An old man selling charcoal cuts wood and burns charcoal in the mountains in the south all year round. His face was covered with dust, which was the color of smoke burning, his temples were gray, and his ten fingers were burnt black. What is the money for selling charcoal for? Buy clothes, buy food in your mouth. Pity that he is wearing thin clothes, but he is worried that charcoal can't be sold, hoping it will be colder.
At night, it snowed a foot thick outside the city. Early in the morning, the old man drove a charcoal wheel to the market. Cows are tired and people are hungry, but the sun has risen very high. They are resting in the mud outside the south gate of the market. Who is it in Pian Pian and Liang Jian? It was the eunuchs in the palace and eunuchs who did it. The eunuch, with documents in his hand and the emperor's orders in his mouth, shouted at the petrified palace.
A cart of charcoal weighs more than one thousand kilograms, and the envoys in the palace will feel sorry for it. Half a horse's red yarn is a silk, which is filled with charcoal to the cow's head.
Brief analysis:
Bai Juyi's New Yuefu consists of 50 poems. Most of these poems were written by Tang Xianzong Yuan He in the fourth year (809). Selling Charcoal Weng is one of the poems in this group. Through the unfortunate experience of a charcoal seller, the evil of the "court market" in the Tang Dynasty was exposed and the sufferings of the working people were reflected. The so-called "palace market" means that officials forcibly buy people's goods.
Charcoal sellers reveal social reality through their images. It is slightly different from two poems describing many rights and responsibilities, Light Fat and Buying Flowers. The author's description of the old man first describes his appearance, then his ideological activities, then his driving behavior and his unfortunate experiences. Whether it is the description of appearance, the portrayal of psychology or the rendering of the environment, it is quite hard. For example, the sentence "full face" outlines the appearance characteristics of the old man selling charcoal in just fourteen words, which not only reflects the characteristics of burning charcoal, but also reflects the age and physique of the characters. The phrase "come at night" describes the frozen scene in the north and also reflects the pain of driving in the ice and snow. Especially the depiction of psychological contradictions is more unique. "The poor are naked, but they are worried about charcoal and want to be cold." This psychological contradiction of unwillingness and unwillingness strongly reflects the extreme hardships of charcoal sellers' lives. With the help of this contradiction, it is not only profound, but also fresh and moving, and does not fall into the old pattern. As for the ending of the poem, it is also different from other poems. The author does not comment at the end of the poem, but ends by telling the facts and letting the facts speak for themselves, which is more subtle and thought-provoking.