"The Book of Songs: Bai Hua"
The white flowers are blooming, and the white grass is bunched up.
My son is far away, leaving me alone.
The white clouds of Yingying reveal the grass.
The journey is difficult, and the son will not hesitate.
The Qi Lake flows north and soaks the rice fields.
I sing and sing sadly, thinking of that great man.
The firewood and mulberry wood are drying in the heat.
Weibishuo people are really helpful to me.
The drums and bells are played in the palace, and the sound is heard outside.
When I think about my child, I look at me step by step.
There are eagles in the beams and cranes in the woods.
Weibishuo people are really helpful to me.
The mandarin ducks are in Liang, and they are on the left wing.
The son is unscrupulous and has only two or three virtues.
There are flat stones, which make the shoes look humble.
My son is far away, so I can take care of him.
Notes:
1. Suga: a perennial herb, also known as Reed Mango.
2. Tianbu: destiny, destiny.
3. You: It is good to borrow the word "娨". Not bad, bad.
4. Qi: The name of water, located in the north of Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province today.
5. Ang: Me. 煁: The stove used to keep the fire warm during the winter.
6. Confused: Sad and restless.
7. Mai Mai: Not happy.
8. Gulph: The name of a water bird. It has a hairless head and neck, resembling a crane, and is also called a vulture. Liang: Fish beam, a dam that blocks fish.
9. Sickness: getting sick due to sorrow.
Translation:
The white flowers of Sedge are tied into bunches by Imperata.
This person is far away, leaving me alone in an empty room.
White clouds are floating in the sky, and nectar is falling down to benefit the grass.
I blame my fate for being too difficult. This person is immoral and immoral.
The Qishui River flows slowly northward, irrigating the rice fields.
She screams and sings sadly, that beauty makes people worry.
Chop the mulberry branches for firewood and put them in the stove to make the flames high.
Thinking of that great beauty, I feel sad and tortured.
The sound of bells ringing in the palace is deep, and the sound must be heard outside.
I feel uneasy when I think of you, but you are angry when you see me.
The vultures are at the weir bridge, and the white cranes are in the deep woods.
Thinking of that great beauty really tortures my heart.
The mandarin duck stands on top of the weir beam, with its mouth inserted between the left wings.
This person has no conscience and is disgusting with his half-heartedness.
Flat stones are used as footings, and people who step on them are not tall enough.
This person is far away, which makes me sad and sick.
Appreciation:
"Mao Preface" said: "Bai Hua, the people of Zhou assassinated Empress You. King You married Shen Nu as his queen, and he won the praise of Si and deposed Empress Shen. Therefore The country was transformed, and concubines were used as wives and evil deeds were used to replace the clan. However, the king was not able to govern, and people in Zhou Dynasty wrote this poem about it. "Zhu Xi's "Preface to Poems" says: "There is evidence for this, and the "Preface" supports it. ." and believed that this was his own work. This is quite credible. It can be seen from the many poems about abandoned women preserved in the Book of Songs that women in marriage are in an extremely unequal position, both among the people and at the upper levels. If they encounter a bad person, the fate of being abandoned is inevitable. "Beifeng-Gufeng", "Weifeng-Meng", "Xiaoya-I Walk in the Wild" and this poem express such historical facts from different angles and in many aspects. Of course, from an anthropological perspective, in a class society that has just evolved from a primitive patriarchal clan society, all old morals are being tested in the great social changes, as is the status of men and women, as Engels wrote in "The Family, Private Ownership and the State" As pointed out in "The Origin": "The initial class oppression occurred at the same time as the enslavement of women by men." Because of this, the poems about abandoned women in the "Book of Songs" have a deeper spiritual shock than the poems on similar themes in later generations. and historical understanding significance.
The first chapter uses Sedge and Imperata to tie together, reflecting that love between husband and wife is a common practice in the world. Among them, the white flowers of Sedge and the white of thatch have the meaning of love that symbolizes purity and harmony. They are consistent with the "Bao Zhi" and "Pure Bundle of Imperata" in "Zhaonan - Ye You Die". It can be seen that "Imperata" is in It was a commonly used symbolic image at the time. Originally, common sense was self-evident, but now it just happens that "my son is far away, leaving me alone." One positive and one negative set the sad and chilling tragic tone of the whole poem.
The second chapter uses the nectar falling from the white clouds to nourish the grass and thatch, causing the husband to go against common sense and not be able to live in peace with his wife. Although literally there is a direct correspondence and mapping between the nourishment of the nectar of the white clouds on the Sedge thatch and the unfairness of the God of fate to the abandoned heroine, in fact it seems that the blame is actually on others. The reality is this heartless husband who doesn't follow the laws of nature.
In the third chapter of the poem, the rice fields are irrigated by the Qi Pond flowing from the north, which inversely corresponds to the ruthless husband's indifference to his wife. Although the starting method of this chapter is the same as that of the previous two chapters, it uses things to describe people and uses the laws of heaven to express people's bad feelings. Therefore, Zheng Jian explained: "The lake water soaked the rice fields and caused them to reproduce. This is a metaphor for the king's lack of kindness to Queen Shen. It's worse than Qi Chi." But then the heroine, who was crying in Changge, changed the topic from "son" to "shuoren".
Regarding "Shuoren", predecessors such as Kong Yingda quoted Wang Su and Sun Yu and thought that Shuoren refers to Empress Shen. Zhu Xi's "Book of Poems" believes that Shuoren refers to King You. According to the original poems, the following two chapters that mention the wise man use the metaphor of things not being in their proper place, implying that people are in the wrong position. Zheng Xuan's explanation of "Shuo Ren" is "a person with a great demon, who is called Bao Si", which is consistent with the poetic meaning. Now that the conversation has changed, the exclamation in the next chapter seems natural and appropriate.
The fourth chapter inherits the meaning of the first three chapters and uses mulberry wood to no avail. The heroine's virtue is not appreciated by her husband and she is abandoned. Therefore, Wang Xianqian said: "Poets often use salary as a metaphor for marriage, and mulberry trees are also the most expensive wood for female workers. Using mulberry wood as salary is only used for cooking stoves, and the high and low are very reversed." ("Three Schools of Poetry") "Yi Ji Shu") Contrary to his own destiny, "Vibishuo people" think of the "monster man" who has now seduced her husband to take his place. This is really a heart-breaking thing.
Chapter 5: The sound of the bell was heard outside, and everyone in the country must know that it was abolished after it was promoted. As the saying goes, "There is no wall that is airtight." This is true. I have been abandoned, but my heart never forgets her, so I have an abandoned wife who is "confused about my child". Having abandoned her, I must first be disgusted with her, so I have a heartless husband who "sees me as too old". In contrast, the kindness and docility of the abandoned wife and the frivolousness and ruthlessness of the husband appear more vivid.
The poetic tone of Chapter 6 is similar to that of Chapter 4, with the concubine changing position after the crane and the eagle lost their place. At the same time, there is a metaphorical relationship between the whiteness and suppleness of the crane and the greed and sinisterness of the owl, and Empress Shen and Bao Si. The charm of the "enchanting man" is actually an important reason why the heroine was abandoned. No wonder she said "Vibi Shuo, please help me" time and time again, and she couldn't help but feel sad when thinking of that bewitching man.
Chapter 7: The mandarin ducks who always live together are in love with each other, and they are just as they should be, but they rebel against the unethical behavior of the ruthless and immoral husband who cannot grow old together with her. This chapter must be read in conjunction with chapters 4, 5, and 6 to gain a deeper understanding of the resentment of the abandoned wife. She is actually saying: Although that coquettish woman is very tempting, if the husband had considered nature and human feelings instead of "two or three virtues", there would not be today's result.
The last chapter of the poem uses the low status of being stepped on by a flat stone to express the tragic fate after being deposed. The abandoned woman cannot help but think about her own fate. "My son is far away, but I am in trouble." Facing an unknown future, one will inevitably become sick with worry. Zhu Xi's "Collected Poems" believes that "if the stone is flat but humble, the shoes will look humble. If a concubine is humble, the one who favors her will also be humble. This is because the son is far away, so he can be chosen by me." This statement can be explained.
Finally, it needs to be pointed out that the first chapter of the poem begins with an aria, and ends with the word "xi" in three sentences. The last chapter ends with an aria, and ends with the word "xi". The tone of the middle chapters is urgent, and it has the momentum to vent the pain in your heart in one breath. There is a lot of structure between the slowness and urgency, and there is a lingering feeling when reading.