In ancient China, there was a custom of "washing children". That is, when the baby is born for three days or full moon, friends and relatives are invited to wash the baby to show auspicious celebration. In this process, the host and guests will express their best wishes and expectations for the baby and pray that the child will be smart, smart, happy and healthy in the future. This kind of poem with the theme of washing children and conveying good expectations for newborns is called "washing children's poetry"
original text
Children's washing poems
[Song] Su Shi
Everyone wants to be smart when adopting a son, and I have been delayed by being smart all my life.
I only hope that this child is honest and honest, and there is no disaster and no difficulty in reaching the public.
translate
Everyone wants their children to be smart, but I am mistaken for smart.
I only hope that my children will be stupid and stay a little longer, as long as they arrive at the Communist Youth League safely.
To annotate ...
Communist Youth League: the abbreviation of "three public and nine public".
Creation background
In the sixth year of Yuanfeng (1083), on September 27th, the third year of being demoted to Huangzhou, Su Shi's concubine Chaoyun gave birth to a son, nicknamed Gan 'er. Su Shi was so happy that he held a "child baptism" at the full moon of his child and wrote this poem "Child Washing" (also called "Child Washing"). To everyone's surprise, this poem about washing children can be described as a subversion of all previous poems about washing children.
You know, for a long time, it is the long-cherished wish of all parents to expect their children to succeed, but Su Shi said: Everyone wants their children to be smart. But what are the benefits of being smart? I was smart enough to be jealous and missed my life. If possible, I only hope that my children will be silly, dull and safe in the future, and stay away from disasters and disasters.
Make an appreciative comment
Su Shi is a great writer with excellent poetry and prose, and his works pay attention to concise words and meanings, so is this poem. A word "hope" wrote down everyone's expectations for children; A word "wrong" tells the story of a person's life. There are many twists and turns in the poem, and feelings are all in it. Foolish people should do nothing, but they can "be an official and not be a disaster." Su Shi's complaints are all in these turning points.
Su Dongpo's "Poetry of Washing Children" is only four sentences, with a playful tone and an ironic tone. Indeed, everything happens for a reason. "Everyone wants to be smart when they have a son", which is what people want and hope. It's just that Su Shi's career was greatly frustrated and he learned a lesson from it. "I have been misled by cleverness all my life" is also true. Su Shi was imprisoned for opposing Wang Anshi's new law and satirizing "new progress" in his poems. A "Wutai Poetry Case" shocked the ruling and opposition parties. Fortunately, with the rescue of senior officials, Su Shi was saved from death and retired to Huangzhou. During her stay in Huangzhou, my concubine Chaoyun gave birth to a boy for Su Shi, and "Poetry of Washing Children" was written for this boy. Just after a great ordeal, it is not difficult to understand that the poet "only wants to be stupid and honest, and to reach the public without disaster." I still want to be a "public official", but I just hope that "there will be no disasters and no difficulties"; "Simple and honest" is just a coat, and the core is simple and honest. Su Shi's desire is really emotional, and it is by no means a moaning without illness.
Lang Ying, a writer in Ming Dynasty, recorded a poem written by Qu Cunzhai, an ancestor who lived in Hangzhou, in the Seven Drafts. "Since ancient times, articles have been poor, and cleverness may not be better than ignorance." The flowers at the tip of the pen and the brocade on the chest are as empty as walls. "Be clear at a glance," Xi xx "means against it. Lang Ying thinks that Qu Jia "indulges himself like crossing Dongpo". Obviously, Su Shi's poems are too straightforward. In the Ming Dynasty, Yang Lian deliberately disagreed with Su Shi. "Dongpo wants to be stupid, just for the sake of being smart. "I am ashamed that I have been loyal all my life. Even if I have children, I have to go to Dongpo." When commenting on Yang's poems in the Qing Dynasty, Chu people said that although it was a play, there was no "virtuous son and foolish man" as Shao Ling said. Why hang it up? The anti-Dongpo poem of washing children written by Qian, a writer in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, is as straightforward as Su Shi. "Dongpo's adopted son is afraid of cleverness, and I missed my life for dementia." I hope the baby is a coincidence, and suddenly I come to your office. "
Brief introduction of the author
Su Shi (1037 ~110/) was a writer in the Song Dynasty. The word Zi Zhan, the word He Zhong, the number Dongpo lay man. Meizhou Meishan (now Sichuan) people. Su Xun's eldest son. Jiayou was a scholar for two years (1057). In addition to the Chinese book Sheren, Hanlin Bachelor, Duanming Temple Bachelor, and the history of the Ministry of Rites. He was successively sentenced to Hangzhou, Zhimi, Xuzhou, Huzhou and Yingzhou. In the third year of Yuanfeng (1080), Huangzhou was demoted by the libel law. Later, he was exiled to Huizhou and Danzhou. Song Huizong, forgive me. Died in Changzhou. Chasing Wenzhong. He is knowledgeable, versatile and good at writing, engineering poetry and calligraphy. Yu Ci is "bold and unconstrained, unwilling to follow the rhythm", with rich themes and broad artistic conception. It broke through the traditional barrier of "Ci is a colorful subject" since the late Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and the early Song Dynasty, and took poetry as its word, which created an uninhibited school and had a great influence on later generations. There are seven episodes of Dongpo, Dongpo Ci, Dongpo Yi Zhuan, Dongpo Yuefu and so on.