"The howling autumn wind in August rolls up the triple thatch on my house" comes from an ancient poem "Song of Thatched Cottage Broken by the Autumn Wind" written by the Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu when he lived in a thatched cottage in Chengdu, Sichuan. The meaning of this poem is: In the depth of autumn in August, the strong wind roared, and the strong wind swept away several layers of thatch on my roof.
The full poem of "Song of Thatched Cottage Broken by Autumn Wind" is as follows:
The high autumn wind howls in August and rolls up the three layers of thatch on my house. Mao flies across the river and spreads across the outskirts of the river. The taller ones hang on the treetops, while the lower ones float around the pond.
The boys in Nancun deceived me because I was old and weak, and I could not bear to face them as thieves. He hugged the grass and planted the bamboo, his lips were burnt and his mouth was dry and he couldn't breathe. When he came back, he leaned on his staff and sighed.
The wind in Russia makes the clouds dark, and the desert turns dark in autumn. The quilt has been as cold as iron for many years, and the delicate child is lying on it and is cracked inside. There is no drying place for the leakage at the bedside, and the rain is like numb feet and has not been stopped. Since my period is disordered and I don’t sleep much, how can I get wet all night long?
There are tens of millions of mansions in Ande, which can shelter the poor people all over the world and make them happy. They are as safe as a mountain without being affected by wind or rain. Alas! When I suddenly see this house in front of my eyes, my house alone will be broken down and frozen to death!
Vernacular interpretation:
In the depth of autumn in August, the strong wind howled, and the strong wind swept away several layers of thatch on my roof. Thatch flies across the Huanhua River and is scattered on the other side of the river. The thatch that flies high is entangled in the tall treetops, and the grass that flies low flutters and sinks into the ponds and depressions.
A group of children in Nancun bullied me because I was old and weak. They had the heart to act like a "thief" and steal things in front of me. They ran into the bamboo forest holding thatch without any scruples. My lips were dry and I couldn’t stop drinking. When I came back, I was leaning on a cane and sighing alone.
After a while the wind stopped, the dark clouds in the sky were as black as ink, and the gloomy sky in late autumn gradually became dark. The cloth has been covered for many years, and it is cold and hard, like an iron plate. The child's sleeping posture was not good and the quilt was torn. When it rains, the roof leaks, and there is no dry place in the house. The rainwater on the roof leaks down like twine. Since the Anshi Rebellion, I had very little sleep time. The nights were long, the house was leaky, and the bed was wet. How could I stay up until dawn?
How can we get tens of millions of spacious and tall houses to universally shelter poor scholars all over the world and make them smile? The house will remain unmoved in wind and rain and be as stable as a mountain? well! When will such a tall house appear in front of me, even if my thatched hut is blown apart by the autumn wind, I will be willing to freeze to death!
Extended information
1. Appreciation of the work
The feelings expressed by the author of this poem are similar to those in "Yueyang Tower" written by Fan Zhongyan in the Song Dynasty. "Be happy after the world is happy" (meaning worry before the world is worried, and be happy after the world is happy!) The feelings expressed are basically the same. It also expresses the author's thoughts and feelings about the sufferings of the people and the country and the people.
This poem describes the scene of a leaky house and wind and rain on an autumn night, and truly records a fragment of life in the thatched cottage. At the end of the chapter, a strange place suddenly appeared. Using personal experience, I extended myself to others, further putting aside my own hardships, and envisioning thousands of vast mansions that would shelter the poor people from all over the world. This unrealistic fantasy is based on the poet's thought of being devoted to the country and being hungry and drowning; and the expression of his broad mind makes the work radiate the brilliance of positive romanticism.
The language of the whole poem is extremely simple and the imagery is majestic. It has no control but comes out one after another. It flows from the heart, so it can grip people's hearts.
2. Introduction to the author
Du Fu (712-770), who called himself Shaoling Ye Lao, was a great realist poet in the Tang Dynasty. Together with Li Bai, he was called "Li Du".
When Du Fu was a boy, he traveled to Wuyue and Qi and Zhao successively, during which time he went to Luoyang to fail in the examination. After the age of thirty-five, he first took the examination in Chang'an and failed; later he presented gifts to the emperor and nobles. Unable to succeed in officialdom, he witnessed with his own eyes the extravagance and social crisis of the upper class society in the Tang Dynasty. In the fourteenth year of Tianbao (755), the Anshi Rebellion broke out and Tongguan fell. Du Fu traveled to many places.
In the second year of Qianyuan (759), Du Fu abandoned his official position and went to Sichuan. Although he escaped the war and lived a relatively stable life, he still cared about the people and national affairs. He created famous works such as "Ascending the Heights", "Spring Look", "Northern Expedition", "Three Officials" and "Three Farewells". Although Du Fu is a realist poet, he also has a wild and uninhibited side. It is not difficult to see Du Fu's heroic spirit from his famous work "Song of the Eight Immortals in Drinking".
The core of Du Fu's thought is the thought of benevolent government. Although his reputation was not prominent when he was alive, he later became famous and had a profound impact on both Chinese literature and Japanese literature. About 1,500 poems by Du Fu have been preserved, most of which are collected in "Du Gongbu Collection".
In the winter of the fifth year of the Dali calendar (770), Du Fu died of illness at the age of fifty-nine. Du Fu had a profound influence on Chinese classical poetry. He was called the "Sage of Poetry" by later generations, and his poems were called the "History of Poetry". Later generations called him Du Shiyi and Du Gongbu, and also called him Du Shaoling and Du Thatched Cottage.