On this day last year, in this gate, the human face and peach blossoms complement each other in red, which is from "Nanzhuang of the Capital City" written by Cui Hu of the Tang Dynasty. Meaning: Last year at this time, I looked through this door and saw only that beautiful face and the blush of the peach blossoms that contrasted with each other. This sentence is the poet's recollection, pointing out the time and place, which shows how deep and unforgettable the memory is in the poet's heart. "Human Face Peach Blossom" describes the lover's youthful beauty and charming charm, which makes the poet unforgettable.
Original text
On this day last year, in this door, the faces of the people and the peach blossoms reflected each other's red.
I don’t know where the human face is, but the peach blossoms still smile in the spring breeze.
Translation
On this day last year, just inside this door, the girl’s face reflected the bright peach blossoms. When I come here again today, I don’t know where the girl has gone. Only the peach blossoms are still there, smiling in full bloom in the spring breeze.
Notes
⑴Du: The capital of the country, referring to Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty.
⑵ Human face: refers to the girl’s face. In the third sentence, "human face" refers to the girl.
⑶I don’t know: One is "祇(zhǐ) Jin". Go: one means "to be".
⑷Laugh: Describes the appearance of peach blossoms in full bloom.
Creation background
The specific time of creation of this poem is unknown. It is recorded in Meng Qi's "Poem of Benshi" of the Tang Dynasty and "Taiping Guangji" of the Song Dynasty: After Cui Hu went to Chang'an to take the Jinshi examination and failed, he met a beautiful girl in the southern suburbs of Chang'an. He visited the girl again during the Qingming Festival the following year but did not meet her, so he wrote this poem. This record has the color of a legendary novel, and its authenticity is difficult to be confirmed by other historical materials.
Appreciation
Judging from the storyline, this is an impromptu poem, and it seems to show only two simple pictures - human faces with peach blossoms. , the peach blossom after the face is gone. However, because the characters' activities run through it, and because of the contrast and reflection between the pictures, the inside of the picture (the peach blossom) and the outside of the picture (the poet), it cleverly shows the occurrence, development and ups and downs of the characters' emotions, such as the first encounter. The affectionate feelings, lovesickness after farewell, affectionate revisiting, unmet disappointment, etc. are all expressed implicitly or explicitly. The whole poem is naturally composed, like a clear spring gushing out from the bottom of my heart. It is clear and mellow, and is endlessly memorable.
“Looking for spring and meeting beauty” and “Looking for beauty again” can be written as narrative poems. The author did not write this, which shows that people in the Tang Dynasty were more accustomed to experiencing the love affairs in life with the vision and feelings of lyric poets.
Influence on later generations
This poem and its ability are very legendary. Mr. Ouyang Yuqian once wrote a Peking Opera "Human Face Peach Blossom" based on this story. This poem has been widely circulated, and traces of it can be seen in subsequent poems. For example: "The fallen flowers are still there, the fragrant screen is empty, where do you know the human face?" (Yan Jidao, "Yujie Xing") Another example: "While collecting the incense and hiding the mirror, he has arrived in his youth, is the peach blossom on the human face still there?" ( Yuan Quhua's "Ruihexian") From these works, we can also see its influence on later literary creation. Later, people used "human face peach blossom" to describe a woman's face that complements the peach blossoms. Later, it was used to generally refer to a woman whom she admired but could not see again, and also to describe the melancholy caused by this.
About the author
Cui Hu (772-846), courtesy name Yin Gong, was born in Boling (now Dingzhou, Hebei) in the Tang Dynasty. His life story is unknown and he was a poet in the Tang Dynasty. In 796 AD (the twelfth year of Zhenyuan), he was promoted to Jinshi (Jinshi). In 829 AD (the third year of Taihe), he was appointed as Jing Zhaoyin. In the same year, he was appointed as the imperial censor and the governor of Guangnan. His poetry style is concise and graceful, and his language is extremely fresh. There are six poems in the "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty", all of which are excellent works, especially "Inscribed on Nanzhuang, Capital City", which is the most widely circulated and is widely praised by the public. This poem uses a seemingly simple life experience such as "people's faces are peach blossoms, things are different", and tells the unique life experience that millions of people seem to have had before, earning the poet an immortal poetic name.