Ghost hand original
Turtles live regardless of their lives.
Author/Cao Cao
Although the tortoise lives long, it has its moments.
The snake turned to dust by fog.
The old horse is nowhere in sight, aiming for thousands of miles;
In the twilight of the martyr's life, his heart is strong.
The period of profit is not just in the sky;
A happy life will last forever.
Even fortunately! Sing together.
Notes of outstanding people
1。 This poem was written in the twelfth year of Jian 'an, and Cao Cao was 53 years old. This poem is the last chapter out of Xiamen. The poem combines philosophical thinking, generous passion and artistic image, showing a positive and enterprising attitude towards life.
2。 Two words of "tortoise": Although the tortoise can live a hundred years, it is still dead. God turtle, the legendary psychic turtle, can live for thousands of years. Longevity, longevity.
3。 Actually: the end, here refers to death.
4。 Snake: Even if a snake can ascend to heaven by fog, it will eventually die and turn to dust. Snakes, mythical creatures similar to dragons, can soar on clouds. The sound is the same as "Teng"
5。 Ji: Good horse, swift horse. : manager.
6。 Has: stopped.
7。 Martyr: A person with great ambitions. Old age: old age.
8。 Surplus or contraction: originally refers to the change of a person's birthday, but now refers to the length of a person's life. Full, full, extended to long. Shrink, lose, extend to short.
9。 But: only, only.
10。 Yang: Keep healthy physically and mentally.
Eleven. Dragon. Years: Long live, long live.
Twelve. Fortunately, these two sentences were added during the chorus, which has nothing to do with the text and is the official end of Yuefu poetry.
Guirenshou translation
Although the tortoise has a long life, it has its end.
Although snakes can fly in fog, they will eventually die and turn to dust.
The old swift horse is lying in the stable, and its ambition is still to travel thousands of miles every day.
People who aim high will not stop forging ahead when they get old.
The length of a person's life is not just determined by heaven.
As long as you take care of yourself, you can live a long life.
Really lucky. Sing to express your thoughts and feelings.
Appreciation of tortoise longevity
This poem is the last chapter of Cao Cao's Yuefu poem "Out of Xiamen". Written in the twelfth year of Jian 'an. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the nobles of slave owners in Wuhuan, who lived in the northeast, often invaded and plundered the Han people by taking advantage of the chaos in the Central Plains. Ten years after Jian 'an, Cao Cao pacified Jizhou, and Yuan Shao's sons Yuan and Yuan Shang defected to Wuhuan. In the 12th year of Jian 'an, Cao Cao led an army to conquer Wuhuan in order to stabilize the northeast border and eliminate the remnants of Yuan Shao. This poem was written when he returned home in triumph. This poem is based on high-spirited generosity and expresses Cao Cao's heroic feelings of vigorous and enterprising.
* * * There are 14 sentences, except for the last two sentences added during music, which have nothing to do with the whole poem. In addition, 12 sentence, each sentence is a layer, which can be understood in three layers.
The first layer is the first four sentences. The main meaning of these four sentences is "Life is not long". In order to express this meaning, the poet did not write directly, and even used two metaphors: tortoise and snake. Turtle is a kind of turtle, which is often used by the ancients to symbolize longevity. Although the tortoise can live a long life, it will die eventually, so the poem says "there is still time". According to legend, rattan snake is a kind of dragon-like god with strong ability. Although the snake can fly in the clouds, it will inevitably die when the time comes, so the poem says, "It will eventually turn into dust." Here, the poet specially marked the tortoise and the snake. This is because in ancient times, when superstition was quite popular, turtles and snakes were infected with a strong theological color. However, the poet concluded that they could not escape death. Turtles and snakes are like this. As for other species, that's natural. Therefore, the poet's metaphor of tortoise and snake not only has the typical significance of drawing inferences from others, but also explicitly denies theological superstitions such as that everything remains the same and people can live forever. Rhetorically, metonymy is used in the first four sentences, and only turtles and snakes are used as metaphors, but the content of metaphors is completely omitted. This not only refines the language, but also leaves room for readers to imagine that aging and death are irresistible natural laws. But how to deal with aging and death, different people often have different performances. Some eat and drink, wasting time; Some people lament that they are late, negative and pessimistic. Cao Cao, on the other hand, shows another spiritual realm, that is, the thoughts and feelings expressed in the second layer of this poem.
The following four sentences of "old horse" are the second floor. This floor is the center of this poem. In writing, this layer has some similarities with the first layer, which is also a metaphor. Lying in the trough, the old horse still wants to gallop thousands of miles, which means that the martyrs want to make contributions and make achievements, and their ambition will not decrease in their twilight years. An old horse is an old swift horse. In ancient times, swift horse played a very important role in people's lives, especially in the battle. Therefore, Cao Cao used Lao Ji as a metaphor, full of respect and love for Lao Ji, and also a symbol of his decades of military career. In content, this layer inherits the first layer. On the one hand, it shows that Cao Cao clearly sees that he has reached his twilight years, on the other hand, it shows his valuable mental state when he enters his twilight years. At the beginning of this layer, it is written "The old horse is driven down", and it is written that a swift horse, like a tortoise and a snake, should not grow old against the laws of nature. A swift horse is like this, and so are people. He was 53 years old when he wrote The Life of a Tortoise. The ancients said that people "began to decline at fifty." So Cao Cao admitted his old age in this poem. But Cao Cao's sense of superiority lies not in this, but in his refusal to accept the old age and his desire to maintain a mental state of endless struggle and hard struggle. This is really commendable.
A successful person always cherishes his time and always wants to extend his life by human strength, so that he can have more time to make contributions. Cao Cao is such a person. Cao Cao's thoughts and feelings are concentrated on the third floor of "though your life is long". In Cao Cao's view, "the period of surplus and contraction is not limited to days", that is, the life span of people is related to days, but it is not entirely determined by days. As long as people pay attention to their health, they can live longer. Here, on the one hand, Cao Cao saw that people's life span is related to natural attributes, on the other hand, he highlighted people's subjective initiative in life span. This simple and dialectical materialist spirit denied the long-standing superstition that "life and death are fixed, and wealth is in the sky", which was quite progressive at that time.
The center is to express a positive spirit. This spirit reflects the spirit of the times from one side, and it is also a feature of our cultural tradition in China. This feature has inspired countless people with lofty ideals to work hard in the cause of "ruling the country and leveling the world". Even in their twilight years, "they still hope to make new achievements." It shows this kind of thoughts and feelings, so it has aroused a lot of people's voices since ancient times.
It is a lyric poem, but it is different from ordinary lyric poetry. Generally, lyric poetry focuses on expressing feelings, but this poem obviously has philosophical content, which makes feelings and philosophy blend with each other and makes philosophy reside in images. Therefore, when we read this poem, we can not only be excited by it, but also understand the important philosophy of life through concrete images. I'm afraid this is also an important reason why "although you live a long life" can be passed down through the ages.
The more valuable value is that it opens up a new era of poetry. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty deposed a hundred schools of thought, respected Confucianism alone, and imprisoned the thoughts of the Han people for three or four hundred years. As a result, Han literati can't write poems, but only write big poems, praise the achievements of emperors and endlessly comment on Confucian classics, which makes it impossible for literature with true feelings and individuality to develop. Until the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world fell apart and politics, ideology and culture changed. As a world leader, Cao Cao, who loves poetry, took the lead in stepping out of his own way and brought a free and active atmosphere to the literary world. He "gathers martial arts outside and literature inside", surrounded by a large number of literati such as "Jian 'an Seven Scholars". They are all talented people in the world, living in the era of long-term war, and their thoughts and feelings are often passionate. As "Although your life is long" said: "Look at the current situation, be generous, good things are scattered in the world, bad things are vulgar and resentful, and the ambition is deep and the pen is long, so be generous and angry. "Especially the pommel horse Cao Cao, writing poems sideways, his poems are tragic and generous, unprecedented, and there is no one after him. The hearty style of this passionate poem is called "Jian 'an style" by later generations, and Cao Cao is the most prominent representative. For thousands of years, Cao Cao's poems have shocked the hearts of heroes all over the world with this "courage" and inner enterprising spirit. It is this precious characteristic that makes Jian 'an literature shine brilliantly in the history of China literature. Zhong Rong demoted Cao Cao to an inferior position, mainly because he was "straight from ancient times" and lacked literary talent. A hero like Cao Cao, however, disdains to carve chapters and peck sentences. Zhong Rong was a native of the Six Dynasties, and the literati at that time paid great attention to literary talent. As the saying goes, "a few hundred words a pair, the price is a surprise." Zhong Rong's low evaluation of Cao Cao is obviously due to the ethos of the times. We know that in any literary work, including poetry, literature and color are secondary to the content after all. Cao Cao's literary position was once concealed by his political achievements, but it was not taken seriously. In fact, he has made outstanding contributions in the history of China literature development, especially his pioneering work in Jian 'an literature, which really deserves great attention.