Chapter 12 The flower path has never been swept by guests, but the Pengmen is now open for you

Du Fu There are spring waters in the south and north of the house, but you can see flocks of gulls coming every day. The flower path has never been swept by guests, and the Pengmen is now opened for the king. Pan飧 City is far from having both tastes, and the bottle restaurant is poor with only old grains. Willing to drink with his neighbor, calling for the rest of the cup across the fence. On September 5, 2006, on the eve of his visit to Europe, Premier Wen Jiabao said in his opening remarks when he was interviewed by media from various countries in Ziguang Pavilion, Zhongnanhai: "'The flower path has never been swept away by customers, but the Pengmen has been opened for you now'. It is a pleasure to welcome you. Accept your interview. Soon, I will go to Europe to attend the Asia-Europe Summit and the China-EU leaders’ meeting, and visit Finland, the United Kingdom, and Germany. This is my third visit to Europe since I became Prime Minister.”

"The flower path has never been swept by guests, but the Pengmen has been opened for you now" reflects the respect for guests.Everyone has this kind of experience in daily life. When they learn that relatives and friends from afar are coming to visit, they clean the courtyard and eaves carefully in advance, and even make some decorations.It's not a show or showing off, but out of respect and attention to the guests, and it also reflects the hospitality of the host.Premier Wen has quoted this line of poetry in many opening remarks to express our welcome to friends from all over the world.

"The flower path has never been swept by guests, but the Pengmen has opened for you now" is quoted from Du Fu's poem "The Guest Arrives".This well-known "Guest to" was composed by Du Fu in the spring of the second year of Shangyuan (761). At that time, the poet was fifty years old and lived in thatched cottage in Chengdu.The author's own note under the poem: "I like Cui Mingfu to pass."Meet each other, visit, visit each other.Mingfu was the respectful title given to county magistrates in Tang Dynasty.The "guest" in the title of the poem refers to Cui Mingfu, whose specific situation is unknown.Du Fu's mother's surname is Cui, and this guest may be a relative with his mother's surname.

The first couplet of this poem describes the scene, uses the images of "spring water" and "gulls" to render a life atmosphere full of fun, and reveals the protagonist's joyful mood when the guests arrive.She refers to Du Fu's thatched cottage by the Huanhua River in Chengdu.Spring water refers to the Huanhua Creek flowing through the Caotang.The word "Jie" in the poem describes the scene of spring water overflowing.Gulls are very suspicious by nature, and if they are scheming, they will not get close to them.And "the gulls are coming day by day" not only describes the personality of the poet who has no chance but has to be accompanied by gulls and birds, but also points out the quietness and seclusion of the poet's living environment.Of course, behind the company of only the gulls and birds, it also reveals the embarrassment of the poet's relatives and friends at that time scattered, and his friends were neglected.The writing perspective of the neck couplet shifts from the outdoors to the courtyard, leading to "guest arrival". "Yuan Ke Sweeping" means cleaning for the guests. The ancients often greeted the guests by sweeping the path.This couplet uses the tone of talking with the guests to express the poet's joy because of the visit of his friends.

The couplets describe the scene of hospitality.Pan飧, the dishes on the plate;飧, originally refers to cooked food, here generally refers to dishes; Jianwei, more than two kinds of dishes are called Jianwei; Apologize for hospitality.The author discards other plots and concentrates on depicting the life scenes that best show the affection between the host and the guest.The host entertained warmly and persuaded them to drink frequently, but he couldn't help but feel guilty because of the lack of food and wine, but the guests didn't care about these, which shows the sincerity and frankness between the host and the guest.The last couplet changed its style, and ended the whole poem with the wonderful details of inviting neighbors to add to the fun: Would the guests be willing to drink with the old man next door?If he is willing, I will invite him to sit and drink with him through the fence.This is reminiscent of Tao Yuanming's "we call each other more when we pass through the door, and we should drink at our discretion".There is no need to invite in advance, and you can drink at any time, so that people can appreciate a kind of simple joy that abandons hypocrisy and pretentiousness in sincere interpersonal relationships.

In Du Fu's poems such as "Guest Arrival", "Your Guest", and "Passing Guest Looking for Me", he also wrote about entertaining guests for dinner, but the expressions and meanings are different.In "The Arrival of Guests", the author respects the visitors and writes about eating, and only uses "a century-old rough and rotten Confucian meal" to describe it in one stroke; For the love of relatives", "Hanging on the wall and moving the basket of fruit, Hu'er asked to cook the fish", they all use only one or two lines of poems to explain, showing the kindness and politeness of the hospitality, but it is not grand and warm enough, and there is no mention of drinking.The description of hospitality in this poem "The Arrival of Guests" does not hesitate to use half a poem to show the scene of hospitality with wine and food, and also unexpectedly highlights the details of inviting neighbors to add to the fun. The writing is wonderful, delicate, cordial and natural.The expression is simple and fluent, which is very harmonious with the content, forming a cheerful and elegant mood, which is different from Du Fu's other regulated poems where words and sentences are carefully considered.

On the eve of his visit to Europe, Premier Wen Jiabao quoted a poem from Du Fu’s "A Guest Arrives" in an interview with reporters, "The flower path has never been swept away by guests, and the Pengmen is now opened for you." I hope to make the atmosphere of the interview more relaxed and harmonious; on the other hand, it also expresses China's sincerity in strengthening cooperation with European countries.The purpose of this is just as Premier Wen said in this interview: "China's construction is a long-term and arduous process. We need peace, we need friends, and we need time."