This poem expresses the author's concern for the country and the people, his patriotism and his sympathy for the people in the north.
Lu You was a patriotic poet in the Southern Song Dynasty. Facing the era of drastic changes when the motherland was divided, he had early ambitions to serve the country. In his middle age, he joined the army in the southwest. The magnificent real world and the enthusiastic battlefield life greatly broadened his poetic realm. Just as he recalled in "Shi Zi Dun", "I started to realize something in my middle age, and gradually wanted to see the grandeur"; as he said in "Reading Poetry Manuscripts on the Night of September 1st and Composing Songs with Impressions", "The poet suddenly saw Samadhi, and Qu Jia was there. Eyes are on the Yuan calendar; heaven’s secrets and cloud brocade are used by me, and the beauty of tailoring is not a knife or ruler.” Naturally, those who play with half-swallowing and half-sucking skills can't see the majestic rainbow and the magnificent clouds. In his later years, he retreated to Shanyin, but his ambition never faded, his iron horse was glacial, and he often fell into dreams. "The old man is in trouble, and his ambition is thousands of miles." He was infinitely indignant at the loss of the Central Plains, infinitely concerned about the fate of the people, and infinitely worried about the Southern Song Dynasty's ruling group's attempt to maintain peace and harm the country. The hatred is poured out freely in this four-sentence poem.
"River" refers to the Yellow River, the mother that nurtures the Chinese nation; "Yue" refers to the peaks and pillars that stand up to the sky, such as Dongyue Mount Tai, Zhongyue Mount Song, and Xiyue Mount Huashan. Towering mountains connect to Qingming; surging rivers rush into the sea. With two sentences, one horizontal and one vertical, half of China in the northern central plains is displayed in front of us in a clear, abrupt and boundless manner. The magnificent mountains and rivers symbolize the loveliness of the motherland and the people's perseverance, which have given readers rich associations. However, such mountains and rivers, and such people, have long been ravaged by the iron hoofs of the aristocrats of the Jin Dynasty. With the next two sentences, I suddenly felt that the storm was rising, and the poetic realm expanded in a more profound direction. The word "tears are gone" has been used thousands of times to fully express the heavy oppression suffered by the vast number of people in the Central Plains, the long process of torture, and the perseverance and urgency to restore their faith. Year after year they looked forward to the Southern Song Dynasty's Northern Expedition, but year after year this wish came to nothing. Of course, they kept looking forward to it. The people's patriotic enthusiasm is like a dancing flame suppressed in the ground, getting stronger and stronger over time; while the ruling group of the Southern Song Dynasty was drunkenly dreaming and dying by the West Lake, leaving behind the great rivers and mountains, the hatred of the country and the hatred of the family. It can be said that they have been dead for a long time. What a shame! Although the latter meaning is not explicitly stated in the poem, the strong critical spirit is clearly visible.