This is a shabby house, Weiwu Dexin means: This is a shabby house, but I (the person who lives in it) have good moral character (so it doesn’t feel shabby). This sentence comes from Liu Yuxi's humble inscription.
Original text
Inscription on a humble house
Author Liu Yuxi Tang Dynasty
The mountain is not high, but it is famous if there are immortals. If the water is not deep, if there is a dragon, it will be spiritual. This is a humble house, but I am virtuous. The moss marks are green on the upper steps, and the grass color is green on the curtains. There are scholars who talk and laugh, but there are no idle people when coming and going. You can tune the plain Qin and read the Golden Sutra. There are no messy ears of silk and bamboo, and there is no laborious shape of case documents. Zhugelu in Nanyang, Yunting in Western Shuzi. Confucius said: What is so shameful?
Translation
A mountain does not lie in its height. If you have gods, you will be famous. Water does not depend on its depth, but if it has a dragon, it will appear to have aura. This is a simple house, but I (the person who lives in it) have good moral character (so it doesn’t feel simple). The moss marks that have grown up to the steps are green in color; the green grass is reflected in the curtains. The people who come here to chat and laugh are all knowledgeable scholars. The people who interact with people who have no knowledge can usually play the elegant guqin and read the Buddhist scriptures written in gold. There is no sound of music to disturb the ears, and no official documents to make the body tired. There is Zhuge Liang's thatched cottage in Nanyang, and there is a pavilion like Yangtze Cloud in Western Shu. Confucius said: "What's so shabby about this?"
Notes
(1) Shameless Room: Shameless Room, a simple house. Inscriptions are words carved on objects in ancient times to warn oneself or describe merits and virtues. They are called "inscriptions" and later became a literary style. This style of writing generally uses parallel sentences, and the sentence structure is relatively neat and catchy.
(2) Zai (zài): to be, verb.
(3) Name (míng): famous, famous, noun used as verb.
(4) Líng: ??magical; supernatural.
(5)lòushì: This is a simple house. Si: demonstrative pronoun, this, this. Is: a judgment verb that expresses affirmation. Cottage: a humble house, here refers to the author's own house.
(6) Weiwu Dexin (xīn): Just because of the inscription of (humble room inscription) (it does not feel shabby). Wei: only. Me: I, this refers to the inscription of (humble room inscription). Xin: A fragrance that spreads far away, here it refers to noble character. "Shang Shu·Jun Chen": "Millet and millet are not fragrant, but virtue is fragrant.".
(7) The moss marks are green on the steps, and the grass color is green when it enters the curtain: The moss marks are green and grows on the steps; the grass color is green and green, and it is reflected in the curtain. Go up: grow to; enter: reflect into.
(8) Hongru (hóngrú): Great Confucian, here refers to a learned person. Hong: Same as "Hong", big. Confucianism used to refer to scholars.
(9) Bai Ding: civilian. This refers to people with little knowledge.
(10) Tiao (tiáo) plain qin: playing a qin without decoration. Tiao: Tune, here finger playing (qin). Plain Qin: A Qin without decoration.
(11) Golden Sutra: There is still controversy in the academic circles today. Some scholars think it refers to the Buddhist scriptures ("Diamond Sutra"), while others think it refers to the beautifully decorated classics ("Four Books and Five Classics"), but as for The Chinese language book of Jiangsu Education Press refers to the Buddhist scriptures (Diamond Sutra), while the Anhui survey refers to the latter. Gold: precious. Gold means preciousness, and the classics of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism can be said to be the Golden Scripture.
(12) Silk and bamboo: the general name for musical instruments such as qin, se, flute and wind instrument. "Si" refers to string instruments and "bamboo" refers to wind instruments. This refers to the sound of playing music.
(13): Modal particles, not translated. Used between subject and predicate to cancel the independence of the sentence.
(14) Disturbing ears: Disturbing both ears. Chaos: The causative usage of the adjective makes...chaos, disrupts.
(15) Official documents (dú): official documents and documents.
(16) Labor form: to make the body tired (the usage of "make"). Lao: The use of the adjective verb means to make... tired. Shape: form, body.
(17) Nanyang: Place name, present-day Nanyang City, Henan Province. Before Zhuge Liang came out of the mountain, he lived in seclusion and farmed in Wollongong, Nanyang.
(18) Zhuge Lu in Nanyang, and Ziyun Pavilion in Western Shu: There is Zhuge Liang’s thatched cottage in Nanyang, and there is a pavilion like Yangzi Yun in Western Shu.
These two sentences mean that Zhuge Lu and Ziyunting are both simple and simple, but because the people who live there are famous, they are admired by people. Zhuge Liang, courtesy name Kongming, was the prime minister of the Shu Han Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period. He was a famous politician and military strategist. Before becoming an official, he lived in seclusion in Wollongong, Nanyang. Yang Xiong, courtesy name Ziyun, was a writer in the Western Han Dynasty and a native of Chengdu, Shu County. Lu: A simple little house.
(19) Confucius said: Confucius said that clouds generally refer to meaning in classical Chinese. Selected from the chapter "The Analects of Confucius·Zihan": "How can a gentleman live there?" The author removes the gentleman's home here to reflect his modest character.
(20) He bu zhiyou: That is, "what shao", which belongs to the object preposition. In other words, the particle expresses a strong rhetorical question and is a sign of the preposition of the object, so it is not translated. The full sentence is translated as: What is so simple? This sentence said by Confucius can be found in the chapter "The Analects of Confucius: Zihan": "How can a gentleman live in a humble place?" Here, Confucius' words are used to describe himself as a "gentleman", which highlights the whole text. This sentence is also the key point. The pen is the writing style of the whole text.
(21) When talking and laughing, there are scholars: When talking and laughing, there are knowledgeable people. Hong: Great
Appreciation
"The Inscription on the Humble Room" is an inscription that expresses one's ambitions. The article expresses the author's attitude toward life that he does not conform to the secular world, is clean and self-sufficient, and does not seek fame and wealth. It expresses the author's noble and arrogant sentiments and reveals the author's reclusive taste of living in poverty and enjoying life. It is simple, concise and fresh like a refined poem, full of philosophy and sentiment.
The opening few sentences take a new meaning from "Shishuoxinyu Paidiao" "If the mountain is not high, it will not be effective, and if the abyss is not deep, it will not be clear." It uses the common metaphorical technique in poetry to introduce the shabby room. "Mountains are not high" and "waters are not deep" are compared to a humble house; "If there is an immortal, then there is a name" and "If there is a dragon, there is a spirit", which is a comparison of the virtues of a humble house. "These four sentences are well-known sayings, full of vigilance and implications of philosophical poetry. The author writes them sequentially from far to near, using parallel sentences to create a flowing momentum, and then says, "This is a humble house. "Only my virtue is fragrant", and I feel that the witty words are like beads, and the winning ideas come out one after another. These two sentences are derived from the "millet and millet are not fragrant, but the bright virtue is fragrant" in "Shang Shu·Zhou Shu·Jun Chen", emphasizing self-motivation with virtue. It is indeed the main purpose and warning of the article. Writing about the shabbyness of the house is to set off the virtuousness of the owner, and writing about the virtuousness of the owner just shows that the shabby house is not shabby. This is an opposite and complementary relationship. The following describes the inside and outside of the house. The scenery, the people in the room, and the things in the room are all linked to the word "humble" without leaving the word "virtue". "The moss marks on the steps are green, and the grass is green in the curtains." The beauty of describing indoor and outdoor scenes lies in their precision. The words "mark" and "color" are used to express the beauty of the humble room, and the conceptual "moss" and "grass" are transformed into tangible and visible concrete images. ", "entering the curtain", turning silence into movement, writing the expressions of "moss" and "grass", and introducing the exterior scenery indoors, adding vitality to the humble room and filling it with a sense of spring. And one "green" and one "green" ", the bright colors reflect the elegance, tranquility and uniqueness of the humble room. These two sentences create a suitable environment for describing the people and things in the humble room.
"There are scholars who talk and laugh, and there are no white people who come and go. "Writing about people in the room, it focuses on the interactions with friends, so as to show the author's nobility and elegance of temperament." "You can tune the plain qin and read the golden scriptures." "Without the clutter of silk and bamboo, without the labor of writing documents", the four sentences describing the affairs in the room show the elegance of living in a humble room, which shows that the author is not humble in his behavior. "Tune the plain qin and read the golden scripture", which shows the elegance of life in the humble room; " "No mess of silk and bamboo, no labor of desks and documents", showing the comfort of life in a humble room. The image of an elegant scholar who is detached from things and has a quiet body and a leisurely mind is ready to emerge. The author writes that the people in the room are leisurely and quiet, which sets off his diligence in cultivating virtues. And writing about his diligence in cultivating virtue reveals the reason why his humble house is not humble and his reputation spreads far and wide. From the perspective of sentence structure, the first two sentences are single lines, and the last two sentences are alternately parallel and prose, which is quite rhythmic. Beautiful. From the writing point of view, one or two sentences are written from the positive side, and three or four sentences are written from the negative side. The positive and negative are combined, and "can tune the plain piano" and "no silk and bamboo chaos ears", "read the golden scripture" and "no case slip" "The shape of labor" forms echoes and contrasts, which shows the ingenuity of literary thought.
Finally, it quotes ancient people, historical sites, and ancient sayings to conclude. The humble house is compared to Zhuge Kongming's Nanyang thatched cottage and Yang Xiong's Chengdu mansion. , intended to comfort and encourage oneself; quoting Confucius' "What a shame" shows that one's own aspirations and interests are consistent with the way of a saint.
The omission of the previous sentence "a gentleman lives in it" and only introduces the following sentence, which not only echoes the above sentence "only I am virtuous", but also implies that a gentleman lives in it. The beauty is that it is full of wit and humor without showing signs of self-show. Up and down, ancient and modern, are integrated into one, containing infinite emotions and profound charm.
The "Humble Room Inscription" is less than a hundred words, very short in length and very large in layout. The humble house is set off by low mountains and shallow water, and is on par with Zhugelu and Ziyunting. Living in it, there are sages from ancient times and today's Confucian scholars. It is really that the humble house is not "shabby". The full text has a broad imagination and profound implications, and has the potential to be hidden thousands of miles away.
The article skillfully uses a variety of artistic techniques. First, the Bixing technique was successfully used. "The mountains are not high, if there are immortals, they are famous; if the water is not deep, there are dragons," the mountain is high and the water is deep, the shabby house is introduced, and the immortals and dragons are used to compare the virtues of the house owner; "Nanyang Zhuge Lu, Xishuzi Yunting", He also uses famous shabby houses in ancient times to reflect today's shabby houses, and uses ancient sages as a metaphor for the author himself. Secondly, there is narration, description, lyricism, discussion, and romance. "The moss marks on the steps are green. The grass is green on the curtains. There are scholars talking and laughing, but there are no white people coming and going. You can tune the plain qin and read the Golden Scripture. There is no messy ears of silk and bamboo, and there is no laborious shape of the documents." It is a narrative description and a dye. The last sentence "What a shame" is an allusion, a lyric, a discussion, a finishing touch. Combining point and color, it integrates narrative description and lyrical discussion.
In terms of language expression, four-character sentences and five-character sentences are mostly used, including couplets and parallel sentences. Only the last sentence is a prose sentence pattern. The sentence pattern is neat and varied, and the writing is concise and clear. The tones are harmonious and the syllables are sonorous.
Creative background
"The Inscription on the Humble Room" was written during the reign of Hezhou (824-826). "Liyang Dianlu": "The humble house was built in the prefecture by Liu Yuxi, the governor of Tanghe Prefecture. It has an inscription and a stele written by Liu Gongquan."
The author participated in Wang Shuwen's "Yongzhen" work during his tenure as the censor. Reform" and opposed the eunuchs and the separatist forces of feudal towns. After the reform failed, he was demoted to Hezhou County, Anhui Province as a governor. Seeing that the author was demoted, the magistrate of Hezhou deliberately made things difficult for him. The magistrate of Hezhou first arranged for him to live in the south of the city facing the river. The author not only had no complaints, but was very happy. He even wrote two sentences at random and posted them on the door: "Facing the river and watching the white sails, I was thinking about arguing with Hezhou." The magistrate of Hezhou County was very angry when he found out and ordered the Yali officers to move the author's residence from the south gate of the county to the north gate of the county, reducing the area from the original three rooms to one and a half rooms. The new residence is located by the Desheng River, with weeping willows nearby, and the environment is quite pleasant. The author still did not care, and was moved by the scenery. He wrote two sentences on the door: "The weeping willows are green by the river, and people are in Liyang and their hearts are in Beijing." ”
The county magistrate saw that he was still leisurely and carefree, so he sent someone to transfer him to the middle of the county again, and only gave him a small room that could only accommodate a bed, a table, and a chair. . In half a year, the magistrate forced the author to move three times, each time the area became smaller and smaller, and in the end it was just a small room. The author angrily wrote this "Inscription on the Humble Room" and asked someone to carve a stone tablet and place it in front of the door.
About the author
Liu Yuxi (772-842), courtesy name Mengde, was born in Luoyang (now Luoyang, Henan). Writer of the Middle Tang Dynasty. Tang Dezong became a Jinshi in the ninth year of Zhenyuan (793). Because he participated in the progressive political reform of Wang Shuwen Group and failed, he was demoted to official positions such as Sima of Langzhou (now Changde City, Hunan Province) and spent more than 20 years in other places. Later he entered the imperial court and served as a guest doctor. In his later years, he served as a guest of the prince and an inspector of the school's Ministry of Etiquette. He is known as Liu Guest in the world. He was good at poetry and had a close friendship with Liu Zongyuan, so he was known as "Liu Liu"; he sang many songs with Bai Juyi, and was also known as "Liu Bai". There is "Collected Works of Liu Mengde" handed down from generation to generation.