(Tang)
When weeding is at noon,
Sweat dripped on the ground.
Who knows Chinese food,
Every single grain is the fruit of hard work.
Commentary: This poem profoundly reflects the social contradictions at that time and shows the poet's deep sympathy for the peasants. The hardships of farmers' labor warn people to cherish the fruits of farmers' labor and cherish food.
Minnong (2)
(Tang)
Plant a millet in spring,
Ten thousand seeds were harvested in autumn.
There are no idle fields in the four seas,
Farmers still starve to death.
Commentary: This poem profoundly reflects the social contradictions at that time and shows the poet's deep sympathy for the peasants. After working hard for a year, farmers finally got a bumper harvest, but they still starved to death, thus exposing the deep exploitation suffered by farmers in feudal society.
The above two poems are collectively called "two poems for farmers", also known as "two poems for ancient style".
Silkworm girl
(Song) Zhang Yu
When I went into town yesterday,
I came back with tears on my face.
Those who are covered in Luo Qi,
Not a silkworm raiser.
Description: This poem reveals the shocking social reality that "the exploiters get something for nothing, and the laborers don't have enough to eat" through what the peasant women who raise silkworms see and feel when they go to the city to sell silk, and shows the poet's sympathy for the working people and dissatisfaction with the oppression and exploitation of the ruling class.
Riverside fisherman
(Song) Fan Zhongyan
People come and go on the river,
But I like perch beauty.
Look at a boat,
In the storm.
Commentary: This poem points out that people who come and go drinking and having fun on the river only know the delicacy of perch, but they don't know or want to know the danger and hardship of fishermen's struggle with stormy waves. By reflecting the hardships of fishermen's labor, the whole poem hopes to arouse people's attention to the sufferings of people's livelihood and embodies the poet's sympathy for the working people.