West Lake Poetry (Bai Juyi wrote about the West Lake in A Chinese Odyssey)

When it comes to writing ancient poems about the West Lake, people invariably think of Bai Juyi's Spring Tour in Qiantang and Su Shi's Two Poems on Drinking Rain on Lake Chuqing. The former depicts a beautiful picture of early spring with seven methods, while the latter depicts the scene of the West Lake turning from sunny to rainy with seven unique techniques.

Bai Juyi said in the previous poem that "people travel in a world of scrolls", taking us for a walk by the lake and feeling the joy brought by spring together. In the latter poem, Su Shi raised his glass to the evening scene of the West Lake, leaving a wonderful metaphor, which has since become an evaluation of the West Lake.

Behind the two poems, there is a story, one is ideal, the other is love, which is equally touching.

First, Bai Juyi, watching "Qiantang Spring Tour" along the way-Tang Juyi

From the north side of Gushan Temple to the west side of Jiating, the lake is just level with the embankment, with low clouds and waves on the lake.

Several early orioles raced to the sunny tree, and their new swallows were carrying mud in their nests.

Colorful spring flowers will gradually fascinate people's eyes, and shallow spring grass can barely cover the horseshoe.

I love the beauty on the east bank of the West Lake, and I can't get enough of it, especially the white sand embankment under the green poplar.

Free translation of the poem: Starting from Gushan Temple, visit Jiagong Pavilion all the way. In spring, Qiantang River is clear and wide. The clouds hung low, as if connecting the sky with the lake.

Walking on the shore, in front of the treetops, there are several orioles contending. Twist a head to look to the other side, a Chun Yan is pecking mud to catch grass, and I don't know whose house to nest under.

The spring flowers in the sandy land near the lake are in bud, which will definitely surprise the whole Qiantang River and dazzle tourists in the future. The green grass on one side has just grown to the height of horseshoe. A good day for them is just the beginning.

I like walking on the east shore of the lake. People can't get enough of the beautiful lakes and mountains. Especially behind the shade of green willows, there is a long white sand embankment.

Bai Juyi's Seven Laws is a complete little travel book. At the beginning of the poem, he started from two distant scenic spots, "Gushan" and "Jiating", and slowly walked out from the outer edge of the West Lake.

Write mountains first, then water. However, he did not directly describe the weather on the lake in spring, how grand and clear the water potential was, but inspired readers' association through "low cloud scale".

Why is the cloud foot "low"? On a clear day, we can clearly see the overlapping white clouds in the sky, like cotton.

The lake on the earth must be very wide, so that people can see the phenomenon of "water meets the sun" because the sky and the lake are connected in a line, and the "cloud feet" in the sky will "low" into the lake.

Qiantang Lake, also known as West Lake, is a famous tourist attraction. Every day, literati visit and enjoy poems. Therefore, Bai Juyi did not spend too much ink here to directly describe the situation on the lake. He mainly wants to write about the joy of visiting the lake in early spring.

So, he continued to walk by the lake and included all the scenery he saw that he thought was comforting in his poems.

For example, the oriole, which is contending in the treetops in early spring, has a crisp voice and a beautiful song. When you hear their chirping, you will know that spring is coming. Another example is the swallow returning to the south and preparing to build a nest. Give a warm feeling of "home".

In this way, this poem has the beauty of natural scenery of mountains, water and clouds, as well as the beauty of birdsong. So what is missing? Obviously, what is lacking is the fragrance of flowers. So Bai Juyi immediately looked down at the grass by the lake.

Where are the flowers? It turns out that they are in bud now Bai Juyi didn't actually see the flowers bloom. Through imagination, he predicted that these budding flowers would bloom in the future.

Let the tourists look fascinated and their eyes blurred. In fact, writing shallow grass here is mainly to form a confrontation with disorderly flowers. The flowers are still in bloom and the grass is still shallow. I have finished the part about mountains, water, clouds, birds and flowers, which is not enough.

So Bai Juyi added: Do you think the beauty of Qiantang Lake is like this? I usually take a walk in the east of the lake. In fact, what I like best is the long white sand embankment under the shade of green poplar trees.

The Baisha dike mentioned at the end of the sentence is the water conservancy project of the West Lake. Bai Juyi was an official in Hangzhou, and later built a dike to store water nearby, which did a great good thing for the people.

On the surface, Bai Juyi's poem is carelessly written, but after careful reading, it is found to be very hierarchical. Finally, Liu Yin is taken as the frame to write the "favorite" in the distance.

People are curious. Qiantang River is already so beautiful. How beautiful is the white sand embankment that has never appeared?

Second, Su Shi, a cup of "Drinking Chu Qing after the rain on the lake"-Su Shi in the Northern Song Dynasty

The water is bright and sunny, and the mountains are cloudy and rainy.

If there are more dead beauties in the West Lake, C+ is so appropriate.

Free translation of poetry: The sunlight refracts to the lake and sends out glittering golden waves. Suddenly it began to rain, and the mountains became hazy after the rain. This beautiful scenery is amazing!

The scenery of the West Lake is like makeup. Because of her natural beauty, whether it is heavy makeup or light makeup, it is always so suitable.

Su Shi's quatrain is very classic, because it is only 28 short words, not as long as the seven laws, and it is impossible to write it as slowly as Bai Juyi.

If you want to describe it in detail, you can usually only write some smaller topics or capture a classic scene to describe it. So Su Shi skillfully chose the changes of the West Lake in two different weather conditions on the same day to write.

The West Lake is sparkling in the sun and has a wide view under clear skies. Although it was not written by Su Shi, we can also imagine that the mountain far from the lake is also inlaid with a layer of Phnom Penh. At this time, the water on the lake and the mountains in the distance are "real scenes".

According to the background of this poem, dusk is near after the rain. The mountains began to become hazy and became a "virtual scene". At the same time, the lake has changed because of the refraction of light, and its color is as thick as gel, which is very different from before, but it has a mysterious beauty.

So Su Shi compared this lake to the beauty of a fighting country. He may not be the first person to call the West Lake, but it is very likely that it was after he wrote poems that the West Lake was called "Xizi Lake". When Bai Juyi was in the Tang Dynasty, the West Lake was still called Qiantang River.

The beauty of this lake is like a real stunning beauty. Rudeness and confusion can hardly conceal the beauty of the countryside. Light make-up, without changing its beauty. Su Shi's metaphor was appropriate, and later became the "final conclusion" of later generations on the scenery of the West Lake.

Like Bai Juyi's poems, Su Shi's poems also have a small allusion. According to legend, this poem is a pun, not only about lakes and mountains, but also about Su Shi's beloved concubine Wang Chaoyun. Whether it is true or not is a matter of opinion.

Conclusion Su Shi's poems are about the scenery of the West Lake and closely follow the theme. He first regarded the beautiful scenery of the West Lake on a sunny day and after the rain as two beautiful pictures, then described them separately, and then compared the West Lake to the beauty of a fighting country.

The sunny and rainy scenery of the West Lake is naturally and perfectly unified through the two makeup styles of the teacher, which can be said to be quite successful.

Bai Juyi's seven methods describe the beauty of the West Lake, like a small prose with complete structure. The joy of early spring is on the paper. When he wrote Spring Tour of Qiantang Lake, he basically didn't spend any ink to describe the lake itself.

However, he wrote in another poem "Spring on the Lake" that the West Lake is surrounded by mountains on a moonlit night, and "the pine rows of mountains are full of green, and the moon is dotted with a pearl", which is equally beautiful.