It means that the poorer the literati are and the less ambitious they are, the better their poems will be.
“Poetry is poor and then craftsmanship” comes from Ouyang Xiu of the Song Dynasty’s “Preface to the Collection of Poems by Mei Shengyu”: “Most of the unparalleled poems are based on the words of the poor in ancient times. An ordinary person contains everything he has, and Those who are not allowed to do anything to the world are happy to be free from the mountains and rivers. When they see insects, fish, grass, trees, wind, clouds, birds, and beasts, they often find out their strangeness. There is a accumulation of worry, anger, and anger. They are motivated by resentment and thorns. The widow Ji Chen laments that it is difficult to describe human feelings. The poorer one becomes, the better one becomes at work. However, it is not the poor who are poor, but those who are extremely poor can only work afterward. Few poets are prosperous but many are poor. Isn't this the case? Most of the poems handed down in the world are based on the words of poor people in ancient times. Ordinary people who have accumulated all they have but cannot use it in the world are very happy to be on the top of mountains and outside the rivers. When they see insects, fish, grass, trees, wind, clouds, birds, and beasts, they often look at their strangeness, and there is a accumulation of worry, anger, and so on. It is based on the thorns of resentment, and writes about the unspeakable feelings of human beings based on the sighs of Taoist ministers and widows. The poorer the man is, the more he works. However, it is not poetry that can make the poor poor, and those who are extremely poor can only work.
My friend Mei Shengyu rarely used Yinbu as an official. He was repeatedly promoted to Jinshi, but he was often suppressed by Yousi and trapped in prefectures and counties for more than ten years. Now fifty years old, I still work as a book writer and help others, but I am so frustrated that I can't make progress in my career. His family was in Wanling. He was accustomed to poetry at a young age. He was a boy and his words shocked his elders. Since he is a long-time scholar, he has studied the theory of benevolence and righteousness in the Six Classics. His articles are simple and pure, and he does not seek to explain them to the world. People in the world only know his poems. However, there are no wise men and fools at that time, so those who write poems must turn to the sage Yu. The sage Yu also takes pleasure in poetry as a person who cannot achieve his ambition, so he wrote many poems in his life, especially in poetry. The world knows it, but no one recommends it to anyone. Duke Wenkang, the former king, tasted it and sighed: "I haven't done anything like this for two hundred years!" Although he knew it well, he couldn't recommend it. If it is fortunate enough to be used in the imperial court as a Ya and a hymn, to sing about the merits of the Song Dynasty, to be recommended to Qing temples, and to pursue the authors of Shang, Zhou, and Lu songs, wouldn't it be great! However, the poems that made him old and frustrated, and a poor man, are just words of sadness and sighs about insects and fish. The world's disciples like their work, but they don't know how long they will be poor and they will grow old! Don’t hesitate!
Sheng Yu has so many poems that he can’t stop himself. His wife's brother Xie Jingchu, fearing that there were too many of them and would be easily lost, selected them from Luoyang to Wuxing, and divided them into ten volumes. I was addicted to Sheng Yu's poems, but I was worried that I couldn't get them all. I suddenly liked Xie's ability to sort them out, so I often hid them in prefaces.
Fifteen years later, Shengyu died of illness in the capital. I cried and remembered it, so I searched his home and found more than a thousand of his manuscripts. Seventy-seven articles, divided into fifteen volumes. Alas! I have already discussed it in detail in Sheng Yu's poems, so I won't mention it again.
Preface by Luling Ouyang
Translation:
I have heard people often say: Few poets have smooth careers, but many are in trouble. Is this really the case? Probably because most of the poems circulating in the world were written by people who were in distress in ancient times. Most of the scholars who have talents but cannot fully display them in the world like to go to the mountains and rivers to wander around. When they see insects, fish, plants, trees, winds, clouds, birds and beasts, they often explore their strangeness and weirdness, and they have a accumulation of sadness, emotion and anger in their hearts. , these emotions turned into poetry, that is, they were placed in resentment and irony, expressing the sighs of the widow who chased the minister, and wrote feelings that are difficult for people to express in words. Probably the more difficult you are, the more skillfully you can write. In this way, it is not that writing poetry makes people impoverished, it is probably that one can write good poems only after becoming impoverished.
My friend Mei Shengyu was a junior official when he was young. He was admitted to the Jinshi examination many times, but was always suppressed by the examination department and was in trouble in the local area for more than ten years. I am already fifty years old, and I still have to rely on others to issue letters of appointment to work as their clerks. They are hoarding their own talents and wisdom and are unable to fully express them in their career. His hometown is Wanling, and he studied poetry when he was young. From the time he was a child, his poems have amazed his parents and elders. When he grew up, he learned the knowledge of benevolence and righteousness in the Six Classics. The articles he wrote were simple and pure, and he did not seek to please the world. Therefore, the world only knew that he could write poetry. However, regardless of whether people were wise or foolish at that time, when talking about poetry, they would definitely ask Sheng Yu for advice. Shengyu also liked to vent his frustrations through poetry, so he usually wrote a lot of poetry. The public knew about him, but no one recommended him to the court. Once upon a time, Duke Wenkang of Wang once saw his poems and said with emotion: "There has been no such work for two hundred years!" Although he knew him well, he still did not recommend it. If he was lucky enough to be appointed by the imperial court and write works such as Ya and Song in the Book of Songs to praise the merits and virtues of the Song Dynasty and dedicate them to the ancestral temple, making him similar to authors such as Shang Song, Zhou Song, and Lu Song, would it be possible to Isn't it magnificent? It's a pity that he couldn't achieve his ambition even when he was old. He could only write poems about the distressed people, expressing his lamentations of poverty and melancholy on insects and fish in vain. The society only loves the craftsmanship of his poems, but does not know that he has been in trouble for a long time and will die of old age. Isn't this worth sighing?
Sheng Yu wrote many poems, but he did not organize them himself. His nephew Xie Jingchu was worried that it would be easily lost if there were too many of them, so he selected his works from Luoyang to Wuxing and compiled them into ten volumes. I used to love Sheng Yu's poems and was worried that I would not be able to get them all. I was very happy that Xie could classify and arrange them, so I wrote a preface for them and preserved them.
Fifteen years have passed since then, and Shengyu passed away in the capital due to illness. I had already written an epitaph for him in tears, and then asked his family for help and got more than a thousand of his posthumous manuscripts. Chapters, together with those previously preserved, selected 677 particularly good ones and divided them into fifteen volumes.
Ah, I have already commented on Sheng Yu’s poems a lot, so I won’t repeat them. ?
About the author
Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072), courtesy name Yongshu, nicknamed Zuiweng, Liuyi Jushi, Han nationality, Yongfeng, Jizhou (now Yongfeng, Ji'an City, Jiangxi Province) Feng County), a politician and writer in the Northern Song Dynasty, who was famous in politics. In the eighth year of Tiansheng's reign, he became a Jinshi. He studied "New Book of Tang" as a Hanlin scholar. During the reign of Emperor Yingzong, he served as an official to the privy deputy envoy to participate in political affairs. Posthumous title: Wenzhong. There are "Ouyang Wenzhonggong's Modern Yuefu" and "The Drunkard's Piano Fun". Jiguge's original version of "Six Words" is roughly the same as "Jinti Yuefu". Ouyang Xiu loved reading since he was a child, and often borrowed books from the Li family in the south of the city to copy and read. He was talented and hard-working, and often the books could be recited before he finished copying them. Seeing the hope of family revitalization, he once said to Ouyang Xiu's mother: "Sister-in-law, don't worry about the poverty of the family. Your child has a genius! Not only can he start a business and bring glory to his family, he will definitely be famous all over the world in the future." Ouyang Xiu's prose is rich in content and diverse in form. Whether it is discussion or narration, it is all done with intention and emotion.