From: "The Poppy: When Will the Spring Flowers and Autumn Moon Come" is a poem written by Li Yu, the empress of the Southern Tang Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, before he was poisoned to death. It can be called a fatal poem. Original text:
Poppy · When is the Spring Flowers and Autumn Moon
Five Dynasties: Li Yu
When is the Spring Flowers and Autumn Moon? How much do you know about the past? There was an east wind in the small building last night, and the motherland could not bear to look back at the bright moon.
The carved railings and jade inlays should still be there, but the beauty has been changed. How much sorrow can you have? Just like a river of spring water flowing eastward.
Translation:
When will this year end? How many past events do we know! Last night, the spring breeze blew again from the small building. How could I endure the pain of recalling my homeland on this bright moonlit night?
The finely carved railings and jade steps should still be there, but the person I miss is already aging. Ask me how much sadness is in my heart, just like the water of the endless spring river flowing eastward.
Extended information:
Creative background:
This word and "Langtaosha·Gurgling Rain Outside the Curtain" were both written before Li Yu was poisoned to death. In the third year of the Taiping and Xingguo reign of Emperor Taizong of the Northern Song Dynasty (978), it had been nearly three years since Li Yu returned to the Song Dynasty. In the eighth year of the Kaibao reign of Song Taizu (975), the Song army captured Jinling, the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and Li Yu surrendered.
The Southern Tang Dynasty fell. Three years later, that is, the third year of Taiping and Xingguo, Xu Xuan visited Li Yu on the order of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty. Li Yu sighed to Xu Xuan: "I killed Pan You and Li Ping by mistake, and I regretted it endlessly!" Probably in this state of mind, Li Yu I wrote the poem "Poppy Beauty".
Appreciation:
This is a lament for life. By contrasting the sharp contradictions between the eternity of nature and the impermanence of life, the author expresses the sadness of feeling the loss of life after the subjugation of the country. The language is so whimpering that it is unbearable to read.
The romantic flowers in spring and the noble moon in autumn should make everyone happy, but for the prisoners below, they are no longer interesting. Although the word "when" is a strange question, it actually contains two meanings: when did the past years end? When will the remaining life after the disaster end?
This shows his determination for life. "The east wind blew again in the small building last night" more concretely confirms the fact that the spring flowers and autumn moon will never end. From the small building to the homeland, the four words "cannot bear to look back" are words that bleed in my heart.
"Moonlight" not only echoes the "moon" in the sentence "Spring Flowers and Autumn Moon", but also shrouds the small building, homeland, life, etc. in the eternal moonlight, which makes Li Yu's personal sadness natural. It is the great sorrow of mankind.
Changing heads to inherit the bright moon of the motherland points out the meaning of right and wrong. The six sentences in the poem up to this point are all contrasted in pairs, creating a huge contrast between eternity and impermanence, expressing the author's thinking on the relationship between the universe and life.
But the weak Li Yu can no longer inspire the passion for progress. He can only indulge in his sad mood before making a decision with life, allowing himself to indulge in this boundless tragedy of life, quietly. Quietly waiting for the final song of life to play.
The two sentences at the end of the poem are self-questioning and answering, using concrete flowing water as a metaphor for abstract sorrow, and writing about the boundless, endless, endless and unstoppable sorrow. Li Yu has used water as a metaphor for sorrow many times before, but this sentence is not only novel and warning, but also both appropriate and powerful.
It became a famous sentence. You can read with Li Qi "please measure the sea water in the East to see the depth and depth of sorrow"; Liu Yuxi "the spring water of Shujiang River beats the mountain stream, and the water flow is infinite like a farmer?";