Moon Viewing Notes by Zhang Xiaoxiang
The moon is extremely bright in the Mid-Autumn Festival. To view the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is best to be near water. When viewing near water, it is advisable to go alone. When you go alone, you will leave people behind. The one who is far away wins. However, there is no moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival. How can the city, palaces and houses all be close to the water? It is built ①, but if the human traces are far away, it will be an empty and lonely place ②. It is true that curious people can walk alone at night in the open space and secluded Qi. ③It is enough to play in an instant. The rest of the tour in Jinshadui is full of four beauties.
I watched it in August. In Dongting, there are no clouds in the sky, and the moon is as white as day. Among the green grass of Shadang Dongting, it is ten feet high and surrounded by water, which is hundreds of miles away. I tied the boat to the bottom, but all the children climbed up. The color of the sand is really yellow, competing with the moon; the water is like a jade plate, and the sand is like gold deposits. The light is radiating, and the body is cold and the eyes are dizzy. Although I have not tasted the palaces of Langfeng, Yaotai, and Guanghan, I have never been there. This stops the ears. Covering the moon of the Mid-Autumn Festival, looking at the water, I am alone and there are people far away, so I am prepared. The book is a note on watching the moon in Jinshadui.
Translation: Watching the moon is brightest on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and when watching the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival, the scenery near the water is beautiful. Watch them near water, preferably alone. And the best place to go alone is far away from people. However, there is often no moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Besides, how can cities, palaces and other places be close to water? If there is such a place, it is either far away from human habitation and inaccessible, or it is a rare place that is empty and quiet. If there really are people who like novelty, who can walk alone in the dark and reach such a place to find temporary happiness? I am currently visiting Jinshadui. Doesn’t this place meet the four conditions for enjoying the moon (i.e. Mid-Autumn Moon, near the water, going alone, and far away from others)?
I passed by Dongting Lake on August 15th. The sky was clear, without a single cloud, and the moonlight was as bright as day. Jinshadui is located just inside Dongting Lake. It is a lush green sandbar, ten feet high, surrounded by green water, and the nearest land is hundreds of miles away. I docked the boat on the shore, tied it under the sandbar, asked all the book boys and servants to retreat, and then slowly climbed up. The sand on the sandbank was golden, competing with the moonlight; at this time, the moon in the sky was like a jade plate, and the sand on the ground was like accumulated gold, shining brightly. The breeze blew by, and I felt a chill, as if I was dazzled, as if I was in a fairyland. Even if I haven't been there personally, it's probably nothing more than that. It seems that it’s time to enjoy the moon, the Mid-Autumn Festival, be near the water, go alone, and go far away from others, everything is complete here! This article is specially written to describe the scene of watching the moon on the Jinsha pile.
Notes
[1] Jinshadui: a small island made of accumulated lake sand, located between Dongting Lake and Qingcao Lake in Hunan. The original title of this article is "Moon Viewing Notes".
[2]Linshui wins: Places close to water are the best.
[3]Guan: Watch.
[4] Yi: appropriate, should.
[5]Go: leave.
[6]Gai: modal particles at the beginning of the sentence. It: refers to the Mid-Autumn Moon and the city palaces near the water.
[7] Ruofu: As for. Must: Definitely.
[8] Cheng: It’s true.
[9] Walking alone in the night: walking alone in the night; "Yi": in. Which: Go.
[10]Qi (qí): Ask. Play: Appreciate.
[11] "Qigu" sentence: It probably meets these four good conditions, right? Qi: Modal particles, probably. Four beauties: refers to the four ideal conditions for enjoying the moon mentioned above: the Mid-Autumn moon, the view near the water, going alone, and leaving people far away.
[12] August Wang: the fifteenth day of August; Wang refers to the fifteenth day of each month in the lunar calendar. Dongting: The name of the lake, located in the northeast of present-day Hunan Province.
[13]天无香(xiān)云: There is no cloud in the sky.
[14]Sha: refers to a pile of golden sand. When...among: between... Qingcao: The name of the lake is part of Dongting Lake.
[15] Two sentences of "Four Rings": It refers to the waters surrounding the Jinsha pile, which are hundreds of miles wide even at the nearest distance.
[16]Que: retreat, retreat. Tong Li: Shu Tong servant.
[17] True yellow: pure yellow, meaning no variegated colors.
[18] Competing with the moon: contending with the moonlight.
[19] Laser: Jet.
[20]Dazzled (xuàn): dazzled.
21] Langfeng: Legend has it that it is one of the so-called "three mountains" in Kunlun Mountain in the fairyland. Yaotai: Legend has it that on Kunlun Mountain, five-color jade is used as the platform base. Guanghan Palace: the Moon Palace.
[22]That’s all: that’s all.
[23]So: here. Prepared: complete, complete.
Author and title explanation
Zhang Xiaoxiang (1132-1169), courtesy name Anguo, also known as Yuhu Jushi, was a native of Wujiang, Liyang (now He County, Anhui). At the age of twenty-three, he was promoted to Jinshi and ranked first in the imperial examination. In March of the fifth year of Emperor Xiaozong's reign (1169), he retired as a bachelor of Xianmo Pavilion. Soon after, he died of illness in Wuhu. He advocated the Anti-Japanese War and expressed his feelings in poetry. He was a famous patriotic poet in the Southern Song Dynasty. There is "Collected Works of Yuhu Layman".
This article "Viewing the Moon" is selected from "Collected Works of Yuhu Layman". In the second year of Qiandao (1166), Zhang Xiaoxiang was dismissed from his post as governor of Zhijingjiang Prefecture and Guangnan West Road. He went north from Guilin, passing by Dongting Lake, where he stopped at the golden sand pile. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, he climbed up to watch the moon alone. This article is based on Remember it. Watching the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival is a common topic in poetry. Watching the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival on the golden sand pile in Dongting Lake has a unique scene and interest. The golden sand pile is made of accumulated sand. Under the bright moon, the color of the sand competes with the moonlight. The golden sand and the white jade plate-like lake water "radiate". The author uses language and words to depict a picture of light and color. Visible picture. This is the characteristic of this article in describing scenery. The article puts forward the theory of "four beauties" of watching the moon, which reflects the author's aesthetic taste. Among them, "going alone" and "going far away from others" are also related to the author's mood after he was dismissed from office. This short article contains discussion, narration, description, lyricism, thoughtful writing, and smooth flow, which is quite similar to Su Shi's prose style.