruit the top scholar in a new subject as his son-in-law.
Bo Zhe wanted to resign from his marriage and official position on the grounds that his parents were old and had no one to take care of him at home and he needed to return home to fulfill his filial piety. However, Prime Minister Niu and the emperor refused and forced him to stay in the capital.
After Bojie left home, Chen Liu suffered from droughts for many years. Wu Niang worked hard and served her parents-in-law, letting them eat rice, while she secretly swallowed the chaff behind her parents-in-law's back. The mother-in-law regretted so much that she died, and Cai Gong also died of famine. After Bojie was forcibly brought into Niu's house, he missed his parents all day long. I wrote a letter to Chen Liu's home, but the letter was deceived by the abductor, resulting in no communication.
One day, I was playing the piano in the study to express my deep thoughts. Mr. Niu heard me, learned the truth, and told his father. Prime Minister Niu persuaded his daughter and sent someone to welcome Bojie's parents and wife to Beijing.
After Cai Gong and Cai Po passed away, Wu Niang was buried in a funeral, her skirts were covered with earth, and she built her own tomb. He also painted the remains of his parents-in-law with his own hands, carried a pipa on his back, played and sang along the road, begged for food, and went to the capital to find his husband. When I came to the capital, I encountered a large Dharma assembly at Amitabha Temple, so I went to the temple to collect alms and pray for food, and offered my parents-in-law's true appearance in front of the Buddha. At that time, Bo Zhe also came to the temple to burn incense and pray for his parents' safety on the road. After seeing the true appearance of his parents, he took it back to his home and hung it in the study.
Wu Niang went to Niu's house and was invited by Mr. Niu to play and sing. Wuniang saw that Niu was a virtuous person, so she told Niu about her life experience. In order to reunite Wuniang and Bojie, but fearing that Bojie would not recognize them, Niu asked Wuniang to come to the study and write a metaphorical poem on the true appearance of her parents-in-law.
When Bo Zhe returned home, he saw the poem written on the painting and was about to ask Niu about it. Niu then brought Wuniang in, and the couple were reunited. When Wuniang told her about the family affairs, Bojie was extremely sad and immediately resigned from his post and returned to his hometown to observe his filial piety. With the consent of Prime Minister Niu, Bojie returned to his hometown with the Zhao family and the Niu family, and kept filial piety in the tomb. The later emperor issued an edict to introduce the Cai family.
Baidu Encyclopedia—Pipa Chronicles