Notes:
1) Eight Horses: It is said that King Mu had eight horses, namely Red Ji, Hualiu and Green Ear.
2) King Mu: A native of the Western Zhou Dynasty, his surname was Ji and his given name was Man. It is said that he traveled all over the world.
Rhyme translation:
The Queen Mother of the West opened the window on the Yaochi;
The sound of Huang Bamboo singing was moving and sad.
The eight-horse chariot travels 30,000 miles a day;
Why did King Mu of Zhou break the contract and stop coming?
Comment:
This is a love poem. The whole poem fictionalizes that Queen Mother of the West cannot hope for the return of King Mu of Zhou, hinting at the story of King Mu's death, and shows the inevitable confrontation between the delusion of seeking immortality and death. In the poet's imagination, gods also long for love.
The scene of opening the "Qi Window" and looking forward to King Mu's return. Standing by the "Qi Window", I looked up, but my field of vision was empty and there was no shadow of King Mu. Instead, I heard the sad "Yellow Bamboo Song" that shook the world.
The first sentence of looking forward to the window means looking with eyes. The second sentence is a lament that moves the earth, and a song that is heard by the ears. The former is intentional, while the latter is unintentional. The contrast and contradiction between the two is very strong. On the one hand, it shows that the person of hope has disappeared without a trace, and there is no time to lament, and the life span of a person is not as long as the life span of a song, which implies the poet's satire on the superstitious gods; on the other hand, the "Huang Bamboo Song" with the mournful voice that moves the earth reveals that the country has The hardships faced by the people and the pain of the people suffering from the cold are a tortuous expression of the critical attitude towards the current rulers who are greedy for pleasure and pursue immortality.
Three or four lines of "Eight horses travel thirty thousand miles in a day, why doesn't King Mu come back again?" This is the inner activity of the poet thinking about the return of the Queen Mother of the West without seeing King Mu. King Mu had eight horses that galloped so fast that they "didn't touch the earth" and "ran on the clouds". If you want to visit Yaochi again, you can say that you can get there in a snap.
However, no matter how long Queen Mother Xi looked out of the window, her vision was still empty, and she did not see King Mu return as promised. Nature is ruthless, and even the power of the Queen Mother of the West cannot change the inherent law of human death. Queen Mother Xi’s question further reveals the illusion of seeking immortality and immortality.
It is a commonly used technique in classical poetry to use things to express emotions. The importance of using things is subtlety and appropriateness. The use of words in this poem is not only exquisite and appropriate, but also has reasonable artistic expression. The hope of the Queen Mother of the West from the window and the anxious state of mind when King Mu did not come back as promised were all made up by the poet. This fiction is both reasonable and reasonable. It is naturally and harmoniously combined with the original story without leaving any trace. It fully embodies the poet's understanding of reality. A bitter satire and sarcasm about the ruler's superstition of gods.
There is not a word of discussion in the whole poem, but the discussion is all in the usage and fiction. The writing style is clever and tactful, and the aftertaste is endless.
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