The poem "Returning to the Garden and Living in the Fields" (Growing Beans at the foot of Nanshan Mountain) was written in the second year after Tao Yuanming resigned from Peng Zeling. The language of the whole poem is simple and simple, and it only captures a fragment of daily life. In fact, it still has profound ideological connotation.
This poem is the poet's farewell to the old self, and also an ode to welcome the new self. As a pastoral poem, it has a profound influence on later generations of landscape pastoral poetry.
"Beans are planted at the foot of the southern mountain, and the grass is thick with bean seedlings.": It describes the poet's farming life and determination to return to seclusion. Because agricultural production was despised by everyone in the society at that time. Tao Yuanming not only retired to the countryside but also personally participated in agricultural production and labor. This not only showed that the poet was different from ordinary hermits, but also showed the poet's courage to fight against officialdom and the secular world. From the first poem of "Returning to the Garden and Living in the Fields" we can see that at least part of the land under Nanshan is newly reclaimed wasteland. Maybe it’s because he’s been tied up in an official position for a long time and his physical condition has declined; maybe it’s because he’s been away from the countryside for a long time, and farming is a little unfamiliar; maybe it’s because the poet is not good at farming? Therefore, there is a sigh in the poem that "the grass is abundant but the bean sprouts are sparse".
"In the morning, I clean up the grass and filth, and return home with a hoe under the moon." In order to remove the grass and filth, the poet's determination and diligence in returning to the countryside can be seen only from the time. "Remove the waste and filth" is a pun, which not only removes weeds from the fields, but also clears away distracting thoughts in the heart. The beautiful sentence "Returning from the hoeing with the moon lotus" fully reflects the joy of the poet returning from hoeing after a day's work, and also shows the hardship of the poet's work.
"The road is narrow and the grass and trees are long, and the evening dew touches my clothes": The poet was beside the country road, and the wild dew wet the poet's clothes but he didn't care. Because the poet's ideal of working hard to support himself has come true, the poet's mood is happy, and a state of contentment is about to emerge.
"It's not enough to regret the clothes, but it's true to the wishes": The poet worked hard to support himself, but it was this hard work that gave him great spiritual satisfaction.
In order to get rid of the grass filth, the poet had to get up early in the morning and return home at night, so he was tired of farming. However, the poet only used the five words "the evening dew touched my clothes" to calm down. His hard work gave him great spiritual satisfaction, so the sentence "As long as he keeps his wish" at the end seems solemn and thought-provoking, and it also shows his unswerving intention to return to hermitage. Although pastoral life is hard work, it is self-reliant, so it still has higher aesthetic value than the restrictive and hypocritical officialdom.
On the surface, this poem is about the joy of pastoral work, but when combined with the poet's other poems, the poet's "wish" actually has its own special connotation. That is to say, living according to one's own wishes and not wanting to lose oneself in the dirty real world. Even being a farmer is far better than "bowing down for five buckets of rice" in the officialdom.
In the morning, I clean up the wasteland and filth, and return with a hoe in the moonlight.
In order to prevent the bean fields from becoming barren, the poet went to the fields early in the morning and came back in the evening under the moonlight. Although it is very hard, he does not complain, which can be seen from the beautiful scenery of "Returning to Hoe with Moon Lotuses". "Morning" refers to getting up early; "Bringing the Moon" refers to returning late, which shows his hard work at sunrise and rest at sundown. "Clearing Wasteland and Dirty" writes about the difficulties of reclaiming wasteland after he returned to farming. Although he worked for a long time every day, from sunrise to moonrise, and his body was very tired, the poet did not complain at all. Instead, he wrote about his lightness after work in a leisurely style of "returning from the hoe with a moon load". Tao's poems are both plain and full of interest. The interest of Tao's poems comes from freehand brushwork. "Returning from hoeing with a moon load", although the poet returning from labor is alone, he is accompanied by a bright moon. The poet under the moon carries a hoe on his shoulder and walks through the waist-deep grass. What a beautiful picture of returning to farming on a moonlit night! It is filled with the poet's joyful mood and pride of retreat.
We seem to see the poet carrying his hoe contentedly after the moon rises over the hills, humming verses, and strolling home. At this time, people, the moon, and the natural environment form a harmonious unity. The poet's spiritual comfort is purified into a sublime natural beauty, spiritual beauty, and poetic beauty through artistic brushstrokes, creating a beautiful and quiet artistic conception and leisurely life. A complacent image. The sentence "bringing the moon" can be said to be a stroke of genius. It turns hard work into joy, turns sleepiness into relaxation, and has the power of enlightenment. . "Growing beans at the foot of the Nanshan Mountain" is a plain sentence, and "returning home with a lotus in the moonlight" is a beautiful sentence; the first sentence is true, and the second sentence is false. The whole poem complements each other with plainness and beauty, real scene and virtual scene, soft and perfect.
The road is narrow and the grass and trees are long, and the evening dew touches my clothes.
It is not a pity to have stains on your clothes, but your wishes are true.
The road is narrow, the grass is long, and the dew stains your clothes, but what’s the pity if your clothes get wet? These two sentences further describe the desolation of the countryside and the difficulty of returning to farming. The above six sentences describe farming life, they are real and simple, as if they are in your eyes. The sentence "It is not enough to cherish the clothes stained" seems to be plain, but this plainness exactly reflects the last sentence "But the wish will be true", making the "Wish will be true" fully emphasized. The "wish" here also implies not to lose yourself in the dirty real world. It has both the Confucian idea of ??keeping oneself clean, living in poverty and being happy with morality, and the Taoist idea of ??returning to simplicity and conforming to nature, and the two are often integrated into one.
The language of this poem is very plain and natural. "Beans are planted at the foot of the southern mountain" and "Evening dew touches my clothes" are as simple as being spoken casually without any modification.
This natural and plain verse is integrated into the mellow artistic conception of the whole poem, which elevates the spoken language to poetry, harmoniously unifying the plainness of the spoken language and the mellowness of the poetry, forming the plain and mellow artistic characteristics of Tao's poetry.
This five-character poem mainly uses the technique of "fu" to express thoughts and feelings through narrative. There is no description of scenery, atmosphere, or use of metaphors. It is almost entirely narrated, only A little discussion at the end to clarify its main point. The whole poem describes the truth and comes from the heart, so "Houshan Poetry Talk" says: "Yuan Ming does not write poetry, but writes about the wonders in his heart." "Zanghai Poetry Talk" says: "Zi You narrates Tao's poems, 'Wai Ku' "Zhonggao, the quality is solid and plump, and the fat is solid and plump", which is the meaning of the narrative. "Japanese scholar Kondo Gensui said that this poem is "the best of the five ancients." Tao's poetry has been so praised by Chinese and foreign poetry critics, which shows its artistic power to conquer people's hearts.
Yuanming's "Returning to the Garden and Living in the Fields" has five poems in one poem, and this is the third of them. On the surface, this poem is about the joy of pastoral labor and the idea of ??retreating to the mountains and forests; but comparing this poem with other poems, the author's "wish" actually has a special connotation.
At the foot of the southern mountain where beans are planted, there are few bean seedlings in the grass.
These two sentences are written about planting beans at the foot of Nanshan. The grass is lush but the bean seedlings are sparse. The sentence starts very plainly, like an old farmer standing there talking, which makes people feel very friendly.
In the morning, I clean up the wasteland and filth, and return with a hoe in the moonlight.
In order to prevent the bean fields from becoming barren, the poet went to the fields early in the morning and came back in the evening under the moonlight. Although it is very hard, he does not complain, which can be seen from the beautiful scenery of "Returning to Hoe with Moon Lotuses".
The road is narrow, the grass and trees are long, and the evening dew touches my clothes.
I don’t regret the stain on my clothes, but my wishes are fulfilled.
The road is narrow, the grass is long, and the dew stains your clothes, but what’s the pity if your clothes get wet? This sentence seems plain, but this plainness exactly reflects the last sentence, "But my wish will not go against me", which makes "My wish will not go against me" fully emphasized. The "wish" here also implies not to lose yourself in the dirty real world.
The language of this poem is very plain and natural. "Beans are planted at the foot of the southern mountain" and "Evening dew touches my clothes" are as simple as being spoken casually without any modification. This natural and plain verse is integrated into the mellow artistic conception of the whole poem, which elevates the spoken language to poetry, harmoniously unifying the plainness of the spoken language and the mellowness of the poetry, forming the plain and mellow artistic characteristics of Tao's poetry.
Tao's poems are both plain and full of interest. The interest of Tao's poems comes from freehand brushwork. "Returning from hoeing with a moon load", although the poet returning from labor is alone, he is accompanied by a bright moon. The poet under the moon carries a hoe on his shoulder and walks through the waist-deep grass. What a beautiful picture of returning to farming on a moonlit night! It is filled with the poet's joyful mood and pride of retreat.
"Growing beans at the foot of the southern mountain" is a plain sentence, and "returning with hoeing under the moonlight" is a beautiful sentence; the first sentence is true, and the second sentence is false. The whole poem complements each other with plainness and beauty, real scene and virtual scene, soft and perfect.