Characteristics of Changgexing Ancient Poems
This poem starts with "Sunflower in the Garden", and then uses the metaphor of water flowing to the sea and never returning, indicating that time is like flowing water, and once it goes, Never reply again. Finally, I advise people to cherish their youth, work hard, and not regret it when they are old. This poem uses physical reasoning, first using sunflowers in the garden as a metaphor. "Qingqing" refers to its lush growth. In fact, under the sunshine and rain throughout the spring, everything is striving to grow. Why? Because they are all afraid that autumn will come soon, and they know the reason why the autumn wind withers all the grass. The rhythm of life in nature is like this, so why not in life? If a person does not take advantage of the good times and work hard and let his youth be wasted, it will be too late to regret when he is old. This poem reminds young people of the perishable life from the beauty of youth in front of them, and encourages young people to cherish time, give warnings, and encourage people to get up.
Original text:
The sunflowers in the green garden are waiting for the morning dew and the setting sun.
Budze in spring brings brilliance to all things.
I am often afraid that when the autumn festival comes, the yellow flowers and leaves will wither.
From the east to the sea, when will the rivers return to the west?
If a young man does not work hard, the old man will be miserable.
Notes:
This poem is selected from Han Yuefu. Yuefu was a court music institution established since the Qin Dynasty. It was expanded on a large scale during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and a large number of poetry works were collected from the folk, with rich content and a wide range of themes. This poem is one of them.
Changgexing: the name of a Han Yuefu tune. Sunflower: an ancient vegetable. Xi: dried in the sun. Yangchun: It is spring, when there is plenty of sunshine and dew. Cloth: spread, sprinkle all over. Deze: Grace. Autumn Festival: Autumn. Festival, season, season. Kunhuang: withered yellow. Hua: Same as "flower". Bad: For the sake of rhyme, it can be read according to the ancient pronunciation. Baichuan: countless rivers. Chuan, river. Disciple: In vain, in vain.
Today’s translation:
The sunflowers in the garden are lush and green, rising under the crystal dew in the sun.
Spring spreads hope all over the earth, and everything appears prosperous.
I am often afraid that the chilling autumn will come, and the leaves will turn yellow and the grass will wither.
Thousands of rivers are rushing eastward to the sea. When can they return to the west again?
If a young person does not work hard in time, he will only regret his life when he grows old.
Brief comment:
This is a masterpiece among the ancient Yuefu poems of the Han Dynasty. The poem uses a series of metaphors to illustrate that we should cherish time and work hard early. The first four lines of the poem describe to us a bright spring scene. The green sunflowers in the garden are still covered with dew. After the sun rises, the dew dries up, and the sunflowers are bathed in sunshine again. Everything in the world is blessed by the rain and dew of nature in spring, and glows with incomparable brilliance. However, when autumn comes, they all lose their bright luster and become withered and yellow. All things undergo ups and downs, and people also undergo a process from youth to old age. Time is like water in a big river, flowing eastward into the sea and never to return.
If we don’t cherish time and work hard when we are young and strong, we will only be sad in vain when we grow old!