The vernacular interpretation of "Climbing the Yueyang Tower Part 1" by Chen Yuyi of the Song Dynasty:
The towering Yueyang Tower stands east of Dongting Lake and west of the Yangtze River. The sun sets at dusk and there is no evening wind. The sign stood still. Climb to the boundary between Wu and Shu (Jingzhou) and wander around the lakes and mountains at dusk.
After traveling thousands of miles, how do you feel when you climb a high and look far away today? I traveled for three years to avoid the war. Climbing the stairs to pay homage to the ancients, my temples were already frosty. Looking at the ancient trees in the distant mountains, there was infinite sadness hidden in the green sky.
Original text:
In the east of Dongting and to the west of the river, the curtains do not move and the sun sets late.
I climbed to the land that divides Wu and Shu, and moved to the lake and mountains when it was almost twilight.
Thousands of miles away, there is still a long way to go, and three years of hardship is even more difficult.
In the ancient wind and frost, old Mucangbo is infinitely sad. Extended information
Article appreciation:
The first couplet describes the geographical location of Yueyang Tower. It first focuses on the big picture, with Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River as the background, and grandly launches Yueyang Tower in a macro perspective. "Dongting is east of Dongting and rivers are west." In a seven-character sentence, the poet cleverly used the two directional words "east" and "west", and connected them with lakes and rivers, so that the location of Yueyang Tower can be seen.
Then I wrote about what I saw when I raised my eyes, which is "the curtain does not move, the sunset is late". This sentence is the most colorful stroke in describing the scene in the whole poem. It seems ordinary, but in fact it is delicate. The "curtain flag" is a close-up view, and the "sunset" is a distant view. The close-up and distant views merge into one. The poet's sight scans from near to far, gradually letting go and blending into the vast twilight.
The motionless curtain flag indicates that the lake is calm and calm; the late setting sun reminds you of the tranquility of the evening. Such a poetic and picturesque situation can't help but arouse the poet's rich reverie.
The poem's couplets rise from the static and soothing description of the scenery to strong lyricism. Like a variation of music, these two poems seem to be repeating the above theme, but their styles are completely different.
"Climbing to the land that divides Wu and Shu" is also talking about the geographical location of the climb, but it adds a strong sense of history; "Moving to the lake and mountains when it's twilight" is also talking about climbing up the tower to enjoy the scenery at dusk. But it was mixed with a little bit of melancholy. This kind of gradient is a kind of contrast, a kind of transition, and a kind of imitation that combines things and myself.
Here, the poet's main image appears in the poem inadvertently and naturally. He is thinking, wandering, blending into the scenery, and expressing his feelings through the scenery.
After the previous preparations, the poet finally issued the loudest and strongest cry in the neck couplet in a way that was close to a direct shout: "Thousands of miles of travel can still see the distance, and more than three years of difficulties are even more difficult." These two lines of poetry express the resentment in the heart of a minister who has lost his country.
The contrast between "Ten Thousand Miles" and "Three Years" narrates events from the span of space and time respectively. It has a double superimposed artistic effect, which makes people deeply moved when reading it. The poet's "travel thousands of miles" is just an elegant way of saying that he has fled thousands of miles, but there is nothing he can do about it. The depression in my heart can only be relieved by "looking from afar".
"More than three years of hardship" is already too much to bear, but to have to climb up here and face danger is unbearable. Up to this point, the poetry has gone through many twists and turns, pushing the emotion to the extreme.
The scenes in the last couplet are intertwined. "Wind and frost" not only refers to the thick autumn colors, but also contrasts with one's own "white hair", and also hints at the severity of the political situation at that time. "Old Mu Cangbo" refers to both the actual scene in front of us and the It is a self-portrait of the author who is haggard, sad, and weathered.
This kind of desolate charm is the same as "the boundless falling trees are falling under the Xiaoxiao" and "hardship hates the frost on the temples" in Du's poems. At the same time, the country was ruined and the family was destroyed, and the world was in ruins. At this moment, Du Fu became the poet's confidant in adversity. Therefore, the poem naturally has the majestic and generous style of Du's poems.
Writing background:
In April of the second year of Jingkang in the Northern Song Dynasty (1127), the Jin soldiers captured Kaifeng and the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed. At that time, Chen Yuyi was demoted to Chenliu (southeast of today's Kaifeng, Henan) as a minor official overseeing the wine tax. Naturally, he joined the ranks of refugees who fled south to Xianghan, Hunan, and Hunan, and became homeless.
He went into exile in Dongting Lake and climbed the Yueyang Tower several times. He and his friends mourned the state affairs and drank to drown their sorrows. He wrote several poems to record the events, including the two poems "Climbing the Yueyang Tower".