I want to ask why the water in Fangtang is so clear? It is because there is an inexhaustible source that continuously delivers living water to it.
It comes from the poem "Two Poems with Reflections on Reading Books" written by Zhu Xi, a scholar in the Song Dynasty.
The whole poem is as follows:
Part One
A half-acre square pond opens up, and the skylight and cloud shadows linger.
Ask him how clear it is? Come for living water from a source.
Second
Last night there was spring water on the river bank, and the huge stern ship was as light as a dime.
I have always wasted my efforts to move forward, but today I am in the middle of the flow.
The translation is as follows:
Part One
The half-acre square pond is displayed in front of you like a mirror. The brilliance of the sky and the shadow of the floating clouds are reflected in the mirror. move together.
I want to ask why the water in Fangtang is so clear? It is because there is an inexhaustible source that continuously delivers living water to it.
Second
Last night there was a spring tide on the river, and the huge ship was as light as a feather.
Driving has always required a lot of pushing and pulling effort, but today I can float smoothly in the middle of the river.
Extended information:
Creative background
In the second year of Qingyuan (1196), in order to avoid the disaster of the powerful minister Han Zhouzhou, Zhu Xi and his disciples Huang Qian and Cai Chen , Huang Zhong came to give lectures at Wuyi Hall next to Shuanglin Temple in Fushan, Xincheng (now Zhushan Village, Sheping Township, Lichuan County). During this period, he traveled between Nancheng and Nanfeng. At the invitation of Li Yuanji and Deng Yueli in Nancheng, he wrote an article "Inscriptions of the Jinshi in Jianchang Army", in which he sincerely praised the numerous talents in Jianchang.
At the invitation of brothers Wu Lun and Wu Chang of Toadwo Village, Shangtang, Nancheng County, they went to the village to give lectures. They wrote "Rongmuxuan" for the Wu family hall and "Book Building" for the reading pavilion. He wrote "Records of Shecang" for the Shecang founded by the Wu brothers, and also wrote "Two Poems with Reflections on Reading Books" in the village.
Appreciation of Works
The principles contained in "Two Poems on Viewing Books" belong to the category of aesthetic principles. The reasoning angle of the first poem is to appreciate beauty, and the reasoning angle of the second poem is Creating beauty, this aesthetic principle has certain universality. For example: if readers put aside the description object of the poem itself, they can completely extend this principle.
For example, if "book" is understood as "book", and the content of the book does not generally include medical books, philosophy books, history books, science and technology books, etc., but only literary content such as poetry, lyrics and music Prose, etc. reflect the beauty of literature and art. Then, it can also be considered that "source of living water" expresses "inexhaustible literary thoughts", while "a night of spring tide" expresses "blooming literary thoughts" and so on.
Baidu Encyclopedia—Two Impressions from Reading Books