Pastoral Miscellany in Four Seasons (Part 1)
Author: Fan Chengda
Working in the fields during the day and planting hemp at night,
Every son and daughter in the village is in charge of his own family.
The children and grandchildren have not yet been raised for farming and weaving.
They also learn to grow melons near the mulberry tree.
Vernacular translation: During the day, we are hoeing in the fields, and at night, we are rubbing hemp at home. The men and women in the village each have their own housework.
Although the children do not know how to plow and weave, they still learn to grow melons under the shade of the mulberry tree.
Poetic: This poem uses simple language and detailed description to enthusiastically praise the intense and busy working life of farmers. The first sentence uses the contrast between day and night to unfold to us a picture of rural men and women plowing fields and raising hemp, busy day and night. The last two sentences vividly describe the situation of rural children participating in labor within their capabilities, revealing the poet's love for children.
The children described in the poem are innocent, simple and endearing. The language of the whole poem is plain and simple, without any trace of deliberate pursuit. The writing style is fresh, light, smooth and natural. It is like a vivid scroll of rural customs, full of the strong local flavor of the Jiangnan countryside.
Four Seasons Pastoral Excitement (Part 2)
Song Dynasty·Fan Chengda
The plums are golden and the apricots are fat, the wheat flowers are white and the cauliflowers are sparse.
No one passes by the fence as the day progresses, only dragonflies and butterflies fly.
Vernacular translation:
The plums on the trees turned golden, and the apricots grew bigger and bigger; the buckwheat flowers were all white, while the rapeseed flowers looked sparse.
As the day gets longer, the shadow of the fence becomes shorter and shorter as the sun rises. No one passes by; only butterflies and dragonflies fly around the fence.
Poetic: This poem describes the pastoral scenery of Jiangnan in early summer. The poet uses the four words yellow, fat, white and thin to vividly describe the summer scenery in the south of the Yangtze River. The third sentence, from the silence in front of people's yards, expresses the hard work of farmers who go out early and return late. The last sentence uses "Only dragonflies and butterflies flying" to set off the silence in the village. There is movement in the silence, which is interesting.
There is not a word in the whole poem about farming, not a word about labor. However, through every line of poetry, we seem to see the true appearance of the countryside and the busyness of people. At the same time, the poem contains the poet's love for pastoral life. The language is fresh and smooth, and the artistic conception is lively and natural.
Extended information:
1. Fan Chengda traveled around the world in his early years. After the age of 57, he retired and lived in Shihu, Suzhou. During this period, he wrote six chapters of "Pastoral Miscellany in Four Seasons". The ten poems were originally divided into five groups: "Spring", "Late Spring", "Summer", "Autumn" and "Winter", with twelve poems in each group.
Each group can be called a group of poems. Therefore, he won the title of "Pastoral Poet". "Pastoral Miscellany in Four Seasons" reflects the poetic tradition of describing rural pastoralism from Tao Yuanming to Tang Dynasty Wang Wei, Chu Guangxi, Meng Haoran, Wei Yingwu, etc., as well as the "New Yuefu" poetry school from "The Book of Songs·Binfeng·July" to the Tang Dynasty. The poetry traditions of rural society are integrated and the ancient style is changed into seven words. Both content and form reflect outstanding creativity.
"Pastoral Miscellany in Four Seasons" is extremely rich in content. The natural scenery of the Jiangnan countryside, farming affairs in the four seasons, and the life experiences of farmers are all shown in it, forming a vivid scroll of rural society. The first poem selected describes the natural scenery during Qingming Festival; the second poem describes the rural scene before sowing; the third poem describes the spring life of farmers; the fourth poem talks about raising silkworms; and the fifth poem describes the rural scenery of Jiangnan in early summer.
The sixth poem describes the working conditions of the farmers in the tone of an old farmer; the seventh poem describes the heavy burden on the farmers; the eighth poem describes the farm work; the ninth poem describes the heavy taxes and the shamelessness of the officials; The tenth poem is about simple nostalgia. The ten selected poems can give a glimpse of the style of "Pastoral Miscellany in Four Seasons". Regardless of the narrative, scene description, or romance, "Four Seasons Pastoral Miscellaneous" is clever, natural, rich, and memorable, and has a high artistic achievement.
2. Fan Chengda (1126-1193), a poet of the Southern Song Dynasty. The courtesy name is Zhineng, also known as Youyuan and Yousheng, also known as Shanzhong Jushi, also known as Shihu Jushi. He was a native of Wuxian County, Suzhou (now part of Jiangsu Province). A Jinshi of Shaoxing, he served successively as the Zhichuzhou, Zhijingjiang Prefecture, Guangnan West Road economic and strategy envoy, Sichuan Zhizhi envoy, and political advisor. Zeng made Jin, strong and unyielding, and was killed several times. In his later years, he retired to his hometown of Shihu and died with the posthumous title of Wenmu.
His poems cover a wide range of themes and are as famous as Lu You, Yang Wanli and You Miao, and are called "the four great masters of Zhongxing" or "the four great masters of the Southern Song Dynasty". He is also famous for his poetry and literary poetry. He is rich in writings, and his handed down works include "Shihu Lay Poems", "Shihu Ci", "Guihai Yuheng Zhi", "Wu Chuan Lu", "Wu Jun Zhi", etc., with more than 1,900 poems in existence.
Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Four Seasons Pastoral Miscellany