"Don't be afraid of the floating clouds covering your eyes" comes from the poet Wang Anshi.
Original text:
Flying to the Qianxun Pagoda on the mountain, I heard the rooster crow and saw the sun rising.
Don’t be afraid of the floating clouds covering your eyes, because you are at the highest level.
Translation:
Climb the tall tower at Feilai Peak. I heard that you can see the rising sun rising here every day when the rooster crows.
I am not afraid of layers of clouds blocking my distant view, just because I am standing at the top.
Notes:
1. Feilai Peak: There are two theories: one is said to be in Linshan outside Shaoxing, Zhejiang. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, there was a Yingtian Pagoda among them. Legend has it that this peak flew from Dongwu County, Langya County, hence the name Feilai Peak. One is said to be in front of Lingyin Temple in West Lake, Hangzhou, Zhejiang today.
2. Qianxun Tower: A very, very tall tower. Xun, an ancient unit of length, eight feet is Xun.
3. hear and speak: hear and hear.
4. Floating clouds: clouds floating in the mountains.
5. Look at the eyes: sight.
6. Fate: Because.
Appreciation:
In the first sentence of the poem, the poet uses the exaggerated word "Qianxun" to express the height of his own foothold by referring to the height of the ancient tower on the peak. . The second sentence of the poem cleverly simulates the glorious scene of the rising sun seen on the tower, showing the poet's vigor, ambition for reform, and full confidence in the future, which becomes the emotional tone of the whole poem. The last two sentences of the poem follow the first two sentences to describe the scene, discuss and express emotions, making the poem both vivid and profound in philosophy. The ancients often worried about floating clouds blocking the sun and evil ministers covering the wise, but the poet added the word "not afraid". It shows the poet's courage and determination to be far-sighted in politics and not afraid of evil.
The first two sentences are the essence of the whole poem and contain profound philosophy: people cannot just focus on immediate interests, but should look at the overall situation and the long-term. In terms of writing techniques, the first sentence describes the terrain of Feilai Peak, and sometimes it is written that there is Qianxun Tower on the peak, which shows how high it is. This sentence expresses the high risk of climbing. The following sentence describes how far away the goal is. To follow the quotation of the sentence, "Xuanzhong Ji" says: "There is a big tree in Taodu Mountain, called Taodu, with branches extending three thousand miles away. There is a rooster on it. When the sun shines on this tree, the rooster crows, and all the roosters in the world follow it. "If you test this, the seven words "I heard the rooster crow and saw the sun rising" not only say that his eyes are thousands of miles away, but also that his voice is heard far and wide, and it is quite powerful. Although it is a foreshadowing, it should not be taken lightly. It is a singing in the actual scene. And the author's use of words is very original. For example, in the allusion, "The sun rises and shines on this tree, and the rooster crows." This originally means "the sun rises first, and the rooster crows the day after." However, Wang Anshi did not say, "I heard the sun rises and heard the rooster crow." Instead, he said, "I heard the rooster crow and saw the sun." "rising" means "first the rooster crows, then the sun rises". Poet's use of words is often a little bit different. This cannot be forced to be smooth, or the use of words is wrong, for fear of having another meaning.
In the third sentence, the word "unafraid" is used as a solemn sentence, which is impressive. "Floating clouds cover the eyes," is an allusion. According to research by Professor Wu Xiaoru, people in the Western Han Dynasty often used floating clouds as a metaphor for evil villains, such as "Xinyu·Shenwei Chapter": "Therefore, evil ministers obscure the wise, just like floating clouds obstructing the sun." Wang's sentence uses this meaning. He also has seven lines in his poem "Impressions from Reading History", which he says in a couplet: "The darkness at that time was still a mistake, and the confusion of customs in the past made it more confusing." If you want to achieve a great cause, the most terrifying thing is "clouds covering your eyes" and "the end of the world". "Vulgarity confuses truth", and Wang Anshi's later implementation of the new law failed just because of this. The poet's good intentions are evident in this poem. The fourth sentence uses "being at the highest level" to elevate the poetic realm and give it a far-sighted spirit. The author's finishing touch is the conclusion. If we talk about the situation, the word order should be "Because I am at the highest level, I am not afraid of clouds covering my eyes." However, the author reverses it, talking about the effect first and then the cause; the inversion of one cause and one effect shows the change of poetic vision. Although this is a common method of writing poetry, it also shows the depth of the author's conception.
This poem is different from ordinary climbing poems. This poem does not write too much about the scenery in front of you, but only about the height of the tower. The focus is on writing about your feelings when you climb to a high place, embodying the philosophy of "standing high can see far". This is similar to Wang Zhihuan's poem "If you want to see a thousand miles away, you will reach a higher level." The former expresses the far-sighted ideological realm and heroic spirit of a political reformer, while the latter expresses mutual encouragement or self-motivation that requires greater efforts to achieve better results.
"I am not afraid of the floating clouds covering my eyes, just because I am at the highest level." and Su Shi "I don't know the true face of Mount Lu, just because I am in this mountain." They are in the same line, and the expression techniques are very similar, Wang Shi affirms On the one hand, the metaphor means "if you master the correct viewpoints and methods, and your understanding reaches a certain level, you will be able to see the essence through phenomena, and you will not be confused by the illusion of things." And Su Shi is talking about negation, Metaphor: "The reason why people are confused by the illusion of things is because they do not observe and understand things comprehensively, objectively and correctly." Both are very philosophical and are often used as mottos.
Creative background:
In the summer of 1050 AD (the second year of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty), the poet wrote this poem when he returned to his hometown in Linchuan, Jiangxi Province after completing his term as magistrate of Yin County, Zhejiang Province, and passed through Hangzhou. . At this time, the poet was only thirty years old. He was in his prime and had great ambitions. He just took advantage of climbing Feilai Peak to express his thoughts and broad feelings.
About the author:
Wang Anshi (December 18, 1021 - May 21, 1086), courtesy name Jiefu, nickname Banshan, posthumous title, named Duke of Jing. The world also calls him King Jinggong.
Han nationality, a native of Linchuan, Fuzhou, Northern Song Dynasty (now a native of Dengjia Lane, Linchuan District, Fuzhou City, Jiangxi Province), a famous politician, thinker, writer and reformer in the Northern Song Dynasty, and one of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties. Ouyang Xiu praised Wang Anshi: "There are three thousand romantic poems in the Imperial Academy and two hundred years of articles in the official department. I still have self-pity in my old age, and who will compete with my son in the future." The handed down collections of works include "Wang Linchuan Collection", "Linchuan Collection Supplements" and so on. He is good at all styles of poetry and prose. Although he does not have many words, he is also good at it. He has famous works such as "Guizhixiang" and so on. The most widely circulated poem by Wang Jinggong is "The spring breeze turns green again on the south bank of the river. When will the bright moon shine back on me?"
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