the Tang Dynasty
Bai Juyi
Day is the day of night, and the sky is the boundary between ancient and modern things.
Only joy Zangsheng can deceive the sage, how can we know that Ning has seen through the play?
Fireflies have light, not real fire. Although the dew on the lotus leaf is round, it is a natural pearl?
Don't burn wood to illuminate carriages and horses. What's the difference between the glory of the poor?
Translation:
Who can tell the difference between day and night? Things have emerged from ancient times to the present.
I only like that Zang Sheng can fool saints, but how do I know Zang Zi has seen through playing dumb?
Fireflies have an unreal light. Although the dew on the lotus leaf is round, is it really a pearl?
Don't burn firewood to illuminate the horses and chariots. What's the difference between poverty and glory?
Appreciate:
I was sent to assist Xunyang, but I was not appointed. I was free on the boat and sang on the river alone, because I wrote five articles to continue my meaning. According to the Preface, this was written by the poet on his way to Jiangzhou in 8 15 (Tang Xianzong Yuanhe Decade). In June of that year, the poet was demoted to Jiangzhou Sima because he was eager to catch the murderer of Prime Minister Wu. The title of the poem "Speak freely" is to speak freely without scruple. The poem expresses the author's views on the authenticity, wealth, dignity, wealth and life and death of social life, and expresses his dissatisfaction with the state affairs at that time and his own grievances. This poem is the first one, which is about political discrimination-similar to the so-called "two-faced" problem in modern times.
"Who is true, who is false? There is no end through the ages. " The bottom thing, what thing, what does it mean? The first couplet asked bluntly, "It's still natural in the morning, but it's fake when it's exposed at night. What strange things haven't happened? " But who can see through it in advance? "The first two sentences are summed up by rhetorical questions: forgers exist in ancient and modern times, and people are indistinguishable.
"But loving the saints can deceive the saints, so I know that Zi Ning can solve fools." Both couplets are allusions. Zang Sheng was Zang Wuzhong in the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time, people called him a saint, but Confucius hit the nail on the head and denounced him as a treacherous person who threatened the monarch with strength. Zi Ning, that is, Ning Wuzi, was praised by Confucius for hiding his position in troubled times. Zangsheng deceives the saints and is wise and foolish. On the surface, forgery is similar, but the essence is different. Sadly, however, the world only loves Zang Wuzhong's false saints, but it doesn't know that there are such noble people as Ning Wuzi.
"The grass firefly is not a fire, but the lotus dew is a bead." The two sentences in the neck couplet are metaphors, meaning: "The firefly in the grass is not a fire after all, although it has light; Although the dew on the lotus leaf is spherical, is it a pearl? "However, their shiny and dazzling appearance can make people see things in a blur, and people are often deceived by illusions.
"What's the difference between compassion and honor if you take it instead of burning wood?" The tail joint firefly dew metaphor is closely connected with the neck joint, which is a way to distinguish the authenticity. Burning wood, from the Book of Rites Sacrifice Law: "Burning wood in the altar." Used here as a noun, meaning fire. According to riding, refers to pearls. If you don't compare firewood with pearls, how can you judge that grass fireflies are not fire and lotus dew is not pearls? This is equivalent to a proverb: "If you don't know the goods, you are afraid to shop around." The poet puts forward that contrast is an important way to distinguish fallacies. Of course, if it is so dark that you don't even know the firewood and the pearl of illumination, then you lose the basis of comparison. So in the end, the poet lamented "not taking" and "pitiful".
This poem is full of argumentation and reasoning, but it doesn't bore the reader. With the help of images and metaphors, poets use concrete artistic images to illustrate philosophy and express abstract arguments. Moreover, in the eight-sentence trilogy, rhetorical questions appeared five times, which seemed suspicious and untrue. Asking questions instead of answering them was not only imposing, but also full of strange sighs. From beginning to end, words such as "who", "bottom material", "but love", "knowable", "ultimate wrong", "really", "don't take" and "what's the difference" have been used in a series of ways such as questioning, backquestioning, restricting and denying, which are ups and downs and full of irresistible passion. The poet's unjust case is because he pursues misfortune bluntly. His theory of distinguishing falsehood is not a general macro-theory, but a criticism of the dark politics at that time, and a cry of "Li Sao" expressing inner anxiety and anger.
Charcoal seller
Tang Bai Juyi
An old man selling charcoal cuts wood and burns charcoal in the mountains in the south all year round.
His face was covered with dust, which was the color of smoke burning, his temples were gray, and his ten fingers were burnt black.
What is the money for selling charcoal for? Buy clothes, buy food in your mouth.
Pity that he is wearing thin clothes, but he is worried that charcoal can't be sold, hoping it will be colder.
At night, it snowed a foot thick outside the city. Early in the morning, the old man drove a charcoal wheel to the market.
Cows are tired and people are hungry, but the sun has risen very high. They are resting in the mud outside the south gate of the market.
Who is that proud man riding on two horses? It was the eunuchs in the palace and eunuchs who did it.
The eunuch, with documents in his hand and the emperor's orders in his mouth, shouted at the petrified palace.
A load of charcoal, more than 1000 kilograms, eunuch attendants to drive away, the old man is helpless, but there is no way.
Those people put half a piece of red yarn and a piece of silk on their heads as the price of charcoal.
translate
An old man who sells charcoal cuts wood and burns charcoal in Nanshan all the year round.
His face was covered with dust and smoke, his temples were gray, and his ten fingers were blackened by charcoal.
What is the money from selling charcoal for? Buy clothes to wear and food to eat in your mouth.
It's a pity that he only wears thin clothes, but he is worried that charcoal can't be sold, hoping it will be colder.
It snowed a foot thick outside the city at night. In the morning, the old man ran over the frozen wheel tracks in a charcoal car and hurried to the market.
Cattle are tired and people are hungry, but the sun has risen very high and rested in the mud outside the south gate of the market.
Who is the man riding two horses? They are eunuchs, eunuchs in the palace.
The eunuch held the official document in his hand, but said it was the emperor's order and shouted to pull the cow to the palace.
A load of charcoal, 1000 kilograms, was insisted by eunuch officers. The old man is reluctant to give up, but he is helpless.
Those people hung half a horse's red yarn and a silk on the cow's head as the price of charcoal.
To annotate ...
⑴ Charcoal vendor: This is the thirty-second poem in "New Yuefu" with the caption: "Kugong City also." The palace market refers to the things needed in the court of the Tang Dynasty. Taking them away from the market and giving them some money casually is actually an open plunder. Tang Dezong used eunuchs to manage it.
(2) Logging: Logging. Salary: firewood. Nanshan: the mountain in the south of the city.
(3) Fireworks color: smoky face. The hardship of selling charcoal Weng is highlighted here.
(4) Gray: Gray, describing gray hair.
5) acquisition: acquisition. He Suoying: What? Camp, management, here refers to demand.
[6] Pity: Make people feel pity.
(7) wish: hope.
Xiao: Dawn. Rolling (ni m 4 n): same as "rolling" and pressing. Track: The track of wheels rolling on the ground.
(9) Sleepiness: sleepy and tired.
⑽ City: Chang 'an has a trade zone called City. There are walls and doors around the city.
⑾ ⒐: a relaxed and free situation. It is described here as getting carried away. Rider: A person who rides a horse.
⑿ White and yellow emissary: The yellow emissary refers to the eunuch in the palace. White shirt, refers to the eunuch's minions.
[13] Take it. Say: say. Order or imperial edict of the emperor.
[14] Turn back: turn around. Scold: reprimand. Pull to the north: refers to pull to the palace.
⒂ More than 1,000 Jin: It's not a real reference, but a lot of descriptions.
Driver: Hurry up. Jiang: auxiliary words. I can't stand it: I can't stand it. Yes, I can. Cherish and give up
⒄ Half a piece of red silk and one piece of silk: In the Tang Dynasty, silk and other silk products could be used in commercial transactions instead of money. At that time, Qian Guisi was cheap, half a yarn and a silk were far less than the value of a car full of charcoal. This is the official use of cheap prices to seize the wealth of the people.
⒅ System (φ): Binding. This means hanging. Straight: by "value", it refers to the price.
Creation background
Selling Charcoal Weng is the thirty-second poem in Bai Juyi's "New Yuefu" series, which reads: "Miyagi also." Bai Juyi wrote "New Yuefu" in the early years of Yuanhe (Tang Xianzong year, 806-820), which was the most harmful time in the court market. He has a good understanding of the court market and deep sympathy for the people, so he can write this touching "charcoal man". The word "palace" in "palace market" refers to the palace, and "market" means buying. The items needed for the palace were originally purchased by officials. During the mid-Tang Dynasty, eunuch tyranny was rampant, and even this purchasing right was seized. There are often hundreds of people who are distributed in the east and west cities of Chang 'an and busy neighborhoods, buying goods at low prices, or even not paying a penny, and extorting "portal money" and "foot price" from "Jinfeng".
The name "Miyagi" is actually an open plunder. (For details, see Han Yu's Records of Shunzong, Volume II, Book of Old Tang Dynasty, Volume 140, Biography of Zhang Jianfeng, Volume 235, History as a Mirror. )