"Moonlight over the Lotus Pond" is an essay written by the Chinese writer Zhu Ziqing when he was teaching at Tsinghua University. The article describes the beautiful scene of the moonlight over the lotus pond, implicitly and euphemistically expressing the author's dissatisfaction with reality and longing for Freedom, the complex thoughts and feelings that want to transcend reality but cannot.
The original text of "Moonlight over the Lotus Pond"
I have been feeling quite uneasy these days. Tonight, I was sitting in the yard enjoying the cool air, and suddenly I thought of the lotus pond I walked past every day. It must look different under the light of the full moon. The moon was gradually rising, and the laughter of the children on the road outside the wall could no longer be heard; my wife was patting Runer in the house and humming a lullaby in a daze. I quietly put on my coat, closed the door and went out.
Along the lotus pond, there is a winding small cinder road. This is a secluded road; few people walk it during the day, and it is even more lonely at night. There are many trees growing on all sides of the lotus pond, which are lush and lush. On one side of the road are some willows and some trees whose names I don’t know. On a moonless night, the road was eerie and a little scary. Tonight is very good, although the moonlight is still faint.
I was alone on the road, walking with my hands behind my back. This world seemed to belong to me; I also seemed to have transcended my ordinary self and entered another world. I love being lively and calm; I love being in groups and being alone. Like tonight, a person can think about anything and think about nothing alone under this vast moonlight, and he feels like a free person. Whatever you must do or say during the day can be ignored now. This is the beauty of being alone. Let me just enjoy the boundless lotus fragrance and moonlight.
On the surface of the winding and twisting lotus pond, fields of leaves could be seen. The leaves are high out of the water, like the skirts of a graceful dancer. Among the layers of leaves, white flowers are dotted here and there, some are blooming gracefully and some are holding their petals shyly; just like individual bright pearls, stars in the blue sky, or flowers just emerging from the bath. beauty. The breeze passed by, bringing wisps of fragrance, like the faint singing from a tall building in the distance. At that time, the leaves and flowers also trembled slightly, like lightning, which immediately spread across the lotus pond. The leaves were densely packed side by side, and there seemed to be a ripple of solid blue. Under the leaves are veins of running water, which are covered and some colors cannot be seen; but the leaves are even more beautiful.
The moonlight is like flowing water, quietly flowing on this leaf and flower. Thin green mist floats in the lotus pond. The leaves and flowers seem to have been washed in milk; they are also like a dream wrapped in a gauze. Although it was a full moon, there was a thin layer of clouds in the sky, so it couldn't shine brightly; but I thought this was just the right thing - a sound sleep is essential, but a nap also has its own flavor. The moonlight shines through the trees, and the dense shrubs high up cast jagged and mottled black shadows, as steep as ghosts; the sparse shadows of the curved willows seem to be painted on lotus leaves. The moonlight in the pond is not uniform; but the light and shadow have a harmonious melody, like the famous music played on the Buddhist bell.
The lotus pond is surrounded by trees, far and near, high and low, among which willows are the most numerous. These trees surrounded a lotus pond; only a few gaps were left on the side of the path, as if they were specially left for the moonlight. The color of the trees is gloomy, and at first glance they look like a cloud of smoke; but the beauty of the willows can also be distinguished in the smoke. Faintly looming above the treetops are distant mountains, just a general outline. There are one or two street lights leaking through the cracks in the trees, looking listless like sleepy eyes. The liveliest sounds at this time were the cicadas chirruping on the trees and the frogs croaking in the water; but the excitement was theirs and I enjoyed nothing.
Suddenly I remembered the lotus picking thing. Picking lotus is an old custom in the south of the Yangtze River. It seems to have existed very early, and it was most popular during the Six Dynasties. We can roughly know it from poetry. Those who picked lotus were young women. They went in boats and sang erotic songs. Needless to say, there are many people picking lotus, and there are also people watching lotus picking. It was a lively season and also a romantic season. Emperor Yuan of the Liang Dynasty said it well in "Poem of Picking Lotus":
So the fairy boy and Yuan girl made a promise to go boating; the hawk's head slowly returned, and the feather cup was passed; the boat was about to move and the algae was hanging, and the boat was about to move. And Pingkai. Her waist is slender and her clothes are tied tightly, and her steps are delayed. At the beginning of summer and after spring, when the leaves are tender and the flowers are blooming, she smiles because she is afraid of her clothes being stained, and she pulls back her clothes because she is afraid of the ship capsizing.
It can be seen that the scene of play at that time was great. This is really interesting stuff, but unfortunately we are no longer blessed with it.
Then I remembered the sentence in "Xizhou Song":
In autumn, the lotus flowers in Nantang are more than human heads; I lower my head to pick up the lotus seeds, which are as clear as water.
If there are lotus pickers tonight, the lotus flowers here will be considered "outstanding"; just some shadows of running water will not do. This makes me miss Jiangnan after all. ——Thinking like this, I suddenly raised my head and found that I was already in front of my own door. I pushed the door gently and went in. There was no sound. My wife had been asleep for a long time.
July 1927, Tsinghua University, Beijing. Text Appreciation of "Moonlight over the Lotus Pond"
The first paragraph (the first natural paragraph) points out the theme and at the same time creates a quiet and beautiful atmosphere, leading to the full text. This paragraph closely follows the title of the article with a suspense ("Suddenly I remembered... it must be something else"), clarifying the content of the description.
The second paragraph (the second to sixth natural paragraphs) focuses on the beautiful scene of the moonlight in the lotus pond. Write the origin first (the second and third natural paragraphs). Continue writing about the lotus pond (the fourth natural paragraph). Then write about the moonlight (the fifth natural paragraph).
Finally, write down the surroundings of the lotus pond (sixth natural paragraph). The second section focuses on the beautiful scene of moonlight over the lotus pond. There are outlines, detailed descriptions, renderings, and foils, which are flexible, diverse, and well-organized. It attracts readers to feel like they are actually there, and experience the beautiful feeling with the author.
The third paragraph (the last few natural paragraphs) focuses on lyricism, expressing the homesickness caused by the moonlight scenery.