Mulan Poetry/Mulan Ci
Southern and Northern Dynasties: Anonymous
Chatting, Mulan is knitting at home. I can't hear the loom, but I hear the woman sigh. Ask a woman what she thinks and what she remembers. Women have nothing to think about, and women have nothing to remember. Last night, I saw the military post, and Khan ordered more soldiers. The military books have 12 volumes, all with the names of lords. Grandpa has no eldest son, Mulan has no big brother, and she is willing to be a pommel horse, so she will sign for him from now on.
Buy horses in the east, saddles in the west, reins in the south and whip in the north. When I said goodbye to my parents, I was by the Yellow River at dusk. I didn't hear my parents calling for a female voice, but I heard the Yellow River splashing. Say goodbye to the Yellow River and go to Montenegro at dusk. I didn't hear my parents calling for a female voice, but I heard Yanshan Hu riding a horse.
Wan Li to Rongji, the mountain is flying. The breath of the new moon is golden, and the cold light is iron. The general died in battle, and the strong man returned in ten years.
See you later, the son of heaven is sitting in the hall. Policy 12 turn, before reward 100. Khan asked him what he wanted. Mulan doesn't need Shang, but she is willing to send her son to his hometown.
My parents heard about the woman and went out to help Guo; As soon as Sister A heard that Sister Mei was coming, she had to cut her red makeup. When I heard my sister coming, I sharpened my knife at pigs and sheep. Open my East Pavilion door, sit in my West Pavilion bed, take off my wartime robe and wear my old clothes. When the window is decorated with clouds, the mirror is yellow. When I went out to meet the fire companions, I was both surprised and busy: I spent twelve years together, but I didn't know Mulan was a girl.
Male rabbits have messy feet and female rabbits have blurred eyes; When two rabbits walk side by side, can I tell if I am a male or a female?
translate
Sighs came and went, and Mulan was weaving against the door. There was no sound of loom weaving, only Mulan sighed. Ask Mulan what she is thinking. Ask Mulan what she is thinking. (Mulan answers) I didn't think anything, nothing. I saw the draft documents last night and learned that the monarch was recruiting on a large scale. There are so many conscription documents, each with his father's name on it. My father has no eldest son, and Mulan (I) has no brother. Mulan was willing to go to the market to buy saddles and horses for this, so she began to fight instead of her father.
Harnesses can be bought everywhere in the market. I left my parents the next morning and camped by the Yellow River at night. I can't hear my parents calling my daughter, I can only hear the sound of the Yellow River flowing. Leave the Yellow River on the road the next morning and arrive in Montenegro in the evening. I can't hear my parents calling for my daughter, but I can only hear the chirping of Hu Bing's war horses in Yanshan.
It's not far from Wan Li to go to the battlefield, and it's as fast as flying over mountains and mountains. The sound of knocking came from the cold in the north, and the moonlight reflected the armor of the soldiers. Soldiers fought many wars, some died for their country, some fought for many years and returned home in triumph.
When he returned victorious, he appeared in front of the emperor sitting in the palace. I have made great contributions to Mulan, and I have received two hundred gold, and more. When the emperor asked Mulan what she wanted, Mulan said that she didn't want to be a businessman, but wanted to ride a swift horse back to her hometown.
Parents heard that their daughter was back and helped each other to meet her outside the city; When my sister heard that she was back, she dressed up in front of the door. My brother heard that my sister came back and was busy sharpening the knife and killing pigs and sheep. Every room opened and went in to have a look. They took off their battle clothes, put on the clothes of girls before, arranged their beautiful hair in front of the window and mirror, and hung decorations on their faces in front of the mirror. When I went out to see the fire companion who was fighting together, the fire companion was surprised. After walking together for several years, they didn't even know Mulan was a girl.
When the rabbit's ears are hanging in mid-air, the front foot of the male rabbit is always moving, and the eyes of the female rabbit are always narrowing, so it is easy to tell. Male rabbits and female rabbits run side by side. How can we tell which rabbit is male and which is female?
Key analysis
1. Bixing technology
There is a song in the folk song "Folding Willow" in the Northern Dynasties. The first six sentences are "Why bother He Lili? Women are supposed to knit windows. I don't smell the loom, only the woman's sigh. What is this woman thinking? Ask the woman what she remembers? " The first six sentences of Mulan Poetry are six sentences of Zheliu. Ancient folk songs often use the same inspiration and metaphor, and some words are similar or even the same (there are many examples of folk songs in the Book of Songs), because the words are the same and easy to remember. This is not plagiarism, because the theme and content can be completely different. The beginning of Mulan Poem is probably also "He Lili", which was changed to "chirp after chirp" by later generations. "He Lili" has no specific meaning, such as "Yahuhai" and "Yazuizi Yo", which is a phonetic word.
2. Khan and the son of heaven
"Khan" is the appellation of the ancient northwest nationalities to the monarch, and "Tian Zi" is the appellation of the Han nationality to the monarch in feudal society. But in this poem, "Khan" has become synonymous with "the son of heaven", which can no longer follow the original meaning of the so-called "fascinated king" in Guang Yun. This can only be regarded as a foreign language component in Chinese in the era of Mulan poetry. Otherwise, Mulan went because of Khan, but she was rewarded by the Son of Heaven when she came back. Isn't this inconsistent?
Since Mulan's poems come from the Northern Dynasties and Mulan is a native of the Northern Dynasties, it can be verified that Mulan is not a Han Chinese, and her monarch is naturally the leader of the separatist regime of ethnic minorities in the Northern Dynasties, and the Northern and Southern Dynasties are a period of great ethnic integration in China's history, so the most likely assumption is that the leaders of ethnic minority regimes in the Northern Dynasties are also willing to accept the title of "emperor" under the influence of Chinese culture.
"Twelve" is an imaginary number.
Twelve Volumes of the Strategy, Twelve Years of Traveling Together, and Ten Years' Return of a Strong Man-the two "twelve" and one "ten" in these three sentences are imaginary numbers. Traditionally, such numbers all mean "more". "Twelve years" and "ten years" in the two sentences "Twelve years with the company" and "Ten years of the return of a strong man" both mean more than ten years. If we use real numbers to understand them, there will be contradictions before and after. Twelve volumes of the art of war, each with its own name, aims to emphasize that Mulan's father must go out this time. Wang Zhong, a writer in A Qing, wrote an article "Interpretation of Thirty-nine", which put forward the usage rules of imaginary numbers such as three and nine, and clarified the textual research and debate about numbers by predecessors.
4. Buy horses in the east, saddles in the west, reins in the south and whips in the north.
The words "east, south, west and north" in the sentence "buying horses in the east market" are all empty positions rather than real positions. This only exaggerates the urgency of Mulan's preparation before departure, but it is actually unreasonable. The words "east" and "west" in the following "open my Dongting door and sit in my Xiting bed" are also vacant, so it is not enough according to the facts. Many of these locative words are used together to create a certain atmosphere, rather than the actual reference. This kind of "imaginary position", like the imaginary number mentioned above, is an established rule in ancient Chinese.
When the window is covered with clouds, the mirror is yellow
When the Window and Facing the Mirror are intertextual. "Li Yunbian" and "Iron" were both made when the window was facing the mirror. This usage is common in ancient poems, especially in ancient metrical poems. For example, in Wang Changling's poems in the Tang Dynasty, "The moon is bright in Qin Dynasty, but it is intermittent in Han Dynasty" is an example.
"Flower yellow" is the facial decoration of women in the Northern Wei Dynasty. There are two sayings: one is that "folk women were not allowed to make up in Yuan and Wei Dynasties; Since the imperial secretary, all have yellow eyebrows and black makeup. Therefore, there is a saying in Mulan Poetry that' the mirror is full of water and the moon is yellow'. " ("Gushan Pen Dust") It is also said that the gold paper is cut into the shapes of stars, moons, flowers and birds and pasted on the forehead.
6. About the theme of this poem
1. In feudal society, women had no status. Mulan is a professional woman. She works as a maid to join the army instead of her father. "When a general dies in a hundred battles, a strong man returns in ten years." . What men can do, Mulan can do; Mulan can do what men can't. Hua Mulan's heroic image itself is a ruthless mockery of the traditional concept of discrimination against women in feudal society.
In feudal society, the pursuit of fame and fortune is the dominant traditional thought, and many people dream of it. However, after ten years of fierce fighting, Mulan returned home in triumph, but refused to accept a reward, and was willing to return to the fields and live the farming life of the working people again, which fully reflected the simple and humble quality of the working people. Hua Mulan's behavior itself is a powerful satire on feudal literati who are keen on fame and fortune.
In fact, the theme of Mulan's poems has been directly pointed out in the poems. That is: women are no less than men, and their talents, wisdom and courage are by no means inferior to men. This is the theme of this poem. If summed up in one sentence, it is: praising the women heroes from the working people.
The theme of Mulan's poems is not to praise the martial spirit, but to reflect people's yearning for a peaceful life. However, Mulan Poetry is not expressed in the form of sadness and tragedy like the above-mentioned folk songs in the Northern Dynasties, but in the form of comedy in which women join the army instead of their fathers. Of course, the story itself makes it possible for the poem to objectively praise women's heroism, but the problem of praising heroes is secondary to the problems reflected by the theme in the poem, and can only be regarded as an ideological content contained in the poem, not a theme.
7. What is the sound of "chirp after chirp"?
There have always been different views on this. There are roughly three kinds: loom sound, sigh sound and insect sound.
① Loom sound. If it is understood as the sound of a loom, the following will happen. At the beginning of the poem, there was a constant loom sound, which was heard before people appeared. Then she explained that Mulan was knitting a sweater across the door, and the image of a hardworking girl came to the fore. But weaving and weaving, there is no rhythmic loom sound, and there are waves of sighs. Why on earth is this? Mulan, Mulan, what makes you so worried? So I turned to the following plot. This understanding is of course reasonable.
2 sigh. Some scholars interpret this as: "Weaving at home shows that Mulan is a working woman, not Miss Houmen. I should have heard the sound of her knitting, but I heard the sigh of' chirp'. A "chirp" has indicated that she is sighing, and she is more concerned about "replying to chirp". The author still feels that the meaning is not enough, and finally only sighs when he hears women. The author emphasized this point repeatedly in order to tell us the depth of Mulan's worries. Mulan stopped to sigh, not while knitting. The author did not write Mulan's sad face, nor did he write Mulan's pause and sigh. The author just painted a sound and portrayed the image of a Mulan girl full of sadness and depression through constant sighs. "
③ Insect singing. If we understand "chirp" as the sound of insects, we will see such a picture in front of us-there is no sound around, only insects sing "chirp" at night. Then write Mulan sitting opposite the loom weaving, but why does she sit there sighing while holding the loom and not knitting? The sound of insects in the four fields echoes Mulan's sigh, rendering a girl's mood and atmosphere before making a major decision. In a word, the poem is meaningless, rational, and literal.
8. Who is the questioner who asked the woman what she thought and what she remembered?
Some people say that parents are asking, only the father is asking, or the mother is asking. Indeed, if parents hear their daughter's sigh, they will definitely ask such a concerned question. It is said that the commentator is asking questions, because Mulan poetry is a folk song created orally by the collective, and folk songs can be sung with music, and singers can ask questions as commentators. These two statements are actually not contradictory. In folk singing literature, singers often have the dual identity of narrator and story character, and the language of narrator and story character is sometimes integrated. So in this poem, "Ask the woman what she thinks, ask her what she remembers" and "The woman has nothing to think about ..." From now on can be regarded as a question and answer between parents and daughters, and also as a question and answer plan of the narrator. In addition, this poem is often narrated in the first person, which can be regarded as Mulan's self-report and the narrator's retelling.
9. How to understand four sentences, such as "the feet of the male rabbit are fluttering"?
First, make it clear that this is a vivid metaphor.
Secondly, we should further think about why the author ended the poem with such a metaphor. First of all, this metaphor vividly explains the surprise of "partner" and is also a reasonable answer to the questions that readers will inevitably have. Thirdly, it is precisely the characteristics of folk song language to compare men and women with male rabbits and female rabbits. This clever metaphor adds color and icing on the cake to the whole poem.
In addition, these four poems are regarded by the singer or narrator as a compliment to Mulan, which is not contradictory to the view that they are regarded as Mulan's answer to The Fire Companion.
10. How to understand the handling of complexity and simplification in Mulan's poems?
The following three points must be made clear: where are the complexity and simplicity in Mulan's poems? What effect does this simplification have? Why does the author do this?
(1) The application of complex brushwork: Mulan's worries when knitting at home, her activities when preparing to tidy up, her mentality when going to war, her family's joy when coming home, and her joy when emphasizing "daughter's dress". , are written in great detail.
For example, Mulan bought pommel horse, and described it in parallel from east to west, north and south, rendering the tension and busyness of pre-war preparation. It seems that readers can see Mulan's haste and busyness, and they can also imagine how dashing Mulan is in military uniform!
For another example, when Hua Mulan went to the battlefield, she repeatedly mentioned "I didn't hear her parents calling for a female voice", which is actually a true portrayal of Hua Mulan's mentality at this time: at sunset, when dusk fell, Hua Mulan slept alone on the bank of the Yellow River, listening to the rushing sound of the Yellow River, but her heart was always echoing her parents' voices, drifting away, and her parents' voice calling for her daughter had long since disappeared, but it always echoed in her daughter's ears! The journey is long, when can I hear the kind call of my parents who warm my daughter's heart again?
For example, in the last paragraph, when Mulan was going back to her hometown, the different actions of her parents, brothers and sisters were repeated three times in the same sentence, vividly showing the happy mood and atmosphere when her relatives finally got together after ten years' separation.
The description of Mulan's re-entry into the boudoir and "daughter makeup" vividly renders Mulan's love for life and beautiful and lovely daughter modality.
② Application of simple pen. As for a simple pen, the description of the battle process is mainly simple, and ten years of life can be written in just a few words.
Why did you arrange this? What the author describes with pen and ink is often what he wants to highlight. What this poem wants to highlight is the praise for Mulan's filial piety to her parents and her courage to shoulder heavy responsibilities. Therefore, putting aside the cruel war can reflect the beautiful inner content and spare no expense. In addition, this complicated arrangement seems to imply the author's longing for a better life and his indifference and distance to the war.
A girl who has been fighting hard for ten years on the battlefield has made great achievements-"the policy of twelve turns, rewarding the top 100", which shows her courage and tenacity. However, what writers and readers like is not a superwoman without feminine characteristics. People are never short of Gu Dasao, and China is not short of such standard beauties, but there are both beautiful daughters and provocative men. Mulan is unique in the history of China literature! This arrangement from complexity to simplicity has played a role in highlighting the characteristics of characters and expressing the author's tendency.