diskusbooks Chapter 553 The Chinese Literature Department is reshaping my understanding every day.
Chapter 553 The Chinese Literature Department is reshaping my understanding every day.
The teacher on stage was speaking at length about his disapproval of Qu Yuan's death, uttering the famous line: "A person's heart should beat for itself, but Qu Yuan entrusted his heart to the King of Chu, letting the other party control whether it beats or not."
[In the Book of Songs class, the teacher said: Fish and water are the most frequently used metaphorical images in early poetry.]
Therefore, the "fish playing among lotus leaves" in this Jiangnan scene actually describes the process of male-female interaction.
So, the scene in "Empresses in the Palace" where the bird-like concubine sings "Fish Playing Among Lotus Leaves" while serving the emperor is because of this: ]
Teacher: The ancients valued loyalty very much and paid great attention to it. For example, do you know what the title "Zhongfu" means?
Me: Second Dad
Teacher: …………………Yes
Ancient Literature
The teacher was talking about how Shang Yang cut off Gongzi Qian's nose to promote his new laws when a student suddenly asked: "Teacher, won't someone die if their nose is cut off?"
Teacher: No, it's just about smoothing out the protruding part of the nose.
Student: Can a nose be shaved flat?
Me: Haven't you seen Voldemort in Harry Potter?
The teacher's description of the hibiscus as "blooming in the morning and dying in the evening" is similar to that of the epiphyllum, which we often describe as having a fleeting, brief bloom. However, I've personally grown epiphyllum, and its flowering period is quite long; it doesn't bloom in a flash. Do you know what this means?
Me (seriously): What does this mean?
Teacher: I might have bought a fake epiphyllum.
"When we talk about Tang and Song literature, we ask: What is a poem of mourning for a deceased wife? It's a poem written by a poet to commemorate his lost wife. After Yuan Zhen died, did Bai Juyi write a poem to remember him? No, because Yuan Zhen was not Bai Juyi's wife!"
Follow-up comment: "So, Bai Juyi was Yuan Zhen's wife, okay?"
"I can't take it anymore. My literature history teacher said something yesterday about how Qu Yuan and King Huai of Chu didn't seem quite right [laughing and crying emoji]"
Some people are saying that Qu Yuan was loyal to King Huai of Chu, but not to the next king, etc. [laughing and crying emoji] They also say that King Huai of Chu was a very mediocre king, yet Qu Yuan was still loyal to him.
I was shocked when I heard that. Is this right? Is this right? [doge]
"My high school teacher once taught a classical Chinese text. I'm a child, so I can't remember which one it was. Anyway, it was about a poet who went out to serve as an official, but after a few days he couldn't get used to it and went back to his hometown. When he returned home, his children came to greet him and so on."
Our teacher asked us, "If you were the poet's wife, would you agree to your husband resigning from his official post and returning to his hometown?"
Student (expressionless): I'm willing.
Teacher: "Want my ass! A grown man works two days and then comes home with the nerve to say he can't go anymore. If I were his wife, I'd be furious!"
"And then there's 'A pear tree in full bloom overshadowing a crabapple tree.' When I used to watch it, all I could picture were flowers and plants. I couldn't understand how it was related to driving. Then one time I stumbled upon a pornographic film about an old man and a young girl, and suddenly—it all clicked! (Ugh, I don't want this kind of 'clicking'—)"
"...So, the phrase 'lotus picking in Jiangnan' might not just be a slang term for erotic music, but also a means of flirting...it has different connotations for different places [uh]."
"It's not just ancient poets who are like this; modern poets are no less so. Zhu Ziqing's 'Lotus Pond by Moonlight' is actually about women. There are too many images of women in it, and there are also two erotic poems. If you compare it with Zhou Dunyi's 'On the Love of Lotus,' you'll know that Zhu Ziqing probably just wanted a beautiful woman to add fragrance to his life."
When Zhou Dunyi saw the lotus, he thought of the virtues of a gentleman; when Zhu Ziqing saw the lotus, he thought of either a woman just emerging from a bath or a graceful dancer…
Zhu Ziqing and his wife must have had some estrangement. His wife was an illiterate, old-fashioned woman who raised four or five children on her own. She couldn't afford a nanny, so she probably didn't have much time for marital relations. She also didn't get along well with her mother-in-law. Zhu Ziqing once lost his temper because his wife went back to her parents' home, probably because he secretly disliked that his wife wasn't artistic enough.
So soon after his wife's death, Zhu Ziqing married Chen Yinzhu, a female college student. After the marriage, he felt that college students couldn't serve others and complained in his writings..."
"The fact that my uncle calls me 'Second Uncle' reminds me that there's no 'little uncle literature' in Sichuan, because in other families it's 'I am your little uncle,' which feels very immoral, but in Sichuan it's 'I am your youngest uncle!'"
"That's normal. Yesterday, my professor said that '夫君' (fujun) can be used not only to refer to a husband, but also to address a friend, which completely shocked me."
"When we were teaching the history of foreign literature, we talked about The Metamorphosis. After the teacher explained that the protagonist's room could be directly connected to his parents' room and his sister's room, I said, 'Isn't that living in the living room?' The teacher replied, '...That's right.' [laughing and crying emoji]"
"The story goes that Han Yu was demoted because he told the emperor that those who believed in Buddhism all died young, and that even if he believed in Buddhism, he would still die young, and that's why he was demoted, hahahahahahahahaha."
"I'll never forget a line from the *Li Sao*: 'The women are jealous of my beautiful eyebrows, spreading rumors that I am promiscuous.' Hahahaha, I mistranslated it back then (that's not what it really meant). Everyone was jealous of my beauty, so they made up dirty rumors about me. It's truly unforgettable, hahahahahaha."
"A friend asked me how someone with absolutely no artistic talent and a die-hard anime fan like me could become a lackey in the literature department. Me: You have no idea how much of an advantage a history bromancer has in the literature department [golden potato]"
"For the Book of Songs, you can read Wen Yiduo's Lectures on the Book of Songs. It's very interesting; I was quite impressed after reading it when I was a freshman."
"The teacher talked about the Shen-Tang dispute in class."
Teacher: The root cause of their argument was that Tang Xianzu disliked and was dissatisfied with Shen Jing's adaptation of "The Peony Pavilion," so they started arguing.
Me: Isn't this just unauthorized derivative work?
"Our teacher talks about Tang Dynasty gossip in class. Yuan Zhen is a frequent target of ridicule in Tang Dynasty notes. Whenever something bad happens, they blame it on him. One minute his wife is cheating on him, the next he's accusing Li He of causing him to fail the imperial examination [secretly observing]"
The ancients under the sky shyly pretended to hide their embarrassment: Oh dear, why are people of later generations so gossipy?
They're living too well, they're so bored and have nothing better to do than study us.
However, we don't accept baseless accusations, or our ancestors might sue you for defamation!
Feng Menglong's wife in the Ming Dynasty was as excited as the badger eating melons in Runtu's story: Hehehe, people of later generations are really great people, providing me with so much good material.
Now I have nowhere to write down all my inspirations. Which book should I rewrite next?
How about we write a fanfiction about King Chu and Qu Yuan? It seems like people in later generations really enjoy reading that. If it's written, we're sure people here will welcome it too, right?
??
.........
Tao Yuanming, who vowed never to work for five pecks of rice and resigned from his official post to return home: Why does it feel like the sky is subtly implying something about me?
It's not that I don't want to be an official, but the officialdom is too dark and sycophantic. I have my own principles that I want to uphold, and I cannot tolerate it.
If it weren't for having a wife and mother to support, I would rather never be an official and instead immerse myself in the beauty of nature, enjoying the rural scenery.
Tao Yuanming's wives:
His first wife died in childbirth, and he sent the news at lightning speed.
Tao Yuanming's second wife relied on pawning his clothes and family property to make ends meet, and she also had to stay at home day and night with her mother-in-law to weave cloth to supplement the family income.
Finally, her husband was willing to go out and earn money and found a leisurely job. Less than a month later, he resigned and came back to have a child with her. So during the day, she not only had to weave cloth and take care of the child, but at night she also had to serve her husband.
She gave birth to twins, but eventually died from exhaustion due to working every day.
Tao Yuanming's third wife was about ten years younger than him. When she first married into the family, she not only had to serve her mother-in-law but also raise four children on her own. Later, she gave birth to a son and a daughter for her husband, making it a large family of five sons and one daughter.
Life is much better than with his previous two wives; at least now her husband enjoys a great reputation in the literary world and is willing to go out and take up an official post to earn money.
However, after a decade or so of good times, he repeatedly resigned from his official post. In the end, due to his integrity and refusal to "bow down for five pecks of rice," he resolutely resigned and returned to his hometown, where he spent the following years indulging in the beauty of nature.
His wife, who is ten years younger than him, single-handedly supports the entire family's expenses. However, even though she works tirelessly day and night without rest, their lives become increasingly impoverished, and they eventually have to rely on the help of friends to make ends meet.
It was bad enough that life was poor, but then her husband and children started having conflicts. He would often write poems to scold his five sons for being useless and just wasting their lives. The children were also scolded and became rebellious, following their father's example.
I don't know if life is good or bad now, but I guess I'll just have to accept it. I'll follow my husband wherever he goes. At least I enjoyed a few good years when I first married into the family.