The three poems "Dream of Red Mansions", "Ying the Chrysanthemums", "Asking the Chrysanthemums", and "Dream of the Chrysanthemums" all involve Tao Yuanming.
Because Tao Yuanming had a preference for chrysanthemums. And chrysanthemum's poems are the best.
The three poems all express the chrysanthemum’s loneliness, sadness, and melancholy feelings of spring and autumn.
Cao Xueqin wrote "Asking about the Chrysanthemums", "Ying the Chrysanthemums" and "Dream of the Chrysanthemums" in the thirty-eighth chapter of "A Dream of Red Mansions", "Lin Xiaoxiang's Chrysanthemum Poem, Xue Hengwu's Satire and Crab Ode" . This time it depicts the period when the Jia family was seemingly at its peak.
For this event, Shi Xiangyun and Xue Baochai drafted the topic. There are twelve questions, limited to seven rhymes, but not limited to rhyme. They are composed of five characters including Baoyu, Daiyu, Baochai, Xiangyun, and Tanchun. People are free to choose topics.
The author asked Lin Daiyu to choose three poem titles: "Ying Chrysanthemum", "Asking about Chrysanthemums" and "Dream of Chrysanthemums". Among Daiyu's three chrysanthemum poems, they are novel and unique and best represent her personality.
Extended information:
1. Original text of "Ying Chrysanthemum":
The rogue poetry demon invades at dusk, and the sound is lost in silence while walking around the fence and knocking stones.
The writing is delicate and beautiful, written in the frost, and the words are fragrant and chant to the moon.
The paper is full of self-pity and resentment. Who can explain the autumn heart in a few words?
Since Tao Ling's commentary, it has been talked about through the ages until now.
Translation:
The inescapable poetry entangled me from morning to night, either walking around the fence or stopping to lean on a stone and meditate alone. There is beauty accumulated on the tip of the pen, describing the autumn chrysanthemums in the face of frost and cold, holding the fragrance of chrysanthemums in the mouth, looking up to the bright moon and chanting chrysanthemums.
The paper is filled with the sorrows of daily self-pity. Who can understand my sorrow through a few words. Since chrysanthemum was evaluated by Tao Yuanming, its noble character has been praised by others.
2. The original text of "Ask the Chrysanthemum":
If you want to know about the autumn mood, no one knows it, so you murmur with your hands behind your back and knock on the east fence.
Who can hide together with the lonely and proud people? Is it too late for the same flowers to bloom?
How lonely is the dew in the garden and the frost in the garden, how can I miss lovesickness when I return home?
Don’t talk about it for the whole world, why not talk about it for a while.
You live in seclusion together, we are all flowers, and why do you bloom so late?
The courtyards and gardens covered with frost and dew are so lonely. The wild geese flying south and the crickets whisper whether you are lovesick. Not to mention that there is no one in the world who can talk to you. If you understand human words, you might as well chat with me for a while.
3. The original text of "Chrysanthemum Dream"
I feel clear in the autumn beside the fence, and the clouds and the moon are indistinguishable.
To ascend to immortality is not to admire Zhuang, but to look for Tao Lingmeng in recalling the past.
When I fall asleep, I follow the wild goose, and when I wake up, I am annoyed by the cries of crickets.
Who can I complain to when I wake up? There is no limit to the decaying grass and cold smoke.
Translation:
Under the chrysanthemums on the east fence, I woke up from a deep dream and felt that the clouds and the moon in the sky were mixed together, and they were still unclear. Such an ecstatic sleep under the flowers is not to pursue the feeling of Zhuangzi's dream of butterflies, but to recall Tao Yuanming's elegance in loving and appreciating chrysanthemums.
After falling asleep, my thoughts follow the geese returning south, but my sweet dreams are often awakened by the chirping of crickets. After I wake up, who else can I turn to to express my grievances? I can only place my infinite emotions on the fading grass and cold smoke.
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