"Inscription on a Humble Room" is a work by Liu Yuxi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty.
The literal meaning of the full text: A mountain does not depend on its height, as long as there are immortals living there, it will be famous; it does not depend on the depth of the water, if there are dragons lurking, it will show the gods. Although this is a simple hut, I have noble moral character and good virtues. The step stones are covered with moss marks and are all green; the color of grass is reflected in the curtains, and the room is full of green. Those who came and talked and laughed were all knowledgeable people, and there was no shallow and ignorant person. You can play the undecorated harp and read Buddhist scriptures. There is no loud music to disturb the ears, and no official documents to tire the body. There is Zhuge Liang's thatched cottage in Nanyang, and there is Yang Xiong's Xuanting in Xishu. As Confucius said: "What's so simple about it?"
The full text is as follows: If a mountain is not high, it will be famous if it has 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?
Full text appreciation:
"The Inscription on the Humble Room" is an inscription that expresses one's ambitions. The article expresses the author's attitude towards life that does not conform to the secular world, is clean and self-sufficient, and does not seek fame and fortune. 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.