Chapter 94 Officials in the Stone Trench/Du Fu

This is one of the famous "Three Officials" ("Xin'an Officials", "Shihao Officials", "Tongguan Officials") and "Three Farewells" ("Farewell to the Newly Married", "Farewell to the Elderly", "Farewell to the Homeless"). Du Fu offended Suzong because he spoke for Fang Guan, and was almost convicted.In the first year of Qianyuan (758), he was demoted to Huazhou Sihu to join the army and was driven out of the court.Last winter, Tang Suzong's eldest son Li Chu (later Tang Daizong), famous general Guo Ziyi and others regained the two capitals (Chang'an and Luoyang); In present-day Anyang, Henan), due to internal conflicts and the arrival of Shi Siming's reinforcements, the Tang army collapsed across the board. Guo Ziyi and others retreated to Heyang (that is, ancient Mengjin, west of Mengxian County, Henan), and recruited troops everywhere, preparing to fight the rebels again.At this time, Du Fu went to Henan to visit relatives, and then returned to Huazhou where he was stationed. Wherever he passed, that is, the place where the two armies fought, he wrote this group of Yuefu poems that have been glorious through the ages based on what he saw along the way.

The war to put down the "Anshi Rebellion" was still tragic, and the masses of the people suffered unprecedented devastation and pain.However, this kind of war is relatively just, so the whole country has a kind of tragic spirit of sharing the same hatred with the enemy.Du Fu's attitude towards such a war was ambivalent.He sympathized with the masses of the people in the war, and supported and encouraged them to join the army to kill the enemy.Therefore, this group of war-themed poems has a different theme and atmosphere from other anti-war poems. Shihao is a small town, more than seventy miles east of Shanxian County, Henan Province.If it weren't for Du Fu's poem, I am afraid that it is still unknown.When the poet lodged here, he encountered a scene of officials arresting people at night.He faithfully recorded what he saw and heard with his own eyes, and did not comment on it, but his criticism of the rulers, and his sympathy and admiration for the people were all on paper.

As soon as the poem begins, it quickly enters the theme.The focus of the whole poem is the old woman's self-report.All three sons have gone to Yecheng to serve as soldiers, one son is still heard, and two sons have died in battle.Only the old couple and their daughter-in-law and grandson are left in the family. The family is so poor that they don't even have a complete dress. The disaster that the war brought to the public can be imagined. This old lady is admirable. "Although the strength of the old woman is weak, please return from the night of the official. If you are in a hurry to respond to the Heyang service, you still have to prepare the morning cooking." Although I am too old to carry a gun or a knife, I can still cook for the soldiers. breakfast.

The old woman was taken away, her fate is unknown, and this precarious home was almost completely destroyed. Reading this poem makes people feel very heavy, although more than a thousand years have passed.The poet didn't say anything, but we have to think and ask, what is the reason for all this?Who should take responsibility for all this?This may be what the poet wanted to say but finally didn't say.