Translation of the ancient poem Cicada

cicada

Yu Shinan in Tang Dynasty

Cicada droops like a tassel on a hat, its tentacles suck the clear dew, and its voice spreads from the branches of the straight Shulang tree.

Cicada is far away from cicada because cicada is on a tall tree, not relying on autumn wind.

The whole poem is interpreted as follows:

Cicada hangs down its tentacles like a hat tassel and sucks the sweet dew. The sound comes from the tall branches of the phoenix tree.

Cicadas spread far because they live in tall trees, not by autumn wind.

Sentence annotation

Rui: the drooping part of the cap tassel tied under the chin of the ancients is somewhat similar to the shape of the tentacles protruding from the cicada head.

Dew: Pure dew. The ancients thought that cicadas lived by drinking dew, but in fact they sucked the juice of plants.

Flowing clouds and flowing water: refers to the continuous cicada singing.

Sparse: open and sparse.

Relying on: relying on.

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This is an object-chanting poem by Yu Shinan, a famous minister in the early Tang Dynasty, which is full of symbolic significance. Every sentence describes the shape, habit and sound of cicada, and every sentence implies the poet's noble character and interest. The deep meaning of chanting things is to praise people. The key is to grasp some specific characteristics of cicadas and find out the artistic correspondence. Sagging is the knotted and drooping band of ancient official hats, and it also refers to the narrow mouth of cicada chin similar to hat band. Cicada sucks dew with its narrow mouth. Because of semantic pun, it implies that Guan Ying's senior officials should abstain from corruption and pursue incorruptibility. Cicada lives on a tall and straight plane tree, which is naturally different from those insects rolling in rotten grass and mud, so its voice can flow beautifully and loudly. At the end of the poem, it is entirely because cicadas have the ability to "speak loudly from afar", rather than relying on external forces such as autumn wind. The moral of these poems is that an official and a man must stand tall and have noble virtues in order to speak loudly and enjoy a wide reputation. This great ambition comes entirely from the power of personality beauty, which can never be achieved by have it both ways or any strength, joints and support. In fact, "Chant" contains Yu Shinan's self-teaching. As one of the twenty-four ministers who hung in Lingyange during the Zhenguan period of Tang Dynasty, his reputation lies in his erudition and noble Geng Jie. He talked with Emperor Taizong about the gains and losses of the king, and he was able to speak out and make a unique contribution to the rule of Zhenguan. To this end, Emperor Taizong said that he had "five unique skills" (morality, loyalty, erudition, style of writing, and writing style), and praised: "Ministers are all like Shinan, so why should the world care!" From the fact that he is not an eagle tiger with Kun Peng, but an unknown cicada, we can see that he is mature, cautious and conscious.

This little poem with symbolic meaning is the earliest poem chanting cicadas in Tang Dynasty, which is highly praised by later generations. On the surface, the first sentence "hang down and drink the dew" is about the shape and feeding habits of cicadas. In fact, it is to use the method of comparison to imply their prominent position and clean quality. Cicada's head has two tentacles, which look like a hat band tied by an official under his neck; The ancients thought that cicadas lived in tall trees and only drank clean dew, so they used "drinking clean dew" to symbolize people's noble character. In fact, cicadas live by sucking the juice of plants. Where can they only drink dew? The second sentence, "Flowing as a sparse tree", writes cicadas. Why is the continuous cicada singing coming from the sparse plane tree? This is because the phoenix tree is a noble and spiritual tree in the eyes of the ancients. It is said that birds such as couples are not phoenix trees. "If you appoint a sage, Wutong was born in the East Palace." Poets compare themselves to cicadas, and their singing is extraordinary. Adding a word "sparse" before "tong" not only makes people feel that "the sound of travel" is easy to spread, but also corresponds to the last sentence "autumn wind". "Keep your voice high and don't be blown by the autumn wind" is the crowning touch of the whole article, which is the discussion triggered by the above two sentences. It means "cicadas live in high places, and their voices will naturally spread far away." Isn't this flying with the help of the autumn wind? "Shen Deqian said:" Life is so high that every cicada sings its voice and respects its nature. "This famous sentence contains a token, which is not only a description of the scenery, but also an expression of feelings. It is the earliest chant in Tang poetry, which is highly praised by later generations. Yu Shinan is an old minister in Sui Chen. After entering the Tang Dynasty, he was highly valued by Emperor Taizong because of his literary talent and virtue. He was born with honesty, frankness, aloof and aloof, aloof from the world, showing introverted, withdrawn and deep character. Yu Shinan praised his chest with cicadas, showing that he is tall and clean, and he can make a name for himself without any reference. The scenes blend together and are very harmonious and natural. These two sentences are metaphors. The cicada's distant transmission is not through the autumn wind. What stands out here is the beauty of the poet's personality, which expresses the poet's warm praise for his inner character and shows his graceful demeanor and charm. Readers can imagine the high-standard charm of Tsinghua's personalized cicada, which is extremely ingenious. Just as Cao Pi said in Dian Lun O Paper, "Don't be a good minister, don't rely on the trend of flying, fame is passed down later." "Said from a distance. Don't be moved by the autumn wind shows the image of a scholar-bureaucrat who is conceited and full of ambition. Shi Puhua's poem "On Servants" said: "Three hundred poems are more interesting than others, and the Tang people still get their meaning. The same chanting, Yu Shinan's "high voice comes from a distance, not from the autumn wind", is Tsinghua people language; Wang Luobin's "his flight through the fog, his pure voice submerged in the wind world" is a much-needed language; Li Shangyin's "pure heart and lack of desire, singing empty all night" is a kind of grumbling language, which is different from Bi Xing. "Both of them are from the Tang Dynasty, and they all express their feelings by chanting cicadas. Due to the differences in status, experience and temperament, the two authors, although equally committed to expressing their feelings, presented different faces and formed artistic images full of individual characteristics.

Brief introduction of the author

Yu Shinan, son of Wen Yi in Yongxing County, is from Yuyao (Zhenming Hechang, Guanhaiwei, Cixi City). Famous calligrapher, writer and politician in the early Tang Dynasty. Yang Di was an official in the Tang Dynasty. He was the secretary supervisor and bachelor of Hong Wen Pavilion. Emperor Taizong called his virtue, loyalty, erudition, style of writing and writing the five wonders ("Shinan is a talented person, so there are also five wonders." One is loyalty, the other is friendship, the third is blogging, the fourth is rhetoric, and the fifth is writing. "The original collection of poems and essays has a total of 30 volumes, but it has long been lost. During the Republic of China, Zhang Shouyong compiled four volumes of Miyu Ji Jian, which was incorporated into Siming Series.