The literal meaning of this poem is the author's impressions of a spring outing written during a spring outing. Wang Xiang annotated "Poems of a Thousand Families" and thought it was a work about a spring outing. According to the author's life time, it can be seen that the spring outing in Surabaya written in this poem is not a fact, but a fiction.
In the eleventh year of Shaoxing (1141), the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, the Song and Jin Dynasties signed the "Shaoxing Peace Agreement", and the territory of the Song and Jin Dynasties was bounded by the Huai River. In the first year of Longxing (1163), Zhang Jun went on a northern expedition and was defeated by Fuli again. From then on, the peace faction gained power and the anti-war faction disappeared.
After Song Xiaozong returned, the Southern Song Dynasty court became slightly more stable and settled in the southeast, while the Jin people had to temporarily withdraw their troops in Huaibei. At the end of Zhu Xi's life, the Southern Song Dynasty did not have a large border defense army, and Zhu Xi himself had no way to cross the Huaihe River to the Lu border, and it was impossible to go north to the Sishui River.
The author has never been to the land of Surabaya, but this poem is written about Surabaya. The reason is due to Zhu Xi’s latent psychology and his crush on Confucius. He longed for the time when Confucius lived in Zhusi, recited string songs, and preached. It is a great thing to teach people, so I entrusted my mind to wandering in search of beauty. Therefore, this poem is actually based on Surabaya, the holy land of Confucius.
Extended information
Literally speaking, this poem seems to be about the impression of spring outing, but if you look closely, the location of the search for fragrance is the shore of Surabaya, which was already occupied by the Jin Dynasty when the Song Dynasty was crossing south. people occupy. Zhu Xi had never gone north, so of course it was impossible for him to travel to the shores of Surabaya to sing and 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.
The space shown in "Boundless Scenery" is extremely vast, which reveals the poet's original intention of pursuing the holy way. "East wind" is a metaphor for education, and "a riot of purple and red" is a metaphor for the richness and variety of Confucianism. The poet compares the way of the saint to the spring breeze that stimulates vitality and ignites all things. This is actually a philosophical poem that embodies truth and interest in images. Philosophical poetry does not show traces of reasoning, which is Zhu Xi's brilliance.