Love Songs for Deeply Pursued Love Songs
Previously, we chose to read the oracle bone inscriptions and gold inscriptions of the excavated texts, and we also covered the basics of writing and vocabulary. Starting from this lecture, we will read the Thirteen Scriptures, which are a collection of heirloom documents. There are a lot of sutras, so which one should we talk about first?
We chose to talk about the Book of Poetry, because Confucius said that cultivating one's moral character begins with poetry, and he even said that one cannot speak without learning poetry. This shows the important role of Poetry in understanding ancient society and reading ancient literature. Confucius also said that Poetry 300 is summarized in one sentence. It says, "Think without evil." Therefore we chose poems that express emotions such as love, anger, and helplessness. In as a window to understand the "Poetry", "Si Wu Yi".
Which psalms to read? Mr. Qian Zhongshu inspired us with his words in Guanjiezhi, Book 1, page 188, saying that the poems of "Cunning Boy", "Laying Down the Shirt", "Fung", and "Employment Opportunities at the East Gate" are quite interesting to look at. Why do they fit together? It is because they happen to express the process of admiration, love and loss of love. Therefore, the four poems that I have chosen to read today are mostly related to the pursuit of passionate love.
I. The Book of Songs. The first is a poem from the Book of Songs, which is a collection of poems from the Book of Songs. The preface to the poem "Employment level of the East Gate" says: "Rash is also chaotic. Male girlfriends who run away from each other without waiting for the rituals." This poem is a satirical mockery of lewdness. That is, there are young men and women, they elope without completing the rites of passage. Isn't it like that? The real situation is similar to this. But from our modern point of view, it's an expression of real emotion. It's not like the preface of the poem that ridicules obscenity, but that's according to the viewpoint of ritual.
"The level of sacrifices at the east gate, Ruyi Lǘ in Hans. Its room is near, and its people are far away."
This "east gate" is often found in the Book of Songs, and it refers to the outside of the city.
The Shuo Wen said: "Employment spots, wild soil. It is a place where the soil is outside of the countryside. Some people think it is an altar, in fact, altar and sacrifices are a little different. The altar is a high platform on the soil, and sacrifices is the field of the land to repair a little bit, to get rid of the weeds inside. It served as a square on which sacrifices, dances, and gatherings could be held. In ancient times, there was the sealing of heaven and earth, that Zen is actually this sacrifices.
What's outside the east gate? There is Ruqian. What is Rudraksha?
Ruyu: the red crocus flower, which is on top of Hanshiro.
Osaka: a sloping slope.
Next to the sacrifices outside the east gate, there is a sloping soil slope, and on top of the sloping soil slope grows red cissus flowers. The author took this to write is in the rise, rise the following to express the meaning. The first thing I'd like to do is to get to the bottom of it.
There is a house very close to me, near: the meaning of near. But its people are far away, this person is far away from me. This sentence may seem contradictory, but in fact it is meant to express that this person's heart is far from me. Although living very close to me, he does not have me in his heart. So I feel that he is far from me.
"The chestnuts that grow beyond the east gate have trampled on the family." The chestnut tree that grows beyond the east gate is very lush. Next to this chestnut tree, there are homes and rooms. That is, there are very neatly arranged houses. This is the meaning of the word "trample". Trample: display. Inside these houses, there is one's beloved.
"Will not I think? The Son is not I that is."
Would not I think? This is an interrogative sentence, and we know that within ancient Chinese, interrogative and negative sentences were particularly important in expressing particular emotions. Inside this sentence there is another special grammatical phenomenon, which is object preposition. Whenever you're inside a question and inside a negative sentence, the object of the verb is usually placed in front of the verb. The sentence wouldn't you think is wouldn't you think of me. Don't I miss you?
"The Son is not I that is," which has another object preposition in it. It is that You, however, do not come near me. I miss you especially, but you do not come to me. This author is both subtle and bold in expressing love.
Its translation we can refer to Mr. Cheng Junying's translation, which is particularly beautiful.
The second poem. Toward the South. Biu Tsi Mei (摽有梅)
"Biu Tsi Mei (摽有梅), in fact, there are seven of them. I am looking for a commoner, but I will not be able to find him until I am lucky. Biu Tsi's Plum is in fact three Ruoxi. The first is the "Biu Tsi", which is a poem in which the artist is asked to give a signal to a person who has been given a signal by the emperor. Biu Tsi's Plums: A Battle of the Birds The Biu Biu scholar is a man of the world, and he is a man of the world."
Most of the verses are the same, but there are variations. Where is the change? The change is in the three, in the hectares of baskets to be bricked up, until it is now, until it is said to be.
What does this verse express?
Mei, plum. Biu Tsi is a signal. To pick this plum by knocking it down from the plum tree. At the very beginning the fruit was 70%, which we can understand as the tree was growing luxuriantly. There were still more fruits. What does this symbolize? It symbolizes a woman who is in her prime, at her most beautiful.
"I hope that the scholar who pursues me will do so while it is auspicious. I hope that the commoner who pursues me, that beautiful man, you choose a good day to come and marry me off.
By the time we get to chapter 2, things have changed. In fact, Sanxi, the fruit is only 30% left. What does this 30% symbolize? Symbolizing the woman's loss of beauty, a little bit older. At this time, there is a little bit of urgency in her heart. Now is the time. I don't need to choose a good day, I can marry me today.
In chapter 3, we see a little more urgency. Biu Tsi Mei.
What is a Biu Tsi basket? It's actually the same thing that we have now, a dustpan with a slanting mouth. In the Book of Songs, the two baskets are the opposite of each other, the Hao Basket and the Yi Basket. The ha basket is a shallow, slanted basket, and the fori basket is a deep basket, equivalent to the basket we have now. It is the equivalent of our current basket, which is deep.
The hea basket was so shallow that it wasn't really a lot of work to pick it full. There are very few plums left, so take this diagonal-mouthed dustpan and just fill it up. It symbolizes the woman, who has become older, and her mood has become more urgent. That's why it says in the third chapter, "Until it is so called, any day you say, any time you say, you don't need a good day. The woman very boldly reveals her heart to her beloved.
Third, "Poetry. Zhounan's "Ru Tomb"
This is a poem that misses someone who is far away. It can also be understood as a poem of passionate love. This poem also has three chapters.
"Follow his Thy grave, and cut down his bars. I have not seen a gentleman, and I am famished as if I were tuned to hunger."
The word "zhāo" (調), which is not pronounced "朝", should be pronounced "zhāo" (zhāo). This involves a change in the ancient phonetic system called "骨无舌上音". This will be discussed later.
What does it mean to follow? We now have to comply with the follow, this Zun character is to follow the meaning of the word. The Shuowen said, "Zun, follow also." It means along. Along that Ruhe's grave. Some people think it's scary to be on a grave, but actually this grave is a relatively large mound of earth in ancient times, and it also indicates a riverbank. Because in ancient times, burying the dead was at first directly to the ditch inside a throw, with firewood and grass to the top of a cover on the line. Later, it was buried in the soil, the soil is not flat, not a mound, and then only after the mound.
The Ru grave here is the embankment on the Ru River, not the grave we are talking about now. It is this woman walking along the riverbank. In what? The woman is walking along the riverbank, cutting down the small branches of the trees that grow on the riverbank. The Shuowen says, "Strip, small branch. "The trunk is also the enumeration." It's the trunk and the twigs, cut it for firewood for cooking. When she was laboring she remembered her sweetheart, Junzi, and wanted to see but could not see, so she said she had not seen Junzi.
What kind of mood is this? Famished nì is like tuning hunger. According to the legend of Mao Heng, "famished, the meaning of hunger is also." It means hunger. Zheng Xuan said, "Famished, think also." It means to miss.
When she did not see the gentleman, she thought of food as if she were sneering. That is, when she did not see her beloved, she was as hungry as if she had not eaten breakfast.
"Comply with his thy grave, and cut down his stripes. Both see the gentleman, not my reverie abandoned." This is chapter 2.
This woman she cuts down the branches on the riverbank and meets her beloved. What is the behavior of the beloved? Not I am abandoning. There's the negative word not in there, and what kind of grammar can come out of that? Object preposition. How do you adjust it? It means not abandoning me. Not to abandon me far away. I miss the gentleman, I see the gentleman. He and I have a very sweet relationship.
By chapter 3, this woman she misses the gentleman, but what's the situation?
"When the dories are red, the royal family is like a ruin. Though it is as if it were ruined, the parents hole up."
The traditional interpretation says that this is an indication that the royal family has a lot going on. He had to go about his public business every day. Although I miss him, there is nothing I can do about it. Such an interpretation would not be very consistent with the previous two chapters.
In fact, the red tail of this pomfret is borrowed to show the intensity of one's missing emotion. Although one misses it, one's parents are just too close. This shows that the woman is under the watchful eye of her parents, and she can't go to see this man casually. The use of "although it is as destroyed, parents hole near," the contrasting technique, more emphasized the intensity of her longing.
Fourth, "Poetry. The winds of Qi. The cock is crowing"
Mao Heng said in the Classic of Poetry, "The cock is crowing, thinking of the Princess Xian also. Duke of Mourning was desolate and negligent, so Chen Xianfei chaste woman, night and day to warn the road to mutual success."
The meaning is to think of a very virtuous consort. Is this actually the case? Let's read from the text.
The Book of Songs. Qi Feng. The Rooster's Crowing
"The rooster has already crowed, and the morning is full." This chicken has begun to crow. Chao, Dan is also, Ying, full of vessels is also. This sun is already very high.
"A bandit chicken then chirps, the sound of flies." Bandit, Tong Fei. That is not a chicken crowing, that is the sound of flies buzzing. This hothead doesn't want to get up and is still lazy in bed. This said words are purely making excuses.
"The east is bright, and the dynasty is both prosperous." The east is already big old bright, the sun is already very, very bright. But the other side is making excuses again.
"Bandit the east is bright, the moon is out." That's not the sun, that's a moon out, that's the light of the moon. Then at the end of the day you have to get up.
"Worms fly princely hōng, willing to dream with the son." Worms fly prōng hōng beside me, I would very much like to go into dreamland with you ****.
"Will and return, no concubine to the son hate." And, will be. I am going back now. Concubine, hope, no, don't. I hope you do not hate me, that is, my beloved you do not have a grudge.
This chapter of Mr. Qian Zhongshu in the "tube cone editor" inside the special mention. He said: "I thought to do men and women to answer the words, more ravishing." Mr. Qian Zhongshu also cited Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet play for comparison.
Shakespeare's play has a similar plot within it. So the piece "The Cockatrice," if interpreted merely as thinking of the virtuous princess, may lack the sentiment of life. Interpreting it as the words of a young man and woman's reply is very much in line with the generalization of Si Wu Yi in the Book of Songs.
That is, the love is deep without evil thoughts, and the love is strong without transgression. Then through these four poems, there is the heart of the heart of the heart of the heart of adoration, there is the hope that the other side to quickly confess, there is the hot love can not be separated from a moment, and there is also a lovely bed-ridden. Just like what Tang Xianzu's lyrics say, love does not know what it is and it goes deep. However not every love has a happy ending and inevitably someone will fall out of love. In the next talk, we look at what people in the era of the Poetry Scriptures would do when they encountered a lost love situation.