Tang Dynasty: Liu Zongyuan
The early plum blossoms are on the high branches, looking at the blue sky from a distance.
At night, the north wind blows and smells fragrant, adding a touch of white to the thick frost in the morning.
I want to fold it and send it thousands of miles away, but there is no way to answer the question.
Seeing that the cold winter is about to wither, what can I use to comfort my distant friends?
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Plum blossoms on the high branches reflect the vast blue sky.
At night, the north wind blows flowers, adding a touch of white luster to the thick frost.
I want to break a branch and send it thousands of miles away, but there is nothing I can do.
Seeing that the cold plum will wither, what should I use to express my condolences to my distant friends?
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There are many works by Yongmei in the poems of past dynasties. In the first half, the plum blossom was praised for its proud frost and snow fighting, and the cold mausoleum was alone and fragrant, which was a metaphor for the poet's noble character of being strong and unyielding and unconventional; In the second half, the poets miss their friends far away and feel sad to give each other a plum instead of a plum. The whole poem is simple, sparse and contains rhyme and comfort, which shows the poet's pursuit of ideals.
"Plum blossoms rise early and rise high", and the plum blossoms at the beginning of the sentence are straight and the strokes are flying, which is refreshing. The word "Fa" is full of charm, which not only describes the image of plum blossom in full bloom, but also gives people a feeling of "opening the spring of heaven and earth" (Shen Shi), vividly showing the image of early plum blossom in full bloom to readers. Its lofty and broad blue sky not only embodies the color of plum blossom, but also highlights its elegance and uniqueness. High numbers are not only realistic writing, but also the reappearance of images in the poet's mind. It is superior to its contemporaries in self-shaping, and closely follows "Chu Tianbi" in the later period to form a harmonious artistic conception. Looking at Chutian from afar, the vast blue sky reflects the luster of plum blossoms, which makes people feel that plum blossoms are particularly quiet and noble. These two poems are concise, but full of emotion, which deeply implies the poet's admiration for Zaomei. As Wang Guowei said, "Everything is my color, because I see things."
The first and second sentences describe the external shape of plum blossom. "The new moon blows and floats in Ye Xiang, and there are countless first frost, all white." Two sentences into a layer, depicting the inner temperament of early plum. Although the north wind is cold and first frost is pressing, plum blossoms still exude fragrance in the cold wind, adding a white luster to the thick frost. These two poems focus on "fragrance" and "color" and focus on writing the style of early plum disdaining wind and frost and striving for spring return. The word "gone with the wind" has the meaning of scattering, and Wang Mian's poem "Mo Mei" has the meaning of "leaving only fresh air full of dry Kun". The poet Yongmei's purpose is to express his feelings and ambitions. The character of plum blossom in poetry is also a materialization of the poet's mind.
The next four poems, from chanting to lyricism, introduce new ideas. When the poet saw the blooming plum blossom, he couldn't help but miss his friends far away, so he expressed his feelings in one sentence: "I want to give Wan Li, and I want to be separated by mountains and rivers." Why comfort distant guests when cold English is sold? "The past, come to mind. He is eager to climb a cold plum tree and give it to his friends to express his comfort. But on second thought, it's a long way, and it's impossible to be separated by mountains and rivers. After Liu Zongyuan was demoted to Yongzhou, "crimes and disadvantages are intertwined, and doubts prevail." "The' old minister' has been afraid to communicate with him. How much Liu Zongyuan misses his relatives and friends in loneliness! So I thought of folding plums, but my relatives and friends are thousands of miles away, so it is impossible to send them. Besides geographical reasons, there are also political reasons. As a prisoner, he can't implicate his relatives and friends. Reading between the lines, it is not difficult for people to understand the poet's melancholy and injustice. These two poems were originally used in Lu Kai's "Gift to Ye Fan" in the Northern Dynasties, "Folding flowers to welcome posts and sending them to leading people; There is nothing in the south of the Yangtze River, so why give it a spring? They all miss their old friends, but the tastes of the two poems are quite different. Lu's poems are free and easy, while Liu's poems are gloomy. It is precisely because of their different situations and moods when writing poems that they have different tastes.
"What's the use of sitting and selling cold English to comfort distant guests?" These two poems are closely developed from the first two sentences and contain deeper meanings. The poet realized that plum blossoms would wither and wither after a long time because of the barrier of mountains, so he sighed, "What can I use to express my condolences to my distant friends?" . Liu Zongyuan, who started early and set early in Mei, couldn't help worrying about his life experience and his own situation. It is precisely because he is worried about its early opening and early decision that Liu Zongyuan is also encouraging himself and urging himself.
The language of this poem "Morning Plum" is plain and straightforward, unadorned, with implicit meaning, artistic beauty and personality beauty, simple form and pure feelings, revealing the poet's noble and arrogant feelings. The poet euphemistically expressed his upright and selfless mind, showed his persistent will to pursue his ideals, resisted the cold and held his head high, and showed his detached and noble character and indomitable spirit of struggle. This poem depicts the image of Zaomei standing proudly with her head held high in simple and sparse language, and expresses the poet's feelings. The hard things to write are right in front of her eyes, containing endless opinions. Mei's personality is integrated with the author's personality, which is implicit and profound and gives people a strong appeal.
Extended reading: Liu Zongyuan's philosophical thought
Liu Zongyuan was a political innovator and admired the movement of ancient Chinese prose. In Liu Zongyuan's philosophical works, he holds a negative attitude towards the theory of "the image of Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties" advocated by Dong Zhongshu, a great scholar in Han Dynasty. He opposed the theory of heaven, criticized theology, emphasized personnel, and replaced "God" with "man". Liu Zongyuan turned his criticism of theology into a criticism of politics, explained the relationship between heaven and man from the materialistic point of view, and criticized the idealistic theory of destiny. His philosophical thoughts were in line with the development of social productive forces and the level of natural science at that time. He developed ancient naive materialism's atheism to a new height and was an outstanding thinker in the middle Tang Dynasty. Liu Zongyuan's philosophical works include Non-Mandarin, Zhen Fu, Theory of Four Seasons, Theory of Judgment, Tian Shuo, Tian Dui and so on. In these works, Liu Zongyuan holds a negative attitude towards the theory of "the image of Xia, Shang and Zhou" advocated by Dong Zhongshu, a great scholar in Han Dynasty, opposes the theory of heaven, destiny and heaven, criticizes theology, emphasizes personnel, and replaces "arsenic" with "human". Liu Zongyuan also turned his criticism of theology into a criticism of politics, and explained the relationship between heaven and man from the perspective of simple materialism.
Some of Liu Zongyuan's social and political works are the concrete embodiment of his political thought and a means for him to participate in political struggle. Liu Zongyuan believes that the whole social history is a natural development process, with an inevitable trend of objective development independent of human will. From the standpoint of compromise and reconciliation, his speech gave a harmonious explanation of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.