The meaning of the full poem on Yuan Day is: Amidst the roaring sound of firecrackers, the old year has passed; the warm spring breeze brings the new year, and people happily drink the newly brewed Tusu wine. The rising sun shines on thousands of households, and they are all busy taking down the old peach charms and replacing them with new ones. The whole poem describes the moving scenes of the excitement, joy and renewal of everything in the New Year, expresses the author's thoughts and feelings on political innovation, and is full of joy and positive spirit.
Original text: Yuan Day Author: Wang Anshi
The sound of firecrackers marks the end of the year, and the spring breeze brings warmth to Tusu.
Thousands of households always exchange old talismans for new peaches.
Notes
1. Yuan Day: the first day of the first lunar month.
2. One year has passed.
3. Tusu: Tusu wine. According to the custom in ancient times, every New Year's Eve, every family would make wine with Tusu grass and hang it in the well. On New Year's Day, it would be taken out and the whole family would drink Tusu wine facing the east. The whole sentence says that the spring breeze blows the warm air into Tusu wine (meaning, after drinking Tusu wine, I feel warmly that spring has arrived).
4. 曈戈: Brilliant. The whole sentence says that the rising sun shines on thousands of households.
5. Always replace the old talisman with a new one: always replace the old one with a new one. Peach charms are made of peach wood. In ancient times, during the New Year, every household would use two pieces of peach wood board to draw two statues of gods and hang them on the door, which was said to be able to drive away devils.
The first sentence is "One year is gone with the sound of firecrackers", bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new year in the sound of firecrackers. The starting sentence closely follows the title, exaggerating the lively and joyful atmosphere of the Spring Festival. The second sentence "The spring breeze brings warmth to Tusu" describes people facing the warm spring breeze and drinking Tusu wine happily. The third sentence, "Thousands of households are on the same day," writes that the brilliance of the rising sun shines on thousands of households. "戈戈" is used to express the brilliant scene at sunrise, symbolizing the infinite bright and beautiful prospects. The concluding sentence "always replace the old talisman with the new peach" not only describes the folk customs at that time, but also contains the meaning of removing the old and replacing it with the new. "Peach Talisman" is a kind of peach board painted with gods and hung on the door to ward off evil spirits. Every New Year's Day, the old peach charms are removed and replaced with new ones. "New peaches replace old symbols" closely echoes the first sentence of "Firecrackers send off the old year", which vividly expresses the scene of renewal of everything. Wang Anshi is both a politician and a poet. Many of his poems describing landscapes contain strong political content. This poem uses the description of the new atmosphere on New Year's Day to express his ambition and optimistic and confident mood of governing reforms, eradicating the old and bringing in the new, strengthening the country and enriching the people.
The whole poem has a brisk writing style, bright colors, and the scenery in the eyes and the emotions in the heart blend seamlessly. It is indeed a good poem that blends emotions into the scenery and has profound meaning.