evil with a security blanket(guān cāng láo shǔ)

evil with a security blanket

Guancang mouse is a Chinese idiom. Its pinyin is Gu ā NC ā NGL á OSH ǔ, which means a villain who has something to rely on. It comes from official hamster written by Cao Ye of Tang Dynasty.

Entry

evil with a security blanket

pronunciation

guāncāngláoshǔ

interpretation

Guancang: the place where public grain is put. It's a metaphor for a villain who has something to rely on.

source

In the official hamster written by Cao Ye of the Tang Dynasty, the official hamster is as big as a fight, and he doesn't leave even when he sees people opening a warehouse. When the people are hungry, who will send the court to the king's mouth.

notes

① Guancang: the granary of the government. Dou (D ǒ U): ancient unit of capacity, ten liters to a dou. (2) Jian'er: soldiers. (3) who sent (Qi ǎ n): who let. Chao chao: every day. Jun: it refers to mice.

commentary

In the year of famine, the official granary was full of grain, and the mice ate as fat as a fight, but the lower soldiers and the poor people were starving. In this poem, the poet angrily exposed this phenomenon. What he questioned was the official hamster, but in fact he condemned the corrupt officials, big and small. as the title shows, this poem is about mice in the official warehouse. In Sima Qian's historical records. There is such a record in the biography of Lisi: "Lisi was born in chushang CAI. When he was young, he was a petty official of the county. Seeing that the rat food in the toilet of the official's house was not clean, he was close to people and dogs, and was scared. He entered the warehouse, watched the rats in the warehouse, ate millet, and lived in the big room. He didn't worry about people and dogs So lisnai sighed and said, "the sages of human beings are not as good as rats. They are in their own ears." This song "official hamster" obviously got some inspiration from here. The first two sentences of the poem seem to be plain but slightly exaggerated, vividly depicting the different characteristics and habits of the official hamster. As everyone knows, mice have always been known as "small" and "timid". They move in the daytime and at night, and run when they see people. Therefore, there is a saying that "the big animal should not be afraid of tigers, and the small animal should not be afraid of rats". However, the official hamsters are different: they are not only "big" -- "big as a fight"; but also "brave" -- "they don't go even when they open a warehouse. How can the official hamster get there? The poet didn't say much about this point, but readers can easily understand that "greatness" is the result of satiating and accumulating millet, and "bravery" is that there is no one to rectify them, so they don't run away when they see people. The third sentence was suddenly written from "rat" to "human": "the athletes have no food, and the people are hungry." The rats in the official warehouse are fattened and big, but the soldiers guarding the frontier in front and the hard-working people in the rear are still starving! With a strong contrast, the poet presents a shocking contradiction to the readers. In the face of such a social reality that a person is not as good as a rat, the fourth question blurted out: who offered the grain in the official warehouse to the rat day after day? At this point, the metaphorical meaning of the poem is very clear. The official hamster is a metaphor for those corrupt officials who only know how to suck people's blood and sweat; and what these two legged "rats" devour, of course, is not only food, but also people's fat and cream from the people. What makes people indignant in particular is that the official hamster has done so many evils, and even has no fear. Who is doing the backstage? "Who sent the court into your mouth?" Therefore, the poet holds on to a question, which is full of implication. The word "who" is well written and thought-provoking. It consciously guides the readers to explore the root of this unreasonable phenomenon and points the spearhead at the supreme ruler with a very clear theme. this way of using rats as a metaphor and satirizing exploiters was written as early as in the book of songs. It's in the great mouse. However, in the great mouse, the poet repeatedly hopes for the nonexistent "happy land", "happy country" and "happy suburb", while the official hamster can face the reality, guide people to explore the root of suffering, and is more emotional. This is a development. This poem, literally, seems only to expose the mismanagement of the official warehouse and savor it carefully, but every sentence is an attack on corrupt officials. The poet uses the folk spoken language, but the metaphor is appropriate, the words are shallow and the meaning is deep. He has "dou" as a granary container to describe the official hamster's hypertrophy, which not only highlights the image, but also points out the rat's greed. In the last sentence, "rat" is also called "King", which seems to be regarded and respected by people. It is extremely ironic and profoundly exposes this dark society in which right and wrong are reversed.

Chinese PinYin : guān cāng láo shǔ