Thoughts on a Quiet Night

Li Bai

The moonlight is shining brightly in front of the bed, which is suspected to be frost on the ground.

Looking up at the bright moon, looking down at my hometown.

Introduction

Author: Li Bai

Era: Tang Dynasty

Genre: Five-character Quatrains

Biography of the author

Li Bai (701-762), also known as Taibai, was a great romantic poet in the Tang Dynasty. He wrote a large number of poems praising the country, exposing the darkness of society and scorning the powerful. His poems have a profound impact on future generations. Influence.

Rhythm

○Ping tone ● Oblique tone ⊙ Can be flat or oblique △Ping rhyme ▲ Oblique rhyme The rhyme of this work is: Qiyang; it can be rhymed with "Three Rivers and Qiyang" . There is a bright moonlight in front of the bed, which is suspected to be frost on the ground. ○○○●△,○●●●△ Looking up at the bright moon, looking down at my hometown. ●○⊙○●,○○⊙●△

Notes

1. Quiet night thoughts: thoughts caused by quiet nights.

2. Doubt: suspicion, thought.

3. Raise one’s head: raise one’s head .

Translation

Sitting on the bed of the well, watching the bright moon in the sky shining on the ground, like layers of white frost.

Looking up at the moon in the sky The moon is shining brightly, and I can't help but lower my head to meditate, missing my hometown even more.

The "bed" in the bright moonlight in front of the bed

Pointing to the well platform

Reference materials: "New Classroom Composition"

Some scholars have written articles to verify it

Retired teachers reinterpret Li Bai's "Moonlight before the Bed"

Cheng Shi, director of the Chinese Educators Association He wrote the research results into a paper and published it in a journal, and also created "Poetry" with his friends

■Our reporter Dong Tingting

"There is bright moonlight in front of the bed, and I suspect it is frost on the ground..." This famous poem by Li Bai is known to all women and children, but can you tell what the "bed" here refers to? I think eight or nine out of ten people will interpret it as "sleeping bed". There is a man in our city who is nearly sixty years old. Cheng Shi, a retired teacher, had doubts about this explanation. After some research, he came to the conclusion that "the bed is the well bed, that is, the fence on the well platform." This research result was not only written as a paper and published in a journal, but also discussed with A friend created a "Poetic Picture". Yesterday, retired teacher Cheng Shi told reporters about his research process.

The girl's reading of poetry prompted Cheng Shi to test the poetic meaning

"This poem The simplest poem has been circulated for so many years, and everyone is already very familiar with it. Moreover, the poetic meaning is basically understood as the poet lying on the bed, seeing the moonlight in front of the bed, thinking it was autumn frost. If he hadn't accidentally heard a little When a girl talks poetry to me, I don’t care about it.” Cheng Shi, who was born in 1946 and is currently a director of the Chinese Educators Association, told reporters that one time he visited a friend’s house and his friend’s little daughter was reading this poem. Cheng Shi asked the girl to talk about the meaning of this poem. "She said in a childish voice, 'The poet woke up from sleep and found the moonlight shining on the ground, like a layer of frost falling...'" When Cheng Shi asked, " "Is this explanation correct?" The little girl firmly told him that this was what our teacher said, and he asked us to say it like this.

Cheng Shi originally liked to ask questions, but when he heard what the girl said, he immediately Thinking of a question that I have been thinking about for a long time, even if the moonlight can shine in front of the bed, frost cannot fall indoors, so I cannot write "It is suspected to be frost on the ground." This metaphor is completely inappropriate. Cheng Shi immediately asked several elementary school students Chinese teacher, I found that everyone interpreted "bed" as sleeping bed.

The "bed" mentioned by Li Bai should be a well bed

"As for the results of the research, it is very simple to say , that is, the word "bed" in the sentence "Moonlight in front of the bed" is understood to be the well bed, and the well bed is the fence on the well platform." Cheng Shi told reporters with a smile. If Li Bai really woke up from bed when he wrote this poem , he would not suspect the moonlight indoors as autumn frost.

Yesterday, Cheng Shi took out "Cihai" and showed reporters the annotations for the word "bed". Among them, one of the explanations was "well fence" ". "The poet left his hometown, and in the cold late autumn, he stood alone on the well platform, looking at the bright moon in the sky, and saw the moonlight falling on the fence, which aroused his homesickness. Obviously, this explanation is more appropriate."

After the publication of Cheng Shi's paper "New Discussion on the Character "Bed" in Li Bai", it revealed a misunderstanding in the literary world for many years, that is, the word "bed" in "Quiet Night Thoughts"

It is not a "bed" but a "well bed". Not only did the paper obtain copyright, but it was also widely reprinted and translated into Japanese and English and circulated abroad.

Hope to build poetic sculptures

Cheng Shi said that the person he should be most grateful to for his remarkable achievements in ancient poetry is his deceased father. “Since I was very young, my father has held me in his arms and taught me to recite ancient poetry. ." When explaining "Silent Night Thoughts" to Cheng Shi, his father told him that later literati had always had disputes in their understanding of this poem. This inspired him to conduct in-depth research on this poem in the future.

Thesis After the publication, the idea of ??"creating a poetic painting" has been lingering in Cheng Shi's mind. When he mentioned it to his friend Qi Shikun, a New Year painting painter, the two old Dalian people hit it off immediately, and "Poetic Picture" came into being: the clouds are light, the wind is gentle, the moonlight is clear , the distant mountains are hazy. The poet is dressed as a scholar, holding his head high on the well platform and beside the fence, reciting poems

"The bright moonlight in front of the bed" is suspected to be Li Bai sitting on the horse.

" "There is bright moonlight in front of the bed", is it suspected to be "Li Bai sitting on the horse"? Qinglian layman has been writing for thousands of years, but his famous poems have attracted countless controversies nowadays. Collector Ma Weidu's shocking words have caused the academic circles to offer their own opinions, "bed" This indispensable image in life suddenly became the eye of the storm.

1. The word "bed" in Li Bai's poems caused a controversy.

What does Li Bai's original meaning of "bed" mean? What? Eighty-nine out of ten people will probably interpret it as "sleeping on the bed". This is what the teacher taught me when I was a child: The poet was lying on the bed and saw the moonlight in front of the bed and thought it was autumn frost. A few years ago, a director of the Chinese Educators Association Cheng Shi published a paper that the "bed" mentioned by Li Bai should be the well bed. One of the explanations of the word "bed" in "Cihai" is "well fence". But Ma Weidu put forward a new point of view: In the Tang Dynasty more than a thousand years ago, the horse bed that people sit on today is called a bed. Therefore, the bed in Li Bai's poem is a horse bed.

2. Enthusiastic readers wrote to discuss the new interpretation of "bed" .

After one of our reports was published, it also caused countless controversy among readers. Teacher Zeng Weihua from the Normal University even sent us academic masterpieces, which made us feel deeply trusted.

"The rope bed evolved from the 'Hu bed' introduced to the Central Plains from the Western Regions during the Eastern Han Dynasty. The shape of the Hu bed (i.e. rope bed, hand bed) was originally similar to the 'Mazar' that is still in use today. Around the time of Emperor Minghuang of the Tang Dynasty, the Hu bed was improved and became a folding recliner similar to that used today. For example, Li Bai's poem said: "My master leaned on the rope bed when he was drunk." Li Bai lived in the social environment of the Tang Dynasty, and his use was quite popular at that time. It is natural for a rope bed. Therefore, it is more realistic to interpret the 'bed' in "Silent Night Thoughts" as the 'bed' of a rope bed..."

At the same time, Ma Weidu, who pioneered this academic discussion style, registered a blog under the name "Hu Bed Mazha". Regarding the divergent opinions from the outside world, he said on his blog: "The controversy outside the circle is greater than that inside the circle, which was unexpected. The interview was aggressive and well-prepared. Come on. Humility makes people progress. I learned this famous saying when I was a few years old. I haven’t said it for a long time, but it still works at critical moments. In addition, it is difficult to pick out the thorns by yourself. You have to be helped by others."

In any case, it is better to let the literary and artistic conversation revolve around what a "bed" is than to dwell on the love affairs of handsome men and beautiful women in the spotlight. Furthermore, Ma Weidu also used this to let everyone know about his family's "bed". "Guanfu Museum", now, even the map and transportation routes of the "museum" are online.

Appreciation of the creative background

"Jingye Si" was written by the poet after leaving his family. The whole poem is only four short sentences, each with five words and a total of twenty words, but it meaningfully expresses the deep nostalgia of a wanderer in a foreign country for his hometown. < /p>

Appreciation

This poem writes about the feeling of missing hometown on a quiet moonlit night.

The first two lines of the poem "The moonlight is bright in front of the bed, and it seems to be on the ground." "Frost" describes the poet's instant illusion in the specific environment of a foreign country. A person who is alone in a foreign country can be busy during the day, which can dilute the sorrow of separation. However, in the dead of night, when people are quiet, a wave of sadness will inevitably arise in his heart. I miss my hometown. Especially on a moonlit night, let alone an autumn night with a frosty moon. The word "suspicious" in "Suspicious is the frost on the ground" vividly expresses the poet's confusion and trance when he wakes up from sleep. The cold moonlight shining in front of the bed was mistaken for the thick frost covering the ground. The word "frost" is used better. It not only describes the brightness of the moonlight, but also expresses the coldness of the season and also warms the air.

It brings out the loneliness and desolation of the poet wandering in a foreign country.

The last two lines of the poem, "Looking up at the bright moon, bowing down to think about my hometown", deepen the homesickness through the depiction of movements and expressions. "Looking" The word echoes the word "suspicious" in the previous sentence, indicating that the poet has turned from drowsiness to sobriety. He stared at the moon eagerly and couldn't help but think that his hometown was also under the shining of this bright moon at this moment. So it naturally led to " The concluding sentence of "bowing his head and thinking about his hometown". The action of "bowing his head" depicts the poet completely in deep contemplation. And the word "thinking" leaves the reader with rich imagination: the fathers and brothers, relatives and friends in his hometown, the people in his hometown. Mountains and rivers, every plant and tree, the bygone years and the past... are all in my thoughts. The content contained in the word "thinking" is really too rich. This is a poem about the homesickness of a distant visitor. The poem begins with The language that is as clear as words carves out the artistic conception of a bright and quiet autumn night. From "doubt" to "look" to "thinking", it vividly reveals the poet's inner activities and clearly outlines a picture of homesickness on a moonlit night. It does not pursue The imagination is novel and unique, and it also abandons the exquisiteness of rhetoric; it expresses rich and profound content with fresh and simple brushwork. The scene is the scene, the emotion is the emotion, so lifelike, so moving, you will never tire of reading it, and it is intriguing. .No wonder some people praise it as "wonderful ancient and modern", which has attracted readers so widely for thousands of years.

Hu Yinglin, a man of the Ming Dynasty, said: "The quatrains of Taibai are written in confidence, and the so-called "no intention" "Those who work hard and work hard" ("Shisou·Internal Edition"). This poem "Thoughts on a Quiet Night" can be said to be an excellent illustration of the "nature" and "no intention of work but not work without work" in Li Bai's poetry.