Shepherd boy

Shepherd boy

Shepherd boy is a seven character quatrain written by Lu Yan, a poet of Tang Dynasty. This poem shows a vivid picture of the shepherd boy returning to rest at night, reflecting the tranquility and leisure of the shepherd boy's life. It expresses the poet's inner world's yearning for a peaceful life away from the noise.

Original works

Shepherd boy (1)

(13) grass Shop (2) horizontal field (3) six or seven Li, flute Lane (4) night wind (3 or 4). After dusk, don't take off the coir raincoat, lie on the moon.

Note translation

Notes on words and sentences

(1) shepherd boy: a child herding cattle and sheep. (2) spread out: spread out. (3) Hengye: a vast field. (4) tease: tease. (5) having a full meal: having a full meal. (6) coir raincoat: a rainproof device woven from grass or brown hair and draped over the body to protect the body from the wind and rain. (7) lie down and watch the bright moon.

Vernacular translation

The vast grassland is like being spread on the ground. There are grasslands everywhere. the sound of the shepherd boy's flute came faintly in the evening wind. the shepherd boy comes back from herding, in the sunset after eating. Without even taking off his coir raincoat, he lay on the grass and looked at the full moon in the sky.

Creative background

Zhong Fu was originally a scholar, but he was demoted many times because of his bad career. When Zhong Fu was guarding Pingliang (now Pingliang County, Gansu Province), he once wandered with a Taoist priest and saw a shepherd boy leading a large cattle into the yard. The Taoist said that the shepherd could write poems, but Zhong Fu didn't believe it. At the request of the Taoist, the shepherd boy improvised the poem.

Appreciation of works

Appreciation of literature

The first sentence "six or seven miles across the grass field" describes the visual experience. Looking around, the grass on the field is verdant. The word "Pu" shows the lush grass and the gentle and comfortable feeling of grassland. The vastness of the grassland paves the way for the appearance of the shepherd boy. The second sentence is "three or four sounds of the evening wind." It describes the sense of hearing, listening, and the sound of the flute in the evening wind. The word "Nong" shows a kind of interest, which conveys the intermittent, melodious and elegant sound of the flute in the wind and the meaning of the shepherd playing the flute. The melodious sound of the flute reflects the pastoral boy's relaxed and leisurely mood after a day's work. If you don't see a shepherd boy, you can hear his voice first, and you will have a wonderful imagination. The "six seven Li" and "three four tones" here are not the exact numbers, but just to highlight the width of the field and the silence of the countryside in the evening. in the third sentence, "after the evening when the shepherd is full of food", the poet begins to describe the shepherd boy directly. It is after the evening when the shepherd boy is full of food. The last sentence "not taking off the coir raincoat and lying on the moon" describes the scene of the shepherd boy resting. The image of a free and carefree shepherd boy is vividly depicted with the earth as his bed, the sky as his tent, hunger as his food and sleepiness as his sleep. The poet does not describe what the shepherd boy is doing when he lies down. The shepherd boy may want to stretch his body or appreciate the moonlight. It seems that the poet only wrote down what he saw truthfully, but he had unlimited imagination. The poem shows a vivid picture of a shepherd boy returning to rest at night: the field, the grass, the sound of the flute, the shepherd boy, the coir raincoat and the bright moon. There are scenes, feelings, characters and voices in the poem. This vivid scene appears in the poet's field of vision from far to near. It not only describes the tranquility of rural life, but also reflects the hard work of herding life. It is a short song praising labor. Grassland, flute, moon night and shepherd boy are like a quiet ink painting, which makes readers feel peaceful. The poem "shepherd boy" not only makes readers feel the peace and tranquility of life of "work at sunrise and rest at sunset", but also makes readers feel the unrestrained and natural relaxation of shepherd boy's mind. The poem reflects a pursuit of the poet's spiritual world and a yearning for a peaceful life away from the noise. The poem is full of the leisurely and comfortable life of the shepherd boy. This poem tactfully persuades Zhong Fu to leave the officialdom of naeryu and Jingli as soon as possible, return to the countryside, and live a life like a shepherd boy. In this poem, the shepherd boy is the embodiment of a wise man to guide Zhong Fu who is lost in his official career, but he may not really be a shepherd boy. The language of this poem is simple and fresh, clear as words, showing a kind of exquisite Kung Fu of "from work to micro, no trace".

Comments on celebrities

Appreciation of Tang Poetry: Lu Yan's "shepherd boy" describes the shepherd boy's relaxed and leisurely, a school of natural and casual.

About the author

LV Yan, a Yanke with the name of Dongbin, is a famous Taoist in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. He is called chunyangzi and calls himself a Hui Taoist. It is one of the Eight Immortals in folklore. Its home, birth and death are unknown. Lu Dongbin was a Confucian student. Because of the disadvantage of the imperial examination, he changed his studies and lived in seclusion in Zhongnanshan, where he lived in Guanzhong and other places. He made great contribution to the formation of Zhong Lv's golden elixir way. There are four volumes of his poems in Quan Tang Shi.

Chinese PinYin : Mu Tong