Author: Zhu, Neo-Confucianism in Southern Song Dynasty
The days of youth are easy to pass away, and learning is difficult to succeed, so cherish every inch of time and don't let it go easily.
Before the sweet spring grass grows in the pond, the plane leaves in front of the steps have rustled in the autumn wind.
Vernacular translation
The days of youth are easy to pass away, but learning is difficult to succeed, so cherish every inch of time and don't let it go easily.
Before I woke up from the bright spring, the leaves of plane trees rustled in the autumn wind in front of the steps.
Extended data:
Creation background
This poem was written in Zhu's later years. According to legend, when Zhu was old, he went to a school and saw a group of students playing by the pond outside. It was late autumn, and the leaves of plane trees were falling with the wind. When I think of my bald head, I can't help but recite this poem casually, and later generations also named it "Persuade Learning" poem.
The first two sentences of this poem warn young people with their own personal experience; The last two sentences implicitly and vividly write the feeling that time flies and time waits for no one. The whole poem is clear and easy to understand, with vivid images. It compares the fleeting time and the degree of years with the dream of spring grass in the pond and the sudden autumn sound of phoenix tree in front of the steps, which is very appropriate and increases the power of exhortation at any time. ?