Xia Yan's essay, written in the middle of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, is intended to encourage people to strengthen their confidence in the victory of the Anti-Japanese War and use symbolic means. Weeds are used to symbolize tenacious vitality. Since Xia Yan, Bai Juyi has had "boundless grass that comes and goes with the seasons". Wildfire never completely burned them, but they grew tall again in the spring breeze. "Lu Xun has a famous poem" Wild Grass Inscription ". Xia Yan's new contribution lies in making the symbolic image of Weeds more complete, giving it a wider symbolic meaning and shaping a new artistic conception. First of all, the author uses strong contrast to show that weeds are a huge and unparalleled force without being noticed. On the one hand, it is a dense and solid skull that cannot be completely separated by any mechanical force, on the other hand, it is an ordinary seed; On one side are the dense boulders lying on them, and on the other side are the seemingly weak grass: the result of mutual struggle is the victory of seeds and weeds, the bones are cut and the boulders are overturned. Weeds are a "terrible force" for giants such as bones and boulders. This is the first point that the author wants to tell us. Secondly, the author analyzes that the reason why Weeds is so powerful is its "toughness". This is a growing and expanding vitality. It does not seek a quick victory, but it can "fight for a long time." I won't stop until I reach my goal. In this way, it will make all powerful enemies look weak and small. Thirdly, the author analyzes the optimistic spirit of Weeds. No matter how bad the growth conditions are, they will not be pessimistic; It has an innate struggle, which is more vigorous because of being tempered; It is full of confidence in its future. The power of weeds is a powerful, resilient, optimistic and promising force. This personalized weed perfectly, completely and aptly symbolizes the bright future of our great Chinese nation and the sacred national war that is persisting in the "long-term war of resistance". While eulogizing the national spirit through Weeds, the article also exposes and satirizes the dependence, weakness and compromise of the Kuomintang government in the Anti-Japanese War through the "potted flower" that can't cover the wind and rain, needs special care and plants, and lives in a glass shed. In order to keep consistent with the simple image of Weeds, the sketch adopts simple writing, does not carve, and tries to avoid beauty. It seems to be a chat at the beginning, which is intended to contrast, which naturally leads to the following, and finally ends with a "laughing" potted flower, which is natural and neat.
The most prominent feature of this article is its profound implication and strong philosophy. The author describes the biological phenomena in nature, but innuendo and metaphor are social life phenomena. Like many revolutionary writers and artists at that time, the author wrote revolutionary literature, not romantic "essays". He emphasized the power of weeds so much that he described the power of trampled weeds as "chinese odyssey". His intention is to arouse the people, make them aware of their own strength, and then take action to achieve their goals.
The author's careful observation of natural and social phenomena and the description of novel, concrete and quite typical natural phenomena show the philosophical nature of this paper. For example, the example that the power of seed growth can separate the skull that is difficult to be separated by mechanical force is the knowledge that ordinary people can't easily possess, so it is novel, peculiar and typical. At the same time, in order to avoid generalizations, the author then lists a series of well-known common examples to further illustrate. However, it is easy to lose the taste of mediocrity and boredom by using ordinary examples to illustrate problems, so the author makes a deep excavation of these ordinary examples and refines the important philosophy.
"In order to yearn for the sun and realize its will to live, no matter how heavy and narrow the stone is, it will be tortuous, but it will stubbornly penetrate into the ground, its roots will drill into the soil and its buds will stand on the ground. This is an irresistible force, and the stone that blocks it will be overturned ... "The author found an irresistible force from the growth of a seed.
The idea of this essay is gradually deepened through layers of dyeing, and finally the finishing touch is amazing.