"Bee"
Tang Dynasty: Luo Yin
Regardless of the flat land or the top of the mountain, the infinite scenery is occupied.
After harvesting the honey from hundreds of flowers, for whom is it hard work and for whom is it sweet?
Translation
Whether on the flat land or on the mountain peaks, the beautiful scenery is occupied by bees.
Bee, you gather all the flowers and turn them into nectar. Who do you work hard for, and who do you want to taste the sweetness?
Comments
Shanjian: mountain peak.
Infinite scenery: extremely beautiful scenery.
To occupy: to possess, to occupy.
Collect: take, here refers to taking nectar.
Appreciation
Luo Yin's poems about things are "cut into things" but "not attached to things". They are often ingenious and have unique meanings. Their satire is profound, sharp and thought-provoking. Shen Xianglong of the Qing Dynasty wrote in his "Essays on Ci": "The works of chanting things are to borrow things to express one's temperament, and the feelings of one's life experience and the worries of the kingdom are implicitly contained in them. This is a far-reaching and profound thing, and it is not possible to chant one thing. "On the basis of his in-depth and meticulous observation of objects, Luo Yin integrated his strong worries about his family and country and his life experience into the objects he chanted, and his satirical satire on the world made him stand out in the poetry world of the late Tang Dynasty. "Bee" expresses his thinking on social and historical issues by singing about the natural phenomenon of bees collecting flowers and making nectar for human consumption.
The first two sentences describe the living conditions of bees, constantly shuttling and working among the blooming mountain flowers. The vast territory gives them considerable space to display their abilities. "No matter" or "infinite", bees "take all the glory" in their hard work. When written simply, it seems ordinary and straightforward, almost in a tone of appreciation and praise. In fact, it is ingenuity, first promoting and then suppressing. , paving the way for the discussion below.
The last two sentences closely follow the image of "bee", extend and expand the image of "laborer" it symbolizes, and express the meaning of "after collecting hundreds of flowers into honey, it will be sweet to whomever you work hard for" A sigh. At the same time, it also raises an intriguing question: the flowers that have been picked are turned into honey, and the hard work finally has gratifying results. The topic changes, who is all this hard work for? In the dark and decadent society at that time, it was the exploiters who got something for nothing, occupied high positions, and held great power. The irony in this is self-evident. The poet used a rhetorical tone to accuse those who were addicted to wealth and wealth. After lamenting for a long time, he could not help but feel pity and pity for the vast number of hardworking people. From another side, he faced this injustice that those who work do not gain and those who gain do not work. Reality ridiculed and flogged him. While pleading for the grievances of the working people, he also reflected on his own situation of being a subordinate for a long time and unable to achieve his ambitions. He also expressed his deeper hatred for the social phenomena in the late Tang Dynasty that included cliques, eunuchs, frequent wars, and people's dire livelihood. feeling.
This bee poem uses symbolic techniques and the form of questions to reflect the social phenomenon that workers cannot enjoy the fruits of their labor. "In the end, the grain and millet belong to others" and "The pottery is exhausted in front of the door, and there is no tile on the house" in Mei Yaochen's "The Potter" can be understood in the same way. They are all lamenting the experience of hard life and the hardships of society. It is a reflection for people and themselves.
Bees and butterflies have become symbols of charm in the writings of poets and poets. However, bees are different from butterflies after all. They work hard all their lives to make honey, contributing a lot but enjoying little. The poet Luo Yin focused on this point and wrote such a profound poem "Animal Story". The meaning alone is refreshing. There are three points worth noting in the artistic expression of this poem:
1. If you want to take it, you give it to it, but it is powerful when you fall. The meaning of this poem is concentrated in the last two sentences of the exclamation, lamenting that bees have nothing to gain from their lifelong business except "hard work." However, the first two sentences use an almost boastful tone, saying that whether it is plain fields or high mountains, flowers are in full bloom wherever they are. Every place is the domain of bees. Here the author uses extreme adverbs and adjectives - "regardless", "infinite", "exhaustible", etc., and unconditional sentences, saying that bees "occupy all the scenery", which seems to be consistent with the theme. Contradiction. In fact, this is just a way of saying something that is true and wanting to seize something, so it is used as a metaphor for the last two sentences. Honey, I don't know who owns it. If the word "Zhanzhan" is wiped out, the expression effect will be stronger.
2. Narrative and interrogation, this poem uses the combination of narrative and argument. However, the discussion is not clearly stated, but the first two sentences are mainly narration, and the last two sentences are main narration, and the fourth sentence is main discussion. It already means "hard work", and the word "chengmi" already means "sweet". However, due to the different main themes, the last two sentences have the meaning of repetition without the sense of repetition. The original meaning of the rhetorical sentence is: for. Who is willing to work hard? But it is divided into two questions: "For whom is it hard?" People feel endless emotion.
3. The meaning is profound and can be interpreted in two ways. This poem captures the characteristics of bees, without any artificiality, no painting, and no rhetoric. And thoughtfully, readers can gain some insights from this "animal story" and feel that it contains a sense of life.
Some people say that this poem is actually a lament for the people in the world who work hard for profit; others think that it uses bees to praise hard workers and ruthlessly mocks those exploiters who get something for nothing. The two interpretations may seem at odds with each other, but in fact both are acceptable. Because there are two situations in "allegorical" poems: one is when the author sets up metaphors for some kind of preaching, and the meaning is relatively simple and certain; the other is when the author observes the objects with strong emotions and makes the objects look like the master, among which there are also It can lead to lessons, but the "moral" is not so superficial and certain. In such a poem, the author probably saw the shadow of the hard life at that time from the bee's "story", but he only wrote down the "story" without directly preaching or making specific comparisons, so the image he created has greater flexibility. In real life, there are different meanings of hard life. There are two main types that are similar to bees: one is the so-called "there is no much suffering in the end, and when it is too much, the eyes close" ("A Dream of Red Mansions" "Good Song") ; One is that "the hoe and the plow invade the stars" and "in the end the grain belongs to others." This allows readers to understand it differently in two senses. However, as the times progress, the glory of labor has become a common concept, and "bee" has increasingly become a symbol of virtue. When people read Luo Yin's poem, they are naturally more inclined to the latter interpretation.
Extended reading:
Introduction to Luo Yin
(Luo Yin 833-January 26, 910), courtesy name Zhaojian, Hangzhou Xincheng (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang) A native of Xindeng Town, Fuyang District, Fuyang City, he was a poet of the Tang Dynasty and the author of "Slanderous Book", "Taiping Liangtong Book", etc. Luo Yin's thoughts belong to Taoism, and his book is an attempt to refine a set of "Taiping Kuangji techniques" for use by people all over the world. It is the product of the revival and development of Huang Lao's thoughts in troubled times.
At the end of the thirteenth year of Dazhong, he arrived in the capital and took the Jinshi examination, but failed to pass the examination after seven years. In the eighth year of Xiantong's reign, he compiled his own text as "The Slanderous Book", which became increasingly hated by the ruling class, so Luo Gun sent a poem to him saying: "Although the slanderous book is better than one person's name," he wrote. Later, I took the exam intermittently for several years, and took the exam for the General Secretary more than ten times. I claimed that I was "in the exam period for 12 or 13 years". In the end, I failed, and it was known in history as "the top ten but not the best". There are fourteen volumes of "Collection of Songs and Poems", three volumes of "Collection A and B", one volume "Collection of Waiji", and eleven volumes of the current collection of poems.
After Huang Chao's uprising, he fled the chaos and lived in seclusion in Jiuhua Mountain. In the third year of Guangqi's reign at the age of 55, he returned to his hometown and became a disciple of King Qian Liu of Wuyue. Later Liang died on December 13, the third year of Kaiping's reign (January 26, 910). Luo Yin was famous for his talent and learning in his hometown since he was a child. His poems and articles were outstanding and highly praised by people at the time. He and two other talented people of the same clan were collectively called "Three Luo".
At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Luo Yin, like many others, wanted to use the imperial examination to enter an official career and show his ambitions. But although Luo Yin was very famous, he failed the exam six times, so he changed his name to Luo Yin. Luo Yin's talent and learning were indeed outstanding, and even the prime ministers Zheng Wei and Li Wei at the time admired him. However, because the irony in his test papers was too strong and he was also arrogant, this made him incompetent in the ancient Chinese society that valued modesty. Very isolated, the examiners resented him. One time when he was applying for the examination, there was a severe drought, and the emperor issued an edict to pray for rain. Luo Yin wrote a letter to remonstrate, saying that floods and droughts existed like heaven and earth and could not be eliminated immediately. He advised the emperor to pray with all his heart. , then the common people will be grateful to Your Majesty no matter how severely their crops are affected. Finally, he said that neither the former emperor nor the ministers could do anything for His Majesty, not to mention that it was done by a few unknown people. He believed that this method was not advisable. Luo Yin's words were too blunt and somewhat ironic, and in the end the emperor did not listen to him.