Appreciation of "Queju" by Monk Zhinan in the Southern Song Dynasty
Queju (a short canopy tied in the shade of ancient wood)
Southern Song Dynasty? Monk Zhinan
A short canopy is tied in the shade of an ancient tree.
The staff and quinoa help me cross the east side of the bridge.
My clothes are wet with the apricot blossom rain,
The willow wind is not cold on my face.
Notes: 1. Short canopy - small boat. Canopy is a sail. The name of the ship.
2. Zang quinoa - the inverted version of "quinoa stick". Quinoa is an annual plant with an upright stem that can be used as a walking stick when it grows old.
This little poem describes the poet's joy of spring outings with a stick in the breeze and drizzle.
The poet used a stick for a spring outing, but said "the stick helps me", which personified the stick, as if it were a companion who could be relied on, helping people move forward silently, giving people a sense of intimacy The sense of security made the old monk excited about traveling. He happily crossed the small bridge and headed eastward. The scenery may not be very different between the east and west of Qiao, but for poets on spring outings, the artistic conception and taste are quite different when going east to west. "East" is sometimes synonymous with "spring". For example, the God of Spring is called Dongjun, and Dongfeng refers specifically to the spring breeze. The poet was crossing the bridge to the east, and there happened to be an east wind blowing in his face. No matter whether he was going west, north, or south, there was no such poetic feeling.
The last two lines of the poem are particularly wonderful: "apricot blossom rain", early spring rain "willow wind", early spring wind. This is more beautiful and picturesque than "drizzle" and "gentle wind". The willow branches ripple with the wind, giving people the impression that the spring breeze comes from the willows. The rain in early spring is called "apricot blossom rain", which is exactly the same as calling the rain in early summer "yellow plum rain". "Listen to the spring rain in the small building all night, and sell apricot blossoms in the Ming Dynasty in the deep alleys." In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, the great poet Lu You had connected apricot blossoms with the spring rain. "The clothes feel wet" is used to describe the drizzle in early spring, which seems to be wet but not wet. It also shows the subtlety of perception and the delicate description. Just imagine the poet walking eastward with his walking stick, along the way red apricots are scorching, green willows are fluttering, drizzle touches the clothes, which seems to be wet but not wet, gentle wind blows in the face, and there is not a hint of chill. What an impatient and pleasant spring hike!
Some people can’t help but think that if the old monk walks on and enjoys the tour with such enthusiasm, by the time he remembers that he should go back, he is afraid that he will be exhausted and even the quinoa staff will not be able to support him. Don't worry too much. The first line of the poem says: "A short canopy is tied in the shade of an ancient tree." Isn't the short canopy just a boat? The old monk originally came along the stream in a small boat. The boat was parked under an old tree by the stream, waiting for him to unload and return to the temple.
Appreciation of Zhinan's "Quatrains"
◎Chu Xu
A short awning is tied in the shade of an ancient tree, and a staff and quinoa help me cross the east side of the bridge.
The apricot blossom rain makes your clothes wet, and the willow wind blows on your face without chilling it.
In "Chronicles of Song Poetry", monk Zhinan left such a poem, and it did not have a substantive title. He just used the form of a poem to give a title that had nothing to do with its purpose. However, it was this poem that made its name known to future generations, especially the last two lines of the poem, which describe the soft and cool beauty of February. It is vivid and lifelike, and it has become a famous line through the ages.
The poem writes about the true feelings in February. In the forest of clumsy ancient trees, we stopped the boat in the shade of the trees on the bank, tied the cable, and then boarded the river bank. "Short canopy" is a small boat. At the beginning of this sentence, the atmosphere seems a bit gloomy. The ancient trees are densely shaded, and when you are among them, the surroundings are filled with an aura of decadence. It also reminds people that when there are ancient trees, there will be sad birds. "The sad birds call the ancient trees" seems to be a fixed image combination. However, the poet stopped there. He just clicked "in the shadow of the ancient tree" and turned the decay into magic. He unbiasedly pulled out a small boat and tied it to the shore in a leisurely manner. Medium, very square. Although it is not as charming and beautiful as "A lover is waiting for his lover at dusk, and the boat is on the green poplar bank" (Chu Guangxi's "Fishing Bay"), it also has a cool and quiet beauty. After tying the boat, the poet monk stepped on the boat with a quinoa staff. Go up the small bridge and run to the east of the bridge. The ancient trees are mottled and the water is gurgling. It seems that you can hear the sound of the poet monk using his quinoa staff to tie the bridge to the bridge; his figure is sparse, and step by step, he disappears into another world to the east of the bridge. . "Cane" is a walking stick. In the fifth poem of "Ningpu Shu Shi" by Qin Guan of the Song Dynasty, there is a sentence: "The body and the staff are two, and the moon and the shadow are three." The staff and the staff are equal in consciousness and rely on each other.
Zhinan's poem is even more unique. In his consciousness, the staff and tribulus no longer have the function of "I support" or "mutual support". On the contrary, it is the opposite, "the staff and tribulus help". "I", the poet monk himself became a staff and tribulus that was not a staff and tribulus. What happened? In fact, Zhinan's statement is the correct and normal way. In the eyes of ordinary people, a crutch is supported by people for walking, but it is only by relying on people that a crutch becomes a crutch. If there are no people, how can the crutch stand? People do not need to support the cane, but the cane must be supported by others. Therefore, it is not the person holding the cane but the cane supporting the person. Naturally, it means "the cane helped me cross the east side of the bridge." The way Zen people view things may seem contrary to logic and common sense on the surface, but it is this abnormality that constitutes the wonder of divine poetry, and ultimately falls into line with the common way. There is a deep understanding of this, but it is deeper and more tortuous than ordinary people. This is the meaning and true meaning of the Zen saying, "Holding a hoe with empty hands, riding a buffalo on foot. People cross the bridge, but the water does not flow."
In the rhythmic sound of "tuk-tuk", Zangli helped the poet monk from the west of the bridge to the east of the bridge. To the east of the bridge and to the west of the bridge, it seems to give people the feeling of two worlds. There are still old trees hanging down, and it is dark and gloomy, while here there are apricot blossoms, spring rain, willows and gentle wind.
"The rain of apricot blossoms makes your clothes wet, and the willow wind does not blow on your face." The two sentences mean that in February, clothes are always wet when they are wet. It is the apricot blossom rain that often falls when the apricot blossoms are in bloom; it blows on your face. What doesn't feel cold is the willow wind blowing from the willow trees. "Apricot blossom rain" refers to the sight of apricot blossoms in full bloom and moistened by drizzle during the Qingming Festival. "Desire for wetness" refers to the state of seeming to be wet but not wet, being disturbed by desire but still being wet, being wet but not sticking, and sticking but not getting wet. This is the comfort and harmony that Xinghuayu brings to people like a light dream. What's more, the February spring breeze that makes the willow silk soft and warm, blowing on the face is cool but not cold, truly forming a poetic and dreamlike realm. When people stand in it, they see smoke like apricot blossoms and threads of willows; they feel like crisp drizzle, like silk and wind. It is also like admiring the beauty of bright eyes behind the curtain of cicada wings, expressing a special feeling for nature.
The volume of "Yushutang Poetry Talk" written by Zhao Yuqi of the Song Dynasty is uploaded: "Seng Zhinan is good at poetry, and Zhu Wengong tasted and wrote his Juan Yun: Nan's poetry is more than pure and beautiful, and Gree is leisurely, without the spirit of vegetables. Such as It says: "My clothes are wetted by the apricot blossom rain, and the willow wind blows on my face without chilling it." I love her deeply. "It was not easy for Zhu Xi to write a postscript to his poem at that time. This also shows the influence of Zhinan's poem at that time. Zhu Xi took this "quatrain" as an example and said that his poem "has no vegetable spirit". When people in the Song Dynasty discussed monk poetry, "no vegetables and bamboo shoots" seemed to be the highest state. Volume 57 of Hu Zai's "Tiaoxi Yuyincong Hua" quotes "Western Qing Dynasty Poetry" as saying: "Dongpo said that the monk's poems should have no vegetable spirit, and the poet should be a turtle." That is to say, the monk's poems should have a clear rhyme. There is a family tradition of duty and a good atmosphere by the water and in the forest. It seems that Zhinan's poem is quite up to standard, which earned him praise from Zhu Xi, who values ??standards in everything.
In fact, whether there is a "vegetable bamboo shoot atmosphere" is not necessarily the highest standard for discussing monk poetry. Regardless of whether you are a monk or a layman, there is no clear boundary in the true meaning of poetry. "A true poet must not lose the heart of a monk, and a true monk must also have the heart of a poet." (Qian Zhongshu's "Talk about Art" 88 quotes the French poet Bérémont. "Chun" language) Zhinan's poem is praised mainly because it expresses a kind of poetic interest or Zen interest in ordinary scenery. The different realms of the bridge to the east and the west to the bridge, the abnormal harmony of "the branches and the tribulus help me", the softness and beauty of the rain of apricot blossoms and the wind of willows are both ordinary and full of poetry. As Mr. Qian Zhongshu said in "Talk about Art": "Usual is not the usual. For example, people all eat and drink, and those who know the taste are fresh. If you concentrate on forgetting yourself and being conscious, you have not forgotten yourself; when things pass and things change, don't chase after death. , I try to copy it, but I can't find one out of ten. The words are so vague that I can't know every line, know but can't speak, and don't know what is going on. Different people will have different words for the same ordinary scene. ”, achieving different aesthetic gains. In one thought, Zhinan left behind a good poem about becoming a Buddha and a demon. This was the reason why he knew what was happening from the east of the bridge to the west of the bridge.
Finally finished, the meaning is actually: I came along the stream in a small boat, I walked eastward with a stick, red apricots were scorching all the way, green willows were fluttering, the drizzle touched my clothes, it seemed wet but not wet, and the gentle breeze faced me. When it blows, the willow branches ripple in the wind, and there is a hint of chill.