Drinking ①
——Tao Yuanming of Jin Dynasty
The house is in a human environment, ②
There is no noise of carriages and horses.
I ask you how you can do it.
My heart is far away and I am biased.
Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence,
Seeing Nanshan leisurely.
The mountain air is getting better and better day by day, ③
The birds are flying back and forth.
There is a true meaning in this,
I have forgotten to explain it. ④
Commentary This article is the sixth of the twenty poems in "Drinking". The main purpose of the poem is to show the poet's thinking process of understanding the "true meaning" by using the metaphysics of the Wei and Jin Dynasties to "forget the image when he is proud", which is full of rationality and interest. However, it is not a boring philosophical rendition. The poem describes the leisurely and contented feelings, as well as the beautiful and distant scenery. In the realm of blending of scenes, it contains the philosophy that everything has its own place and is entrusted with its destiny. This philosophy has been refined and condensed by the poet into "the heart is far away and it is self-centered". "," "There is a true meaning in this" and other aphorisms give readers rational enlightenment, and the rhythm of the whole poem becomes more meaningful and profound.
Zhu Xi of the Song Dynasty said: "Although the figures in the Jin and Song Dynasties are noble and noble, they all want official positions. Here they talk, while there they recruit power and pay goods. Tao Yuanming really can't do it, so he is higher than Characters of the Jin and Song dynasties." This poem depicts the different popular spiritual features of the poem. He is not like other hermits who claim to be transcendent from this world, but "makes a home in the human environment"; he is in the "human environment", but he can be "without the noise of cars and horses" and not tainted with worldly things. Why? The poet said meaningfully: "The heart is far away and is biased." The mind is calm and the environment is calm. No desire for fame or profit, even if you live in a busy city, it feels like you are in the mountains. This profound truth was stated by the poet in a plain and touching way. The poem makes clever use of symbolism. "When a bird is tired of flying, it knows it will return." The bird returning gracefully in the evening light and the man leisurely seeing the mountain are in harmony, as if they have found their own destination in this quiet mountain forest.
Tao Yuanming's "Drinking" poems contain 20 poems. This group of poems is not a work of pleasure after drinking, but the poet uses drinking as the theme to write about his dissatisfaction with reality and his love for pastoral life. Love was to escape persecution by getting drunk in a very dangerous environment at that time. In the 20th poem of "Drinking", he wrote, "I hate many fallacies, but you should forgive the sinners." This shows his good intentions. The one chosen here is the fifth one. This poem focuses on emotion, blending emotion into the scenery, and describes the poet's leisurely and contented life after retreating to the countryside.
The artistic conception of this poem can be divided into two levels. The first four sentences are one level, describing the poet's feelings after getting rid of the troubles of the world. It expresses the poet's thoughts and feelings of despising officialdom and not collaborating with the rulers. The last six sentences are one layer, describing the beautiful evening scenery of Nanshan and the infinite fun the poet got from it. It expresses the poet's true love for rural life and his noble personality.
"The house is in a human environment, without the noise of cars and horses." Although the poet lives in the dirty world, he is not troubled by the secular world. The "noise of carriages and horses" is a portrayal of all kinds of ugly things in the officialdom where you compete with each other, compete with each other, and run around to get things done. However, Tao Yuanming's "residence in Jielu" was not a very remote place. How could he not hear the noise of carriages and horses? The poet seems to have understood the reader's psychology, so he used a hypothetical question "How can I ask you?" and then answered "My heart is far away and I am biased". As long as you are mentally away from the hustle and bustle of those dignitaries, you will naturally have no entanglement with them in other aspects. These four sentences contain incisive philosophy of life. They tell us that the human spiritual world can purify itself. Under certain conditions, as long as one exerts his or her subjective initiative, he or she can change the impact of the objective environment on oneself, everywhere. Everyone can find the joy of life. The word "heart is far away" reflects the poet's spiritual world that is transcendent and refined, without any thoughts of fame and wealth.
“Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, you can leisurely see the Nanshan Mountain”, this is a famous saying that has been popular for thousands of years. Because of the spiritual state of "the mind is far away and the place is biased", I can leisurely pick chrysanthemums under the fence and look up to the mountains. I feel so comfortable and contented, so otherworldly! These two sentences use objective descriptions of scenery to set off the poet's leisurely mood. The word "leisurely" is used very cleverly, indicating that what the poet sees and feels is not deliberately sought, but encountered unexpectedly. Su Dongpo praised these two sentences: "The next step in picking chrysanthemums is to see the mountain by chance. You don't have to pay attention to it at first, but the scene and the intention are understood, so it is gratifying." The word "jian" is also used extremely well. Occasionally, the beautiful scenery of Nanshan coincides with the leisurely and contented state of mind when picking chrysanthemums, forming a "selfless state" where I forget both. If you use the word "look", it means that you have Nanshan in your heart first, and then you want to look at it. It becomes "a state of self", and you lose a kind of innocence and innocence. What beautiful scenery is there in Nanshan that caused the poet to praise it so much? What follows is "The mountain atmosphere is getting better day by day, and the birds are returning to each other." This is also the scenery that the poet saw accidentally. In the beautiful dusk scenery of Nanshan, the birds fly back to the mountains and forests together, and all things are free and moving according to their needs, just like The poet got rid of the shackles of officialdom and was at ease. Here the poet realized the true meaning of nature and life. “There is a true meaning in this, but I have forgotten to express it in trying to discern.
"What true meaning did the poet realize from the birds, Nanshan, sunset, and autumn chrysanthemums in nature? Is it the natural law that all things move and everything is in its place? Is it the yearning for the ancient, simple and self-sufficient ideal society? Is it letting nature take its own course? Is it a philosophy of life? Is it a straightforward and sincere character? The poet does not express it explicitly, but only implicitly raises questions for readers to think about, while he "wants to distinguish himself and forgets to speak". To understand "without the noise of carriages and horses", we can understand the "true meaning" as the true meaning of life, that is, life should not be obsessed with fame and fortune, and should not be tainted by the filth of officialdom, but should return to nature. , to appreciate the infinite freshness and vitality of nature! Of course, this "true meaning" has great connotations. The author did not say it all, and there is no need to say it. These two philosophical summaries give the reader a lot of meaning. The whole poem uses plain and simple language to describe scenes and narratives, and its form and content are highly unified, whether it is describing the evening scenery of Nanshan Mountain or expressing the leisurely contentment of retreat. Emotions, or describing the joy of living in the fields, or describing the true meaning of life, are both full of interest and rationality, such as "picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, leisurely seeing the Nanshan Mountain", "the mountain air is getting better day and night, and the birds are returning to each other." ", Needless to say, there is a famous saying that blends scene, emotion and reason into one, which is "How can I ask you?" Sentences such as "My heart is far away and I am biased" and "There is a true meaning in this, and the crowd has forgotten the words." Although the words are plain, simple and natural, they are also profound, with lofty meanings, meaningful meanings, and endless chewing. rationality and taste.