The method of understanding ancient poetry is as follows:
When we read ancient poetry, the first thing we must do is to be able to read and interpret it. That is to say, you must be able to pronounce the pronunciation of the words accurately, and clarify the meaning and meaning of the words. If you cannot even do this, it will be impossible to understand the meaning of poetry, the realm of poetry, and the sentiment of poetry. Therefore, the pronunciation, meaning, and meaning of words are the first obstacles we must clear when reading ancient poetry.
Roughly speaking, these obstacles are as follows:
1. Some uncommon words that often appear in ancient poems.
Ancient poetry is poetry written by ancient people. Some words and phrases are rarely used in modern times, and they have become uncommon words in our eyes. For example, Zhang Lingyi's "The Window": The fragrance of agarwood leaks out in the night, and the moon marks coldly penetrate the bed of books. None of the hundreds of cities dared to praise the south, and they were so idle that they acted like silverfish.
The word "worm" in the poem is a difficult word to recognize. "禀" means "禀", which is a traditional Chinese character. "Sinking water" refers to agarwood, which is a kind of fragrant wood. It emits a delicate fragrance when burned. Because it can sink to the bottom when placed in water, it is also called "sinking water". "Leak" is an ancient timer that uses a copper pot to store water and leak it to keep time. "South" means facing south.
Because ancient emperors sat facing south and received worship from hundreds of officials, there is an idiom saying "the south is the king", so "south" also refers to the noble status. Silverfish are pests that damage books or clothing. The words or phrases mentioned above are rarely used nowadays, so they are all rare. If we don't pronounce these uncommon words correctly, we won't be able to understand the meaning of the poem.
2. There are different words in ancient poetry and modern Chinese in terms of pronunciation, meaning, and meaning.
Ancient poems are poems written in ancient Chinese, so we must read and understand them according to the rules of Zuo Chinese, otherwise jokes will appear due to misunderstandings. For example, "Chai" in "Lu Chai" is pronounced as "zhài" instead of "chái".
The word "jian" in "风风草小见牛羊" is not pronounced as "jiàn", but as "xiàn". The word "sitting" in "Stop and Sit in Love Fenglin Evening" should not be understood as "sit down" because it is spoken. The "poor" in "Poor on the third night of September" means "cute", not what is now called "poor". "Deserves sympathy, pity" or the verb "sympathy, pity" means.
3. Some allusions that often appear in ancient poems.
Allusions refer to things said by predecessors, things done, or stories or words that appear in ancient books. Poets often use allusions when writing poems in order to be more concise and implicit. If we understand some of the allusions, it is not difficult to read. But there are some allusions that we may not necessarily understand, so this becomes an obstacle when we read.
For example, in Wang Changling's "Crossing the Fortress", "But the flying generals of Dragon City are here, and they are not called Huma to travel to Yinshan." The "Dragon City Flying City" in the sentence refers to the famous general Li Guang of the Western Han Dynasty. He was brave and good at fighting, and defeated the Huns' invasion many times. He was so powerful that the Huns called him Flying General. Here, the allusion of celebrity stories is used to refer to heroic and resourceful generals.
Another example is Qiu Jin, the martyr of the democratic revolution, in "The Wine Conversation", "No expense will be spared to buy a precious sword, and a mink fur coat can be exchanged for wine." The two sentences are substituted for Li Bai's five-flowered horse and thousand-gold fur coat, and Hu'er will be Comes with the famous saying in exchange for fine wine. This is quoting the words and phrases of the predecessors to compose poetry, and it is also the use of allusions.