However, due to the autocracy of the feudal system itself, many scholars failed to pass the imperial examination all their lives, let alone change their fate by reading. Some of them are even knowledgeable, but they are still frustrated and poor. Facing the gap between ideal and reality, the phrase "boasting in poetic spirit" has become a common language used by many scholars to defend their dignity.
This sentence has been passed down through the ages and comforted the world for thousands of years. An unpopular poem "Farewell to Dongchuan" by Su Shi. It sounds beautiful, but it hits many people's pain points. Why? Let's look at this poem first:
In A.D. 106 1 year, 24-year-old Su Shi took the exam of China Middle School, which is commonly called "three-year Beijing inspection". Live up to expectations, successfully got the third place of "the first in a hundred years". Then, he was quickly awarded the judge of Fengxiang House in Dali by the court. This is a great life for young Su Shi!
Some people in this world are proud and some people are frustrated! During Su Shi's tenure, an "old Confucian" named Dong Chuan was closely related to him. Although we don't know when Dong Chuan was born, according to his death at 1069, it can be inferred that Dong Chuan is definitely not young at this time. And through the content of the poem, we can know that Dong Chuan is a well-read and knowledgeable person.
However, just when Su Shi was young, but he was once famous all over the world, an old Dong Chuan was preparing to take the imperial examination. In fact, this is not the time for him 1 to take the imperial examination. Before that, he may have participated in many imperial examinations. However, he is not as lucky as Su Shi!
As a friend, Su Shi sympathized with Dong Chuan and admired his talent and personality, so he wrote this poem to encourage him. Although this poem is somewhat unpopular, the phrase "humility and poetry" in the poem is well known. However, the reality is cruel. How many people want to believe it?
The first couplet of the poem is "wrapped in thick cloth all his life, full of poetry and self-admiration", which means that Dong Chuan wears thick silk and coarse cloth, but he is full of knowledge and extraordinary temperament. Among them, the first sentence of the poem should have been "life is wrapped in thick cloth", but the poet reversed the word order and deliberately emphasized the word "thick cloth" in this way, which is not only vivid, but also shows that Dong Chuan's life has long been normal.
Obviously, these two poems were praised and encouraged by Su Shi. However, for most ordinary people in modern society, these two poems are just psychological comfort. Because in modern society, many people associate reading with the future, fate and money. If reading does not bring economic benefits to people, how many people still believe that "there are poetry books in their bellies"?
In the second couplet, "I'm tired of cooking leaves with old Confucianism, but I'm strong enough to step on Sophora japonica." These two sentences mean that Dong Chuanzhi is ambitious and unwilling to be poor, hoping to change his destiny and get ahead through the imperial examination. Among them, the word "boiled leaves" comes from The Book of Songs Xiaoya Ye, which means that Dong Chuansheng lived in poverty.
The word "stepping on Sophora japonica" originated in the Tang Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, there was a saying that "the flowers are yellow and the children are busy". When the Sophora japonica falls, it is also the time to catch the exam, so future generations will call it "stepping on Sophora japonica" for children to enter the imperial examination in Beijing. The poet used a word "disgust" and a word "strength" to express the true thoughts of all literati in the world, including himself.
I don't want to find a spring horse with an empty pocket, but I want to see the car. After Graduation, translated by Meng Jiao, means that Dong Chuan is down and out, and even if he is lucky enough to graduate, he has no money to buy a horse. Like Meng Jiao, he "sees all the Chang 'an flowers in one day". The "car of choosing a husband" is recorded in "You Yong Zaji" in Ji Tang. This means that even if Dong Chuan can't see all Chang 'an flowers on horseback like Meng Jiao, he will have the opportunity to be surrounded by a "husband-choosing car" and dazzle himself.
The fourth section, "I am proud of the secular, I wrote a letter to Sun Wong, the words are as wet as a crow." The poet continued to encourage Dong Chuan, hoping that one day he would visit his home and become the first one, boasting about himself to the common people. The word "imperial edict" is the imperial edict. Because imperial edicts are generally written in yellow paper, they are called "imperial edicts". The word "crow-like" refers to the black words written in the imperial edict, which comes from the sentence "suddenly turning over the case and inking it, like an old crow painting poetry" in Lu Tong's "Showing Heaven Ding" in the Tang Dynasty.
Writing here, Su Shi seems to have completely forgotten the words that he praised Dong Chuan at the beginning, "I am covered in poetry." Su Shi spoke beautifully about the meaning of "reading", but in the final analysis, there is only one purpose, that is, "one action". In addition, reading can make people temperament extraordinary, but this is just a polite word to comfort those who are frustrated in the examination room!
In fact, in ancient society, if a scholar studied hard at a cold window for ten years, but could not be promoted once in the end, it was not only a question of whether he could realize his dream of life, but also a question of how individuals and their families survived. In modern society, the phenomenon of getting rich overnight without reading many books has caused many scholars to be poked in pain!
Reading more books can certainly change people's temperament, but when people associate reading with fate, career, future and interest, the value of reading itself is devalued. Why do folks say that "every time you kill a dog, you are a scholar"? This is the root cause.