"The spirit of poetry and calligraphy in my belly comes from China". The first sentence is "My career is wrapped in a coarse cloth", and the next sentence is "I am tired of cooking gourd leaves with the old Confucian".
Original poem:
My life is wrapped in a rough cloth, and there is poetry and calligraphy in my belly.
I am tired of cooking gourd leaves with the old Confucian, and force me to step on the locust flowers with my son.
I have nothing to do but look for a young horse, and my eyes wander around looking at the car for choosing a son-in-law.
To be proud is worthy of praise from the secular world, and the edicts of Huang Xinshu are like crows.
Translation:
In life, if you are wrapped in coarse clothes and poor cloth, you will naturally be radiant if you have a learned temperament in your chest. He didn't like to accompany the old Confucian and talk about the hard life of "cooking gourd leaves", so he decided to take the imperial examination with the officials. If you don’t have money in your pocket, you won’t buy the “flower-looking” horse, but you will buy the dazzling “husband-selection car”. If I pass the exam, I can still boast to the secular people. My name is newly written in black letters like crows on the edict.
Source: "Farewell to Dong Chuan" by Su Shi of the Song Dynasty
Poetry Appreciation
In December of the first year of Zhiping (1064), Su Shi dismissed Fengxiang from his appointment as a judge. On his way to Bianjing, he passed through Chang'an and wrote this poem when he said goodbye to Dong Chuan. Dong Chuan lived in poverty all his life. Su Shi expressed deep sympathy and comforted Dong Chuan with his best wishes. The poem is intertwined with various contradictions between Dong Chuan's rough clothes on the outside and his economics on the inside, and the current situation of poverty and embarrassment and the author's best wishes, creating a strong contrast and leaving a deep impression on people.
This poem is characterized by its skillful use of allusions and its subtlety. Among them, "There is poetry and calligraphy in the belly" is a famous sentence that is still recited. "Poetry" here generally refers to books; "Qi" refers to temperament and demeanor; "Hua" refers to brilliance and distinctiveness.