The original pinyin version of There Is a Strange Tree in the Courtyard reads as follows:
tíng zhōng yǒu qí shù, lǜ yè fā huā zī. There are strange trees in the courtyard with lush green leaves.
pān tiáo zhé qí róng, jiāng yǐ wèi suǒ sī. Climb the bar and break the glory, leaving behind what you thought.
xīn xiāng yíng huái xiù, lù yuǎn mò zhì zhī. The fragrance fills the sleeves, but the road is far away.
cǐ wù hé zú guì? dàn gǎn bié jīng shí. Why is this so valuable? But the feeling lasts forever.
Translation:
There is a rare tree in the courtyard, with dense flowers blooming against the green leaves of the tree, making it look particularly lively and full of spring. I climbed the branches and broke off the most beautiful bunch of tree flowers, which I wanted to give to my relatives who missed me day and night. The fragrance of the flowers dyed my clothes and sleeves. The flowers are so far away that it is impossible for them to reach the hands of my relatives.
I just held the flowers in my hands and stood under the tree for a long time, letting the fragrance fill my sleeves and doing nothing. What's so precious about this flower? It's just that I wanted to express my nostalgia through flowers because I've been away for too long.
Creative background
"There is a Strange Tree in the Courtyard" is a poem about a woman's longing for a long time ago, and is the ninth of "Nineteen Ancient Poems". There are many opinions about the historical background of "Nineteen Ancient Poems". Yuwen Suo'an believed that early Chinese poetry was a copying system and could not find conclusive evidence that "ancient poetry" was earlier than the Jian'an period. As for the specific creation time of "There Are Strange Trees in the Courtyard", it is difficult to confirm.
Appreciation
This poem writes about a woman's deep nostalgia for her husband who has traveled far away. From trees and leaves, from leaves and flowers, from flowers to picking, from picking to sending, from sending to thinking. There are eight sentences in the whole poem, which can be divided into two levels, and every four sentences is one level.
The first two lines of the poem "climbing the bar to break off its glory will leave you with thoughts." describe such a picture: in the spring courtyard, there is a beautiful tree, set off by the green leaves of the tree. Below, dense flowers bloomed, which looked particularly lively.
This is an environmental description, describing a scene full of spring. But the word "in the courtyard" in the first sentence implies that the scenery here is not in nature, but in a boudoir. It is a poem expressing the resentment of a missing woman.
So, the missing woman came on stage: "Climb the branches and break off the glory, and you will miss the things left behind." Facing this scene of blooming flowers, the missing woman couldn't help but climb the branches and break off the branches. The most beautiful bouquet of flowers, give it to your loved ones who miss you day and night. The use of flowers to express feelings reveals the main theme of the poem - longing for those who have traveled far away.