Original text
I traveled to Dongshan, but I was so melancholy that I never returned. I come from the east, where there is zero rain. I return in the east, but my heart is sad in the west. To make his clothes, don't make them. The locusts are lolling in the mulberry fields. Dunbi stayed alone, also under the car.
I traveled to Dongshan, melancholy and never returned. I come from the east, where there is zero rain. The naked fruit is also applied to the universe. Yiwei is in the room, and Celadon is at home. The town's deer farm is shining brightly at night. It cannot be feared, but it can be cherished.
I traveled to Dongshan, melancholy and never returned. I come from the east, where there is zero rain. The stork cries in the valley, and the woman sighs in the room. Sweeping the sky, I am marching forward. There is bitterness in the melons, but in the chestnuts. I haven’t seen myself in the past three years.
I traveled to Dongshan, melancholy and never returned. I come from the east, where there is zero rain. Cang Geng is flying, his feathers are shining. When his son returned home, the emperor refuted his horse. If you are intimate with each other, you will have ninety-nine rituals. The new Kongjia is like the old one?
Translation
I went on an expedition to the east of Shandong, but my wish to return home came to nothing. Now that I am returning from Dongshan, the sky is filled with light rain and mist. I just said that I would return from Dongshan, and my heart was so sad that I flew west early. Make a piece of homely clothes, no more military rank items. Wild silkworms crawl up trees, and the fields and mulberry forests are their homes. Sleeping in the open, huddled up and sleeping under a car somewhere.
I went on an expedition to the east of Shandong, but my wish to return home came to nothing. Now that I am returning from Dongshan, the sky is filled with light rain and mist. There are melons on the vines of the garden, and the vines climb under the eaves. The dampness in the house is infested with ground lice, and spiders spin webs as door hangers. Deer tracks remain on the field, and phosphorus fire sparkles at night. It’s not scary to have a desolate home, but the more so, the more homesick you feel.
I went on an expedition to the east of Shandong, but my wish to return home came to nothing. Now that I am returning from Dongshan, the sky is filled with light rain and mist. The white stork calls softly on the hill, and my wife sighs in the house. Sweep the house and plug the rat holes, hoping that I will come home early. The gourds were cut in half and left on the firewood pile without anyone caring. I don't see the old things lying idle. It has been three years now.
I went on an expedition to the east of Shandong, but my wish to return home came to nothing. Now that I am returning from Dongshan, the sky is filled with light rain and mist. At that time, the oriole was flying, and its feathers were shining. The man came as a bride, and the horse was white and yellow. The mother tied a knot for her daughter, and the wedding ceremony was complicated and full of formalities. Not to mention how beautiful the wedding is, how beautiful the reunion will be!
Comments
⑴Dongshan: In today’s Shandong Province, the place where Duke Zhou attacked and garrisoned his army.
⑵慆(tāo)慆: long.
⑶Shi: Master of "things". Xingmei: A bamboo stick held in the mouth during marching to ensure silence.
⑷蜎(yuān)蜎: The larvae curl up. Zhu (zhú): a kind of wild silkworm.
⑸烝: long.
⑹ Dun: lump shape.
⑺ Naked fruit (luǒ): Cucurbitaceae plant, also known as Trichosanthes grandis. Naked, a variation of naked.
⑻ Shi (yì): Spread.
⑼ Yiwei: a small insect, commonly known as land louse.
⑽Cructus (xiāo shāo): a kind of spider.
⑾町tun (tuǎn): traces of animals.
⑿Yiyao: bright appearance. Night travel: phosphorus fire.
⒀dié: small mound.
⒁迿: Modal particle, meaning will.
⒂Gua Ku: It is also said that Gua gourd, gourd melon, a kind of gourd. It is an ancient custom to cut a gourd into two gourds at weddings, and each couple holds a gourd to fill their mouths with wine.
⒃Li Xin: It is still said that Polygonum Xin is bundled with Xin.
⒄Huang Pi: The horse with light yellow hair is called Huang, and the horse with light red hair is called Pi.
⒅Pro: This refers to the woman’s mother. Knotting: knotting the scarf on the belt, an ancient wedding ritual.
⒆Ninety: There are so many words.
Appreciation
The "Book of Songs", known as the source of Chinese realist poetry, is not only its groundbreaking significance, but also its wide range of themes and its realism. It reflects the history, economy, culture, love, war and other content from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period; and the artistic techniques are superb, and the scene description, narrative and lyricism are all very vivid and thought-provoking. Moreover, artistic techniques such as Fu, Bi and Xing have had a profound impact on the development of Chinese poetry.
Among them, "Dongshan" in "Bin Feng" is a work that expresses the theme of war and is lyrically true and delicate.
"Eastern Mountain" takes Zhou Gong's Eastern Expedition as the historical background, and uses the perspective of an ordinary soldier to narrate the complex and true inner feelings after the Eastern Expedition and before returning home, to express his thoughts on war and the people's of sympathy.
The beginning of the poem uses a straight-to-the-point approach to describe the story directly, concisely and directly stating the background and reason of the story. "Melancholy and not returning" is not only a direct expression of the long war away from home, but also an indirect expression of homesickness after leaving home. "I come from the east, and there is zero rain." It is a pioneering work of this poem to insert scenery description into the narrative. This writing technique of blending scenes was inherited and carried forward by later generations of literati. "Without rain and mist", it not only points out the weather at that time, but also is a detailed description. It makes people feel the story more like being there, and it also sets a poignant and touching tone for the whole poem. It is better able to express the psychological activities of the protagonist. Then he expressed his true feelings: "My heart is sad."
Why is the homesickness so intense at this moment? Because as a soldier who fights on the battlefield, he lives a life of "following the golden drum in battle at dawn and holding the jade saddle at night". When he is worried about his life all the time, his homesickness will be temporarily suppressed by the tense nerves. But when the war is over and returning home is just around the corner, homesickness will surge up and linger in our hearts.
"To make clothes, don't make a fool of yourself." When soldiers can end their war life, they quickly take off their military uniforms and put on ordinary clothes in a hurry. Through such a detailed description, the soldiers' emotions of joy and hope for early peace are vividly expressed. At the same time, using a typical behavior such as "Xingmei" to refer to military life is a metonymic writing technique. The achievements of the artistic techniques of "The Book of Songs" can be seen.
The following are the protagonist’s memories of three years of military life. First of all, the method of "comparison and excitement" is used, "A locust is like a locust, and it is hiding in the mulberry field" to describe the hardships of military life through the miserable life of mulberry bugs. It makes people feel sympathy for the soldiers. "Dunbi sleeps alone, even under the car" is a true portrayal of the life of soldiers sleeping in the open and waiting for the day to come. The word "independence" is also a reflection of the protagonist's inner loneliness. Narration and lyricism are integrated seamlessly.
Each paragraph of "East Mountain" is recited over and over again. It is not just a simple repetition of syllables, but a progression of plot and emotion.
The first section is a memory of the difficult and dangerous life in the past, and the second section is a speculation on the changes and future of my hometown. "The fruit of the worm... shines in the sky", this section says that the house is broken, the fruit and worms live together, the fields are barren, and the will-o'-the-wisps shine... This is the lingering worry in the protagonist's heart, and it is also the war's destruction of production, It is a reflection of the reality that has plunged the lives of the vast number of people into dire straits and a ruthless indictment of the war. This way of writing reminds us of the Qin Dynasty's folk song "Fifteen Years of Military Expeditions":
Fifteen years of military expeditions, only to return home at eighty.
I meet a fellow villager. Who is there at home?
Looking into the distance is Jun’s house, with numerous pine and cypress tombs.
The rabbit enters from the sinus of the dog, the pheasant flies from the beam...
The writing method is exactly the same. We can see the influence of "The Book of Songs" on later generations.
We can notice that the perspective of "Dongshan"'s accusation of war is very different from that of later generations of works with the same theme. The protagonists of other works are usually civilians who have been displaced by the war, such as "The Stone Guard" and "The Wedding Farewell"; or they accuse the rulers of militarism from the perspective of conscription, such as "Mulan Poems" and "The Troops and Chariots". The protagonist of "East Mountain" is a soldier participating in the war. He participated in Duke Zhou's Eastern Expedition, which was considered a just war, and returned triumphantly as the victor. There is no heroic victor here, but a victim as well. Victory failed to enable him to escape the misfortune of the war, and it further showed that the war was disastrous for both sides. This gives us a new perspective on thinking about war.
The third paragraph is when the protagonist misses his wife at home. By writing about the wife's longing for her husband, it highlights the husband's longing for his wife. The emotions of the two complement each other and deeply touch the readers' heartstrings. The writing techniques here have been widely used by later generations of poets. For example, Du Fu's "Moonlight Night":
Tonight in Yanzhou, I can only watch the moon in my boudoir alone.
I pity my children from afar, but I still remember Chang'an.
The fragrant mist makes the temples wet, and the clear jade arms feel cold.
Whenever I lean on my body, my tears will dry up under my eyes.
"There are melons and bitters, but the sun shines on chestnuts." When the heroine saw the utensils from her wedding, she couldn't help but arouse her deep longing for her husband. It also reflects that they were forced to separate soon after their wedding. It further highlights the tragic color of the poem. From this, we can't help but think of Du Fu's "Wedding Farewell" with similar themes. It is not unreasonable that Du Fu's realist style is derived from the Book of Songs.
The fourth paragraph is that the male protagonist continues to indulge in the sweet memories of the past. Thinking of the newlyweds, the dazzling royal pony, the elegant wedding team, the dazzling clothes... everything was so sweet and happy! The protagonist seems to suddenly fall back into reality from beautiful memories, "the new Kongjia is the same as before": they separated soon after the wedding, what has become of the family in the past three years, how unbearable her loneliness has been in the past three years, Where does his three years of bitterness begin... Thinking of meeting each other, I am afraid that "we are speechless and can only cry a thousand lines!" You can imagine how complicated and overwhelming the hero's mood was at that time! But there is not much narration in the poem, only "How was it like it used to be?" leaving a big question mark, a big suspense, and a vast aesthetic space, leaving readers with endless reveries. ...
The same goes for the artistic beauty of "The Book of Songs", which can never be exhausted and explored. Therefore, we must inherit our precious cultural heritage-"The Book of Songs".