1. "Poetry to Send Brother Scholar to the Army" by Ji Kang
The good horse is idle, and the beautiful clothes are shining. The left hand grasps Fanwei, and the right hand forgets to return.
The wind flies by and the lightning flies away, chasing the scenery quietly. In the fierce Central Plains, Gu Yan is full of beauty.
2. Translation:
A warrior in military uniform. He rides a well-trained BMW, wears gorgeous and hard armor, holds a complicated and weak bow in his left hand, and holds a bow in his right hand. With the forgotten arrow, I am galloping across the vast wilderness like lightning, catching up with the fleeting shadows and catching up with the flying birds. He has an extraordinary spirit and wants to dominate the mountains and rivers; he looks forward to the glory and is full of energy.
Appreciation:
Use four concise and smooth words to outline a vivid and vivid picture. The works in the Book of Songs often use bixing, but bixing is just a means to evoke the theme, and the purpose of the poem is the key. However, Ji Kang's creations are all descriptive, depicting birds swimming and swaying, as if they are unfolding scrolls, but none of them touch on the poet's original intention. This is rare in traditional Chinese four-character poetry.
About the author:
Ji Kang (224--263) was a writer, thinker and musician in the Wei Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms. His courtesy name was Shuye, a native of Zhi, Qiaojun (now Linhuan Town, Suixi County, Anhui Province). One of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove", as famous as Ruan Ji. Ji Kang intermarried with the Wei clan and served as a doctor in Zhongsan. He admired Lao-Zhuang Taoism and wrote "On Health Preservation". Shan Tao took refuge with the Sima family and later served as the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and persuaded Ji Kang to become an official, but Ji Kang refused by writing a "Book of Severance of Diplomacy with Shan Juyuan".