Original text of "The Burial of Flowers":
When the flowers fade and the flowers fly all over the sky, who will pity the red flowers and their fragrance? The soft hairspring is tied to the floating spring pavilion, and the fallen catkins lightly touch the embroidered curtain. The daughter in the boudoir cherishes the twilight of spring, and is filled with melancholy. Hands hoe the flowers out of the embroidered curtain, and endure the falling flowers as they come and go. Willow silk and elm pods are blooming, regardless of peach blossoms and plum blossoms. If peaches and plums bloom again next year, who will be in the boudoir next year? The incense nest has been built in March, the swallows in the beams are so ruthless! Although you can peck at the flowers next year, you won’t be able to leave your empty nest alone. Three hundred and sixty days a year, the wind, the sword, the frost, the sword force each other; how long can the bright beauty last, and it is hard to find it once it is wandering. Flowers are easy to see when they are in bloom but hard to find when they are gone. I am worried about killing the flower buryer in front of the steps. I lean on the flowers alone and shed my tears secretly. I can see traces of blood on the empty branches. The cuckoo is speechless. It is dusk, and the hoe returns to cover the heavy door; the green lantern shines on the wall, and the man is sleeping for the first time, while the cold rain knocks on the window and the quilt is not warm. What happened to the strange slave is doubly distressing? Half pity for spring and half angry for spring. Lian Chun comes and goes, anger comes and goes, and goes without saying anything. There was a sad song outside the court last night. Did you know it was the spirit of a flower or a bird? The soul of a flower is hard to retain as the soul of a bird. The bird is speechless and the flower is ashamed. May I have wings today and fly with the flowers to the end of the world. Where is the fragrant hill at the end of the sky? It is not like a brocade bag to collect beautiful bones, but a handful of pure soil to cover up the wind. It is better to come and go clean than to be trapped in filthy ditches. If you die now, you will be buried. Who knows when you will be buried? People who bury flowers today are laughing like idiots, but who do you know who they will bury next year? Just look at the flowers that are left in the spring and gradually fall, which is the time when the beauty will die of old age; once the spring is gone, the beauty will grow old and the flowers will fall and people will die without knowing it! ——Cheng Gaotongxingben
When the flowers fade and the flowers fly all over the sky, who will pity them when the red flowers disappear and the fragrance disappears? The soft hairspring is tied to the floating spring pavilion, and the fallen catkins lightly touch the embroidered curtain. The daughter in the boudoir cherishes the twilight of spring, and is filled with melancholy. Hands hoe the flowers out of the embroidered curtain, and bear to step on the fallen flowers to come and go? Willow silk and elm pods are fragrant, regardless of peach blossoms and Li Fei. The peaches and plums will bloom again next year. Who will be in my boudoir next year? The incense nest has been built in March, the swallows in the beams are so ruthless! Although you can peck at the flowers next year, you won’t be able to leave your empty nest alone. Three hundred and sixty days a year, the wind, the sword, the frost, the sword force each other. How long can the bright and fresh beauty last? Once wandering, it is hard to find. Flowers are easy to see when they bloom but hard to find when they are gone. People suffocate and bury flowers in front of the steps. Leaning alone on the flower, I shed my tears secretly, and sprinkled the empty branches with traces of blood. The cuckoo is speechless at dusk, and the hoe returns to cover the heavy door. The green lantern shines on the wall, and the person is sleeping for the first time, while the cold rain hits the window and the quilt is not yet warm. What happened to the strange slave is doubly distressing? Half pity for spring and half angry for spring. Lian Chun comes and goes, anger comes and goes, and comes and goes without words. There was a sad song outside the court last night, and I knew it was the soul of flowers and birds. The soul of a flower is hard to retain as the soul of a bird. The bird is speechless and the flower is ashamed. May I have wings under my wings and fly with the flowers to the end of the sky. Where is the fragrant hill at the end of the sky? It is not like a brocade bag to collect beautiful bones, but a handful of pure soil to cover up the romance! It is better to come and go clean than to be trapped in filthy ditches. If you die now, you will be buried. Who knows when you will be buried? People who are burying flowers today are laughing like fools. Do you know who will be buried next year? Just look at the spring flowers gradually falling, it is the time when the beauty dies of old age. Once the spring is gone, the beauty will grow old, and the flowers will fall and people will die without knowing it! ——Jiaxu version
When the flowers fade and the sky is full of flowers, and the red color disappears and the fragrance disappears, who will pity it? The soft hairspring is tied to the floating spring pavilion, and the fallen catkins lightly touch the embroidered curtain. The daughter in the curtain cherishes the spring, full of sorrow and nowhere to complain. Hands hoe the flowers out of the embroidered curtain, and bear to step on the fallen flowers to come and go? Willow silk and elm pods are fragrant, no matter the peach trees are flying or the willow trees are flying. The peaches and plums will bloom again next year. Who will be in my boudoir next year? The incense nest has been built in March, the swallows in the beams are so ruthless! Although you can peck at the flowers next year, you won’t be able to leave your empty nest alone. Three hundred and sixty days a year, the wind, the sword, the frost, the sword force each other. How long can the bright and fresh beauty last? Once wandering, it is hard to find. Flowers are easy to see when they are in bloom but hard to find when they are gone. The person who buries the flowers is killed in front of the steps. When I pick up the fragrant hoe alone, I secretly shed my tears, and when I sprinkle the flower branches, I can see traces of blood. The cuckoo is speechless at dusk, and the hoe returns to cover the heavy door. The green lantern shines on the wall, and the person is sleeping for the first time, while the cold rain hits the window and the quilt is not yet warm. What happened to the strange slave is doubly distressing? Half pity for spring and half angry for spring. Lian Chun comes and goes, anger comes and goes, and comes and goes without words. There was a sad song outside the court last night, and I knew it was the soul of flowers and birds. The soul of a flower is hard to retain as the soul of a bird. The bird is speechless and the flower is ashamed. May I have wings under my wings and fly to the end of the sky with the flowers. Where is the fragrant hill at the end of the sky? It is not like a brocade bag to collect the beautiful bones, but a handful of cold earth to cover the wind. It is better to come and go clean than to be trapped in filthy ditches. If you die now, your slave will collect and bury you. I don’t know when I will die. The slave is buried with flowers today and people laugh like crazy. Do you know who he is when he is buried with flowers? Just look at the spring flowers gradually falling, it is the time when the beauty dies of old age! Once the spring is over, the beauty will grow old, and the flowers will fall and people will die without knowing it. ——Zhou Ruchang's edition Translation and annotations of "The Burial of Flowers"
Translation The flowers have withered and withered, and the wind makes them spin all over the sky. Its bright red color has faded and its fragrance has disappeared. Who can sympathize with it? The soft spider silk seems to be broken and connected, floating among the trees in spring. Catkins flying all over the sky blew in the wind and covered the embroidered door curtain. The girl in the boudoir feels so regretful when facing the scene of the last spring. Full of melancholy and melancholy, there is no place to put my sorrow. Holding a flower hoe in hand, he opened the door curtain and walked into the garden. There are flowers all over the garden. How can I bear to walk around on them? Frivolous catkins and shallow elm coins only show off their beauty. Regardless of the falling peach blossoms or the flying plum blossoms. When spring returns next year, the peach and plum trees will be in bud and sprouting again. But in the boudoir next year, who will be left? In March of the New Year, swallows burst into bloom, and the nest filled with the fragrance of flowers has just been built. The swallows between the beams have ruined so many flowers and are so ruthless! When the flowers are in full bloom next year, you can still hold flowers and plants in your mouth. How could you have expected that the owner of the house had died long ago, the old nest had fallen down, and only the beams were empty. Three hundred and sixty days in a year, what a life it is! The cold wind like a knife and the severe frost like a sharp sword ruthlessly destroyed the flower branches. The bright spring light and gorgeous flowers can last for how long. Once it was blown away by the strong wind, it was nowhere to be found. It is easy to see the flowers when they are in bloom, but difficult to find once they have fallen. Standing in front of the steps, I was filled with sorrow, which made me, the person who buried flowers, so sad. Holding the flower hoe tightly in my hand, I shed tears silently.
Tears filled the empty branches, and the empty branches were stained with blood stains. The cuckoo cried all her blood and was silent, and the sad dusk was coming. I endured the pain and went back with my flower hoe, and closed all the boudoir doors tightly; the green and cold light shone on the four walls, and people had just entered the dreamland. The light cold spring rain knocked on the window lattice, and the quilt on the bed was still cold. People wonder what is it that makes me so sad today? Half of it is cherishing the beautiful spring, and half of it is resenting the passing of spring. I am happy for the sudden arrival of spring, but also feel depressed for its hasty return. Spring comes to the world quietly and silently, and leaves without a sound. Last night, bursts of sad singing came from somewhere outside the hospital. I wonder if it is the soul of the flower or the spirit of the bird? Whether it is the soul of a flower or the spirit of a bird, they are equally difficult to retain. Ask the bird, the bird is silent; ask the flower, the flower bows its head shyly. I sincerely hope that I can now have a pair of wings. Follow the flying flowers to the end of heaven and earth. Even if we fly to the end of heaven and earth, where are the soul mounds where fragrant flowers are buried? It's better to use this beautiful sachet to collect your delicate bones. Then pile up a pile of clean soil to bury your unparalleled love. May your noble body be born clean and die clean. Don't let it be contaminated with a trace of filth and be abandoned in that dirty ditch. Hua'er, if you die today, I will bury you. Who knows when I, a poor man like me, will suddenly die? I buried the flowers today, and people laughed at my infatuation. When I die, who will bury me? If you don’t believe it, please look at the withered spring scenery, the flowers are gradually falling. That is the moment when the girl in the boudoir grows old and dies. Once the spring is gone, the girl's hair will be as white as silk. The flowers wither and the people die, and the flowers and the people don’t know anything about it!
Notes 1 Xie (xie): A building built on a high soil platform or on the water (or near the water). It is a garden or scenic spot rest building that takes advantage of the surrounding scenery. 2 Xiangqiu: It is a newly coined word based on the Buddhist term "Xiangshan", which means a small hill filled with fragrance. It is a metaphor for a small area of ??land protected by Buddhism where you can live and work in peace and contentment. Don’t expect the fragrant Penglai wonderland. 3 Yihao (pou): means a handful of soil. From the "Historical Records·Zhang Shizhi Feng Tang Biography": "If the ignorant people were to take a handful of soil from Changling, why would your Majesty punish them?" Pure land: a special term for Buddhism, originally meaning a land that has been completely converted by Buddhism, on the Pure Land There is no other form of Buddhism than Buddhism. When combined with "一抔", it becomes a pun. It also refers to a land that only has Chinese culture and is not contaminated by Buddhist culture. 4. The daughter in the curtain cherishes the spring mo: "Zhong" in the curtain and the previous sentence are the thimble and continuation of the pattern. "Mo" is the ancient word for "twilight". 5 Sprinkle flowers and see traces of blood: This sentence is related to two legends: 1. Emperor E and Nvying cried for Shun in the Xiangjiang River, and the blood stained the bamboo branches in spots. Therefore, Daiyu was nicknamed "Concubine Xiaoxiang". 2 Emperor Du Yu of Shu transformed his soul into a cuckoo bird, and its cries stained the flower branches with blood, and the flowers became azaleas. So the next sentence follows "cuckoo". Case: Zhou Ruchang said: (flower branch) means that the flower is stained with tears, which does not mean "empty branch". 6 He buried his slaves and knew who they were: There is a contradiction in this sentence in the Zhou Hui version. In "The Flower Burial Song", the word "slave" is typed, while in the next chapter Baoyu's emotional sentence is written as "I", and Mr. Zhou specifically stated in the annotation that the words "slave" and "I" can reflect the little girl. I chanted it casually and changed it to "Nong", which shows the sourness of the literati.
Appreciation of "Ode to Burial Flowers"
"Ode to Burial Flowers" is a poem recited by the heroine Lin Daiyu in the chapter novel "Dream of Red Mansions" written by Cao Xueqin. This poem imitates the early Tang Dynasty style of singing in style. It is called chanting flowers, but it is actually about people. The whole poem is a collection of blood, tears, resentment and anger. Through rich and peculiar imagination, dark and desolate pictures, and strong and sad mood, it shows Daiyu's sentimental character, inner conflicts and pain, and subtle and complex psychological activities. It is an experience of anxiety about one's own existence and a feeling of confusion about life that arises in the complex struggle process of life and death, love and hate. The flower is personified, used as a metaphor for people, and the fate of the flower is closely linked to the fate of people. It effectively accuses the evil forces of nature that destroy flowers and the dark social forces that strangle people. He writes flowers clearly and people realistically, integrating the characters' experiences, fate, thoughts, and emotions into the depiction of scenery and objects, creating an artistic conception with rich connotations, vivid images, and strong artistic appeal. The whole poem is a true portrayal of Lin Daiyu's life philosophy and life value. The whole poem is vividly lyrical, the language is like crying, the sound is sad, and every word is blood and tears. Every word in the whole poem is from the heart, and every word is condensed with blood and tears. It expresses Lin Daiyu's experiences and laments about her life experience deeply. "The Burial of Flowers" describes the protagonist's aloof character who is unwilling to be humiliated and tainted, and unwilling to bow his head when he fantasizes about freedom and happiness but cannot obtain it. It is for its ideological value.
Another value of this poem is that it provides future generations with important clues to explore the tragedy of Bao Dai written by Cao Xueqin. Zhi Yanzhai's comment on the Jiaxu edition points out that it is impossible to criticize this poem without reading "Baoyu Houwen"; the reviewer "stopped writing and waited" for the "houwen" related to this poem. . The so-called "poster text" of course refers to the second half of the lost manuscript that contains the text about Daiyu's death. If this poem only generally uses falling flowers to symbolize beauty's fate, then there is no need to wait for the later text; only when the words written in the poem are not general, and most of them are closely related to the subsequent plot of Daiyu's death, then there is no need to wait for the following text. It is necessary to emphasize that after reading the following text, you should go back and deepen your understanding of this poem. It can be seen from this that "Ode to Burial Flowers" is actually Lin Daiyu's own "poetic prophecy".
I sew brocade bags for fallen flowers, bury incense graves for fallen flowers; I still have to weep and compose poems. This kind of "ridiculous" behavior, which is unprecedented and unprecedented, can only be understood by those who are as infatuated as Bao Dai, and can only be understood by the world if it happened to Bao Dai. Fucha Mingyi, who was at the same time as Cao Xueqin, said in a quatrain of "A Dream of Red Mansions": "A sad poem about burying flowers is like a prophecy coming true. It's better to have a wisp of fragrance to return to the soul, to revive the mourning of the queen and continue the red thread?" " "It seems like the prophecy has come true." This is what only those who know the plot of Daiyu's death written by the author can say. In the past, red scholars thought that Ming Yi might not be able to read the entire novel like Zhi Yan. From this quatrain, it can be seen that it is very likely that he has read part of the second half of the manuscript, or at least heard about it from the circle of the author's contacts. People talked about the main plot of the second half in more detail. If the Mingyi quatrains mentioning later events such as "Gathering together like a spring dream and scattering like smoke" and "The stone returning to the mountain without aura" can still be known by speculation; then, the poem about Baoyu's poverty "The king and his grandson were thin and bones" "Rugged", and poems such as "Ashamed of Shi Jilun back then" in which he was convicted and caused the people in his heart to die of grief and anger for his misfortune, can no longer be derived from imagination.
The same is true for the last two sentences in the poem quoted above: Mingyi said that he really hoped that there would be a soul-reviving fragrance that could bring Daiyu back to life, so that the two lovers, Bao and Dai, could become dependents. , to reconnect the red silk rope held by the old man under the moon that had been severed. It is conceivable that as long as "Shen Min" can be revived, "Red Silk" can also be continued. This is very different from the later writers who imagined that the cause of Bao and Dai's tragedy was the involuntary marriage. If everything is as written in the sequel compiled by Cheng Weiyuan and Gao E, then Jia Baoyu belongs to someone else. The "Shen Min" of Daiyu has no effect. Of course, the purpose of "extending the red silk" is not to make her the second concubine.
"The Flower Burial Song" "The person who buried the flower today is laughing like crazy, who will he be buried next year?" The last few sentences are repeated several times in the book, with special emphasis, and even parroted the chant through writing Poems are also mentioned. It can be seen that the day when the beauty dies of old age is indeed when the spring flowers fall, and it is not an empty comparison. At the same time, it is said here that "I don't know who he was buried in", and previously it was said that "who will pity her when her fragrance fades away", "it is hard to find her once she is wandering", etc., then Daiyu also died in a very miserable and lonely life like Qingwen. It's okay in the situation. At that time, it was not that everyone was busy organizing a happy event for Baoyu and therefore had no time to take care of it. On the contrary, both Baoyu and Sister Feng were living abroad to avoid disaster. Those were the days when "when a family dies, no one cares about relatives" and "everyone has to find his own family." , the poem "willow silk and elm pods are fragrant, regardless of peach blossoms and plum blossoms" may have this meaning.
"In March, when the fragrant nest is first built, the swallows in the beams are too ruthless. Although the flowers of the next year can be pecked, the empty nests in the beams will fall if people go to them." A few sentences, originally between what can be understood and what cannot be understood, It is difficult to understand the meaning of pity for falling flowers and resentment for the return of swallows. If you look at it as a prophecy, it will be more clear. Probably Baodai's marriage had been basically decided in the spring, that is, the so-called "fragrant nest was first built". However, in the autumn, something happened. Just like the swallows flying ruthlessly from the beams, Baoyu was forced to run away from home. . Therefore, she lamented that "it's hard to keep the soul of a flower or a bird," and left with the fantasy that she could "give birth to two wings under her belly." She cried sadly day and night, and finally "all her tears came to bear witness to her destiny."
In this way, "flowers fall and people die, and we don't know." If "flowers fall" is compared to Daiyu, and "people die" (people go into exile) is used to describe Baoyu, it is completely consistent. Whenever Jia Baoyu encounters a so-called "ugly misfortune", someone else will suffer the same misfortune. First there was Jin Chuan, then Qingwen, and finally it was Daiyu's turn. Therefore, there is a pun in the poem, "It is inherently clean and comes clean, it is better than a dirty ditch sinking into a ditch." It can be used to express and show integrity. "Farewell to the autumn wind and another year", Baoyu returned to Jia's house in the autumn of the next year, but what he saw was that the Yihong Courtyard was already "red, thin and green" (Zhi's review), and the Xiaoxiang Pavilion was even more "fallen leaves rustling, and the cold marriage was deserted." (Zhi Ping) shows a desolate scene. Daiyu's boudoir is the same as Baoyu's Jiangyunxuan, with only "spider threads covered with carved beams" (Zhi Ping refers to Bao Dai's residence). Although Xue Baochai is still there, and will be there in the future. It became his "golden marriage", but it could not make up for the huge mental pain he suffered when he "mourned his ugly son". "Although you can peck at the gray hair next year, you won't be able to enjoy it even if you go to an empty nest!" That's what it means. These are just some details that can be confirmed from the clues mentioned in the fat review, and not all of them may be accurate. However, this poem must correspond to the plot of Bao Dai's tragedy, and this should not be a subjective assumption; in fact, there are more poems that "seem like prophecies coming true", including Dai Yu's "Farewell from Generations: Stormy Evening in the Autumn Window" and "Peach Blossom Row" 》 also has this nature. The former seems to unfortunately describe the scene of her later farewell to Baoyu, and the latter seems to be a pre-portrait of her ending of "dying in tears" (Zhi Ping).
Some people say that "Ode to Burial Flowers" was "derived" from two poems by Tang Yin ("A Dream of Red Mansions"). Of course poetry can be inherited and used for reference, but the relationship between "source" and "flow" of literary and artistic creation should not be reversed. When it comes to the use of previous works in terms of certain words, sentences, artistic conception and style in "The Song of Burial Flowers", there is no need to look for it in Ming Dynasty collections. In the early Tang Dynasty, Liu Xiyi's "Sorrowful Pulsatilla" and other well-known poems such as "The color of the flowers will change this year, but who will be there next year when they bloom again" and "The flowers are similar every year, but the people are different every year" are also enough to be borrowed and used. . Even the flower burial plot may not necessarily be based on Tang Yin's story of "packing the peonies in a brocade bag and burying them on the east bank of the medicine column". The author's grandfather Cao Yin's "Mei Pavilion Poetry Notes" also contains the "Hundred Years of Solitary Tomb Burial" The poem "Peach Blossom" was not enough to inspire his ideas.
But these are all "flows" and are just uses. They neither express the main spirit of the poem nor can they replace the author's creation derived from real life. What's more, as mentioned before, the author's uncanny craftsmanship in this poem does not lie in the seemingly sentimental and lingering words about hurting spring and cherishing flowers.
"A sad poem about burying flowers is like a prophecy that comes true without knowing it." Daiyu's lyrical poem is actually a prophecy that hints at her fate. She is like a fragrant and delicate flower that blooms quietly, but is tortured by the violent wind and rain until its branches and leaves are withered, and quietly disappears from the world. To say that this poem is a prophecy is based on its overall thought. It does not mean that every word and sentence hints at Daiyu's specific experience.
The negative and decadent emotions in "The Flower Burial Song" are also extremely strong and cannot be ignored. It has had a negative impact on readers who lack analytical thinking skills. Although this kind of emotion is artistically completely consistent with the ideological and character formed by the environment and status of Lin Daiyu, it is revealed because the author consciously expresses his feelings about his life experience to a certain extent through the mouth of the character he is attracted to. revealed the weakness of his own thinking.
In fact, "The Burial of Flowers" is not only a prophecy written by Daiyu alone, but also a prophecy shared by all the people in the Grand View Garden. Although their specific encounters in the future are different, they are all the same in terms of "fate or destiny". They are all registered characters in the "Unfortunate Life Division". With the decline of the Jia family, all the girls in the Grand View Garden will be trapped in dirt and ditches, and they will not have a good fate.
Poetry work: Song of Burying Flowers Poetry author: Cao Xueqin, Qing Dynasty Poetry classification: writing about flowers, embodying people, and expressing emotions