Reflections on reading.
This article is selected from Zhu Wen's official documents (four series). Zhu (1 130 ~ 1200), a native of Wuyuan (now Jiangxi), was a famous philosopher in the Southern Song Dynasty.
As soon as the half-acre square pond is opened,
The sky is full of clouds and shadows.
Ask the canal so clearly,
Because there is inexhaustible living water for it.
Half an acre of square pond [square pond: square pond] opens like a mirror. Mirror, mirror in ancient times, the mirror was covered with a mirror and opened when used. 〕,
The pond half an acre square is opened like a mirror.
Compare this book to a pond half an acre square. The book is rectangular, so it is called "half-acre square pool". "Once opened", compared with a mirror, the square pond is unusually clear.
The sky and clouds are hovering [the sky and clouds are hovering]: the sky and clouds are reflected in the pond together and keep shaking. 〕。
The skylight and the cloud shadow came to the pond together and kept shaking.
Write the beautiful scenery reflected by the crystal clear square pond. "skylight" and "cloud shadow" are metaphors of the contents of the book.
Ask the canal [canal: refers to the pond. That [that: the same as "where" and why. So clear [so: so, so. 〕,
In favor of [in favor of: because. ] There is flowing water from the source.
Ask how the water in that pond is so clear, because the source of living water is endless.
The first two sentences describe the scenery, and the last two sentences discuss the scenery. Questions and answers vividly express the poet's profound and unique reading feelings and implied philosophy.
This is a famous poem that takes scenery as a metaphor. Compared with the square pond, the whole poem vividly expresses a subtle and unspeakable reading feeling. The pond is not a pool of stagnant water, but often full of living water, so it is as clear as a mirror, reflecting the sky and clouds. This situation is quite similar when the same person gets through the problem, gains new knowledge and gains a lot of benefits in reading, and raises awareness. The aura, clear thinking, fresh and lively spirit and self-satisfaction of this poem are the author's personal reading feelings as a university scholar. Although this feeling expressed in the poem is only for reading, it has profound implications and rich connotations, which can be widely understood. In particular, the phrase "ask how the canal is clear, so that there is flowing water from the source" means that the clarity of water is due to the continuous injection of flowing water from the source, which means that if people want to be clear-headed, they must study hard and constantly supplement new knowledge. Therefore, people often use it as a metaphor to constantly learn new knowledge in order to reach a new realm. People also use these two poems to praise a person's achievements in study or art, which has its deep roots. We can also get inspiration from this poem. Only when the mind is always active, open-minded, accepting different ideas and fresh knowledge, and broad-minded, can we keep thinking and keep new water flowing out. These two poems are condensed into a common idiom "the source of living water", which is used to describe the source and motive force of the development of things.