Meng Yunqing is a school bookseller in Tang Suzong. He befriended Du Fu. The style of poetry is simple and unpretentious, which mainly reflects social practical problems and is similar to Du Fu. There are only seventeen poems left, and the masterpiece handed down from generation to generation is this cold food:
This is a four-line poem, which begins with rhyme, and the rhyme is "four branches" Rigorous appearance.
We must first understand the origin of "cold food" and "self-promotion", so it is not difficult to understand this poem.
The Cold Food Festival is a traditional festival in China, which falls on 105 days after the summer solstice and one or two days before Tomb-Sweeping Day. Smoking is not allowed to make a fire at the Cold Food Festival, and only cold food is eaten.
Why is there such a festival of self-abuse and not eating spicy food? It is related to meson push in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Zhong Er, the son, has been in exile for 19 years. Minister Jietui never gave up, and even "cut off his thigh for Zhong Er to eat". Zhong Er tried hard to become a generation of famous monarch "Jin Wengong", but meson tui was unprofitable, and he lived in seclusion with his mother in Mianshan.
Jin Wengong ordered the release of Yamakaji to force him out of the mountain, and the meson was burned to death.
Feeling sorry and moved, Jin Wengong buried him in Mianshan, built a temple, and ordered Xie tui to ban cold food on the day of his death. This is the origin of the "Cold Food Festival".
In fact, ordinary people don't love this festival, but the folk customs are too powerful. Jiezitui's diehard loyalty, regardless of fame and fortune, is the most valued and respected by emperors in previous dynasties, so this festival has been handed down.
Knowing this, we can understand why Meng Yunqing means "not just the Ming Dynasty when I was a child".
"In February, Jiangnan is full of flowers, and cold food in other places is far from sad."
In February, Jiangnan was full of flowers, and it was sad enough to spend the Cold Food Festival in a distant land.
Cold food is the first 105 day after winter on solstice. If the winter solstice is in early November, or there is a leap month between the winter solstice and February, the cold food is in February.
"The poor often have no fireworks, not just the Ming Dynasty."
I live in poverty and usually don't consider cooking. It's not because of tomorrow's Cold Food Festival that I won't make a fire to cook.
You are all preparing for tomorrow's cold food in memory of the sages. And I, a poor person who lives a "cold food" life every day, don't bother.
This black humor makes people laugh, but it is a wry smile.
The poet's unique literary thinking is also a harmonious contrast, which makes this poem intriguing. After chewing, sadness goes straight into people's hearts, which is a rare masterpiece in many cold food poems.