Labor Day, also known as "May Day International Labor Day", is a festival shared by working people all over the world. Although the ancients in China did not specify Labor Day, the idea that "labor is the most glorious" has a long history. Open China's ancient poems, and record many poems about laborers' hard work, praising the greatness of labor and the beautiful feeling of creating life through labor.
Xu Beihong's Kyushu has nothing to farm.
The earliest record of this "festival" is "playing songs" in Wu Yue Chun Qiu, with only eight words.
Play this song
Broken bamboo, continued bamboo,
Fly the soil and eat meat.
"Da Ge" reflects the working life of people in the fishing and hunting era in ancient China, and describes the whole process of cutting bamboo, connecting bamboo, making slingshots and shooting bullets to hunt animals. The language is simple and natural, with strong generality. The poem reveals the pride and joy of primitive people learning to make hunting tools, and also shows the tension, liveliness and joy of hunting labor, as well as the desire of primitive people to get more prey.
Cave 25 of Yulin Grottoes-Farming Map of Mile Jingbian-Middle Tang Dynasty
The Book of Songs is the earliest collection of poems in China, which records many immortal poems about labor.
Guofeng Weifeng cut tan
Kan Kan cut sandalwood, and the river dried up.
The river is clear and blue.
No crops, no crops, no crops, no crops.
No hunting, no hunting. Is there a county in Hu Zhaner's court?
He is a gentleman, he is not a vegetarian!
Kan Kan is spreading. It is placed by the river.
The river is clear and straight.
No crops, no crops, no crops, no crops, no crops.
No hunting, no hunting, is there a special county in Hu Zhan's court?
He is a gentleman, and he is not a vegetarian!
Kan Kan cuts wheels, and the river is full of wheels.
The river is clear and steep.
No crops, no crops, no crops, no crops.
No hunting, no hunting. Is there a county quail in Huzhanerting?
He is a gentleman, but he is extraordinary!
The poem "Chopping Sandalwood" was selected into the middle school Chinese textbook, describing the labor scene of slaves chopping sandalwood to build cars, and revealing the serfs' dissatisfaction with the exploiters who got something for nothing and enjoyed the success.
The third cave of Yulin Grottoes-Niu Geng-Thousand-handed Guanyin became Xixia. According to the contents of Buddhist scriptures and the needs of real life, ancient painters described scenes such as ploughing, sowing, harvesting, carrying, threshing, raising fields and storing grain in murals, which were very vivid and full of humanistic atmosphere.
There are many poems describing labor in The Book of Songs. For example, "July" depicts a magnificent agricultural map, describes the farmers' working life all year round, and records the agricultural knowledge and production experience at that time.
National Wind, Qi Feng, July (excerpt)
Fire is full in July, and clothes are delivered in September.
On the first day, it will be fierce the next day.
No clothes, no brown, why did you die?
On the third and fourth day, I stood on tiptoe.
With my daughter-in-law, I'm glad to see you in the south!
Others, such as Grupo, depict the joyful scene of peasant women picking plantain seeds; Xixi reflects the agricultural production and ceremony at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, and Between Ten Mu describes the scene where several young men meet to see the girl picking mulberry and go home happily, and so on. Most of the labor described in these poems is relaxed and enjoyable, and it is a very interesting thing in life.
Cave 6 1 Mogao Grottoes, Maitreya —— Agricultural Surveying and Mapping after the Transformation of Five Dynasties. If we put aside the religious significance for the time being, we will find that the ancients indirectly presented their good wishes and understanding for a happy life in the distant Buddhist world. ?
Tao Yuanming is the originator of China's pastoral poetry, and his poems also involve many labor scenes.
Return to rural residence (3)
I planted beans at the foot of Nanshan, and the weeds in the field were covered with peas.
Get up early in the morning to get rid of weeds, and come back with hoes in the moonlight at night.
The narrow path covered with vegetation, the night dew wet my clothes.
It's not a pity to get wet, but I hope it won't be against my will.
This poem describes the poet's hard work after his seclusion, and expresses his love for rural life and his comfortable and leisurely mood of enjoying the happiness of rural work. The whole poem is plain, simple, natural, fresh, concise, sincere and touching.
Cave 296 of Mogao Grottoes-Story of Charity Prince-Spring Plowing-Northern Zhou Dynasty. According to records, in the Zhou Dynasty, before the spring ploughing, the Emperor of Zhou would lead the vassals to personally plow the fields and hold out "homeland" as a gift, which means "respecting heaven and protecting the people".
The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of China's ancient poetry, with numerous poets. They wrote many famous poems that sympathized with the sufferings of working people and praised productive labor.
mow
At noon in summer, the sun is very hot, farmers are still working, and beads are dripping into the soil.
Who knows that every grain of Chinese food is hard?
In the Tang Dynasty, Li Shen's Mohe was the most household name, and everyone knew it. There are only 20 words in the whole poem, which vividly depicts the scene of farmers still working in the fields at noon in the scorching sun, dripping sweat on the scorching land.
Another poem by Li Shen, Benevolence for Agriculture, said: "If you plant a millet in spring, you will reap 10,000 seeds in autumn. There are no idle fields in the four seas, and farmers still starve to death. " It vividly depicts the fruitful scenes everywhere, highlighting the realistic problem that farmers have worked hard to get a bumper harvest but starved to death with empty hands.
Feng Zikai: I sold the old sword that beheaded Loulan and bought the descendants of scalpers.
Li Bai wrote countless poems in his life and handed down nearly a thousand poems.
Song Pu of Autumn
The fire was shining in the sky, and the red star in the purple smoke was in chaos.
On the night of the moon, copper smelters sang, and their songs resounded through the cold valley.
Pu Qiuge painted a magnificent picture of autumn night. Under the poet's ingenious pen, light, heat, sound and color are intertwined, and light and shade, cold and heat, and movement set each other off, vividly showing the fiery labor scene and vividly shaping the image of ancient smelting workers. Through just 20 words, we can easily feel the hardships of smelting workers and the praise between the lines of the author.
Feng Zikai: Yang Liuan Xiaofeng Canyue
Bai Juyi wrote many poems directly describing labor scenes.
Look at cutting wheat.
The Tian family has less leisure in the month, and people are twice as busy in May.
In the evening, the south wind rises and the wheat turns yellow.
Mother-in-law is rich in food, and children are full of pot pulp.
Go with Tian Xiang. Ding Zhuang is in Nangang.
Filled with the heat of the country, the back was scorched by the sun.
I don't know about the heat, but I regret the long summer.
This poem describes the busy farming scene during the wheat harvest. The scene of women taking their children to the fields to deliver food and water to young people who are cutting wheat. Hard-working young and middle-aged farmers cut wheat with their heads down in Nangang wheat field, their feet were fumigated by the heat, and their backs were baked by the scorching sun. They are exhausted and don't feel hot. They just cherish the long summer and can do more farm work. The poem is full of deep concern and sympathy for the workers, and it is really a rare realistic poem.
Feng Zikai: Try to cherish Chunhua
In contrast, the Four Seasons Pastoral Miscellaneous by Fan Chengda, a poet in the Song Dynasty, describes another kind of labor scene. Farmers beat rice all night, grabbed the harvest and seeds, and raced against the weather. The whole family went into battle together, and relatives and friends came to help.
Four Seasons Pastoral Fun (Excerpt)
Newly-built fields are mud and flat, and every family cooks, and first frost is clear.
Laughter thundered and flail rang all night.
This poem describes the joy of farmers' harvest and labor. In another poem of the same name, he wrote: "Go out during the day, have a good show at night, and the children in the village take care of each other." Children and grandchildren are not prepared to farm and weave, but also learn to grow melons in mulberry shade. " He described several interesting farm production scenes, such as men plowing, women weaving hemp, and children learning to grow melons.
Labor is the eternal theme of mankind. Labor creates life, and labor creates beauty. In ancient times, although there were no fixed festivals and no specific ceremonies to celebrate Labor Day, it did not affect people's love for work and life at all. Today, we can still read the yearning for a better life from the ancient rhyme of the Millennium.