The whole poem of "A Rooster and the World is White" is as follows:
It is difficult to see the sky in Chi County during the long night. Monsters have been dancing for hundreds of years, and 500 million people have not been reunited.
As soon as the rooster is sung, the world becomes white, music from all directions is played in Khotan, and the poet's excitement is unprecedented.
Source of the work
It comes from "Huanxisha and Mr. Liu Yazi", a poem written by Mao Zedong in October 1950.
This work is the first National Day after the first anniversary of the founding of New China. Representatives of all ethnic groups across the country solemnly gathered at Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai to present gifts and flags to Mao Zedong and other party, government and military leaders to show the love of the people of all ethnic groups for Mao Zedong and the Communist Party.
Original text of the work
Huanxisha①·Mr. Liu Yazi
It is difficult to see the sky in Chi County during the long night. Hundreds of monsters dance gracefully ④, and 500 million people ⑤ are not reunited.
As soon as the rooster is sung, the world will be white⑥, music from all directions will be played in Khotan, and the poet's excitement will be unprecedented⑦.
Notes on the work
① Huanxisha: Ci Pai name, the name of the song in Tang Jiaofang (Music School).
②Chixian: refers to China. "Historical Records·Biography of Mencius and Xunqing" introduces the statement of Zou (Zou Zou) Yan at the end of the Warring States Period: The Chinese name is Chixian Shenzhou.
③Century-year monsters dance: Since the Sino-British Opium War in 1840, foreign capitalist and imperialist invaders began to invade China. They and their lackeys are running rampant in China, like a horde of demons dancing around.
④ Five hundred million people: 500 million people of all ethnic groups.
⑤ When a rooster sings, the world becomes white: This sentence evolved from "When a rooster sings, the world becomes white" and comes from "A Wine Trip" by Li He, a poet of the Tang Dynasty. The original sentence is: I have an ecstasy but I can’t move. The sound of a rooster makes the whole world white.
⑥ Yutian: The name of the county in the southwest of Xinjiang Wuwei Autonomous Region. It was changed to Yutian in 1959. The local people are famous for their ability to sing and dance. This refers to the music and dance programs performed by the Xinjiang Art Troupe. Wan Fang: The ancients called the country Fang, and the "Book of Changes" has "Ghost Fang". Music: "Nineteen Poems of Chairman Mao" published by Cultural Relics Publishing House in September 1958 was mistakenly listed as "Music".
⑦Xinghui: interest, interest.
Translation of the work
The sky was dark and the night was vast in old China. For a hundred years, demons and ghosts had carnivaled wantonly, but 500 million people of all ethnic groups could not reunite.
The rooster finally crows and the motherland receives the light. All the east, west, north and south are singing and dancing, including people from Xinjiang. The poets are singing with joy and their interest is boundless.
Creative background
On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was founded, and people of all ethnic groups across the country were intoxicated with the joy of victory. On the first anniversary of National Day on October 1, 1950, all of mainland China except Tibet was liberated, and people of all ethnic groups were given a new lease of life. On October 3, the Central People's Government held a grand celebration. 158 people's representatives of all ethnic groups across the country gathered together and held a grand ceremony at Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai. Various ethnic art troupes performed songs and dances. Mao Zedong and Mr. Liu Yazi watched at the same table. Song and dance party. At Chairman Mao's instigation, Liu Yazi composed an impromptu poem "Huanxi Sand" and presented it to Mao Zedong. The next day, Mao Zedong rhymed the poem again and presented it to Liu Yazi.
Appreciation of the work
This is an epic that exposes the dark reality of old China and praises the great national unity of new China. It is a majestic bell that signals the end of the old era and the beginning of the new era. The whole poem first touches the scene from the lively scene of the gala, and associates it with the tragic scene of old China; then the pen turns to praise the strong atmosphere of the National Day Party, which symbolizes the great unity of the people of all ethnic groups in New China and the creation of prosperity. prospect.
Shangque is an exposure and criticism of the long-term dark rule of old China. "It is difficult to see the sky in Chixian through the long night." Chixian China has been plunged into a dark night for thousands of years and has been oppressed by three mountains. When will this night end? Who can save the people from fire and water? This sigh artistically reproduces the voice of the troubled Chinese people who are unwilling to be humiliated and perished. Even if it is difficult to see the night, they must unite and fight. The word "long" and the word "difficult" express the author's heavy heart.
"A Hundred Years of Monsters Dancing" opens the bloody modern history. In the more than 100 years from 1840 to 1949, the Chinese people suffered unprecedented suffering. They were not only deeply ravaged by the invasion of the Eight-Power Allied Forces, They also encountered the white terror and cruel rule of the Kuomintang reactionaries. These "foreign ghosts" and "local ghosts" are dancing wildly, polluting China's sky even darker.
With the Treaty of Nanjing and other unequal treaties, China has been reduced to a semi-colonial country by ceding territory again and again to pay compensation. In particular, ethnic minorities suffered even more misery under the rule of the Kuomintang reactionaries. The Kuomintang reactionaries created bloody incidents of massacre and suppression of ethnic minorities one after another. It was the devil who was rampant and the people suffered. China's tragedy has reached its peak, and people's anger and resistance are ready to emerge.
"500 million people are not reunited." In this reality, all ethnic groups are divided and cannot live a stable life, and 500 million Chinese people cannot be reunited. Due to the imperialist invasion and warlord separatism, China's great rivers and mountains have been carved up into pieces, and the country is no longer a country. Coupled with the brutality of "robbing, burning, and killing" the Japanese-occupied areas, the Kuomintang-controlled areas had heavy taxes, rampant spies, soaring prices, people were in dire straits, and starved to death everywhere... The situation was so miserable that it is difficult to exhaust it. Although it is only three sentences, it has artistically reproduced the darkness and suffering of old China, making us feel that today's happy life is hard-won. People of all ethnic groups should work hand in hand to create a bright future for the motherland. Only when the country is strong Only then will the people be "reunited."
After going downstairs, the poet's thoughts returned to the joyful scene at the grand ceremony in front of him. People of all ethnic groups sang and danced to celebrate the National Day, showing the people's joyful, peaceful and happy new life and the glorious prospects of New China. "When a rooster sings, the world becomes white" is the inversion of Li He's "when a rooster sings, the world becomes white". The rooster crows loudly, announcing that it is dawn in China, and the word "sing" is louder and more exciting, as if it is the passion spurting from people's hearts, expressing people's joyful mood to get rid of the long night and welcome the dawn of the red sun. It shows that the revolutionary armed forces led by the Communist Party of China are great. From the establishment of workers' and peasants' armed forces to the 25,000-mile Long March, from the victory of the Anti-Japanese War to the great victory of the Liberation War, and finally the establishment of the People's Republic of China, The Chinese people have since stood up. Looking up at the sky, I feel that the sky is exceptionally clear, and the joy of the people being the masters of their country permeates the words.
“Music from all directions is played in Khotan.” Various ethnic groups played joyful movements at the motherland’s birthday ceremony, including the sweet singing of the children of Xinjiang. This sentence describes people of all ethnic groups praising the victory of the Chinese revolution and praising a new life. It makes us imagine the beautiful picture of New China with all its wastes flourishing and the people living and working in peace and contentment. The Song of Khotan is just a corner of this long scroll. From this, we can even think of the grand occasion of great unity of people of all ethnic groups, the grand night of national celebration, the eternal spectacle of New China creating a new situation in Chinese history... How can the poet not be inspired by all of this and write happily!
"Poets are more excited than ever before", the poet here refers not only to Liu Yazi, but also to the poet himself, and more generally to literary and artistic workers across the country. The poet's interest is unprecedented. On the one hand, it shows that poets should perceive and praise new life, which is an affirmation and encouragement to literary and artistic workers including Liu Yazi. On the other hand, it shows that the poet firmly believes that China in the future will be greater and more magnificent than any era in history. I firmly believe that the prosperity, stability and unity of New China are also unprecedented.
The upper and lower sections of this poem skillfully use contrasting techniques to vividly describe the contrast between heaven and earth between the old and new society. The upper column describes the old China, the lower column writes the new China, and the upper and lower columns echo each other. The author uses the darkness of the old society to contrast the "white world" of the new society, and uses the chaotic dance of demons to contrast the joyful songs and dances of the people of all ethnic groups. The fragmentation reflects the great national unity of the new society. Such a strong contrast cannot but be shocking.
About the author
Mao Zedong (1893～1976) had the courtesy name Runzhi and his pen name Ziren. Born on December 26, 1893 in Shaoshan, Xiangtan, Hunan Province, and died in Beijing on September 9, 1976. At the age of 83, his body is in a crystal coffin at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Leader of the Chinese people, Marxist, great proletarian revolutionist, strategist and theorist, Communist Party of China, thinker, militarist, Communist Party of China, Chinese People's Liberation Army and the Communist Party of China The country's main founder and leader, poet and calligrapher.
Main works include "Selected Works of Mao Zedong" (four volumes), "Collected Works of Mao Zedong" (eight volumes), and "Poems of Mao Zedong" (***43).