Jiang Nanchun's explanation

Du Mu's ancient poem "Jiangnan Spring"

Dondum

Thousands of warblers sing green and reflect red,

Flag wind of Shuicunshan fruit wine.

480 temples in the Southern Dynasties,

How many towers of smoke and rain

[Notes]

1. Ti Ying: That is the language of Yan.

2. Guo: Outer city. This refers to the town.

3. Wine flag: a small flag hung in front of the door as a hotel symbol.

4. Southern Dynasties: refers to the regimes of Song, Qi, Liang and Chen that successively confronted the Northern Dynasties.

5. Loutai: pavilions and pavilions. This refers to temple architecture.

6. misty rain: drizzle, like smoke and fog.

[translation]

Thousands of miles south of the Yangtze River, green leaves set off red flowers, and spring is everywhere. Flags in front of water towns, mountain cities and hotels are swaying gently with the wind. Ah, the temples built in the Southern Dynasties are now hidden in a misty rain.

This song "Jiangnan Spring" has enjoyed a high reputation for thousands of years. These four poems not only describe the richness of spring scenery in Jiangnan, but also describe its vastness, profundity and confusion.

"Thousands of miles of warblers sing green and reflect red, and the water town is full of wine flags." The beginning of the poem, like a fast-moving focal plane, swept across the southern land: the vast south of the Yangtze River, orioles singing, green trees reflecting clusters of red flowers; Villages by the water, battlements by the mountain, and wine flags fluttering in the wind are all in sight. Charming Jiangnan, moved by the poet's brilliant pen, is even more exciting. In addition to the richness of the scenery, I am afraid it is different from some garden attractions, confined to a corner, but because it is spread over a large area of land. Therefore, if there is no word "a thousand miles" at the beginning, these two sentences will be weak. However, Yang Shen in Ming Dynasty said in Poems of Sheng 'an Temple: "Who can listen thousands of miles away? "Thousands of miles of green, who can see? If you travel ten miles, you will see green and red scenery, village Guo, balcony, monk temple and wine flag. " For this kind of opinion, He Huan Wen once refuted it in Textual Research on Poems of Past Dynasties: "Even if you make ten miles, you may not be able to hear it. The title cloud "Spring in the South of the Yangtze River" shows that Wan Li in the south of the Yangtze River is vast, and among the Wan Li, birds are singing and reflecting the green. There are no wine flags everywhere in Shuicun Mountain, and most of the towers of the 480 Hall are in the misty rain. This poem is wide, so it is not allowed to refer to one place, so it is called "Spring in the South of the Yangtze River" ... "He's statement is right, which is for the needs of typical generalization of literature and art, and the last two sentences are the same. "Four hundred and eighty halls in the southern dynasties, how many towers are misty and rainy." From the first two sentences, it should be a sunny scene with singing and dancing, red and green setting each other off and wine flags fluttering, but these two sentences are clearly written in the misty rain. What's going on here? This is because within a thousand miles, rain or shine is uncertain everywhere, which is completely understandable. But what needs to be seen is that the poet grasped the characteristics of Jiangnan scenery with typical techniques. Jiangnan is characterized by beautiful mountains and rivers, bright flowers, intricate colors, rich levels and strong three-dimensional sense. While reducing thousands of miles to a scale, the poet focused on the colorful scenery in the south of the Yangtze River in spring. The first two sentences of the poem are red and green, mountains and rivers, villages and battlements, movements and sounds. But these are not rich enough, and they only depict the bright side of Jiangnan in spring. So the poet added a wonderful stroke: "Four hundred and eighty halls in the southern dynasties, how many towers are misty and rainy." The resplendent and heavily built Buddhist temple has always given people a deep feeling, but now the poet deliberately lets it linger in the misty rain, adding a hazy and blurred color. This kind of picture and color are in harmony with the beautiful scenery of "thousands of miles of warblers singing green and reflecting red, and the wind of national wine flags in water towns and mountains", which makes this picture of Jiangnan Spring more colorful. The word "Southern Dynasties" adds a distant historical color to this picture. "480" is a saying that the Tang people emphasize quantity. The poet first emphasized that there was more than one magnificent Buddhist temple, and then sang with the sigh that "misty rain is coming", which is particularly reverie.

This poem shows the poet's praise and yearning for the scenery in the south of the Yangtze River. However, some researchers put forward the "satire theory", arguing that the emperors of the Southern Dynasties were famous for Buddhism in the history of China, and that the Buddhism in Du Mu's era was also a vicious development, while Du Mu had anti-Buddhism thoughts, so the last two sentences were ironic. In fact, the interpretation of poetry should first start from the artistic image, and should not make abstract inferences. Du Mu's opposition to Buddhism does not mean that he must hate the Buddhist temple architecture left over from history. In Xuanzhou, he often goes to Kaiyuan Temple and other places to play. I have also been to some temples in Chizhou and made friends with monks. Famous phrases such as "Clouds on Jiuhuashan Road, Liu Fuqiao on Qingyi River" and "Autumn Mountain and Spring Rain Wandering All over Jiangnan Temple Building" all show that he still appreciates the balcony of the Buddhist temple. Of course, while enjoying it, it is also possible to drift a little historical emotion occasionally.

[Author's Brief Introduction] Du Mu (803-852), a native of Mu Zhi, was born in the reign of Emperor Jingzhao. Poets in late Tang Dynasty.