Ancient Poetry

Du Fu was a famous realist poet of the Tang Dynasty, known as the "Sage of Poetry", but at the same time, he was a man who knew how to appreciate beauty and depict it in his poems. This poem was written by Dufu after two years of displacement back to Chengdu Cao Tang, facing the spring scenery around Raccoon River, depicting a beautiful spring landscape painting.

Translation of the Old Poem

The Jiangshan River is bathed in spring light,

how beautiful it is,

When the spring breeze blew, it wafted the fragrance of flowers and grasses

When the soil melted, the swallows were busy building nests with the wet mud,

and pairs of mandarin ducks slept on the warm sand.

Notes on the poem

(1) Late day: refers to spring. "Late sun", from "Poetry - July": "Spring is late." In spring, the time of light is getting longer and the weather is getting warmer, which is called "the day is warming up at the beginning, and the day is getting longer at the beginning" (Ouyang Jiong, "Good Spring Light").

(2) mud melt: In winter, because of the cold, the land is frozen. In spring, when the temperature rises and warms up, the frozen soil melts and becomes wet and soft.

(3) mandarin ducks: a beautiful water bird, the male is called mandarin ducks, the female is called mandarin, they usually live together in pairs, so, in our Chinese culture, often use mandarin ducks as a metaphor for the love between men and women.

The poem is written in a natural and fluent language, with a fresh tone and a bright mood, expressing the poet's love of nature and his pleasant mood.

At the beginning of the poem, from the big ink, depicted in the early spring sunshine, Runnion Stream around the clean and gorgeous spring scenery, simple writing and colorful. The word "late" is used to emphasize the early spring sunshine to unify the whole article. At the same time, the word "Li" is used to color the "rivers and mountains", showing the beautiful scenery of spring sunshine, green fields, and streams reflecting the sun. This is a rough sketch, the bottom of the pen is spring Myrtle.

"Spring breeze, flowers and grasses," the poet further to the warm spring breeze, the first release of flowers, such as Rhine grass, rich fragrance to show the bright and beautiful spring. Because the poet put the sunshine, mountains and rivers, spring breeze, flowers and grass and their fragrance organically organized together, so that people have a feeling of being there. So through association, one can have the feeling of a favorable wind and smooth, a hundred flowers in bloom, the wind sends the fragrance of flowers, and receive the artistic effect of being in the realm. On top of the bright and far-reaching picture, three and four sentences turn to specific and vivid early spring scenery depiction.

"Mud melting flying swallows," the poet chose the most common in early spring, but also the most characteristic of the dynamic scenery to outline. Spring flowers bloom, the mud melts and the soil is wet, and the swallows, who return in the fall and spring, are busy flying around and building nests in the mud. This vivid description makes the picture more full of vitality, springtime, and a kind of dynamic beauty. Du Fu's observation of the swallows is very meticulous, "mud melt" closely linked to the first sentence, due to the return of spring, the sun shines only "mud melt"; purple swallows new return to the mud to make nests and keep flying, showing some of the spring lively situation.

"Sand warm sleep mandarin ducks" is to outline the static scenery. Spring rushes melt, the sun is beautiful sand warm, mandarin ducks also want to enjoy the warmth of this spring, in the stream on the sandbar sleep quietly. This is also in line with the first sentence, because the "late sun" before the sand warmth, sand warmth to attract pairs of mandarin ducks out of the water, bathed in the brilliant sunshine, is so relaxed and comfortable. From the description of the scenery, and the third sentence of the dynamic swallow relative to the dynamic, static and static, and contrast with each other. These two sentences to work fine description of the mud flying swallows, sleeping mandarin ducks, and the first two sentences of the rough sketch of the distant and beautiful scenery to match, so that the whole picture is harmonious and unified, constituting a picture of bright colors, business vigorous, with a sense of beauty of the early spring scenery.

The Qing dynasty Tao Yukai called Du Fu's brushwork skillful, able to "use poetry as a painting" ("said Du"), and this poem can be a proof. But the beauty of this poem is not only in "painting with poetry", but also in the softness of spring that the poet intended to convey. If the late spring, the beautiful rivers and mountains, the breeze, the fragrant flowers and grasses, and the swallows and mandarin ducks are the poet's sense of sight, touch (wind) and smell, then the "melting" of the soil and the "warmth" of the sand and gravel are not the direct sensations of the five senses. Only because of the spring sunshine, wind and smooth, birds and flowers feel y, the poet does not need to touch the soil can be imagined loose wet and gravel warm; and the mud of the melt, the warmth of the experience of the sand and deepen the lightness of the swallows, mandarin ducks lethargy of the visual impression, which makes the poet's body and mind are immersed in the soft and harmonious and the spring.

Poetry in the Know

Du Fu (712-770), Zimei, known as "Du Gongbu" and "Du Shaoling", was a native of Gongxian, Henan Province, Tang Dynasty (712-770). He was a Han Chinese, a native of Gongxian County, Henan Province (present-day Gongyi City, Henan Province), and a great realist poet of the Tang Dynasty. Du Fu was honored as the "Sage of Poetry", and his poems were known as the "History of Poetry". Dufu and Li Bai are collectively known as "Li Du", and in order to distinguish themselves from the other two poets, Li Shangyin and Du Mu, who are known as "Little Li Du", Dufu and Li Bai are also collectively known as "Big Li Du". He was concerned about the country and the people, noble character, his about 1400 poems have been preserved, poetic skill, in the Chinese classical poetry is highly respected, far-reaching influence. 759-766 years, lived in Chengdu, the later generations have Dufu Cao Tang commemorated.

Background: When Du Fu was living in the Tang Dynasty due to the An Shi Rebellion, he was unable to realize his lofty ambitions because of the deterioration of the Tang Dynasty and the constant wars that plagued the people. In 759 A.D., Du Fu resigned from his official post and traveled all the way west to Chengdu, Sichuan Province, where he lived on the banks of the Raccoon River. And there he established a Cao Tang (草堂) and lived in Chengdu for nearly four years.? In 763 AD, "An Shi Rebellion", was pacified, Du Fu's mood is very good, in the face of this vibrant spring scene, can not help but write this a small poem of the scene.

Famous critics

"Du Poetry Detailed Notes": Yang Shen said: the absolute sentence, a sentence of a perfect, from the "Four Seasons Chant" "Spring water full of four zephyrs, summer clouds, more strange peaks. Autumn moon Yang Minghui, winter ridge show lone pine" is also. Now, according to this poem, one chapter and all the four seasons are ready. Du poem "late sun rivers and mountains beautiful, spring breeze flowers and grass" four lines like it. (Five-character stanza) about loose loose knot, a stream of notes, since the first and last, this is the right way. If all four lines are right, like a poem in the middle of the line, you do not see the beginning and end of the echo of the wonderful. It must be like Wang Bo's poem "Gift to Li XIV": "Chaotic bamboos open up three paths, and flying flowers fill the four neighborhoods. From the Yangzi residence, there are other Shangxuan people", all language and meaning flow, four sentences from the beginning to the end, really a masterpiece. ...... is not a "late day" one, but it is like a schoolhouse couplet.

"Crane Forest Jade Dew": Du Shaoling stanzas cloud: "late day rivers and mountains Li ...... sand warm sleep mandarin ducks." Or said that this and the children's belonging to the pair of why different. I said: Otherwise, the first two sentences, see the two are not business; the next two sentences, see all things do not apply to the nature. In this and swim in the, recognize, is not enough to feel the true joy of my heart? The most important thing is that the ancient people are good at poetry, how they look at it, and what they do with it.

The Art Garden Gobble: Xie Mao Hazel on poetry, five words to Shaoling "sunrise hedge east water" for poetry method. The Song people also "late sun rivers and mountains" for the method. This is the first time I have ever seen a movie that was written by a man who was a child.

"Tang poetry notes": there is the intention of spring, there is the feeling of things, but contained in the twenty words, wonderful.

Poetry allusion - "mandarin ducks"

About mandarin ducks, there are a lot of stories, such as in the book "So Shen Ji", there is a "Han Ping couple":

It is said that in the state of Song, there was a man named Han Ping, who worked under the king as an official. The king wanted to take Han's wife for himself. The king wanted to take her for himself. However, Han Dip and his wife loved each other and swore to die. So, first Han Zhi committed suicide, and then Han Zhi's wife also committed suicide. Han Zhi's wife also left a last message to the king, hoping that the king would be kind enough to bury them together. However, the king was so bad that he had the husband and wife buried separately, with a long distance between the two graves, and he said, "Didn't you and your wife love each other? If the graves of you two can automatically merge together, I will never stop you again!" Think about it, is that even possible? However, a mythological story is a mythological story, and strange things happened. In the course of a single night, a tree grew on each of the two graves of Mr. and Mrs. Han Ping. The tree grew very fast and in opposite directions, and within a few days, the roots and branches of the tree grew together. On the tree, there also appeared a female and a male two mandarin ducks, stayed together all day, let out a wail, and did not leave. People say that the mandarin ducks are the souls of Han Diploma and his wife.

In the poem "Southeast Flight of the Peacock", one of the "two jewels of the Lefu", when the main characters, Jiao Zhongqing and Liu Lanzhi, both committed suicide, there is a similar content: the two families seek to be buried together, and the joint burial of the Huashan Mountain side. East and west planted pines and cypresses, left and right planted wutongs. The branches cover each other, and the leaves are in contact with each other. The two birds are named Mandarin Ducks, and their heads are tilted up to each other, and they sing to each other, night after night, until five o'clock.

Printed line drawings

The illustrations in this poem are copyrighted by Tianma Poetry Painting

Note: This article is synthesized and compiled from ancient poems and other poetic websites,

. Reference:

1, Ma Wei. The Essence of Chinese Classical Poetry: An Appreciation of Du Fu: The Commercial Press International Limited, 2014: 162-164

2. Xiao Diefei. Appreciation Dictionary of Tang Poetry: Shanghai Rhetoric Book Publishing House, 1983: 533-534

3. Fu De Min. Appreciation of famous Tang poems: Bashu Books, 2012: 183-185