Chapter 21 Returning to Sonoda ranks among the top five (the third)

At the foot of the Nanshan Mountain, the grass is full of bean seedlings and the bean sprouts are sparse. Morning revival manages the barrenness and filth ①, and brings the moon lotus back to hoe ②. The road is narrow and the vegetation is long, and the evening dew stains my clothes. It is not a pity that the clothes are stained, but the wish is not violated. ① Xing: Get up.Desolate: refers to weeds and the like. ②Belt: One is "wear", to wear. The last two sentences of the first song of "Returning to the Garden and Living in the Field" are "I have been in a cage for a long time, and I can return to nature."The so-called "nature" not only refers to the natural environment of the countryside, but also refers to the natural way of life.In Tao Yuanming's view, being enslaved by food and drink, using society's value standards as one's own code of conduct, chasing wealth and fame are all behaviors that distort human nature and lose oneself.However, self-cultivation, self-sufficiency, contentment with a simple life, and abandoning competition and struggle between people are the natural way of life.No matter how this understanding should be evaluated in sociology, it is an idea that has been put forward repeatedly in ancient and modern China and abroad.Of course, Tao Yuanming, as a descendant of aristocrats, a hardened scholar-bureaucrat who seldom experienced real hardships, had to rely on his own physical strength to support his family. In fact, it was difficult for him to do so; And "students" who are personally dependent on farming for him.But he is indeed trying to practice his special understanding of life and society, often participates in some agricultural labor, and sings the joy and beauty of this labor in poetry.We should note that Tao Yuanming’s “plowing” cannot be equated with ordinary farmers’ farming, because this is not his main means of maintaining family life; nor can Tao Yuanming’s feelings about labor be equated with ordinary farmers’ feelings. Because this kind of feeling contains quite deep thinking about life and society, in ancient times, it could only appear in a small number of outstanding intellectuals.If we look for a similar expression, we can find it in Tolstoy's famous novel.Levin in the novel is, to some extent, the incarnation of the author. He also participated in agricultural labor and obtained the truth of life from it, so as to criticize the hypocrisy, emptiness, and boredom of aristocratic society.

Therefore, this poem looks very simple and simple, as if it is just a fragment of daily life, but actually has a lot of connotations that need to be deeply understood. First of all, this poem imperceptibly accultrates the works of predecessors, that is, a song by Yang Yun (the grandson of Sima Qian) in the Han Dynasty: Tianbi Nanshan, the filth is dead.Plant an hectare of beans, and it will become Osmunda.If you want to have fun in life, when do you want to be rich? This poem was originally written by Yang Yun to vent his complaints after he was offended and dismissed from office.According to Zhang Yan quoted by Yan Shigu in the "Hanshu", Nanshan is "the image of the king", and the filth is not cured, "saying the desolation of the court", and the beans are scattered in the wild, "meaning that one has given up on one's own opinion".This is generally good.

Comparing Tao's poems with Yang's poems, the similarities are obvious. "Growing beans under the South Mountain" means "Tian Bi Nan Mountain"; of.Considering Tao Yuanming's familiarity with ancient classics, it can be concluded that this apparent similarity is not a coincidence. Then, what is Tao Yuan's intention in using Yang's poems explicitly and secretly?First of all, this kind of transformation has already transplanted part of the meaning of Yang's poems into his own poems.For those who are familiar with "Hanshu", they will immediately think of the metaphors such as "the chaos of the imperial court" and the sages are useless.

However, this poem is not simply out of the works of predecessors. The planting of beans and weeding written in the poem are all things in the author's real life.Tao Yuanming not only transplanted a certain connotation from Yang's poems to express his views on real politics, but also used his own act of planting beans in Nanshan to express his own life in response to Yang's metaphor "Tian Bi Nanshan, the filth is dead". Attitude: In a filthy and chaotic society, it is a desirable choice to clean oneself up and cultivate the countryside.At the end of Yang's poem, he said: "If you want to be happy in life, you must be rich." Under certain conditions, this is also what Tao Yuanming agrees with.But he also showed through his poems that there are rich joys of life in the working life.Planting and harvesting when you are busy, entertaining yourself with a glass of wine when you are free, throwing oneself into the sky, forgetting about the world, this is the real "pleasure in life".

After analyzing the connotation of allusions used in this poem, we can further analyze the poem itself. Beans are grown in Nanshan, and the grass is lush and the seedlings are sparse. Some people say that this is because Tao Yuan returned to the countryside in the early Ming Dynasty and was not familiar with farming.In fact, he did not cultivate the land himself, he only participated in part of the labor, which is meaningless. The first song of "Returning to the Garden and Living in the Field" contains the sentence "opening up the wasteland and the South Field", which can prove that the land under the Nanshan Mountain is newly reclaimed.Therefore, it is not suitable for planting other crops, so beans that are easy to grow have to be planted.Anyone who has been farming knows this truth.If you don't consider the use of allusions, these two sentences are like an old farmer's chat, plain and intimate.

The grass has to be hoeed when it is in full bloom, so I went to the ground early in the morning.This is documentary.However, the word "reasoning barrenness and filth" is used more heavily, and it seems to have ulterior motives.In Yang Yun's poem, "the filth can't be cured" is a metaphor for the chaos of the imperial court.So, in Tao Yuanming's view, what causes social chaos?That's because many people break away from the natural way of life, play tricks, compete for interests, and cannot extricate themselves.As a result, wars and chaos broke out in the world, and bloodshed was endless. "Life belongs to the right way, and food and clothing are solid. No matter what is right, I want to be safe!" ("Gengxu Years September in Xitian Harvesting Early Rice") This poem shows that Tao Yuanming regards self-cultivation and self-food as a The fundamental truth that everyone should follow.Therefore, "manage barrenness and filth" also contains the deep meaning of rectifying the "descendence" of the entire society with the lifestyle of self-cultivation and self-sufficiency.

"Take (wear) the moon lotus and hoe back", which means that you have worked for a whole day.After all, Tao Yuanming was not a real farmer. Since he had a boy servant to go to the fields with him, even if he was not so tense and tiring, this day was enough.But he was in a good mood.How do you see it?Because I am not in a good mood, I cannot write such beautiful lines.The moonlight is shining all over the field, carrying a hoe, walking home along the field path, what a beautiful picture!In another poem, Tao Yuanming said this about working in the field: "The four bodies are exhausted, and common people suffer from dryness." Although the body is tired, it avoids many harms.This includes not only fierce wars, but also deceit among the crowd.Life appears tangible and powerful in labor, so it is pleasant and beautiful.

Because it is newly reclaimed land, the road is narrow, but the vegetation grows tall.It was late, and dewdrops had condensed on the grass blades, which wet the clothes. "It's not a pity to stain clothes." It seems that there is no need to bring up such a trivial matter and emphasize it.There is really nothing to regret when the clothes are wet. Tao Yuanming is such an open-minded person, what does he say it does?But "clothes sticking" does not just mean that the clothes are wet, but a symbol.In the past, although it was uncomfortable to be an official, you always had a salary, which could support your family and buy you drunk.Resigning from office and living in seclusion, life is naturally much more difficult, and field work is not something that a scholar like him can easily do, and this situation will continue.It's easy to say, but how many people can do it?Isn't Tao Yuanming himself "the rich and the poor always at war" in his heart?It's just that the poet doesn't want to talk too far and reveal too much, so as to destroy the atmosphere of the whole poem, and just lightly touch on the trivial things in front of him.

"But make your wishes come true" is the summary and gist of the whole poem. "Wish" is to maintain the integrity of personality, adhere to the ideal of life, and complete this short life with a sincere attitude and a natural way.Isn't that very important?So all difficulties, compared to this, become insignificant.And I have indeed achieved "the wish is not violated", which is quite worthy of self-appreciation. It is Tao Yuanming's specialty to use simple words and gentle tones to express profound thoughts.Even if we don't know what allusions are used in the poem, the sentiment and atmosphere in the poem alone can convey what the author wants to express to the depths of our hearts.