Boancing Guazhou

Wang Anshi

Jingkou Guazhou is separated by water,

Zhongshan is only separated by several mountains.

The spring breeze turns green again on the south bank of the river.

When will the bright moon shine on me again?

[Notes]

1. Mooring: stopping the ship and docking.

2. Guazhou: on the north bank of the Yangtze River in what is now Jiangsu Province, south of Yangzhou City.

3. Jingkou: On the south bank of the Yangtze River, now Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province.

4. Zhongshan: Purple Mountain in Nanjing now.

5. Number of layers: several layers.

6. Green: Blowing green.

7. Return: refers to returning home at the foot of Purple Mountain.

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[Brief Analysis]

This is a famous lyrical poem, which expresses the poet's deep feelings of looking at the south of the Yangtze River and missing his homeland. The title of the poem is "Boat Mooring on Guazhou", which points out the poet's footing. The first sentence "Jingkou and Guazhou is between the water" describes the scene in sight. The poet stood at Guazhou Ferry and looked south. He saw that "Jingkou" and "Guazhou" on the south bank were so close, with a river in between. From this, the poet thinks that Zhongshan, where his home is located, is only a few layers away and not far away. The second sentence, "Zhongshan is only a few floors away from the mountain," hints at the poet's feeling of returning home. The third sentence also describes scenery, highlighting the season of spring, and depicts the scenery of the south bank of the Yangtze River. The word "green" means "blowing green", which is a verb used in a wonderful way. Legend has it that Wang Anshi changed the word more than ten times to make good use of it, and finally selected the word "green" from more than ten verbs such as "to", "pass", "enter" and "man". Because other words only express the arrival of the spring breeze, but do not express the change of the new green scenery on the Qianli River Bank after the arrival of spring. The poet concludes with the sentence "When will the bright moon shine on me and come back?" The poet has been looking at it for a long time, and before he realizes that the bright moon is rising, the poet uses a question sentence to imagine a picture of "the bright moon" and "when the bright moon will shine on me again", further expressing the poet's longing for his homeland. Feeling. Literally speaking, this poem expresses the nostalgia for one's hometown and the eagerness to cross the river to go home and reunite with relatives. In fact, between the lines there is also his strong desire to return to the political stage and implement the New Deal.

This poem is a famous example of "the words are changed frequently, and the work comes out of itself" ("Children's Poetry Instructions").

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[About the author]

Wang Anshi (1021-1086), politician, thinker, and writer of the Northern Song Dynasty. His courtesy name was Jiefu, his nickname was Banshan, and he was from Linchuan (now part of Jiangxi Province). There is "Collected Works of Mr. Linchuan".

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