"Pastoral Miscellany in Four Seasons" (Part 1)
Author: Fan Chengda
Working in the fields during the day and planting hemp at night,
< p> Every son and daughter in the village is in charge of his own family.The children and grandchildren are still working for farming and weaving.
They also learn to grow melons near the mulberry trees.
About the author:
Fan Chengda: (1126-1193) poet of the Southern Song Dynasty. The courtesy name was Zhineng, and his name was Shihu Jushi. He was a native of Wujun, Pingjiang (now Suzhou, Jiangsu). In the 24th year of Shaoxing (1154), he became a Jinshi. He served as Huizhou Sihu and joined the army, and later moved to Wailang, a member of the Ministry of Rites. Later, he became the governor of the prefecture, reduced taxes, built water conservancy projects, and achieved considerable political achievements. In the sixth year of Qiandao (1170), he served as a messenger of the Kingdom of Jin with the title of "Lilang" and a non-commissioned officer of Zizhengdian University. In order to change the etiquette of accepting the Jin Kingdom's edict and to obtain the "mausoleum" in Henan, Fan Chengda came to The Jin Dynasty was "generous in his words", and his camera rushed back and forth, which maintained the prestige of the Song Dynasty. He returned home after the whole festival and wrote the envoy Jin's diary "Raising the Bridle Record". Later, he successively served as the chief executive of Jingjiang, Xiandu, Jiankang and other places. During the reign of Chunxi, the official came to participate in political affairs. Because he had opinions with Xiaozong, he resigned within two months. In his later years, he lived in seclusion in his hometown of Shihu. Fan Chengda is as famous as Lu You, Yang Wanli and You Miao, and is one of the four great masters of the Southern Song Dynasty.
When he wrote poetry, he first started with the Jiangxi Poetry School. Later, he got rid of its constraints and influence, learned extensively from the famous writers of the Tang and Song Dynasties, and finally became his own. His poems have a wide range of themes, and his works that reflect the content of rural social life are the most successful. His pastoral poems generally describe the vast life in the countryside and the suffering of farmers. They not only have profound social content, but also express the quiet and leisure pastoral life. They are the master of ancient Chinese pastoral poetry. Among his patriotic poems, the volume of quatrains written by Jin Lu is the most valuable.
What best embodies the characteristics of his poetry are the 60 poems "Pastoral Miscellany in Four Seasons" written in his later years. This group of poems relatively comprehensively and profoundly describes the scenery, customs and habits of the four seasons in the countryside, and reflects the hard work and difficult life of farmers. His poetic style is delicate, graceful, gentle and elegant, and full of folk song flavor. His literary works were also famous at that time. The lyrics are long-lasting and profound, similar to Qin Guan, and his later works are closer to Su Shi. Fan Chengda's works had a significant impact in the late Southern Song Dynasty, and had an even greater impact in the early Qing Dynasty. At that time, there was a saying that "the family's sword is in the south and the home is in the stone lake". Yang Wanli once said in the "Preface to the Collected Works of Fan Cheng": "As for poetry, it is fresh and charming, dying and dying, running and handsome, and chasing Taibai bravely." There are "Shihu Lay Poems Collection" and "Shihu Ci" handed down from generation to generation.
Notes:
1. Zaxing: Psalms written at random and without a fixed theme.
2. Day (zhòu): daytime.
3. Farming: weeding.
4. Ji Ma: twist the hemp into thread.
5. Each person is in charge: Everyone has a certain job.
6. Tongsun: refers to children.
7. Unsolved: Don’t understand.
8. For: to engage in, to participate in.
9. Pong: close.
10. Mulberry shade: a cool place under the mulberry tree.
Poetic:
Go out to plow the fields during the day, and come back to twist hemp rope at night.
Men and women each shoulder the burden of the family.
Although the children did not know it, they also worked with them.
In the evening, they learned to grow melons under the mulberry tree.
Appreciation:
"Pastoral Miscellany in Four Seasons" is a set of large-scale rural poems written by the poet after he retired to his hometown. There are sixty poems in total, describing spring and summer in the countryside. The scenery of the four seasons of autumn, winter and autumn and the lives of farmers also reflect the exploitation suffered by farmers and the hardship of life. This is one of them, describing a scene in rural summer life.
The first sentence says: Go to the fields to weed during the day, and twist twine at night. "Tilting" means weeding. In early summer, the rice seedlings need to be weeded. This is what men do. "Ji Ma" means that after women finish other work during the day, they knead twine and weave it into cloth at night. This sentence directly describes the labor scene. In the second sentence, "The children of the village are responsible for their own families." "Children" refers to men and women. The whole poem uses the tone of old farmers, and "children" refers to young people. "Head of the family" means that both men and women have no time to spare, and each has his or her own business. The third sentence "Children and grandsons are not yet available for plowing and weaving." "Children and grandsons" refers to those children. They don't know how to plow or weave, but they are not idle either. They have been exposed to it since childhood and love to work, so they "also learn to grow melons under the mulberry shade", that is, they learn to grow melons under the lush mulberry trees. This is a common phenomenon in rural areas, but it is quite unique. The conclusion expresses the innocence of rural children.
The poet uses a fresh style of writing to describe the intense labor atmosphere in the countryside in early summer in a more detailed way, which is very interesting to read.