One farewell to the capital and three changes to the fire, the world is over. ② Still smiling to warm up the spring. There is no wave in the ancient well, but there is Qiu Yun in it. ③The melancholy and solitary sail sailed all night long, seeing off the moonlight with faint clouds. No green eyebrows are needed in front of the bottle④. Life is like a journey against the odds, and I am also a traveler.
Appreciation This poem was written by Su Shi in the spring of the sixth year of Yuanyou, Emperor Zhezong of the Song Dynasty, when he learned about Hangzhou, to bid farewell to his old friend Qian Mufu (named Xie) who was migrating north from Yuezhou (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang) and passed through Hangzhou. The whole poem changes the style of previous farewell poems that were sentimental, sorrowful, or generous and desolate. It innovates the meaning in the law and expresses the wonderful truth in the boldness. It is full of discussion and expresses the temperament directly. The writing is both emotional and rational. , fully reflects the author's broad-minded and free-spirited personality. The poet's feelings of attachment and farewell to his old friend are written deeply and delicately, with tactful responses and twists and turns, which is touching.
The first part of the poem is about reuniting with a friend after a long separation. In the early years of Yuanyou, Su Shi was in the court as a living person, and Qian Mu's father was a Zhongshu person. They had good temperaments and a deep friendship. In the third year of Yuanyou, Mu's father went to Yuezhou and had a drink in the capital tent. Su Shi wrote a farewell poem. Time flies by, and this reunion in Hangzhou is already the third year after we said goodbye. In the past three years, Mu's father traveled between Beijing and Wuyue, and this time he went to Yingzhou. It can be said that he has traveled all the way to the end of the world. Although we have been separated for a long time, our friendship has become stronger. We laugh when we see each other, just like the warmth of spring. What's even more gratifying is that both friends and themselves can keep their moral integrity and maintain integrity. To borrow a poem from Bai Juyi's "Gift to Yuan Zhen", that is, "water from an ancient well has no waves, but bamboo poles have knots in autumn." The author believes that Mu's father went to defend Yuezhou, just like himself, because he liked to discuss political affairs in the court and was attacked by the officials.
The above sentences are written in time, recalling the previous parting, and then ink in space, summarizing the official career. Next, the author expresses the author's optimistic attitude towards official frustration and long-term adversity, and uses parallel metaphors. The sentence structure shows his indifferent state of mind and steadfast integrity by praising his friends for their integrity and honor. The first part of the poem is not only a comfort and support for a friend to assist the king in governing the country and uphold integrity, but also a self-portrait of the poet's half-life experience and integrity. It is the poet's self-encouragement and contains a strong sense of life experience. The host is written clearly, and the guest is implicitly included; the host is used to comfort the guest, and the guest and the host are the same, showing that the author and his friends are sincere and like-minded.
The second part of the poem cuts to the topic and writes about farewell to friends on a moonlit night. The sentence "Melancholy and solitary sail sails all night long to bid farewell to the faint moonlight clouds" depicts a desolate and cold atmosphere, exaggerating the author's depressed and joyless mood when parting with his friends. The sentence "No need to have green eyebrows in front of the bottle" changes from sadness to broad-minded and heroic. It means that the singing and dancing girls in the farewell banquet do not need to mourn for parting. The purpose of this sentence is first not to increase the sadness of the separation between the traveler and the sender, and secondly because separation is common in the world, so there is no need to be sad. The two seem to be contradictory, but in fact they can be unified in the point of suppressing sadness and being reluctant to be optimistic. This is in line with Su Shi's ideological character that he developed after his many misfortunes in his official career. The last two sentences of the poem state why there is no need to be sad for a temporary separation. In fact, life is like a gift. Li Bai's "Spring Night Banquet from My Brother's Peach Garden Preface" says: "Heaven and earth are the reverse journey of all things, and time is the passer-by of hundreds of generations." Since people Everyone is a passer-by between heaven and earth, so why bother about gathering and dispersing in front of us and the south and north of the Yangtze River? At the end of the poem, the whole poem is summed up with words of comfort and relief to friends, which not only touches the heart but also reveals the attitude towards life of forgetting both gains and losses and integrating all things.
Although Su Shi was actively involved in the world throughout his life and had distinct political ideals and opinions, on the other hand, he was deeply influenced by the thoughts of Lao, Zhuang, and Buddhism. Whenever he was frustrated in the officialdom and was in a difficult situation, he could always "Wandering outside of things", "going nowhere without being happy", dealing with the disturbances of the outside world with a calm, elegant and comfortable attitude, showing a broad-minded, free and easy mood of being detached from things and being at peace with the situation. The lines in this farewell poem, such as "A smile brings warmth of spring" and "There is no need to frown in front of the bottle. Life is like a journey against the odds, and I am also a traveler" are concentrated expressions of Su Shi's bold character and optimistic attitude. However, behind these broad-minded words, one can still feel the poet's faint melancholy about the ups and downs of officialdom, as well as his deep lamentation about his lost life.
Notes ① Qian Mu’s father: named Xie, also known as Qian Si. In the third year of Yuanyou's reign, he went out to Yuezhou (today's Shaoxing, Zhejiang) because he was not convinced that the prison in Kaifeng Prefecture was empty. In the fifth year of Yuanyou's reign, he moved to Zhiyingzhou (the seat of his administration is now Hejian, Hebei Province). In the spring of the sixth year of Yuanyou, Qian Mu's father passed through Hangzhou on his way to his appointment. Su Shi wrote this poem to send him off.
② Gaihuo: In ancient times, wood was drilled to make fire. Different wood was used due to different seasons, which was called "gaihuo". Later, "gaihuo" was used to refer to one year. Three changes to fire: three years have passed. "Analects of Confucius" Ma Rong said: "The Zhou Shu Yue Ling contains the article on changing the fire. The fire of elms and willows is taken in spring, the fire of jujube and apricot is taken in summer, the fire of mulberry is taken in summer, the fire of tussar is taken in autumn, and the fire of sophora japonica is taken in winter. Fire. During the year, different kinds of wood are drilled into the fire, so it is called "Chanihuo". "③"Wubo" two sentences: adapted from the sentence "Wubo ancient well water, there are knots of autumn bamboo poles" in Bai Juyi's "Gift to Yuan Zhen". . The ancient well has no waves: The ancient well is exhausted and there are no waves, which means that the human heart is silent and motionless. Knot: Bamboo knot is a metaphor for human integrity. Jun: Tough bamboo skin, derived from the other name of bamboo.
④Zun: wine vessel. Cuimei: Eyebrows drawn with Dailuo. Frown: frown. During the banquets held by officials in the Song Dynasty, there were many official singers singing, dancing and drinking. On the surface, this was to persuade the singers not to be sad, but in fact it was to comfort their friends not to be sad.
⑤Reverse travel: guest house.