You Ziyin

Meng Jiao

The thread in the hand of the loving mother,

You Zi’s body is covered with clothes.

Before leaving, there is a tight gap,

I am afraid that I will return late.

Whoever speaks an inch of grass will be rewarded with three rays of spring.

[Notes]

1. Wanderer Yin: Wanderer, a person who is a guest abroad. Yin, a name for poetry.

2. Cuncao: here it symbolizes children.

3. Heart: The backbone of plants and trees is called the heart. The word "heart" is a pun here.

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[Brief Analysis]

This is a cordial and sincere ode to maternal love. The author's own annotation under the title is "Written by Yingmu Li". Meng Jiao lived in poverty and poverty all his life, and did not get the humble position of Liyang County Captain until he was fifty years old. This poem was written when he was an official in Liyang.

The first two sentences are "The thread in the hands of the loving mother, and the clothes on the wandering son". Two very common things, "thread" and "clothing", are used to closely connect the "loving mother" and "the wandering son", and write The flesh-and-blood relationship between mother and child relying on each other. The three or four sentences "Before departure, I am worried that I will be late in returning", through the actions and psychological portrayal of the loving mother rushing to make clothes for the wanderer to go out, deepening this kind of flesh and blood feeling. The mother used thousands of stitches and stitches to "sew" her son tightly because she was afraid that her son would not come home "late". Great maternal love is revealed naturally through the details in daily life. The first four sentences are drawn in line without any modification, but the image of the loving mother is truly touching.

The last two sentences, "Whoever speaks the heart of an inch of grass will be rewarded with three rays of spring light" are the author's direct expression of his heart and his heartfelt praise of maternal love. These two sentences adopt traditional metaphorical techniques: a daughter is like a mere grass, and maternal love is like the sunshine in spring. How can a daughter repay her mother's love? The striking contrasts and vivid metaphors express the child's heartfelt love for his loving mother.

This poem artistically reproduces the ordinary and great human beauty that people feel, so it has won strong praise from countless readers for thousands of years. Until the Qing Dynasty, two poets in Liyang recited such verses: "The empty basket is full of father's letters, and the mother's thread lingers in my skirt" (Shi Qisheng's "Writing Hues"), "There have always been so many tears, all my hands are dyed in sewing" (Peng Gui "My younger brother Jianchu came to the capital to visit his relatives and was very happy"), which shows the deep impression this poem left on future generations.