1. Introduction to the author:
Niu Han (1923 October ~ 2013 September 29), formerly known as Shi Chenghan, is a famous modern and contemporary poet, litterateur and writer. He once used the pen name Gu Feng. Born in October 1923 into a peasant family with cultural traditions, he is from Dingxiang County, Shanxi Province and of Mongolian ethnicity. He began to publish literary works in 1940, mainly writing poems, and in the past 20 years, he also wrote prose. He is an important member of the "July" poetry school. In 1955, he was implicated in the "Hu Feng Incident" and was arrested and imprisoned for two years. During the "Cultural Revolution", Niu Han was imprisoned in a cowshed and engaged in forced labor. As a result, poetry suddenly emerged from his grief and anger, and he wrote many poems. The more famous among his poems include "South China Tiger", "In Memory of a Maple Tree", "Half a Tree", etc. He has published poetry collections "Colorful Life", "Motherland", "Love and Song", "Hot Springs", "Butterflies on the Sea" and a self-selected collection "Earthworms and Feathers". He once served as editor-in-chief of "New Literature Historical Materials", executive deputy editor-in-chief of "China", national honorary member of the Chinese Writers Association, and vice president of the Chinese Poetry Society.
2. Original text of "South China Tiger":
In Guilin
In a small zoo
I saw a tiger.
I was squeezed in the chattering crowd,
across two iron fences
looking at the tiger in the cage
for a long time It's been a long time,
but I haven't seen
the tiger's colorful face
and its flame-like eyes.
The tiger in the cage
Facing his back to the timid and desperate audience,
lying peacefully in a corner,
Someone used a stone to Smash it
Some people yelled at it
Some people even tried to persuade it
It ignored it!
Long and long The thick tail
is flicking leisurely,
Oh, tiger, the tiger in the cage,
Did you dream of the vast forest?
Is your humiliated heart twitching?
Or do you want to whip those poor and ridiculous audiences with your tail?
Your strong legs
Stretched straight out in all directions,
I saw every one of your toes
They were all broken,
congealed with thick blood. !
Were your toes and claws
being tied up
and cut off alive?
Or out of grief
p>
You use the same broken teeth
(I heard that your teeth were cut off by a hacksaw)
Bite them off with hot blood...
I saw in the iron cage
On the gray cement wall
there were bloody ravines
as dazzling as lightning !
I finally understood...
I left the zoo in shame,
in a daze I heard a
earth-shattering roar,
There was an unruly soul
passing over my head
flying into the sky,
I saw streaks like flames< /p>
And eyes like flames,
There are also huge and broken claws dripping with blood!
June 1973
3. Appreciation of "South China Tiger":
This poem was written in June 1973, during the "Ten Years of Turmoil" . The poet underwent labor reform at the Cadre School of the Ministry of Culture in Xianning, Hubei Province. Once, he went to Guilin and saw a captive tiger in the zoo with broken toes and claws dripping with blood. The image of this tiger strongly touched the poet's emotions. After returning to the cadre school, he wrote the song "South China Tiger". The poet uses the South China tiger as a symbol to express his unyielding personality and desire for freedom in difficult situations.
1). The image of the South China tiger and its symbolic meaning
The South China tiger is the main image represented in this poem. It has a "colorful face/and eyes like flames", a beautiful appearance and a strong body, but it is imprisoned in a human cage, far away from the vast mountains and forests, its spiritual home.
It "turns its back to the timid and desperate audience, lying peacefully in a corner." The surging majesty contained in its bones oppresses and intimidates the people who imprison it. Lying "peacefully" reveals the South China tiger's contempt for the "audience" and the form of existence represented by the "audience". Whether it was "throwing stones", "screaming", or "persuading", "it ignored them all". How could a proud soul bow to the world? ——The magnificent and vast "vast mountains and forests" are the home of its soul and strength. Although "those pitiful and ridiculous audiences" have imprisoned it physically, how can they make it surrender mentally? The reason why the South China tiger's "soul" feels "humiliated" is not that the audience bullies it, but that it never bids farewell to the land of freedom and hides in the dirty world. It deeply understands the suffering, desolation and hopelessness of this world, and feels deep in its heart. What I feel is endless loneliness and anger.
People can torture it physically, they can imprison its "strong legs" that can gallop around in a small room, they can "jump off" its fighting "toes" alive, and they can use "hacksaws" Saw off" its strong "teeth", but fascist-like cruelty cannot imprison the "unruly soul" after all. “There are bloody ravines on the gray cement walls,” hinting at the brave but futile resistance it has made for freedom. However, the South China tiger will still fight unyieldingly and without regrets, because fighting is the entire sustenance and practical significance of its survival, and it is a powerful manifestation of its noble soul. This struggle makes "I" as a member of the audience feel "dazzling", "ashamed" and in pain of the soul. Then, in a trance, I heard a "shattering roar" and "There is an unruly soul / passing over my head / flying away in the sky". This is not only "my" worship of the South China tiger's unyielding soul, but also "my" The awakening of a humiliating soul. Spiritual nobility will eventually defeat worldly despicability. ——From the passing figure, we seem to be able to vaguely see the hope of mankind.
2)． "Audience", "Iron Cage" and "I"
The "audience" is "chirping", "cowardly and desperate", "pitiful and ridiculous" - this is a group without independent personality and self-awareness. In the poem they are just a group of pale, conceptual symbols. They don't know their shamelessness, but instead use "smashing", "scolding" and "coaxing" to treat the noble South China tiger; they are humble and feel "cowardly" even when facing the majestic back of the South China tiger; they are bored and actually They will feel "desperate" because they can't find "talking points" and "good drama" in life. To them, the tiger's "sad and angry" resistance seemed so ridiculous and stupid. Isn't it better to have food and drink than to sleep in the open? They are self-righteous and unaware of their "sadness". The "audience" in this poem is a true portrayal of a group that is indifferent, philistine, and sometimes helpful.
As tools of "dictatorship" over South China tigers, "iron fences", "iron cages" and "gray cement walls" are dark colors created by humans (comparable to the "colorful face" of South China tigers). It is a prison tool that is cold and ruthless (as opposed to the "hot blood" of the South China tiger). The ignorant people despise the "wild mountains and forests" that tigers yearn for. Not only are they unaware of their own prison-like living conditions, but they also want to use the same cage to imprison all living creatures. Spiritual independence is often regarded as a scourge by all living beings, and the "two iron fences" vividly express their cowardly psychology.
"I", like everyone else, came to "view" the South China tiger through the iron fence. However, "I" have not lost my conscience after all. From the "bloody" "sorrow and anger" of the tiger, which is "as dazzling as lightning", "I" feel the spiritual power that is silent deep in my heart, and feel the personality of all living beings in this world. Fallen. "I finally understand", "I am ashamed", "I" "leave", "I" "heard a shocking roar in a trance", this voice comes from the soul of "I", it represents having conscience and thinking The awakening of the human soul.
This poem has a strong symbolic color. Symbol is to indirectly express similar or similar concepts, thoughts and feelings through a specific specific image. The South China tiger imprisoned in a cage represents unyielding life and persistent soul; in contrast, the iron cage that imprisons freedom represents evil. Through the fierce conflict between the two, it shows the poet's extreme desire for spiritual freedom and personal independence.