At the foot of the southern mountain where beans are planted, there are few bean seedlings in the grass.
In the morning, I clean up the wasteland and filth, and return with a hoe in the moonlight.
The road is narrow and the grass and trees are long, and the evening dew touches my clothes.
It is not a pity to have stains on your clothes, but your wishes are true.
[Note] Xing: get up. Wasteland: Refers to weeds and the like. Belt: one means "to wear", to drape.
The last two sentences of the first poem of "Returning to the Garden and Living in the Fields" are "After being in a cage for a long time, I can return to nature." The so-called "nature" refers not only to the natural environment of the countryside, but also to the natural way of life. In Tao Yuanming's view, being a slave to food and drink, taking social value standards as one's own code of conduct, pursuing wealth and fame, are all behaviors that distort human nature and lose one's self. And to cultivate one's own food, to be content with a simple life, and to abandon competition and struggle between people, this is the natural way of life. No matter how this understanding should be evaluated in sociology, it is an idea that has been repeatedly proposed at all times and in all over the world. Of course, as a descendant of a nobleman, a tempered scholar-bureaucrat who rarely experienced real hardship, it was actually difficult for Tao Yuanming to support his family entirely with his own physical strength; and in fact, he still had child servants in his family. He works with his "disciples" who are personally dependent on him. But he did also work hard to practice his special understanding of life and society, often participating in some agricultural labor, and praising the joy and beauty of this labor in his poems. We should note that Tao Yuanming's "hard work" cannot be equated with ordinary farmers' farming, because it is not his main economic means of maintaining family life; nor can Tao Yuanming's feelings about labor be equated with ordinary farmers' feelings. Because this feeling contains quite profound thoughts about life and society, in ancient times, it could only appear in a small number of outstanding intellectuals. If we are looking for similar expressions, we can see it in Tolstoy's famous novel "Anna Karenina". Levin in the novel, to a certain extent, is the incarnation of the author. He also personally participated in agricultural labor and obtained the truth of life from it, in order to criticize the hypocrisy, emptiness and boredom of aristocratic society.
Therefore, this poem seems very simple and simple, as if it is just a fragment of daily life, but in fact it has many connotations that need to be understood deeply.
First of all, this poem subtly incorporates previous works, which is a poem by Yang Yun (grandson of Sima Qian) in the Han Dynasty:
Tianbi Nanshan, Wu The filth cannot be cured. Plant a hectare of beans and they will fall into pods. To enjoy life, you must be wealthy
When!
This poem was originally written by Yang Yun to vent his grievances after he was dismissed from office. According to Zhang Yan quoted in the ancient annotations of Yan Shi in the "Book of Han", Nanshan is "the image of the ruler". Its unruly condition "speaks of the chaos of the imperial court", and the beans scattered in the wild "symbolizes one's abandonment of one's views". This is generally good.
Comparing Tao’s poetry with Yang’s poetry, the similarities are obvious. "Growing beans at the foot of the south mountain" means "the field is beyond the south mountain"; "the grass is full of beans and the seedlings are sparse" means "the filth is not cured"; "getting up in the morning to clean up the filth" is also written in response to the sentence "the filth is not cured" of. Considering Tao Yuanming's familiarity with ancient classics, it can be concluded that this obvious similarity is not a coincidence.
So, what is Tao Yuan’s intention in using Yang’s poems openly and covertly? First of all, this kind of transformation has transplanted part of the meaning of Yang's poems into his own poems. For those who are familiar with the "Book of Han", they will immediately think of the metaphor of "the court is in chaos" and the wise are useless.
However, this poem is not simply a deformation of previous works. The planting of beans and weeding described in the poem are all things in the author's real life. Tao Yuanming not only transplanted a certain meaning of Yang's poem to express his views on real politics, but also used his own actions of planting beans in Nanshan to express his own life in response to Yang's poem's metaphorical meaning of "the fields are like Nanshan, and they are filthy." Attitude: In a dirty and chaotic society, keeping oneself clean and cultivating the countryside is a desirable choice. At the end of Yang's poem, he said: "To enjoy life, you must be rich and noble." Under certain conditions, this is also what Tao Yuanming agrees with. But he also showed through his poems that working life contains rich joy of life. Planting and harvesting when you are busy, entertaining yourself with a glass of wine when you are free, enjoying yourself, forgetting about the world, this is the real "enjoyment in life".
After analyzing the connotation of the allusion used in this poem, we can further analyze the poem itself.
When planting beans in Nanshan, the grass is abundant and the seedlings are sparse. Some people say this is because Tao Yuan returned to the countryside in the early Ming Dynasty and was not familiar with farming. In fact, he does not cultivate the land himself, he only participates in part of the labor. This makes no sense. The first poem of "Returning to the Garden and Living in the Fields" contains the sentence "opening up the wilderness in the south", which can prove that the land under the Nanshan Mountain is newly reclaimed. Therefore, it is not suitable for planting other crops, so we have to plant beans that are easy to grow. Anyone who has farmed knows this. If you don't consider the use of allusions, these two sentences are like an old farmer's chat, which sounds plain and gives people a sense of intimacy.
When the grass is growing, you have to hoe it, so I went to the ground early in the morning. This is documentary. However, the word "reasonable filth" is used in a relatively strong way, as if it has an ulterior motive. In Yang Yun's poem, "the filth cannot be cured" is a metaphor for the chaos of the imperial court. So, according to Tao Yuanming, what causes social chaos? That's because many people have broken away from the natural way of life, playing tricks and competing for interests, and can't extricate themselves.
Then war broke out in the world, and there was endless bloodshed. "Life is a way of life, and food and clothing are in order. We don't even have to camp, but we just want to be safe!" ("Get early rice in Xitian in the middle of the ninth month of the Gengxu year") This poem shows that Tao Yuanming regards self-cultivation as a means of self-sufficiency. Fundamental principles that everyone should follow. Therefore, "rectifying the filth" also includes the profound meaning of correcting the "filth" of the entire society through a lifestyle of self-cultivation and self-sufficiency.
"Bringing (wearing) the moon-loaded hoe back home" means that he has worked for a whole day. After all, Tao Yuanming was not a real farmer. Since he had a boy servant going to the fields with him, even if he did not work so nervously and tiringly, this day would still be enough. But he was in a cheerful mood. How can you see it? Because I am not in a good mood, I cannot write such a beautiful poem. The moonlight shines all over the fields, carrying a hoe and walking home along the field path. What a beautiful picture it is! In another poem, Tao Yuanming said this about field work: "The four bodies are tired, and common people are suffering from dryness." Although the body is tired, it has avoided many harms. This includes not only fierce battles, but also deception among people. In labor, life appears tangible and powerful, so it is pleasant and beautiful.
Because it is newly reclaimed land, the roads are narrow but the grass and trees grow tall. It was getting late, and dewdrops had condensed on the grass blades, soaking the clothes. "It's not enough to regret the stain on your clothes." It seems unnecessary to mention such a trivial matter and emphasize it. There is really no regrets in getting your clothes wet. Why would Tao Yuanming, an open-minded person like him, say it? But "clothes stained" does not just mean that the clothes are wet, but a symbol. In the past, being an official was uncomfortable, but you still had a salary that could support your family and get drunk. After resigning and living in seclusion, life will naturally be much more difficult. Field work is not something that a scholar like him can easily do, and this situation will continue. It's easy to say it's easy to escape the world, but how many people can do it? Didn't Tao Yuanming himself also have a "constant war between rich and poor" in his heart? It's just that the poet doesn't want to go too far or reveal too much, so as to ruin the atmosphere of the whole poem. He just touches on the small things in front of him.
"But my wish will not be violated" is the conclusion and theme of the whole poem. "Wish" means to maintain the integrity of personality, adhere to the ideal of life, and complete this short life with a sincere attitude and a natural way. Isn't this so important? So all difficulties become insignificant compared to this. And I have indeed achieved "nothing against my wishes", which is worthy of self-appreciation.
Using simple words and gentle tone to express profound thoughts is Tao Yuanming's specialty. Even if we don't know what allusions are used in the poem, the mood and atmosphere in the poem can convey what the author wants to express deep into our hearts.