Zi Gui
Tang Dynasty: Wu Rong
The prosperity of the whole country passed by Sichuan, and the feathers floated year by year.
The flowers in other mountains turn to blood, and the grass in the old garden is like smoke when spring comes.
The dark rain never leaves the thick green trees, and the moon slants long and looks forward to tomorrow.
The Xiangjiang River sounds sad at dusk, and I worry about killing pedestrians returning to their boats.
『Translation』
The cuckoo gave up the bustling mountains and rivers of its hometown and wandered around year after year.
I screamed in a foreign land, and the flowers on the mountain were dyed red with blood, but when spring came, the old garden was still lush with vegetation.
In the cool breeze after the rain, it hides in the green trees and cries sadly. At the beginning of the night, it cries solemnly against the dawning sky.
As the sky grows late, it chirps sadly along the Xiangjiang River, making the boat travelers returning home extremely sad.
「Notes」
⑴Zigui: Cuckoo bird. According to ancient legend, its predecessor was the king of Shu, named Du Yu, and nicknamed Emperor Wang. Later, he lost his country and died, and his soul turned into a cuckoo, crying endlessly.
⑵Country: Homeland.
⑶Wei: abandon, throw away.
⑷Heshan: a mountain elsewhere, here refers to a foreign land.
⑸Garden: a place where animals were raised and trees were planted in ancient times, a garden.
⑹The grass is like smoke: describing the vegetation is still lush. Smoke: Small solid particles suspended in the air.
⑺Rain dark: The sky is dark when it rains.
⑻Li: separate.
⑼Long: usually "often", continuous, often.
⑽Hanging: hanging.
⑾Desire: want.
⑿Xiangjiang River: a tributary of the Yangtze River, in today’s Hunan Province.
⒀Higurashi: When the sun is about to set.
⒁ Desolate and sad.
⒂Sadness: Also known as "sadness", it means making people extremely sad. Killing means a deep degree.
Appreciation
In the old days, there was a legend that the king of Shu transformed into a cuckoo and cried sadly. This may be a story imagined by the predecessors because they heard the sad song of the cuckoo. This article about Zigui starts from this story, imagining that the cuckoo bird leaves the prosperous country and wanders around year after year. This tragic experience paved the way for the following sad feelings.
Due to the loud cries and the red beak, there were rumors in the old days that the cuckoo cried blood. The poet borrowed this rumor to use his imagination and said that the red flowers in the field were dyed with the blood from the cuckoo's mouth. He used exaggerated techniques to enhance the appeal of the image. However, there is no possible result from such lamentation. When spring comes, the motherland is still a land of flourishing vegetation, green and lush, with smoke and mist, and its vitality has not been diminished by the sadness of the original in any way. "Grass is like smoke" uses metaphorical rhetoric and is vivid. Here, spring grass is used as a contrast, and their happy and comfortable expressions are regarded as expressions of indifference to Zigui's cries. The imagination is strange, and it is better than the previous weeping flowers turning to blood. In the second couplet, "Other Mountain" and "Old Garden" are contrasted, one is hot and the other is cold, and the contrast is bright, which further highlights the tragic fate of the cuckoo bird wandering alone, crying to no avail.
The second half of the chapter continues to describe Zigui’s cry in many aspects. It keeps chirping in different places, just like this, it keeps crying and pouring out the pain in its heart, from sunny to rainy, from night to dawn. These mournful and persistent calls reached the ears of pedestrians on the boat at sunset on the riverside. They couldn't help but touch people's homesickness and all kinds of unforgettable past events, making people feel dejected and heartbroken.
Judging from the word "Xiangjiang" at the end of the poem, this poem was written in today's Hunan area. The author resigned from office and lived in Jingnan. This poem reflects his painful mood of being frustrated in his official career and being far away from his hometown. The poem relies on chanting objects to express its meaning, and the characteristics of the cuckoo's cuckoo are mournful throughout the poem. It is repeatedly rendered with ink, but it does not fall into a monotonous and rigid hook shape, but can integrate the object of chanting into diverse scenes and associations. In the poem, the combination of orthographic profile and virtual and real pens is skillfully used to achieve the artistic effect of "seeing something from its appearance". This is a useful inspiration for writing poems about things.
Creation background
The author Wu Rong was serving in the imperial court during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty. He was dismissed from office due to implication and lived in Jingnan. This article was written around this time.