in pursuit of the sun(kuā fù zhuī rì)

in pursuit of the sun

Kuafu pursues the sun refers to the legend that during the period of the Yellow Emperor, Kuafu, the leader of the Kuafu clan, wanted to take off the sun, so he began to race with the sun day by day. When he was thirsty, he drank up the Yellow River and the Wei River and died of thirst on the way to Daze road. His walking stick turned into a peach forest and his body into Kuafu mountain. The story of Kua Fu's chasing the sun reflects the ancient Chinese people's desire to understand and conquer nature.

Stories in classical Chinese

original text

Kuafu and the sun go away, into the sun; thirsty, want to drink, drink in the river, Wei, river, Wei insufficient, North drink daze. Before he arrived, Tao died of thirst. He abandoned his staff and turned into Deng Lin.

notes

1. Run: race, race. 2. Competition. Walk: run. 3. Enter the sun: catch up to the place where the sun sets. Want to drink: want to drink water to quench thirst. 5. River and Wei River: the Yellow River and Wei River. 6. Beiyin daze: Great Lake. Legend has it that it stretches thousands of miles in the north of Yanmen mountain. North: nouns of location are used as adverbials, to the north, to the north. 7. Die of thirst: Die of thirst on the way. 8. Denglin: a place name, it is now near the Dabie Mountains, at the junction of Henan, Hubei and Anhui provinces. Deng Lin is the "peach forest". 9. Not arrived: not arrived. Thirst: feel thirsty. Abandonment: abandonment. 12. To be: to be. Day by day: chasing the sun. 14. At: to. Daze: the great lake. Enough: enough. (because the meaning of foot is equivalent to enough, so enough: Synonymous compound)

Full text translation

Kuafu and the sun race to catch up with the place where the sun sets. He was thirsty and wanted to drink water. After drinking the water from the Yellow River and Weihe River, the water from the Yellow River and Weihe River was not enough, he went to drink the water from the Great Lakes in the north. Before Kuafu arrived, he died of thirst on the way. After his death, the stick he left in his hand turned into a peach forest.

Flexible use of words

North drink daze North: noun as adverbial, north. Dao: noun as adverbial, on the way. Kua Fu and the sun's Banishment. Walking. (2) drinking in the river Wei River: ancient meaning: refers to the Yellow River. It means all rivers. Drink: to drink: noun, diet, food and water. (2) drink from the river and Wei River: verb, drink.

Other records

"Shanhaijing · dahuangbei Jing": "in the great wilderness, there is a mountain named zaitan in Chengdu. Some people took two yellow snakes and named them Kuafu. Later earth gave birth to faith, and faith gave birth to Kuafu. Kua Fu was not able to catch up with the sun, so he caught him in Yugu. Will drink river but insufficient also, will walk daze, not to, die here. Yinglong killed Chiyou and Kuafu, but he went to the south, so it was rainy in the south. " In Liezi · Tangwen: "Kua Fu does not measure his strength and wants to pursue the shadow of the sun. In the corner of the valley, thirsty to drink, go to drink River Wei. River Wei is insufficient, will go north to drink daze. Before he arrived, Tao died of thirst. He abandoned his staff and soaked his corpse with ointment and meat, and gave birth to Deng Lin. It's a thousand miles away. "

Legend

original text

In ancient times, in the wilderness of the north, there was a majestic and towering mountain called Chengdu zaitan. Deep in the mountains, there live a group of giants with boundless strength. Their leader is the grandson of Houtu, the God of the nether world, and the son of Xin. His name is Kuafu. So this group of people is called Kuafu. They are strong, tall, strong willed, and have extraordinary spirit. But also kind-hearted, hardworking and brave, living with the world, carefree life. at that time, the land was desolate, poisonous animals were rampant, and people's life was miserable. Kuafu, in order to let the people of his tribe live, leads the people to fight with the flood and beasts every day. Kuafu often hangs the vicious yellow snake he catches on his ears as a decoration. He holds it in his hands and waves it. He is proud of it. one year, it was very hot. The hot sun was directly on the earth, killing crops, scorching trees and drying rivers. The heat was unbearable, and the Kuafu people died one after another. Kuafu was very sad to see this. He looked up at the sun and told the people, "the sun is really hateful. I want to catch up with the sun, catch it and let it listen to people's command." After hearing this, the clansmen dissuaded one after another. Some people say, "don't go. The sun is so far away from us. You will be tired to death." Some people say, "the sun is so hot, you will be roasted to death." Kuafu has made up his mind and vowed to catch the sun and let it obey people's orders and serve everyone. He looked at the distressed people and said, "for everyone's happy life, I must go!" the sun has just risen from the sea. Kuafu bid farewell to his people. With great ambition, he started his day-to-day journey from the east coast towards the rising sun. the sun is moving fast in the air, Kuafu is on the ground like a strong wind, chasing desperately. He crossed mountains and rivers, and the earth was rocked by his steps. When Kuafu is tired of running, he takes a nap and shakes the soil in his shoes to the ground, thus forming a big earth mountain. When he was hungry, he would pick wild fruits to satisfy his hunger, and sometimes Kuafu would cook. He used five stones to build the pot. These five stones became five high mountains, thousands of meters high. This is the five mountains. Kuafu ran after the sun. As he was getting closer to the sun, his confidence became stronger and stronger. But the closer we get to the sun, the more thirsty we are. It's no longer possible to quench our thirst by holding the river. However, he was not afraid, and always encouraged himself, "soon, we will catch up with the sun, people's life will be happy." after nine days and nine nights, at the place where the sun set, Kuafu finally caught up with it. the red and hot fireball is right in front of Kuafu's eyes. On his head, thousands of golden lights bathe in him. Kuafu opened his arms to embrace the sun with great joy. But the sun was extremely hot, and Kuafu felt thirsty and tired. He ran to the side of the Yellow River and drank all the water of the Yellow River, but he still didn't quench his thirst. So he ran to the side of the Wei River and drank all the water of the Wei River, but he still didn't quench his thirst. Kuafu ran north again, where there was daze thousands of miles across, and the water in daze was enough for Kuafu to quench his thirst. However, daze was so far away that Kuafu was thirsty on the way to Daze before he ran there. When Kuafu was dying, he was full of regret. He was still concerned about his people, so he threw out his wooden stick. The place where the stick landed suddenly gave birth to a large lush peach forest. the peach forest is flourishing all the year round, providing shade for passers-by and fresh peaches to quench the thirst of hardworking people, so that people can eliminate fatigue and embark on the journey energetically.

moral

Mr. Yang Gongji thinks that the story of Kua's father chasing the sun has a profound moral. It shows that "only those who attach importance to time and the sun race walking can walk fast; the faster they walk, the more empty they feel in their stomach. Only in this way can they need and receive more water (as a symbol of knowledge); only when they get more water, can they race with time and not lag behind time". Mr. Yang's view has been incorporated into Chinese literature, which has been approved by many comrades. In addition, the writer Mr. Xiao Bing said in his book the hero of stealing fire: Kuafu and Prometheus that Kuafu's daily purpose is to gather fire for mankind and make the earth bright and warm. Kuafu is the hero of stealing fire and Prometheus of China. Mr. Xiao's view is quite romantic. Some people regard Kuafu as a struggle in nature. Kuafu represents "water", while the sun represents "fire". The God of water and the God of fire fight against each other. The story of Kua Fu's daily life gives us rich imagination and profound enlightenment. How to understand this story is not only the concern of academic circles, but also the positive significance of it is that people understand the world and realize their pursuit of beauty with different understanding.

intention

Kuafu chasing the sun is actually a long-distance tribal migration in the history of the Chinese nation, which is a very courageous exploration. However, their understanding of the operation of the sun and the geographical conditions of Northwest China was totally wrong, and they failed tragically in the end. in ancient times, any tribe settled in a place for quite a long time, and its primitive and destructive labor would certainly destroy the resources there and tend to be exhausted. The decline of soil fertility or salinization, the increase of hunting and fishing areas and the decrease of the quantity obtained, and so on, are inevitable. The food and other materials available will only be less and less. In this case, there is only one option, and the tribe has to move to a new, better place. When Kuafu met this problem, he decided to go west to Yugu, the place where the sun set. This decision is inconceivable to modern people, because we know that the earth is spherical and revolves around the sun, and the sun will never fall into the earth, let alone move westward, either blocked by mountains or into deserts. There are few places suitable for human beings to live. With the development of science and technology in the 21st century, it is difficult for people to live well in the oasis. As for the intruders in ancient times, it is almost impossible to live on. However, it is normal for an inland tribe like Kuafu to make this decision. The earth is spherical. They know nothing about the earth's orbit around the sun and the geographical conditions of Northwest China. At most, they may know from the tribes close to the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea: to the East is the sea, from which the sun rises. As for the west, the end is Yugu, where the sun sets. The heaven in Huainanzi

Chinese PinYin : kuā fù zhuī rì