Thin Horse Map
Song? Gong Kai
as soon as it descends from the clouds,
it will be idle for twelve days first.
Today, who is pitiful and skinny?
The sand beach is like a mountain in the sunset.
Analysis:
1. Contrast is used in the poem. In the first two sentences, it is written that "the sky is closed from the clouds, and the sky is empty first, and the twelve idlers are idle", which shows that it was a swift horse with extraordinary ability. "The sky is closed" indicates that it has made meritorious military service, and "Twelve idlers" is a royal stable, indicating that it was a noble royal horse. In the last two sentences, I turn to the present situation, "Who is pitiful and skinny today, and the setting sun is like a mountain on the beach?" After the war, the former war horse was no longer loved, and it was stranded in the desert and skinny. The author uses "the first dynasty" and "the present" to compare before and after, and the sadness of separation is also contained in it.
2. Through the description of the thin horse and the comparison between the past and the present of the fine horse, the poet expressed his indignation at a similar phenomenon of state affairs, and at the same time expressed his sadness at seeing the skinny old horse and thinking of the ruin of the country after the war.
Author and background:
Gong Kai (1221-135), born in Huaiyin, Jiangsu Province, was called Cui Yan. Painters in the late Song Dynasty and early Yuan Dynasty.
In his prime, Gong Kairen was swallowed up by Mongolian forces in the Southern Song Dynasty. Gong Kai lived in a place that was contested by military strategists in past dynasties. He was determined to make contributions, but unfortunately he failed.
the southern song dynasty perished in 1279. Gong Kai lived in seclusion, selling paintings for a living, and used paintings to vent his resentment against the rule of the Yuan Dynasty, such as "Zhong Kui Killing Ghosts" and "Thin Horse in Tang Dynasty", his masterpiece "Thin Horse Map". Later, his life as a hermit, landscape paintings, Buddhist themes, and his masterpiece Zhongshan Going on Excursion.