Take a lazy look back at the flowers, and half the reason is to cultivate and half the reason is to be a gentleman.
It's from Yuan Zhen's Five Poems of Leaving Thoughts (Part IV) in the Tang Dynasty.
Once it was difficult to cross the sea, forever amber.
Take a lazy look back at the flowers, and you are half-qualified to cultivate and half-qualified. Full text appreciation
The first two sentences "Once the sea was difficult for water, forever amber" were changed from the article "He who watches the sea is difficult for water, and he who swims at the gate of saints is difficult for words" in Mencius with all his heart. The comparison between the two places is similar, but Mencius is a simile, and the metaphor of "watching the sea" is "swimming at the gate of saints", and the metaphor is obvious; And these two sentences are metaphors, and the metaphor is not obvious. The vast expanse of the sea dwarfs the water elsewhere. Wushan is facing Yunfeng, facing the Yangtze River, and the clouds are steaming. According to Song Yu's Preface to Gao Tang Fu, its cloud is transformed by the goddess, which belongs to the sky above and enters Yu Yuan below. It is as luxuriant as a pine tree and as beautiful as a charming girl. Therefore, by contrast, the clouds elsewhere are eclipsed. "The sea" and "Wushan" are the most beautiful images in the world, which people take for granted. Literally, they mean that they have experienced "the sea" and "Wushan", and it is difficult to look at the water and clouds elsewhere. In fact, they are used to metaphor that the feelings between their husband and wife are like the water of the sea and the clouds of Wushan. Their depth and beauty are unparalleled in the world, so there is no woman who can make themselves emotional except his wife.
"It's hard for water" and "It's not a cloud", which are also affectionate. This is of course Yuan Zhen's preference for his wife, but the feelings of husband and wife like them are really rare. Yuan Zhen has a vivid description in the poem "Mourning for the Sadness". Therefore, the third sentence said that he walked through the "flowers" and was too lazy to look at it, indicating that he had no attachment to women.
The reason for "lazy review" is explained in the fourth sentence. Since you are so attached to your dead wife, why do you say "half-predestined cultivation and half-predestined monarch" here? In his life, Yuan Zhen respected Buddhism and Taoism by "attaching importance to Xiaoyao Pian and paying attention to Toutuo Jing" (Bai Juyi's Ten Poems of Answering Questions praised Yuan Zhen's language). In addition, the "cultivation" here can also be understood as focusing on the cultivation of moral knowledge. However, to Yuan Zhen, respect for Buddha and devotion to Taoism, self-cultivation and scholarship are nothing more than an emotional sustenance for his loss of love and grief. The anxiety expressed by "half-edge monasticism" and "half-edge monarch" is the same, and it is more meaningful to say "half-edge monasticism" In the Qing Dynasty, the Qin Dynasty's "Poems on Eliminating Cold" thought that it was a manifestation of fickle feelings to mourn the death of the "half-predestined monarch", which was too ignorant of the poet's difficulties.
Yuan Zhen's quatrain is not only extremely high in analogy and lyrical, but also excellent in brushwork. The first two sentences use extreme metaphors to write nostalgic mourning feelings, such as "the sea" and "Wushan", which are magnificent in meaning, and have the trend of elegy spreading and rivers rushing. Later, "lazy review" and "half-qualified gentleman" suddenly eased the language situation and turned it into a profound lyric. Relaxation, change, forming a ups and downs of the melody. As far as the mood of the whole poem is concerned, it is romantic but not vulgar, magnificent but not flashy, solemn and stirring but not deep, creating the realm of absolute victory in the mourning quatrains of the Tang Dynasty. The phrase "I once crossed the sea" is especially recited by people. Full-text translation and notes
Full-text translation
Once I have been to the sea, the water elsewhere is not enough; Clouds in other places are not called clouds except Wushan Mountain.
I hurried through the flowers, too lazy to look back; This reason is partly due to the abstinence of monks and partly due to the fact that you once had.
note
① once: once arrived. Meridian: passing by.
② Difficult: It means "not enough to take care of" and "not worth seeing".
③ except: except, leave. By contrast, clouds in other places are not called clouds except Wushan Mountain. Both this sentence and the previous sentence are metaphors of a love affair that I have been in contact with.
④ take the time: hastily, hastily and casually. Here is the appearance of "passing in a hurry", "passing in a hurry" or "passing casually" It should not be interpreted as "walking in order". Example: Song Luyou's Autumn Summer Night Prosperity: "Calling a child to open a rattan paper with a candle, a clear poem takes the second place." Yuan Zhu Tingyu's "Green Apricot Farewell" song: "The heartbroken place, take the time to leave."
⑤ Flowers: This refers not to flowers in nature, but to places where there are many beautiful women, implying brothels and prostitutes' houses.
⑥ Half fate: This means "half is because ...".
⑦ Daoism: refers to the cultivation of Taoism. What is clarified here is that monks pay attention to abstinence.
⑧ Jun: This refers to the lover who once liked. Author's brief introduction
Yuan Zhen (779-831, or from the 14th year of Tang Daizong Dali to the 5th year of Wenzong Dahe) was born in Luoyang, Tang Dynasty (now Luoyang, Henan Province). Father Yuan Kuan, mother Zheng. He is a descendant of Tuoba, a Xianbei clan in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the 14th grandson of Shiyi Gui. In his early years, he advocated "new Yuefu" with Bai Juyi. People often call him and Bai Juyi "Yuan Bai".