Chapter 355

448 chapters, the ten-thousand-li Changjiang drifts a jade belt.

448 chapters, the ten-thousand-li Changjiang drifts a jade generation.

――――A red apricot branch protruding from the wall (twenty-one).

(1), the ten-thousand-li Changjiang drifts a sash, a full moon rolls an embroidered ball.

A sudden shower, lightning flashes and thunder rumbles.

Gazing at the rainforest outside the door, my thoughts are in a haze. I don't even recall where I left off last time, and I don't know what benefit these words of mine could bring to you, friend.

Is it just literary trash? I fear it is.

I strive to write the best, squeezing out all the essence of life.

This life, this tiny life, cannot come and go in vain. As much as possible, leave something beneficial for the world. Even if I cannot leave something beneficial, I must do something beneficial for the world. If I cannot do great things, then do small things.

In short, I cannot be unworthy of life, nor of the Creator.

……………………………………………………………………………………

In my mental space, I have always stored such a piece of information. Now this information is again being squeezed out from my mental space, I can't keep it silent. No matter how friends comment on my work, I will still let "her" speak out――――One piece surpasses all Tang poetry.

The background of the information "One piece surpasses all Tang poetry" is as follows: Zhongguo is a country of poetry, and Tang poetry is the peak of Chinese poetry. Atop this peak shines a brilliant star "Spring River Flower Moon Night", the author Zhang Ruoxu.

Someone spends a lifetime writing many poems and essays, yet cannot leave even a trace in the world. Take the legendary emperor Qianlong: wherever he went, he wrote something there.

So what? People only know he was an emperor, had a little martial arts, knew a few moves. Those few moves were later embellished and painted over by later generations. The Chinese only know he was an emperor, with no one saying Qianlong was a poet. In fact, Qianlong really wanted to be a poet. It is said he wrote over ten thousand poems in his life, but those readable by people are almost zero, let alone passed down.

As a literati, this is sorrowful.

Earlier, a teacher who had read the Four Books told me that when Qianlong toured Jiangnan, he visited the Gold Mountain Temple in Zhenjiang and wrote a poem that had a certain poetic feeling. The Four Books teacher taught it to me then, but I didn't pay attention. Absent-mindedly I only vaguely remembered two lines: "Ten thousand li of the Changjiang floats like a jade belt, a round bright moon rolls like an embroidered ball." I thought it was not bad, had some poetic feeling, but upon closer taste I felt the emperor's arrogance was too great….

Not mentioning other factors, just speaking of a person, as an existence of life, being able to leave people with "Ten thousand li of the Changjiang floats like a jade belt, a round bright moon rolls like an embroidered ball", such a life is not emptiness, after all it is not lived in vain. Whether a person who can leave two lines of poetry counts as a poet? But who would bother making such a boring definition?

(2), Spring River Flower Moon Night……

A person who can make the world remember something is certainly excellent, a remarkable life. Whenever I walk into a bustling market, seeing that throng of people, Zhuangzi's words: "Wild Horse also, dust also, living things blowing breath upon each other. The heavens are azure, their proper color, and their vastness reaches no limit……."

It constantly flashes in my mind――――

The so-called "Wild Horse also, dust also", I understand it as "mist also, dust also". In Zhuangzi's eyes, all people, mountains, waters, and everything in the world are merely like mist and dust, things of emptiness, not substantial. "Emptiness of emptiness, emptiness of emptiness, everything is emptiness." All are chasing the wind……

Therefore, Zhuangzi, people want to read his writings, yet they do not believe the words in his writings. This person, this person's heart, is hard to fathom. People's hearts are indeed hard to fathom.

But upon careful thought, Zhuangzi's words are not without reason. If you understand it this way: merely having the form of life existing, what meaning does that have?

Does this life coming into the world merely mean "to wear and to eat"?

Besides "to wear and to eat", modern people also have the two words "to enjoy". But "enjoy" is a broad concept. Without concrete content, there's no need to elaborate, it's hard to elaborate. Want to speak but stop, want to speak but stop. So let's not say it. Not saying it is fine, but we are still talking about life.

As life, can we leave something behind for the world? It is concrete, as Mr. Yu Qiuyu said: after the official caps and robes have long turned to dust, a bamboo tube occasionally scribbled with writing can actually carve mountains and rivers, engrave people's hearts, never to be erased….

Of course Mr. Yu's words are a bit hard to accept; the so-called hard to accept means hard to do: if everyone went to write poetry and essays, then poetry and essays would be like flatulence, making people feel nauseated when they smell it.

The division of labor in this world is fine. If you sell tea eggs, you must guarantee quality, not arbitrarily raise prices; he who makes atomic bombs must ensure successful launch, not let foreigners laugh, but must strengthen the people's ambition and prestige; if you write poetry and essays, the content must be wholesome and uplifting, guiding people toward goodness and beauty, abandoning evil and embracing good, not merely pursuing fame and profit, forgetting responsibility; if you are an official, you must be clean and honest; you are…………………

This, many people have already achieved. Actually, whether many people can achieve it or not, is unrelated to me…………………

I want to talk about that Tang Dynasty's Zhang Ruoxu, the person who is One piece surpasses all Tang poetry.

Zhang Ruoxu, he, a person who writes poetry, spent his lifetime writing just one poem "Spring River Flower Moon Night".

Zhang Ruoxu, a person who spent his lifetime writing poetry, his lifetime contribution to the world is precisely that "Spring River Flower Moon Night", a poem that everyone who reads it likes.

(3), Treating friends to a meal in the air

Some say, reading Tang poetry without reading Zhang Ruoxu's "Spring River Flower Moon Night" is equivalent to not having seen Tang poetry. After reading Zhang Ruoxu's "Spring River Flower Moon Night", one truly understands what Tang poetry is. Only by understanding "Spring River Flower Moon Night" does one know a bit about Tang poetry; this is called "seeing a spot to know the whole leopard".

For the convenience of your reference, I borrow the starting point's treasure land, cloning Zhang Ruoxu's "Spring River Flower Moon Night" from my memory. Please, friend, take another look at the beauty of Tang poetry.

I am far away from you, friend, and we each have our own affairs, busy with life, busy with work; busy with this, busy with that; in short, we are all very busy.

You often click on my works, supporting me to continue writing, adding to my confidence in continuing to write; I am very grateful to you. I won't say empty pleasantries; I have long wanted to invite you to a restaurant and treat you to a meal, but it's hard to find such an opportunity. Now please, friend, look at that pearl shining atop the peak of poetry, which also counts as my little thought for you. A goose feather carried a thousand miles— the gift is light but the sentiment is deep. Can you, friend, understand my good intentions?

Looking at "Spring River Flower Moon Night"――――

The spring river tide joins the sea level, the bright moon over the sea rises with the tide.

Gleaming, it follows the waves for thousands of miles; where is there a spring river without moonlight?

The river winds gently around the fragrant meadow, the moon shining on the flowery woods looks like scattered frost.

Frost flows in the air unnoticed, the white sand on the shoals cannot be seen.

River and sky are one color, without a speck of dust; the bright, solitary moon wheel hangs in the void.

Who by the riverbank first sees the moon? In what year did the river's moon first shine upon people?

Human generations are endless, yet the river's moon year after year is only similar.

I do not know whom the river's moon shines upon, but I see the Changjiang sending forth its flowing water.

A single patch of white cloud drifts away leisurely; on the blue maple reeds, sorrow knows no bounds.

Whose family tonight has a small boat? Where is the longing, the bright moon tower?

Pitiful, the moon above the tower wanders to and fro; it ought to shine on the dressing table of those parted.

The jade door's curtain cannot be rolled away; the sound of pounding cloth returns, brushing the air.

At this moment we gaze at each other but cannot hear; I wish to follow the moonlight's flow to shine upon you.

Wild geese fly long, the light does not pass; fish and dragons leap shallowly, the water forms ripples.

Last night, in the idle pond I dreamed of falling flowers; pitiful, half of spring has passed and I have not returned home.

The river water flows, spring is about to end; the moon sets in the river pool and tilts westward again.

The slanting moon sinks, hiding in the sea mist; Jieshi and Xiaoxiang have endless roads.

I do not know how many people return riding the moon; as the moon sets, lingering affection fills the riverbank trees.

(4), That river water winds past the flowery grass like a carpeted plain……

Dusk mist thick and heavy, a solitary poet stands on the seaside beach, gazing afar at the vast, expansive sea. The spring tide is vast and boundless, river and sea are connected. The bright moon over the sea seems to rise from the surging, tumultuous waves.

That bright radiance envelops the great sea.

That meandering river water flows slowly forward…....

That slow river water winds past the flowery grassy plain and rushes into the sea……

That bright moonlight shines on the branches of the flowers and trees by the riverbank……

The branches of those flowers and trees are as if covered with a layer of white snow……

Above the river, the sky holds a light mist that slowly drifts……..

Under the moonlight, the slowly drifting mist, like a light, beautiful white gauze, at times covers the riverside plain, at times the riverside beach…….

That vast sky of ten thousand li has not a trace of cloud cover…….

That round, pure-white-as-jade bright moon is hung in the azure sky…….

In such a beautiful scene, our poet, from nature, thinks of life_______

Since the creation of the world, who first saw the bright moon?

When did that beautiful bright moon begin to shine upon humanity?

What a difficult question to answer.

Yes, at the dawn of humanity, who saw the bright moon most?

Who is the first person to have seen the bright moon?

The poet's questions, of course, have no answer.

"Without cause, I dispel a day's sorrow; fortunately blown ten thousand li by the east wind."

"What should a man worry about? He should regard the universe as younger brother rice."

"The vast sea's surging currents are nothing to worry about; worldly conflicts are not worth considering."

"Only by guarding one's self and mind does the sun and moon in one's chest remain ever fresh and beautiful."

"Fame in the world for five hundred thousand years, all you gentlemen toil on, merely leftovers……"

The poet asks and answers himself: This humanity passes down generation to generation, the mutual fire never ceases.

And each generation is a kind of thought, a way of living.

Rivers and mountains will always produce talent; Li and Du are already no longer novel.

………………………………………………………………………

(5) This brief life is full of various sorrows and joys, sweetness and bitterness……..

Yet the bright moon in the heavens is eternal and unchanging. This brief life, however, is full of many partings and reunions, sorrows and joys, sweetness and bitterness; while that moon in the sky remains forever pure and white as jade! Compared to the moon, humanity is how insignificant, how trivial……..

"……How fleeting is life, like morning dew, with many days gone and suffering……"

In the short course of life, what should we do for the world?

This is the life lesson that 'Spring River Flower Moon Night' reveals to us.

This is also the topic I want to tell you, my friend.

Perhaps my topic is too serious.

Or should I not dampen my friend's interest?

Everyone is living well; just keep moving forward blindly, and when that day comes, it will be that day.

I also think that way, but then I think, is it not too irresponsible toward life?

We should still make use of life's resources to leave something behind for the world in which we live.

We cannot just come into the world for nothing and leave for nothing.

………………………………………………………………..

(6) Still returning to my original topic……..

Still returned to my original topic.

You see Xiangling in Dream of the Red Chamber, as a slave summoned and dismissed by a household, lacking even basic freedom in life. She also wishes to surpass herself and realize the intrinsic value of her life.

Whenever I think of Xiangling studying poetry, the lazy me cannot help but get up and move forward. Even if life becomes harder, more exhausting, more misunderstood and mocked by others.

I can't recall who said this, but the gist is: If my efforts have, to some extent, inspired some people's endeavors, and our work has, to some extent, expanded humanity's understanding, thereby adding a bit of joy to the world; then I would feel satisfied………………

Just now, we read together with friends the Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Ruoxu's 'Spring River Flower Moon Night'; I felt as if I had entered a beautiful realm, obtained a beautiful enjoyment, and gained a bit of joy.

Yes, Zhang Ruoxu from a thousand years ago, his life was thus meaningful and valuable, for he gave later generations a bit of joy, expanded our hearts and horizons somewhat, and somewhat inspired our efforts and aspirations toward a beautiful realm.

(7) No matter how clever that fox is…….

A Western philosopher also said something similar: In England, when fox hunting, one can observe daily: how the fox correctly uses every advantageous terrain to evade its pursuers, and how it skillfully uses advantageous terrain to break its escape trail.

The fox is a clever animal, but no matter how clever it is, even if it possessed intelligence equal to humans, its ultimate purpose is merely to prolong its own life—plainly, to live one more day. Even if it lived a thousand years, what could it leave for the world?

In response, another Western philosopher said: Animals also engage in production, but their production's effect on the surrounding nature is zero.

Zero means that an animal's life is, to the world, as good as not living.

Being alive is no different from being dead.

Living like an animal, is that not also zero?

I read long ago a poem by the Zangke family: Some people are alive yet already dead; some people are dead yet still alive……

What does it mean to be alive, to be dead? Who does not wish to live? No matter what, life is always precious, living is always good, beautiful.

While we live, we should cherish ourselves and do more meaningful, beneficial things for the world. My friend Zhong Wei Yun graduated from junior high at sixteen, then dropped out and returned home to farm. Though he left school, he did not lose his ambition. Under extremely harsh conditions, he persisted in self-study, focusing on punctuation research. He farmed, read books, and wrote and published. Diligent and uncomplaining, with a single-minded goal, unwavering, persevering, he employed the spirit of 'dripping water wears away stone' to realize his ideal………..

"Although the years have disturbed my path with lazy dust,

but I will someday encounter life upon myself——

that joy hidden within my life……."

What exactly is the joy hidden in life?

For the seeker: pursue the dream of the ideal! That dream is hidden within life. Ordinarily unseen, amidst the rolling years, it occasionally reveals its grandeur.

But this 'grandeur' must be watered with sweat.

Time is always lonely, but for the dream-seeker, time is not lonely, because the dream comes to keep him company. This dream is a beautiful dream; how could someone who has a beautiful dream be lonely?

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(Heart with the disaster area, Flirting with the disaster area: May peace, courage, confidence, and strength be with and accompany the people of the disaster area! Accompany!)