Spring Day, Song Dynasty·Zhu Xi
The beautiful day brings beauty to the shore of Surabaya,
The boundless scenery is new for a while.
It’s easy to recognize the east wind side,
Spring is always spring when it’s in brilliant colors
[Notes]
1. Victory Day: The weather is fine day.
2. Xunfang: spring outing, outing.
3. Sishui: The name of the river, in Shandong Province.
4. Easy: ordinary, easy. "Easy to recognize" means easy to recognize.
5. East wind: spring breeze.
[Brief Analysis]
People generally think that this is a spring outing poem. Judging from the scenery written in the poem, it is very similar to this.
The first sentence "Shengri seeks the beauty of Surabaya shore", "Shengri" refers to a sunny day, which points out the weather. "Surabaya Shore" indicates the location. "Xunfang" means looking for beautiful spring scenery, which highlights the theme. The following three sentences are all written about what is seen and gained in "Xunfang". The second sentence, "The boundless scenery is new for a while," describes the initial impression gained from watching the spring scenery. Use "boundless" to describe all the scenery within sight. "A moment of newness" not only describes the return of spring to the earth and the natural scenery taking on a new look, but also describes the author's refreshing and joyful feeling during an outing. The third sentence "Easy to know the Dongfeng side", the word "knowledge" in the sentence inherits the word "find" in the first sentence. "Easy to recognize" means that the face and characteristics of spring are easily identifiable. "Dongfengmian" also refers to spring. The fourth sentence "Everything is always spring" means that all the scenes are dyed with spring light, and people know spring from these thousands of purples and reds. This specifically explains why we can "know the east wind side easily". The word "a thousand purples and reds" in this sentence echoes the word "a new situation" in the second sentence. The third and fourth sentences use figurative language to specifically describe the new situation and the gains from seeking fragrance.
Literally, this poem seems to be about the impressions of spring outing, but upon closer inspection, the location of the search for fragrance is the shore of Surabaya, which was occupied by the Jin people when the Song Dynasty was crossing south. Zhu Xi had never gone north, so of course it was impossible for him to visit the shores of Surabaya to sing in spring. In fact, the word "Sishui" in the poem refers to Confucius, because in the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius once taught students by singing string songs between Zhu and Si. Therefore, the so-called "seeking fragrance" refers to seeking the way of saints. "A thousand purples and reds" refers to the richness and variety of Confucianism. The poet compares the way of the saint to the spring breeze that stimulates vitality and dyes all things. This is actually a philosophical poem that embodies truth and interest in images.