Chapter 59 Congratulations to the Bridegroom · Reading History

The apes bid farewell to each other. . , to ask when to guess, but a few thousand cold and hot. , bowing to each other on the battlefield. . , but remember the spots, a few lines of traces. , Lied Wuya Passerby. ?After the robber Zhizhuang became famous, Chen Wang rose up to wield the yellow axe. , Oriental White. This poem was first published in the ninth issue of "Red Flag" in 1978. The poem "Congratulations to the Bridegroom: Reading History", as the title indicates, is based on history.Of course, Chairman Mao did not read history for the sake of reading history, but to "use the past for the present" and to educate the people of today.The central idea of ​​this poem, its consistent main line is the view of class struggle.Chairman Mao said: "Class struggle, some classes have won, some classes have been eliminated. This is history, and this is the history of civilization for thousands of years. It is called historical materialism to explain history from this point of view. Those who stand on the opposite side of this point of view It is the idealism of history." ("Abandon Illusions, Prepare for Struggle") This poem is a vivid and vivid portrayal of these words.

Class struggle is complex. There are bloody armed struggles and bloodless ideological struggles.Looking back at the sharp situation of international and domestic struggles in 1964, the background of the writing era of the term "Reading History" is very clear, and it is not just doing nothing.Although these struggles have become a thing of the past, in the author's view, the class struggle has not ceased.Revisiting the history of class struggle is the original intention of this poem. One of the most prominent artistic features of Chairman Mao's poems is their strong generality.This feature is particularly prominent in "Reading History".In only 115 words, it covers and praises the history of the entire human society with Chinese history as the main body.From the birth of human beings to their final destination, from primitive society to socialist society, the span is as long as several million years.It is really "a big pen is like a rafter", "a pen can carry a tripod".

Let's start with the upper column of the word. "Humans and apes bid farewell. Only a few stones have been ground, and it's a child's day." These three sentences describe the origin of human beings and the primitive society where human history first appeared.There were no human beings in the world, but labor created human hands, and thus created human beings themselves, and evolved from apes to apes, apes, and primitive humans. "Man and ape greet each other farewell" is a vivid way of saying from ape to man.揖别 means farewell, expressing respect.Although it doesn't have to be factual, it is written reasonably and just right, and it cannot be replaced by other "don's".The five characters in the first sentence come floating in the air, and are used to describe the creation of human beings from scratch, and the style is very suitable, which should be the poet's proud pen. "Several stones have been ground" refers to the Stone Age. "Stone tool" was originally an archaeological term. Chairman Mao restored it to the natural form of "stone", which broke through the limitations of this term on creation and greatly expanded the capacity of words and sentences.Because whether it is the Paleolithic, Mesolithic or Neolithic, and whether it is a stone tool or a polished stone tool, in a word, it is "stone".In this way, the entire Stone Age, which lasted about two to three million years, was included in the six characters. "Children's Day" is also a metaphor, referring to the childhood of human beings.

Chairman Mao said in a letter to Comrade Chen Yi about poetry: "Poetry must be thought in images and cannot be spoken directly like prose, so the two methods of comparing and promoting cannot be used." ("To Chen Yi") I think this Three sentences are the best example.It all uses the figurative "Bixing" instead of the straightforward "Fu".Therefore, it is possible to use the small to capture the big, and lift the heavy as if it is light; take the vulgar as elegant, and it is both solemn and harmonious; it is as homely as it is, and it is not funny, giving readers a great enjoyment of beauty.

"Turning the flames in the copper and iron furnace, in order to ask when to guess, it is only a few thousand cold and hot." This is the beginning of human history from primitive society to class society.This is a more advanced social form, but the cruel class struggle begins from here. The two characters "copper and iron" signify two different eras and societies: copper refers to the slave society of the Bronze Age, and iron refers to the feudal society of the Iron Age.Smelting is a remarkable invention. "Turning the Flame in a Copper and Iron Furnace" is the magnificent scene written, which reminds us of Li Bai's poem "The fire shines on the sky and the earth, and the red stars confuse the purple smoke". "To ask" is like asking, which is often used in poetry. "Guess" means to draw a conclusion.When the slave society and feudal society began, the historians have not yet determined.Regarding the latter, there are different opinions, including Western Zhou Dynasty, Spring and Autumn Period, Warring States Period, Qin Unification, Eastern Han Dynasty, and Wei and Jin Dynasties, so it is said "to ask when to guess".This is a witty saying among friends when discussing with each other.It expresses not ease but kindness.According to "The Chinese Revolution and the Communist Party of China" written in 1939, Chairman Mao was originally a feudalist in the Western Zhou Dynasty. If there are comrades, you must ask why you say "guess"?The old man can answer that, I myself am one of the "guess"! "It's only a few thousand cold and hot" refers to when it started, and it's not a big problem if you can't make a conclusion for a while, it's just a few thousand years anyway.According to "Ci Lv", this should be a seven-character sentence with three upper three lower four, so Comrade Zhao Puchu said that the word "yes" may have fallen off under the word "but", "it was an unintentional typo" (see October 1978 No. "Poetry Magazine").I don't think so.First of all, Chairman Mao's original works are all there, and this sentence is clearly written without any signs of alteration.The word "mouth" in "open to laugh" in the next sentence was missing, but it was added solemnly immediately, so you might not notice that there is a loose text in the previous sentence.This is also inconsistent with Chairman Mao's consistent advocacy of Mr. Lu Xun's spirit of "reading the article at least twice after writing it".Second, the tune of "He Bridegroom" originally had three characters of 114 characters, 115 characters and 116 characters."Congratulations to the Bridegroom" written in 1923 has 116 fonts.Although this song lacks one character, it is still self-contained, and it is allowed in the dictionary, so there is no need to add characters.Third, from an artistic point of view, "It's just a few thousand cold and hot", the language is strong and full of energy, and the writing "It's just" is not so compact.Therefore, I think this is not an "unintentional clerical error", but an intentional simplification.

"It's rare in the world to smile and bow to each other on the battlefield. It's all over, the blood in the suburbs." History is merciless.With the emergence of classes comes the inevitable brutal class struggle.The first sentence is based on Du Mu's poem: "It's rare in the world to smile, and the chrysanthemums must be planted on the head." ("Climbing the Mountain in Nine Days") But changing "mortal world" to "human world" includes the whole society.What Du Mu expressed was just personal frustration, while what Chairman Mao lamented was the historical tragedy of the entire human society.Due to the continuous class struggle and the struggle between various ethnic groups, there are so many records in history, such as "blood flowing", "corpse piled up into mountains", "killing people in the city", and "killing people in the wild". People can't bear to read, how can they "smile"? "On the battlefield, each other bows to the moon" is a typical way of writing the war at that time.In addition to bows and arrows, of course there are other weapons. "Bend" means to pull or pull.When the bow is not drawn, it looks like a crescent moon or a new moon, and when it is fully drawn, it looks like a full moon, so the ancients often wrote bow and moon together.Li Bai's poem "The moon follows the shadow of the bow, Hu Shuang blows the sword flower" (the fifth of "Six Songs of Saixia"), and Xin Qiji's poem "The small bridge crosses, and the bow at the beginning of the month is missing" ("Qinyuanchun" ), which refers to the undrawn bow; as for Su Shi's poem "can draw a bow like a full moon", it has been clearly stated that it refers to a fully drawn bow. Because the arrows shot in this way are more lethal. Rhyme is the primary link in the form of classical poetry. Especially in verses and words, there are rigid rules that cannot be accommodated at all. Therefore, since Tang and Song Dynasties, there have been so-called "dangerous rhymes" or The theory of "dramatic rhyme". This kind of dangerous rhyme is often forced out. When encountering a place that must rhyme, it takes a risk of thinking hard (often there is innovation). What Han Yu said is the artistic effect of "dangerous words break the ghosts and courage", and the author himself will have a kind of "dangerous rhyme poems, hold your head to wake up, don't be idle" as Li Qingzhao said ("Pot in the Sky Slow Spring Love ") (of course, if the rhyme is not stable, it becomes the so-called "joining rhyme"). Chairman Mao's "bending moon" here is a dangerous rhyme. If you are not very skilled and generous, you can't and don't dare to "bend the bow" "After that, put a word "month". The word "bow and moon" is very tight, expressing the theme of class struggle. Six words are a high-level summary of the history of class struggle. The word "Jiaoyuan" is not used casually, because it is the fertile field that produces food to feed human beings. Therefore, Du Fu also wrote sadly that "There is no land Seeds that bleed today" such verses.

The lower column of the word follows the above text.The author further pointed out the method of reading history, which should use the perspective of class struggle to treat historical figures and events, and not let the ancients lead them by the nose.The upper column is basically a statement, noncommittal, while the lower column is full of discussions, with a clear distinction between love and hatred; The expressions are very different. "After reading an article, my head is flying snow, but I remember the spots and a few lines of old traces." This sentence occupies an important position in the structure.There is a so-called "passing film" in the creation of words. "Pian" means "阁", and "Guo Pian" is the transition from the upper film to the next film, which is the first sentence at the beginning of the next film.Ci theorists believe that this sentence should be written like "the root is broken", and it is like "a strange peak protruding", so that the readers will be refreshed.We seldom fill in lyrics now, but this kind of speech that can be regarded as experience is still helpful for appreciation.Here's "an article that ends with Feixue after reading it" is a wonderful "passing film" that combines both.When we read this sentence, we couldn’t help being surprised: why did the poet feel so sad and indignant after reading an article, not only his hair was as white as snow, but the snowy white hair seemed to fly up into the sky?Everyone is familiar with the fact that Chairman Mao once sang the praises of our motherland with such magnificent words as "the country is so beautiful".However, it is precisely in such a beautiful land of the motherland that "flowing all over, the original blood in the suburbs".For thousands of years after "turning the flames in the copper and iron furnace", no matter whether they are slaves, serfs or peasants, they are all in a situation of being enslaved and exploited.Just imagine, a great Marxist, a great poet who loves the motherland, reading such a history of blood and tears of the people, can he not be "filled with loyalty and indignation"?It is not enough to attribute "head flying snow" to the vastness of our country's historical records. It is not enough to clarify the author's spiritual outlook contained in the word "fei". "Spotty spots" refers to individual writing, but it seems to have a duality, it is writing, and it is also blood and tears.After reading these two sentences, we can't help but think of the words that Mr. Lu Xun said in the novel through the mouth of a madman: "I couldn't sleep anyway. I read carefully half the night before I could see the words between the words. The whole book is full of words." There are two words written on them, which means 'eating people'!"

"The five emperors and three emperors are sacred things, and they have deceived the passers-by. How many romantic figures are there?" These few sentences are to expose and criticize the deceptive and harmful nature of the idealist view of history of the reactionary ruling class.History is created by the people, but the emperors of all dynasties attributed all their creations and inventions to the legendary characters "Three Emperors and Five Emperors" who were still in the Stone Age, and said it miraculously; I don't know if it's a fraud, but it turned out to be "fooled by Wu Ya Passerby". "Passing guest" refers to people. When people come to the world, they go back to their hometown after each trip, just like passing by. The word "Boundless" comes from "Zhuangzi·Health Master": "My life has a limit, and knowledge (wisdom) has no limit." It can refer to both time and space. "Boundless passers-by" means endless passers-by, lamenting how many people have been deceived.According to the law of nature, everyone is a passer-by, but we cannot mechanically understand the "passenger without bounds" as all people, because there are also a few who are not deceived.For example, Robo Zhi, who will be mentioned below, once pointed to the nose of Confucius, who "must be called Yao and Shun", and asked: "There is no robber greater than Zi. Why does the world not call Zi Robber Qiu, but call me Robber Zhi?" ("Zhuangzi Robber Zhi") Chen Sheng also didn't believe in the idea that the emperor "takes orders from heaven" at all, and openly said: "Princes and generals, I would rather have a kind!" ("Historical Records Chen She Family") If you contact Chen Sheng Afterwards, the countless peasant uprisings and numerous uprising heroes in history will make the problem even clearer.What we can be sure of is that the term "Wuya Passenger" here is a derogatory term, and it seems to refer to a wide range, including the so-called "intellectual experts" who think they can read history but actually don't.Regarding the "Five Emperors and Three Emperors" itself, we will not get too entangled, but we want to illustrate a problem.According to historical legends, the Three Emperors were before the Five Emperors. Chairman Mao also said in the article "On the Strategy Against Japanese Imperialism" that "Since Pangu opened the world, the Three Emperors and Five Emperors have come to the present." Why is it reversed here to say "Five Emperors and Three Emperors" ?This is a question of "Lyric poems should be level and flat" mentioned above.Of the seven characters in this sentence, the first four characters must be "Ze Zhe Ping Ping", using "Five Emperors and Three Emperors" is just right, but using "Three Emperors and Five Emperors" violates the law and is absolutely not allowed.For example, in Qilu "Sending the Plague God", "Six hundred million Shenzhou is full of Shunyao", it also reverses Yao and Shun to "Shunyao" to meet the needs of flatness and rhyming.This kind of situation can be said to be a privilege enjoyed by regulated poetry, which has been recognized by everyone for thousands of years. "How many romantic people are there?" This question is a turning point in the whole word.From criticism to praise, the poet's mood also changed from anger to joy, from "head flying snow" to "smiling".This sentence bundles the upper and lower, and it is usually combined with the upper and lower sentences, but I think it is better to belong to the upper.

"After the bandit Zhizhuang got a good reputation, the king of Chen rose up to wield the yellow axe." These two sentences are a great tribute to the leaders of the slave uprising and the peasant uprising, and the readers are not aware of it so far.Robber Zhi was a native of Lu in the Spring and Autumn Period. The chapter "Zhuangzi·Root Zhi" says that he "had 9,000 soldiers from his death, ran rampant in the world, and invaded the princes." "Xunzi Bugou" also said that Robber Zhi's "fame is like the sun and the moon, and it will be passed down with Shun and Yu forever."However, none of these can be naively regarded as scholars at that time saying good things for Robber Zhi, and Xunzi took Robber Zhi as the negative witness of "the reputation is not precious".Zhuang Yu was a native of Chu during the Warring States period, and he led an uprising when King Wei of Chu.After Chu was divided into four, he led his people to Dianchi Lake (in present-day Yunnan) and conquered Qidi (according to "Historical Records Biography of Southwestern Yi").Later generations connected them together as specimens of "extremely vicious".For example, Jin Gehong's "Baopuzi Sainan": "The bandit Zhi is poor and vicious and has a white head, and Zhuang Yu is extremely vicious and has yellow hair." This is simply a vicious curse.But it also proves from the negative side that their greatness has won the hearts of the people, so they can "run across the world", "fame like the sun and the moon", and have a good life and death. "Liu Yu" is still Liu Fang.Following Robber Zhi and Zhuang Yu, it was Chen Sheng (namely Chen She) at the end of the Qin Dynasty who revolted on a larger scale. It was the first national uprising in the history of our country, and it was the first great feudal empire in the history of our country that was overthrown. —The Qin Dynasty, so Chairman Mao wrote the words "Gengchen Wang rose up and swung the yellow axe" full of pride.The king of Chen was Chen Sheng. After the uprising, he was supported by the heroes, who said that he "is the king with merit. Chen She is established as the king, and his name is Zhang Chu" (see Sima Qian's "Historical Records Chen She's Family").Some comrades said that Chen Sheng "made himself king", which is not true; he also said that Chairman Mao was called "Chen Wang" to imply why the peasant revolution always failed, which seems inaccurate, and it is too deep to ask.Sima Qian referred to Chen Sheng as "Chen Wang" in "The Family" in no less than twenty places. Chairman Mao used this ancient title here, and did not imply any sarcasm as some people said. "Yellow Yue" is an ax decorated with gold.As a symbol of feudal power, it was originally used exclusively by emperors. For example, "Historical Records Zhou Benji" records that King Wu of Zhou "beheaded Zhou with a yellow axe".The saying "Chen Wang wields the yellow axe" here is a conscious way of saying "doing the opposite", that is, singing praises. "Chen Wang" is not him, that is, Chen Sheng, a poor and hired farmer who "stopped farming and sighed".

"The song is unfinished, Dongfang Bai." This is an ending with puns and meanings beyond words, really "seemingly ordinary and strange".It has the duality of realism and symbolism. From the perspective of realism, it means that the words of my "Reading History" have not been finished yet, but the east has turned white.Chairman Mao took care of everything, worked hard for the country, and often stayed up all night. This ending inadvertently left us a living documentary shot.When writing this poem, Chairman Mao was already an old man in his seventies.From a symbolic point of view, it means that the Chinese revolution has already won before I have had time to sing the praises of many uprising heroes after "Chen Wang".In this way, the peasant uprising more than 2,000 years ago and today's Chinese revolution are naturally welded together.It not only ends the dark past in human history, but also leads us to a bright future far away.Some comrades reduced "Dongfangbai" to the uprising symbolizing "Chen Wang", and said that it was because of this uprising that the dawn of Asia appeared in Eastern China, the Qin Empire was overthrown, and the splendid feudal culture created by the Han Dynasty appeared. This statement is very debatable.It doesn't look like an ending, and it can't end such a "Reading History" at all, it seems to be hanging warts.It is very obvious that the "white" in "Dongfangbai" here and the "white" in "Singing the Rooster and the World White" in "Huanxisha" both symbolize the victory of the Chinese revolution and cannot be understood otherwise.The only difference is that the latter belongs to the "comparison" of "searching for things to describe feelings", because it was written under the lights of Fengze Garden at the time; while the former belongs to the "Xing" of "touching things to arouse feelings". Because when it was written, the east was turning white, which is the so-called "Xing Er Bi Ye".Shen Deqian, a native of the Qing Dynasty, commented on Li Bai's seven-character quatrains and said: "Only look at the foreground, colloquial words, but there are overtones, which makes people far away." This is very enlightening for us to understand the ideological and artistic quality of the ending of this poem.