Summer quatrains from an ancient poem by Li Qingzhao are as follows:
1. Original text of the work
He is a hero in life and a hero in death.
I still miss Xiang Yu and refuse to cross Jiangdong.
2. Introduction to "Summer Quatrain"
"Summer Quatrain" is a five-character quatrain created by Li Qingzhao, a female poet in the Song Dynasty. This is a nostalgic poem that uses the past to satirize the present and expresses grief and indignation. The first two sentences of the poem are astonishing and speak directly from the heart. They propose that people should "be born as heroes", make contributions to the country and serve the court, and "die" should also be "ghost heroes".
Just now he is worthy of being a good man who stands upright and upright. Deep patriotism burst out and shocked people's hearts. In the last two sentences, the author praises Xiang Yu's tragic actions to satirize the shameless behavior of those in power in the Southern Song Dynasty who did not want to make progress and lived an ignoble existence.
The whole poem has only twenty short words, but uses three allusions in succession. It can be said that every word is precious, and there is a sense of righteousness between the lines.
3. Vernacular translation
You should be a hero among men when you are alive, and you should be a hero among ghosts when you die.
To this day, people still miss Xiang Yu because he would rather die in battle than return to Jiangdong.
4. Notes on words and sentences
◎Summer quatrains: see "Embroidered Water Poetry Notes". Volume 11 of "History of Poets", Volume 17 of "The Continuation of Tong Guan's Posthumous Collection", Volume 18 of "Return of Poems of Celebrities", Volume 7 of "Poems of Celebrities in the Past Dynasties", Volume 12 of "Qianlong Zhangqiu County Chronicle" is titled "Wujiang" .
◎Celebrity: A hero among people, a person with outstanding intelligence. Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, once praised the founding heroes Zhang Liang, Xiao He and Han Xin as "outstanding people".
◎Guixiong: The hero among ghosts. Qu Yuan's "Nine Songs·National Sorrow": "When the body is dead, the spirit is the spirit, and the soul is resolute and is the ghost hero."
◎Xiang Yu: The leader of the peasant uprising army in the late Qin Dynasty, he established himself as the overlord of Western Chu, and fought with the Qin army. He lost all nine battles. Later, he fought with Liu Bang for the world and was trapped in Gaixia. He broke through to Wujiang (now northeast of He County, Anhui Province). He committed suicide because he was too embarrassed to see his elders in Jiangdong.
◎Jiangdong: Jiangnan. The Yangtze River flows northeast between Wuhu and Nanjing. Before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was the main ferry crossing between the north and the south. From then on, it was customary to call the area on the south bank of the Yangtze River Jiangdong. Xiang Yu initially followed his uncle Xiang Liang to raise troops in Wuzhong, Kuaiji County, where the Qin Dynasty's Kuaiji County was located in Wuxian County (today's Suzhou, Jiangsu Province).
A brief introduction to the author Li Qingzhao and the influence of "Summer Quatrains" on later generations
1. A brief introduction to the author Li Qingzhao
Li Qingzhao (1084-about 1151), since No. Yi'an Jushi, a native of Zhangqiu, Qizhou (now part of Shandong). Li Gefei's daughter, Zhao Mingcheng's wife. The young and talented algae were praised and rewarded by Chao Buzhi. In his early years, he lived a prosperous life, and he and Mingcheng collected many paintings, calligraphy and inscriptions. Jin soldiers invaded the Central Plains and lived in the south. Mingcheng died of illness and was in a lonely situation.
His words are clear, graceful and affectionate. Not many poems remain. The work has been lost, but later generations compiled "Shu Yu Ci". Today, there is a compilation of "Li Qingzhao's Collection and Annotations".
2. The influence of "Summer Quatrains" on later generations
"Summer Quatrains" is a famous poem that has been recited from generation to generation and is well-known to every household. Among them, the first two sentences, "You are born as a hero, you die as a ghost" have become idioms, which refer to the need to make a difference in life. They are often used to praise heroes or martyrs, and are also valuable mottos for people with lofty ideals to sharpen their integrity.