Chapter 32 Harvest early rice in Xitian in mid-September of Gengxu year

Life belongs to the right way, and food and clothing are solid.Which is not to operate, but to seek self-safety?In the beginning of the spring, you will have a regular business, and you will be able to talk about considerable achievements in the year.Go out in the morning and do a little work, and go back in the day.There is frost and dew in the mountains, and the atmosphere is also cold.Isn't the Tian family suffering?It's hard to get rid of it.The four bodies are sincere and tired, and the common people are no different from suffering from dryness.Washing and resting under the eaves, fighting wine to scatter your face.Distant depression heart, thousands of years is related.I hope it will grow like this, and Gong Geng is not to be sighed.

"Harvesting Early Rice in Xitian in the Mid-September of the Year of Gengxu" is an important poem embodying Tao Yuanming's thoughts on farming. "Gengxu" refers to the sixth year of Emperor Yixi of Jin'an (410). Tao Yuanming was forty-six years old this year, and it was the sixth year when he abandoned his official position Peng Zeling and returned to the fields. "Xitian" is the "Xichou" mentioned in "Guiguilaixici", which is about the west of Tao Yuanming's "Yuantian residence".Rice harvested in the middle of September in the old calendar should be late rice.The word "early rice" in the title, Ding Fubao's "Notes on Tao Yuanming's Poems" said: "A book of 'zao' is the word 'dry'." : "Land rice is also the rice of land." Dai Dong's "Six Books" Plant Department at the end of Song Dynasty: "Rice is suitable for water, and there are also similar land species, which are called upland rice. Today it is called upland rice. From the south of the six It is harvested from January to September. It is cold in the north, so it is harvested in October." Therefore, "early rice" should be called "upland rice", and the word "zao" should be the wrong form of "drought".

"Life belongs to the Tao, and food and clothing are solid." The ultimate refuge of life is the Tao, and food and clothing are the premise of life.In the first two sentences, the great meaning of traditional culture-Tao, is combined with food and clothing, which is extremely meaningful.The source of food and clothing is originally agricultural production. "Which one does not do business, but seeks self-security?" How can one not manage farming and weaving, but pursue one's own comfort?In Tao Yuanming, if he lost his independent and free personality in order to obtain a salary for food and clothing, he would rather abandon his official position and return to the farmland to work for himself.The profound meaning of the first four sentences of the whole poem lies here.Next, I will talk about my own farming and harvesting. "In the beginning of the spring, the regular work is done, and the yearly achievements are considerable." From the beginning of the spring, he went to the fields to do farming, and in the autumn, he finally had a considerable harvest.The words seem plain, but when you taste it, the gratification contained in it is so real and honest. "Go out in the morning and work hard, and go back in the day." Looking back on the spring farming season, I went to the fields early in the morning to work hard, and did not go home with farm tools until after sunset. "Weiqin" is a humble speech, but it is actually very hardworking. "Sunset" seems to have used the meaning of "I work at sunrise and rest at sunrise" in "Song of Hiking the Land", which deepens the depth of poetic meaning.Because under those two sentences is: "drilling wells to drink, plowing fields to eat, what is the power of the emperor to me!" " has been quoted, and the text is slightly different.) "There is frost and dew in the mountains, and the atmosphere is also cold." Write the season of harvesting rice in front of you, and then tell the difficulty of harvesting.The climate in the mountains is colder earlier, and there is already a lot of frost and dew.In mid-September, it is the season of frost.Tao Yuanming, who was forty-six years old, obviously felt the ravages of time.The above four sentences, if you write them casually, actually describe the hard work of a year of planting and harvesting in autumn. "Isn't the Tian family suffering? It's hard to say goodbye." Isn't the Tian family suffering?Bitter enough.However, I cannot shirk the difficulty of farming.The more difficult the farming was, the more we saw Tao Yuanming's deep and firm will to work hard.Tao Yuanming felt obligated to Jiarong.This is not only because of the deep feeling: "Life belongs to the right way, and food and clothing are solid", but also because of the deep understanding: "The four bodies are tired, and the common people are the same as dry." Free from troubles. "Different troubles" refers to the sorrows and even disasters that should not be in life.Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the times were dark, and the lives of scholars were not guaranteed.Cao Cao killed Kong Rong, Sima Yi killed He Yan, Sima Zhao killed Ji Kang, and Lu Ji and Lu Yunzhi were all famous cases.At that time, Liu Yu, who was in charge of politics, was more cruel than Cao Cao and Sima.The so-called unforeseen calamity first refers to this unpredictable calamity.Taking a step back, bending one's waist for five buckets of rice is of course a strange danger in the view of Tao Yuanming, who is "natural in nature".In that era of political darkness and massacres, only by abandoning officials and working hard can one be free from dangers.Tao Yuanming couldn't help but realize that he had chosen a correct life path. "Washing under the eaves, fighting wine to loosen your face." After harvesting rice, wash your hands and bathe, rest and drink under your own eaves, very happy.This scene is familiar and familiar to those who have lived and worked in the countryside.Tao Yuanming is happy for the free life and the fruits of labor. "A distant heart is depressed, and a thousand years is related." However, after all, Tao Yuanming is not only a farmer, he is still a scholar cultivated by traditional culture.He stood under the eaves of his own house and enjoyed the wine like a farmer, but his heart flew through thousands of years, and he still made friends with the ancients.Ju and Ni are two hermits in the Spring and Autumn Period. "The Analects of Confucius Weizi" contains: "Chang Ju, Jie Ni, and they plowed together, Confucius passed them, and made Zilu ask him about it... (Jie Ni) said: 'The eloquent is the same all over the world, but who will change it? And Rather than follow the people who avoid people, how can you follow the people who avoid the world?' He kept on talking. Zilu went to tell, and the master said: "Birds and beasts should not be in the same group. I am not the same as the people of the Si people, but who will be with me?" ?There is a way in the world, and Qiu does not agree with Yi.'" From this record, there are three points in the mind of depression and drowning: 1. The eloquent ones are everywhere in the world, talking about the darkness of the times.2. Whoever changes it, the words cannot be changed.Three, if you follow a person who hides from the world, you should go into seclusion.This is what Tao Yuanming meant when he said that he and the heart of depression and drowning meet at a distance.So I concluded: "I hope it grows like this, and I don't regret working hard." I hope to live this kind of life for a long time, earn my own living, and be free. Even if I work hard, I have nothing to complain about.Tao Yuanming's will is truly as firm as gold.After deep reflection, Tao Yuanming's mind finally became harmonious and peaceful.

Tao Yuanming's poem is interspersed with narration and discussion. Through the narration of harvesting rice, he expresses his feelings of comfort and plowing.The plain language is as it should be, but the implication is infinitely profound.Tao Yuanming loved the Six Classics since childhood and admired Confucius.Confucius taught scholars to take the world as their own responsibility and actively participate in the world.Tao Yuanming chose the life path of Changju and Jieyu, which meant a certain alienation from Confucius.In Tao Yuanming, there was a process of conflicting and painful mentality changes.In fact, he went through thirteen years of ups and downs in order to finally decide to abandon his official position and return to the land.And this poem shows that five or six years after returning to the field, his heart is not always so peaceful and pure.However, the more important significance of this poem lies in Tao Yuanming's new thoughts generated through labor experience and deep reflection.This is: agricultural production is the source of food and clothing, although scholars should take the Tao as their ultimate concern, they still have a duty to agricultural production.Especially in a chaotic world that cannot be changed by oneself, only by abandoning the official position and returning to the fields to cultivate and support oneself can the independence and freedom of personality be preserved. Therefore, depression has its real meaning.Moreover, even though farming is hard work, it is also fun.This joy is the double joy of experiencing the value of freedom and labor.These thoughts and insights of Tao Yuanming are rare and novel in the history of culture and poetry after the late Zhou Dynasty.The brilliance of thought and the solid recognition of the meaning of life in the poem are the most precious value of this poem.