Source: The seven-character ancient poem "Persuade to Learn" written by Yan Zhenqing, a poet in the Tang Dynasty.

Original text:

It is the night when men are reading.

black hair doesn't know how to study early, but white head regrets studying late.

Vernacular translation:

It is the best time for boys to study at midnight every day. When I was a teenager, I only knew how to play, but I didn't know how to study hard. When I was old, I regretted why I didn't know how to study hard when I was young.

Extended information

Creative background:

Yan Zhenqing lost his father at the age of 3, and his family came down. His mother, Yin, placed high hopes on him, implemented strict family education and personally supervised the school. Yan Zhenqing is also very studious, studying hard every day. This song "Encouraging Learning" was written by Yan Zhenqing to encourage future generations.

The first two sentences express that you should be diligent when you are young, and the last two sentences express that it is too late to study when you are old through the change of hair color. Encourage young people to cherish their youth, study hard and make a difference, otherwise, it will be too late to regret.

"Persuasion" in "Persuasion" plays a leading role in the whole article. "Persuade" is interpreted as "encourage". In this poem "Persuade to Learn", the author encourages people to keep learning. Only in this way can they increase their knowledge, develop their talents and cultivate their noble character.

"The cock crows in the third watch" refers to industrious people and diligent students who are still working and studying in the middle of the night, and the lights are still on in the third watch. After turning off the lights and lying down for a short rest, the cock crows in the third watch, and these industrious people have to get up and get busy again.

the first sentence is written early with objective phenomena, which leads to the second sentence. You should study hard and get up early. The second sentence is a supplement to the first sentence, expressing that young people should study day and night, and only by studying hard can they serve their country and make contributions.

The third and fourth sentences say that you didn't study hard when you were young, but when you are old, it's too late to study now. In the sentence, "black hair" and "white head" are metonymic rhetoric methods, which refer to youth and old age.

By means of comparison, it is emphasized that you should study early, and don't regret it when you are old. Structurally, three or four sentences are antithetical sentences, and "black hair" and "white head" echo and set off each other, leaving a deep impression on readers.

This poem is easy to understand, natural and fluent, and full of philosophy. The core is "black hair studies early, white hair studies late". As ambitious people, we should pay attention to taking the time to study and learn to cultivate self-cultivation. The best reading time is in the third watch and the fifth watch, and we should read in the morning. Moreover, only by assiduous persistence year after year can we really learn the skills of serving the country and building a family.

From the perspective of study time, we encourage young people not to idle away their time and study hard as early as possible so as not to regret it in the future. The poet conceived from the perspectives of the significance, function and attitude and method of learning, hoping that people would attach importance to the acquired learning in order to strengthen their own behavior cultivation.