The poem "Shun was born in the fields" comes from the argumentative essay "Born in sorrow, died in peace and happiness" written by the thinker Mencius during the Warring States Period. It means that Shun was recruited from the field farming. The original text and translation of the poem are as follows:
Original text of the work:
"Born in sorrow, died in happiness"
Mencius [Warring States]
Shun Fa was raised among the acreage, Fu Shuao was raised among the planks, Jiao Ge was raised among the fish and salt, Guan Yiwu was raised among the scholars, Sun Shuao was raised among the sea, and Baili Xi was raised among the city. Therefore, when Heaven is about to entrust a person with a great responsibility, he must first strain his mind and will, strain his muscles and bones, starve his body and skin, deplete his body, and mess up his actions. Therefore, tempting his heart and forbearance will benefit him beyond his ability.
People always make mistakes, and then they can change; trapped in the heart, balanced by considerations, and then act; marked by color, produced by sound, and then metaphor. If you enter, you will be unable to control the people at home, if you leave, you will be invincible to foreign patients, and the country will be permanently destroyed. Then I know that I was born in sorrow and died in happiness.
Translation:
Shun was promoted from farming in the fields, Fu Yue was promoted from building walls, Jiao Ge was promoted from selling fish and salt, and Guan Yiwu was promoted Sun Shuao was released from the hands of prison officials and appointed. Sun Shuao was appointed from a seclusion on the seaside. Baili Xi was redeemed from the slave market and appointed. Therefore, when God wants to place a heavy responsibility on someone, he must first make his heart suffer, make his muscles and bones tired, make him suffer from hunger, causing his skin to become thin, put him in poverty, and make him unable to do things. Shun, through that way, can shock his soul, make his temperament tough, and increase the abilities he does not possess.
People often make mistakes, and then they can correct them; they are worried and blocked in their hearts, and then they can rise up; they can be understood by people only if they are expressed on their faces and revealed in their speech. If a country does not have ministers who adhere to the law and wise men who can assist the king at home, and there are no neighboring countries to rival it or disasters from foreign countries, it will always be in danger of collapse. In this way, we will know that being in constant sorrow and disaster can help people survive, and being in constant comfort and happiness can make people die.
Word and sentence annotations:
Shun: Yao's surname and Chonghua's given name. During the reign of Emperor Yao of the Tang Dynasty, he farmed in Mount Li (southeast of Jinan, Shandong, or southeast of Yongji, present-day Shanxi). "The father was stubborn, the mother was loud, the younger brother was proud, and he was able to be harmonious and filial." Emperor Yao sent him to the mountains and rivers, and encountered a storm and thunderstorm. , Shun's behavior was not lost, so he passed on the throne of emperor. The name of the country is Yu, and the history is called Yu Shun. Deeds can be found in "Shangshu·Yao Dian" and "Historical Records·The Chronicles of the Five Emperors", etc.
Fa: rise, here refers to being appointed.
玎 (quǎn) mu: field mu, here means cultivated land.玎, field canal.
Fu said (fù yuè): During the Yin and Shang Dynasties, it was Xu Mi (a kind of prisoner) and built in Fu Xian (also known as Fu Yan, in the east of Pinglu, Shanxi today). King Wu Ding of Shang Dynasty wanted to prosper the Yin Dynasty. He dreamed of a saint named Suo. Seeing Wu Ding, Wu Ding said: "That's right." He said to him that he was a saint, and he regarded him as a prime minister, and the Yin Kingdom was in great power. So he took Fu Xian as his surname and gave him the name Fu Shuo. Deeds can be found in "Historical Records·Yin Benji" and so on.
Ju: to be selected.
Plan construction: When building a wall, put soil between two plywood and pound the soil with a pestle to make it solid. A pestle used for building and pounding soil.
Jiao Ge (gé): A minister of King Zhou of Shang Dynasty, he is also called a wise man together with Wei Zi, Ji Zi and Prince Bigan.
Fish salt: This means fishing and salting on the beach. "Historical Records" says that Yan is between Bojie, where there is plenty of fish and salt; it brings mountains and seas together, where there is plenty of fish and salt.
Guan Yiwu: Guan Zhong was from Yingshang (now Yingshang County, Anhui Province) and his family was poor. He assisted Prince Jiu of Qi State, but Prince Jiu failed to ascend the throne. Prince Xiaobai ascended the throne as Duke Huan of Qi. Duke Huan of Qi knew that he was a virtuous man, released him from prison, made him his prime minister, and respectfully called him Zhongfu. "Historical Records·Biography of Guan Yan": "Guan Zhong was appointed to govern Qi, and Duke Huan of Qi became the hegemon. The nine princes united to control the world, which was Guan Zhong's plan."
Shi: prison officer.
Sun Shuao (áo): The surname is Jiang, the first name is Ao, the courtesy name is Sun Shu, and the other is Ai Lie. In the Spring and Autumn Period, he was the Prime Minister of Chu State. Originally called "I am the humble one of Qi Si", Qi Si was in Gushi, Henan Province today, and the remote place was called Bi.
Sea: seaside.
Baili Xi (xī): also known as Baili Xi. He was originally a doctor of the State of Yu. The Jin State destroyed the Yu State, and Baili Xi was captured to the Jin State together with the king of the Yu State. The Jin State married a daughter to the Qin State, and Baili Xi was treated as a concubine and brought to the Qin State as a dowry. Bailixi fled to Chu State and traveled to Wan (now Nanyang, Henan Province), where he was captured by the people on the border of Chu State. Duke Mu of Qin heard that he was a virtuous man and wanted to redeem him again. He was afraid that the people of Chu would not agree with him, so he sent people to Chu and said, "My concubine Baili Xi is here. Please redeem her with five pieces of sheepskin." The people of Chu agreed. At that time, Baili Xi was over seventy years old. When he arrived in Qin, Duke Mu of Qin personally released him from prison and talked about state affairs for three days. He was very happy. He was awarded the title of "Doctor Wuxi" in state affairs. It is said in history that Qin Mu Gong Baili Xi, Jian Shu, and Yu Yu were in charge, "opened up a thousand miles of land, and then dominated Xirong", becoming one of the "Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period". The deeds can be found in "Historical Records·Qin Benji".
Market: market.
So: So.
Ren: responsibility, burden.
Is: pronoun, this, these.
Also: Particle, used at the end of the first half of a sentence to indicate a pause and explanation in the second half of the sentence.
Must: Definitely.
Bitter: The use of the adjective verb makes... distress.
Heart: will.
Lao: The use of the verb to make... tired.
Hungry: The use of the verb causative, making... hungry.
Body skin: skin.
Empty: The causative usage of the adjective makes...poor.
Flush: The use of adjectives as verbs to make...confused. To brush, to violate, to disobey. Chaos, chaos.
What you do: what you do.
So: used to (come through that way...).
verb: the use of the verb causative, to alarm...
Appreciation of the work:
"Born in Sorrow, Die in Peace" is a rigorously argued and eloquent reasoning prose. The outstanding feature of the writing of the article is that it first puts forward arguments, Then carry out in-depth analysis, extension, inference, and finally deduce the central argument of the article. The author first cites six examples of people who cheered up and worked hard in difficult situations and finally achieved great results, proving that worries can inspire people to work hard, hardships can encourage people to make new achievements, adversity can create talents, and prove the correctness of the central argument. ; Then, the author further demonstrates from two different perspectives: a person's development and a country's rise and fall. Worry leads to life, and happiness leads to death. Finally, it is a matter of course, and he comes to the conclusion that "born from worry, and dies from happiness", so Very persuasive.
The first paragraph of the article uses the logical method of analogy to list the real deeds of several historical figures, showing that adversity can temper people's will and temper their character, thus making people strong and fearless; and failure and setbacks can make people strong and fearless. It can make people learn lessons, become smart and resourceful, and increase their talents. Therefore, those who have withstood hardships can often be entrusted with important responsibilities, and these people often make outstanding contributions.
The second paragraph of the article, following the meaning of the previous paragraph, first explains the positive effects of difficulties (sorrows) and setbacks from the front, emphasizing that aspiring people should face difficulties, welcome difficulties, try to overcome difficulties, and exercise themselves Use your ingenuity and enhance your talents to reverse adversity and overcome difficulties. Then it explains from the negative side that a carefree life and a superior and smooth environment often make people feel depressed, unwilling to make progress, fearful of difficulties, and lose their fighting spirit. Finally, the central argument of the article is summarized: "Be born in sorrow and die in happiness." This sentence has not only become a famous saying and a warning throughout the ages, but has also become a truth proven by countless historical facts at home and abroad.
In terms of rhetoric, "Born in Sorrow, Die in Comfort" adopts parallelism and contrastive sentence patterns in line with the inductive reasoning method. Generally speaking, the writing method of layout and parallelism can certainly create a grand momentum; if not handled properly, it can also lead to complexity and procrastination. Although Mencius's article uses parallelism throughout, it still gives people the impression of simplicity. The reason is that Mencius paid great attention to the choice of words and tried to expand the capacity of each word, especially the verbs. Parallel sentence patterns and antithetical sentence patterns not only make the tone of the article coherent, but also create an overwhelming momentum, enhance the artistry of the article, and effectively enhance the persuasiveness of the argument.
Creative background:
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were wars and disputes. If a country wanted to remain invincible, it could not be content with the status quo and not make progress, but had to work hard; a If people enjoy themselves comfortably and have no ability to overcome difficulties and get out of trouble, they will be helpless in the face of difficulties and will become depressed and despairing when encountering setbacks. It is like standing under a collapsed wall, and their lives are in danger at any time. Therefore, Mencius wrote "Born in sorrow, died in peace and happiness" to remind people that they should have a sense of sorrow at any time and be prepared for danger in times of peace, so that they can prosper forever; if they are content with the status quo, "There is wine today, and you will be drunk today. If you wake up tomorrow and think about it", you may be worried and trapped for the rest of your life.
About the author:
Mencius (approximately 372 BC - 289 BC), whose name was Ke and whose courtesy name was Ziyu, was from the state of Zou (southeast of today's Zoucheng, Shandong). A philosopher, thinker, and educator during the Warring States Period, he was a representative figure of the Confucian school after Confucius and before Xunzi. Together with Confucius, he was called "Confucius and Mencius." Mencius preached "benevolent government" and was the first to put forward the idea of ??"valuing the people and despising the monarch". He was listed by Han Yu as a pre-Qin Confucian figure who inherited Confucius' "tradition", and was posthumously named "Lesser Sage" by the Yuan Dynasty. His speech works are collected in the book "Mencius".