Want to understand this poem depends on the writing background and time of this poem!
In the early days of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Lao She presided over the work of the All-China Anti-Japanese War Association in Wuhan. After the fall of Wuhan, the Federation of Literary and Art Circles moved to Chongqing, and Lao She was still the executive director, presiding over the daily work of the Federation. There is also a poetry group under the "Federation of Literary and Art Circles", and the person in charge is Fang Yin. At a symposium of poets, he proposed that the Dragon Boat Festival, which commemorates the great poet Qu Yuan on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, be designated as the "Poet's Day". The meeting unanimously adopted and published the "Poet's Day Declaration", which was submitted to Guo Moruo for review and then sent to newspapers for publication. So on the Dragon Boat Festival every year, poets get together to celebrate and exchange poems. The atmosphere is very grand and jubilant.
At that time, Wu Zuxiang was also in Chongqing, teaching at Central University, and was also a director of the Literature Association. He has a close relationship with Lao She and has deep feelings. During the Dragon Boat Festival for several years, Lao She made a special trip to Wu Zuxiang's home to celebrate the "Poet's Day".
1942 Dragon Boat Festival, Lao She came to the group home for a holiday and wrote such a poem "Dragon Boat Festival Poetry":
The Dragon Boat Festival is full of storms, and the children in the village are still wearing old clothes.
Invite each other, bring bamboo hats, and dare to love the thatched cottage for the mud.
There are guests working together to prepare meat, but there is no money to buy wine and sell goods.
The fish was three feet the year before last, not as delicious as the beans today.
The poem is straightforward, but it shows us a vivid picture of historical life: the words "children in the village are still wearing old clothes" and "return" show Lao She's distress to the people's difficult situation during the Anti-Japanese War. His poems are closely related to people's lives and feelings. During the national crisis, even the intellectuals themselves were poor. On holidays, for the sake of sincere friendship, no matter how deep the mud is and how slippery the road is, we should take hemp fiber to a friend's house and buy wine to celebrate the festival with a little money earned from selling articles. With the increasingly fierce in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, life is getting harder every year. After the Dragon Boat Festival two years ago, you can still eat big fish and meat. Now you can only eat tofu on holidays.