Qincha
Tang Dynasty: Bai Juyi
The Wuwu was sent to the group, and Tao Tao was willful throughout his life.
Since I resigned from office, I have had many dreams in my spring. If I don’t study, I will have more leisure time.
In Qinli, the only thing we know about is Lushui, but in tea, it is Mengshan.
Poverty, passability, and stoppage are always with me. Do I have no way to go back now?
Notes
⑴ Wuwu: high-minded character but unconventional.
⑵Taotao (yǎoyǎo): harmonious appearance, "The Book of Songs·Guofeng·Wangfeng·Junzi Yangyang": "The gentleman Taotao."
Appreciation
In his later years, Bai Juyi resigned from the official position of Minister of Justice and spent time in the Eastern Capital. He wrote the poem "Qin Cha", which expresses the poet's view that "if you are successful, you can help the world, and if you are poor, you can be alone".
The first couplet states that he is cheerful, open-minded and free-spirited by nature, which is contrary to the atmosphere in the officialdom, so he has been repeatedly excluded in the officialdom.
"Throwing away one's official position" means resigning from one's official position. After retiring, one can sleep in the spring without being disturbed by the morning court. At an advanced age, one no longer has to worry about reading poems and books for fame, and feels more relaxed and at ease. The second couplet describes the comfortable state after being idle.
Three couplets are written on the guqin, and the guqin music "Lushui" is loved by poets. The poet is proficient in music. He once wrote a poem "Listening to the Ancient Lu River": "Hearing the ancient Lu River makes my heart peaceful. I want to know the flowing thoughts, but listen to the sparse sounds. Under the bamboo sun of the west window, there is still a clear day. "It can be seen that the poet mentioned this song to express his peaceful mood; the second sentence writes about tea, "old friends" and old acquaintances. "Mengshan" refers to Mengshan tea, produced in Mingshan County, Yazhou (now part of Sichuan), Mengding Mountain District. According to legend, during the Western Han Dynasty, Zen Master Wu Lizhen personally planted seven immortal tea plants at Ganlu Temple in Shangqingfeng, Mengding. Drinking them can become an earthly immortal. . The poet raised this tea to show his transcendent thoughts.
But the poet is a standard Confucian disciple after all, and his resignation was not entirely out of his heart. Seeing the increasing contradictions and the emergence of various shortcomings in the Tang Dynasty, his loyalty to the emperor and patriotism could not be overcome. Therefore, in the last couplet, he still expressed his lament that his ambition was difficult to achieve and his expectation to develop his ambition. "Poverty leads to practice and stop", where "poverty" means that there is no way to serve the country, "pass" means that talents can be put to use, "action" means that politics can be used, and "stop" means that ambition is difficult to realize. Lotte's "Ten Rhymes of Exile in the South of the Yangtze River" "A person with great ambitions is a countryman, but his life is not as good as others. His talents are as high as his ambition, and he has become a water scale. Sunflower branches are still facing the sun, and when they are broken, they say goodbye to spring... Traveling to hide and clearing the fortress, everything is left to Tao. "This is the best explanation of this poem. The last sentence expresses the poet's desire to return to Chang'an to serve the country, but the poet failed to enter Xijing in the end, which is sad.