"Cold Food" expresses the poet's homesickness before the Cold Food Festival and his sympathy for the suffering of the people.
"Cold Food"
Tang Dynasty·Meng Yunqing
In February, the branches in the south of the Yangtze River are full of flowers, and the cold food in a foreign country is far from sad.
Poor people often have no fireworks, not only in the Ming Dynasty.
Translation
February in the south of the Yangtze River is the time when flowers are in full bloom, and it is like smoke. But I am alone in a foreign country, and it happens to be the Cold Food Festival, and I feel Infinite sadness. In a poor life, there are often not enough meals, and there are no fireworks on the stove. It is just right that there is no need to commemorate the ancient poor scholar Jie Zitui for the custom of cutting off cooking tomorrow!
Extended information
"Cold Food" is a seven-character quatrain written by Meng Yunqing, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, during the Cold Food Festival. This poem was written when he was living in poverty in the south of the Yangtze River. It was the eve of the Cold Food Festival when the flowers in the south of the Yangtze River were in full bloom. The poet missed his relatives in his hometown and felt increasingly sad.
Then he wrote about the social reality that poor families did not open fire to cook, and realized that this was not just because of the Cold Food Festival. The poem expresses the poet's homesickness before the Cold Food Festival and his sympathy for the sufferings of the people.
Creative background
Meng Yunqing failed in the examination in his early years and lived in Jingzhou, living a life of poverty and desolation. Having no friends or relatives to turn to and being troubled by the feeling of failure, this kind of life is probably a double torture for anyone, both physically and mentally. Over time, people struggling with stress may become more sensitive and vulnerable. The poem "Cold Food" is set on the eve of the Cold Food Festival in such a wandering life.