Introduction to the work
"River Dwelling" was created by Liu Zongyuan and was selected into "Three Hundred Tang Poems". This poem was written by Liu Zongyuan when he was demoted to Yongzhou and lived by the Ran River. The whole poem is about being relegated to a beautiful place, trying to be free, going alone and coming and going alone, and being happy in peace. The first four sentences describe the reasons for arriving here and his actions. The last four sentences describe his actions in the morning and evening. The first and last four sentences imply complaints. "Leisurely leaning on the farm neighbor" has the general concept of "picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence"; "plowing in the morning and turning over the exposed grass" has the style of "morning to deal with waste". Shen Deqian commented: "The poems about Yuxi are in a difficult situation, and they sound clear and indifferent. They don't complain but complain, complain but don't complain. There are other words between the lines, and they may be encountered from time to time." (Collection of Tang Poems) 》Volume 4) This is very insightful. For more appreciation of Tang poetry, please pay attention to the 300 Tang Poems column of "Xi Gutang Chinese Studies Network".
Original text
"River Dwelling"
Author: Liu Zongyuan
I have been tired of hairpins for a long time, but fortunately I was banished to Nanyi.
Sitting beside the farm and garden, I feel like a visitor in the forest.
Plowing in the morning turns over the exposed grass, and the sound of the stream rocks sounds at night.
When you come and go, you don’t meet anyone, and you sing long songs and the sky is clear.
Notes:
① Hairpin group: the clothing of ancient officials, this refers to official positions. Bound: to restrain, to bind. Nanyi: The ancient name for the ethnic minorities in the south. Relegated: Demoted or transferred to a remote area. At that time, the author was demoted to Yongzhou Sima.
②Night List: Sailing at night. List: Here it is read "Peng Yin", which means entering the boat. This sentence refers to the sound made by the boat returning when it is dark and hitting the rocks in the stream.
③Chutian: Yongzhou originally belonged to the Chu land.
p>④Bound:
⑤Nanyi: This refers to Yongzhou
⑥Relegation: Demotion and exile. ⑦Farm: pastoral. .
⑧ Occasionally.
⑨ Forester: A hermit in the forest. ⑩ List: Boating.
⑾Xiangxi Shi: The sound of water shaking rocks in the creek. ⑿Long Song: Singing.
Translation:
I have been tired of official duties for a long time, but fortunately. I was relegated to a minority area in the south, where I lived quietly and peacefully, next to the farmers' vegetable gardens. Sometimes I was like a hermit in the mountains and forests, plowing the fields in the morning, hoeing the dewy weeds, and returning home from a boat trip in the evening. It makes a sound when it touches the rocks in the stream. Walking alone, not meeting other people, looking at the green sky, singing loudly. Unable to be free, I was fortunate enough to be relegated to Nanyi.
In my free time, I often live next to farmland and vegetable gardens. Sometimes I am like a person living in seclusion in the mountains.
I go to farm in the morning. We clear out the dew-bearing weeds and ride along the creek rocks in the evening.
If you go alone, you won’t encounter those vulgar people. You will look up at the blue sky and sing for your own entertainment.
Explanation:
This poem was written by Liu Zongyuan when he was demoted to Yongzhou and lived on the bank of Ran River. /p>
"River Dwelling", a chant of leisure and boredom
The "brook" in "River Dwelling" is Ran Creek. When the poet was visiting the southwest of Lingling, he discovered what he once was. Ranxi, where the Ran family lived, moved here because he loved its beautiful scenery and changed its name to Yuxi. He also wrote the "Preface to Yuxi Poems" to show his ambition to be a fool.
Reading "River Residence", one seems to feel Tao Qian's feelings of "picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence and leisurely seeing the Nanshan Mountains", but after savoring it carefully, a feeling of "strong joy" arises spontaneously.
Shen Deqian, a man of the Qing Dynasty, once said, "The chants of Yuxi are in a difficult situation, and they sound clear and indifferent, complaining without complaining, complaining without complaining, and saying something else between the lines, sometimes encountered. "Indeed, this is also a very accurate summary of the inner feelings of "River House". But when reading "River House", I also read a kind of "Those who know me tell me that I am worried." "Those who don't know me, say what do I want?" The helplessness. Maybe this is just a feeling of oneself, but from the poem, I can clearly feel the poet's potential feelings.
It is where does the worry come from? ? The ideal of ancient intellectuals was to pursue fame and wealth. Although there were some such as Tao Qian who pursued a life outside the world, this was not the mainstream of history. The poet once served as a member of the Ministry of Rites, and he was considered to be in a high position, but now he was demoted and moved. In this land of Nanyi, this kind of state of mind is beyond the comprehension of outsiders. The poet comforts himself by saying "I have been tired of hairpins for a long time, but I am relegated to Nanyi", as if this kind of relegated life is just what he wants, but the last sentence ends with this. The lyrical line of "I never meet anyone, and I always sing about the beautiful sky" fully expresses the helplessness of this relegated life. Yes, there have been many people who were relegated in ancient times, from Qu Yuan's exile, Jia Yi's relegation, to Li Bai's official career. There are many descriptions of the mood of being demoted, and the place "Yongzhou" the poet demoted was the land of Chu in the old days. The last sentence of "Long Song of Chu Tianbi" has a profound connotation. In the dark, I felt the same as Qu Yuan, and I found another support for my helplessness in the relegated life.
But "those who don't know me, how can I ask for anything?" Living by the stream, relaxing in the farmland, hoeing the ground, planting vegetables, plowing in the morning and wandering at night, this kind of life is not what the elegant people in ancient times lived. The paradise in your heart? Although "you don't meet anyone when you come and go", you are "like a stranger in the woods". How could this not be a kind of happiness? Yes, ancient literati often had this kind of contradiction in their hearts. They were in the official career and wanted to go to the mountains and forests, but while they were in the mountains and forests, they wanted to pursue the high officials of the past. The poet is in this situation, and the inner contradiction is inevitable. Although he always tries to be happy and relegates his life to entertainment, but in the face of these days of "no meeting with people", and recalling the past years when "talking and laughing with great scholars", he feels in his heart There must be infinite emotion. For more appreciation of Tang poetry, please pay attention to the 300 Tang Poems column of "Xi Gutang Chinese Studies Network".
I hope that the poet can enjoy the life of living in this stream leisurely, without having to lament his loneliness. There will be good friends in the world.
Commentary:
In 810 AD (the fifth year of Yuanhe in the Tang Dynasty), when Liu Zongyuan was traveling in the southwest of Lingling, he discovered Ranxi, which was once the residence of the Ran family. He fell in love with it. The scenery was beautiful, so he moved to this place and changed its name to Yuxi.
This poem describes his life after moving to Yuxi. The main idea of ??the poem is: I have been burdened by being an official for a long time. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to be demoted to this ethnic minority area in the south, which relieved me of endless worries. When he lives with nothing to do, he is adjacent to farmland and vegetable gardens, and sometimes he seems to be a hermit in the mountains and forests. In the early morning, I would step on the dew to plow the fields and weed; sometimes I would take a boat and go sightseeing in the mountains and rivers, and would not return until dark. Walking alone, not meeting anyone else, looking up at the blue sky and singing loudly.
On the surface, this poem seems to describe the leisure life of living in a creek, but there is a loneliness and anger hidden between the lines. For example, the first two sentences are abrupt and thought-provoking in poetry. Being demoted is an unsatisfactory thing, but the poet writes in a negative way, saying that he has been "tired" by being an official for a long time, and that he is "lucky" to be demoted to the Southern Wilderness. In fact, he is smiling with pain. "Xianyi" and "Oupi" are relative, and also have the meaning of emphasizing leisure. "Xianyi" contains the boredom of being idle, and "Oupi" shows that he does not really have the indifference and leisure of a hermit. He "does not meet people when he comes and goes." "The sentence seems to be free and unrestrained, but after all, it is too lonely. This also reveals that the poet is forced to be leisurely. The charm of this poem lies in these places. Shen Deqian said, "The poems of Yuxi are in a difficult situation, and they have a clear and indifferent sound. They complain without complaining, complain without complaining, and may encounter it from time to time." ("Tang Poems") Volume 4) This discussion is very insightful.
Introduction to the author
Liu Zongyuan (773-819), courtesy name Zihou, was born in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province. He was known as "Liu Hedong" and "Mr. Hedong". He was also known as "Liu Liuzhou" and "Liu Yuxi" because of his official death as the governor of Liuzhou. He was Han nationality and his ancestral home was Hedong (now Yuncheng and Ruicheng, Yongji City, Shanxi Province). He was a writer, philosopher, essayist and thinker in the Tang Dynasty, and was a close friend of Han Yu. Mao Zedong advocated the ancient prose movement of the Tang Dynasty and was called "Han Liu". Together with Liu Yuxi, he was called "Liu Liu". Together with Wang Wei, Meng Haoran and Wei Yingwu, he is also known as "Wang Meng Wei Liu". Together with Han Yu in the Tang Dynasty and Ouyang Xiu, Su Xun, Su Shi, Su Che, Wang Anshi and Zeng Gong in the Song Dynasty, he is also known as one of the "Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasty" and "The Four Great Masters of Eternal Writing". Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty was born in Chang'an, Kyoto (today's Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province) in the eighth year of the Dali calendar (773). Liu Zongyuan was born in an official family. He was rarely talented and had great ambitions. In his early years, he was admitted to Jinshi, and his writing skills were based on eloquent words. In the ninth year of Zhenyuan (793), he became a Jinshi. In the fourteenth year, he was admitted to the Bo Xue Hong Ci Department and was awarded the Zhengzi of Jixian Dian. He was once a captain of Lantian, and later became an official in the court. He actively participated in the political reform of Wang Shuwen Group and became a member of the Ministry of Rites, Wai Lang. In September of the first year of Yongzhen (805), the reform failed and he was demoted to the governor of Shaozhou. In November, Liu Zongyuan was demoted to Sima of Yongzhou (his current location is Lingling District, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province). During this period, he wrote the "Eight Years of Yongzhou". "Records of a Banquet in Xishan Mountain" ("Records of a Banquet in Xishan Mountain", "Records of Cobalt Pond", "Records of West Hills of Cobalt Pond", "Records of Xiaoshi Pond", "Records of Yuan Family's Kere", "Records of Shiqu", "Records of Stone Stream" and "Records of Xiaoshicheng Mountain") . In the spring of the tenth year of Yuanhe (815), he returned to the capital and was soon demoted to Liuzhou governor again, with outstanding political achievements. Liu Zongyuanhe died on the eighth day of November in the fourteenth year of his reign (November 28, 819) in his post in Liuzhou. He had many contacts, and Liu Yuxi, Bai Juyi, etc. were all his good friends. For more appreciation of Tang poetry, please pay attention to the 300 Tang Poems column of "Xi Gutang Chinese Studies Network". ()
Liu Zongyuan wrote more than 600 poems and essays in his lifetime, and his achievements in writing were greater than those in poetry. Most of his poems express feelings of depression, grief, anger, homesickness and nostalgia for friends. They are secluded and melancholy, and have a unique style of their own. The works that are most praised by the world are those leisurely paintings of landscapes with clear, profound meaning, sparseness and purity. There are nearly a hundred parallel prose pieces. The prose is highly argumentative, sharp and satirical. The travel notes describe the scenery, and many people rely on it. His philosophical works include "Tian Shuo", "Tian Dui", "Feudal Theory", etc. Liu Zongyuan's works were preserved and compiled into collections by Liu Yuxi in the Tang Dynasty. There are "Liu Hedong Collection" and "Liu Zongyuan Collection".
English-Chinese comparison
Xiju
Liu Zongyuan
I have been tired of the hairpin group for a long time, but fortunately, I was banished to Nanyi.
I am leisurely leaning on my neighbor's farm and garden, occasionally like a visitor in the forest.
The plowing at dawn turns over the exposed grass, and the sound of the stream rocks sounds at night.
When you come and go, you don’t meet anyone, and you sing long songs and the sky is blue.
DWELLING BY A STREAM
Liu Zongyuan
I had so long been troubled by official glad hat and robe
That I am to be an exile here in this wild southland.
I am a neighbor now of planters and reapers.
I am a guest of the mountains and woods.
I plough in the morning, turning dewy grasses,
And at evening tie my fisher-boat, breaking the quiet stream.
Back and forth I go, scarcely meeting anyone,
p>
And sing a long poem and gaze at the blue sky.