What are the five poems in "Learning Poems from My Grandfather" written by Hulan Hezhuan?

They are five poems: "Returning to Hometown", "Spring Dawn", "Flower Shadow", "Quequatrains" and "Inscribed on Nanzhuang, Capital City".

1. "Odd Book on Returning to Hometown"

He Zhizhang of the Tang Dynasty

When a young boy left home and his elder brother returned home, his local pronunciation remained unchanged and his hair on his temples faded.

Children don’t recognize each other when they see each other, and they laugh and ask where the guest is from.

Translation:

I left my hometown when I was young and did not come back until I was old. Although my local accent has not changed, the hair on my temples has turned gray.

When the children in my hometown saw me, no one recognized me. They smiled and asked me: Where did this guest come from?

He Zhizhang resigned from his official position in the court in the third year of Emperor Xuanzong's Tianbao reign (744), retired and returned to his hometown of Yongxing, Yuezhou (now Xiaoshan, Hangzhou, Zhejiang) at the age of eighty-six. It has been more than fifty years since he left his hometown. Life is easy to grow old and the world is full of vicissitudes. He felt infinite emotions in his heart, so he wrote this set of poems.

2. "Spring Dawn"

Meng Haoran of the Tang Dynasty

I sleep in spring without realizing the dawn, and hear the singing of birds everywhere.

The sound of wind and rain at night makes one know how many flowers have fallen.

Translation:

It is already dawn before I wake up in spring, and the crisp calls of birds are everywhere.

Recall how many fragrant spring flowers were blown down by the sound of wind and rain last night.

This poem is the work of Meng Haoran, a poet of the Tang Dynasty. Meng Haoran lived in seclusion in Lumen Mountain in his early years. Later, he went to Chang'an to seek an official position. He failed in the Jinshi examination and returned to his hometown. "Spring Dawn" was written when he lived in seclusion in Lumen Mountain.

3. "Flower Shadow"

Su Shi of the Song Dynasty

One after another came up the stairs, and the children couldn't sweep them away despite being called several times.

Having just been taken away by the sun, the bright moon will send you to the future.

Translation:

There are layers of flower shadows on the pavilion. I asked Tong'er several times to clean them, but how can the flower shadows be swept away?

When the sun went down in the evening, the shadows of the flowers had just faded away, but the moon rose again, and the shadows of the flowers reappeared one after another.

This interesting little poem was written around the ninth year of Xining (1076). It was a poem written by Su Shi after Wang Anshi became prime minister for the second time. On the surface, the poem describes the shadow of flowers, but it actually alludes to Wang Anshi and his dissatisfaction with Wang Anshi's new policy.

4. "Quequatrains"

Du Fu, Tang Dynasty

Two orioles sing in the green willows, and a row of egrets ascends to the blue sky.

The window contains Qianqiu snow of Xiling, and the door is docked with a ship thousands of miles away from Dongwu.

Translation:

Two orioles chirped on the willow branches, and a row of egrets flew in the sky.

You can see the thousand-year-old snow in Xiling from the window, and ships from Soochow are moored at the door.

The artistic characteristic of this poem is that it uses happy scenes to describe sadness. Only its extremely harmonious expression of spring scenery can contrast with the poet's eagerness to return home. It does not allow the sentimentality of homesickness to be revealed directly from the scene, but uses the difference between objective scenery and subjective feelings to reflect the depth of the poet's homesickness and its unique charm.

5. "Inscribed on Nanzhuang of the Capital City"

Cui Hu of the Tang Dynasty

On this day last year, in this gate, the faces of the people and the peach blossoms complemented each other.

I don’t know where the human face is, but the peach blossoms still smile in the spring breeze.

Translation:

Last winter, just inside this door, the girl’s face reflected the bright peach blossoms.

When I came here again today, the girl didn’t know where she was going. Only the peach blossoms were still there, smiling in full bloom in the spring breeze.

The time of creation of this poem is not clearly recorded in historical records. Meng Qi's "Poem of Ben Shi" from the Tang Dynasty and "Taiping Guang Ji" from the Song Dynasty recorded this poem "Ben Shi": After Cui Hu went to Chang'an to take the Jinshi examination and failed, he met a beautiful girl in the southern suburbs of Chang'an and revisited the girl during the Qingming Festival the following year. I didn't meet him, so I wrote this poem.

This record is quite legendary and its authenticity is difficult to be confirmed by other historical materials.

Extended information

The first and second chapters of "The Biography of Hulan River" mainly describe the customs and customs of Hulan City, showing a picture of a big mud pit and a great jumping scene. , river lanterns, wild stage opera, April 18th Empress Temple Assembly and other beautiful pictures.

The third and fourth chapters change the perspective and write about "my" carefree childhood life in the back garden and the infinite attachment to my grandfather; the sixth and seventh chapters are about having a second uncle and a small reunion respectively. The daughter-in-law and the farmer Feng Waizuizi tell their tragic stories to the protagonist.

Since this work is not based on setting up a biography of someone, but on setting up a biography of Hulan City in the author’s memory, these seven chapters do not have titles as internal logical connections. It is independent and can be listed as separate chapters, and there is no storyline throughout. Apart from the "I" of memories, there are no characters throughout.

In "The Story of Hulan River", Xiao Hong, who creates based on her personal talent and feeling, breaks the traditional strict structure and connects these seemingly fragmented life scenes through free association. The boundless stretch creates a non-plot prose style.

This seemingly unorganized organization and unstructured structure is the essence of Chinese prose's "walking is scattered but spirit is gathering".

Reference material: Baidu Encyclopedia—The Story of Hulan River