Poetry Appreciation—Reading "Three Poems for Yuan Xiaowei"

Three poems for Yuan Xiaowei, 23 years ago

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1. Traveling with you from carriage and horse, to the famous pavilion through the ages until the end.

On a rainy night, Beiyuan is still on the road, and the lanterns let me pass Hezhou.

Yuan Xiaowei works in the Chinese Department of Anhui Institute of Education, and she and Yu are friends from the same school. Xiaowei was ordered by Master Shucheng to prepare a car for me to go to Langya Mountain to visit Zuiweng Pavilion. Departing in the afternoon of the same day, it takes two hours to reach Chuzhou by taxi. The entrance to the expressway was not smooth, so driver Xiao Jia took a detour to Jiangsu and took seven hours to reach his destination. I had a good conversation with Xiaowei, and saw the night view of Hexian County along the way, but I didn't realize that the road was far away.

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The places of interest in all directions are so busy and so sparse that Wan Gong still looks like the old days.

There should be fewer people idle at the end of the festival, and there is a red dress deep in the white clouds.

Tianzhu Mountain is located in Qianshan County, also known as Qianshan, Wanshan and Wangong Mountain. The main peak is more than 1,700 meters above sea level. In the Han Dynasty, it was revered as Nanyue, because the mountains were high and the roads were dangerous, making it difficult to climb. In the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty expanded the southern frontier and moved the title of Nanyue to Hengshan. The mountain became lonely again. It was a heavy foggy day, and there were very few tourists in the mountains. The stream was gurgling along the way, and good birds were chirping, making it extremely quiet.

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When the autumn chrysanthemums and spring orchids are not blooming, I climb the mountain and visit the water to send me home.

Goose feathers are sent thousands of miles away, and a scholar's favor is just a poem on paper.

As the proverb goes: "A scholar's favor is just a piece of paper."

The poet Zhou Xiaotian, nicknamed Xintuo, was born in Qu County, Sichuan in May 1948. Professor of the School of Literature and Journalism of Sichuan University, researcher of the Chinese Poetry Center of Anhui Normal University, and vice president of the Chinese Poetry Society. Zhou Xiaotian won the Poetry Award at the 6th Lu Xun Literary Award for "Tea Will Come - Selected Poems of Zhou Xiaotian". Zhou Xiaotian is a Lu Xun poet. The first winner in the history of the Literature Prize to compose traditional poetry.

The industry's evaluation of him: Wang Meng commented on Zhou Xiaotian: It is also a swan song, and it is already unparalleled. Yang Mu commented on Zhou Xiaotian: the magic of Zhou poetry, the wonderful creation of Zhou poetry, and the refined character of Tang poetry unique to Zhou poetry. Researchers commented on Zhou Xiaotian: It has a strong sense of reality, currentness, and even newsiness.

We can see that Zhou Xiaotian has a unique charm in writing ancient poems using contemporary people and events. Zhou Xiaotian is also very confident in himself. He said, "I dare not say that I have surpassed the Tang Dynasty people, but I submitted my own poems to participate in one of the highest awards in Chinese literature because I saw that there are already outstanding works in contemporary poetry. For the literary talent of Tang Dynasty poetry, it is more important to express the style and spiritual value of contemporary people."

We can appreciate it from the three poems he wrote to his fellow disciple Yuan Xiaowei. The first song briefly explains the background. Yuan Xiaowei works in the Chinese Department of Anhui Institute of Education. She is a classmate and friend of the poet. Their teacher Yu Shucheng asked Yuan Xiaowei to prepare a car and travel with the poet to the Zuiwengting Pavilion in Langya Mountain. They set off in the afternoon and expected to reach their destination in two hours. Unexpectedly, there was a traffic jam at the highway intersection and the driver took a detour. This greatly delayed the trip and took seven hours to reach the destination. No one likes to take detours in traffic jams. Wasting time before arriving at the destination will only make people feel anxious. However, we can see the poet's words: "From the carriage and horse traveling with you, to the famous pavilion through the ages to the beginning of rest. The north gate is still there on a rainy night." On the road, Hua Deng let me pass Hezhou. "It was very relaxed, without much complaint or displeasure. The first two sentences very straightforwardly explain the characters and destination of the trip, and the second two sentences not only have no sense of anxiety and uneasiness, but also a sense of leisure and contentment. It can be seen that the poet enjoyed the trip very much and had a lot of conversation with Yuan Xiaowei. I am so happy that I don’t realize that the journey is far away.

The second poem is about the experience of climbing Tianzhu Mountain. It also introduces that it was previously called Qianshan and Wangong Mountain. It was revered as Nanyue in the Han Dynasty. When Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty opened up southern Xinjiang, the title of Nanyue was moved to Hengshan Mountain. . The first two lines of this poem, "The scenic spots in all directions are bustling, and Anhui is as sparse as in the past." It explains that Tianzhu Mountain is now a little lonely, not as good as the bustling scene of tourists from the four famous mountains. "There should be fewer idle people at the end of the festival, "A Red Clothes Deep in the White Clouds." The poet said that there should be fewer people idle at this moment, and the "Red Clothes Deep in the White Clouds" should refer to Yuan Xiaowei, one white and one red, the contrast is very sharp. At the end of this period, when there were few people around, the poet and his friend Yuan Xiaowei went to Qianshan. It was foggy that day and there were very few tourists. The stream was gurgling along the way and good birds were chirping. In the most quiet environment, a woman in red came into view. , very artistic.

The third song is the most lyrical one. There is no more going around in circles. In the front, "When the autumn chrysanthemums and spring orchids are blooming, I climb the mountain and visit the water to see the return home." There is no such thing as a banquet in the world, and the two share the same goals. , we had a great time traveling together, but we had no choice but to part ways. "Goose feathers are sent thousands of miles away, but a scholar's favor is just a piece of paper." We all know the story of sending goose feathers thousands of miles away, but I think the poet used an allusion more cleverly, saying that the scholar's favor in the past was just a piece of paper, because most of the scholars in the old days were poor and encountered difficulties. When there is a favor, and there is no money to buy gifts, all I can do is cut out a piece of paper and write a letter to express that the gift is too meager. Here the poet is used as "a scholar's poem on a piece of paper", which reminds people of the communication between scholars, and they do not need to be trapped by the world. Instead, a thin poem on a piece of paper conveys a strong relationship.

The three poems are already a complete story, about meeting, traveling together, and separation. It is simple and clear, and it is still touching to read. Maybe now is really an era that lacks poetry. When traveling with friends, we all take photos and check in and send them to WeChat Moments, but there is no such sentiment as "a scholar's favor and a poem on a piece of paper".