Villager's Song I
- Poetry of Liu Zongyuan
蓐食徇所务，驱牛向东阡。
鸡鸣村巷白，夜色归暮田。
札札耒耜声，飞飞来乌鸢。
竭兹筋力事，持用穷岁年。
尽输助徭役，聊就空自眠。
子孙日已长，世世还复然。
This series of poems was likely composed during Liu Zongyuan's exile in Yongzhou or Liuzhou. Following the failure of the Yongzhen Reforms, the poet—relegated to a minor official position in the remote south—became intimately acquainted with peasants, laborers, and the underprivileged. "Three Poems on Farming Households" emerges from his profound observations of rural life. The first poem traces a farmer's grueling daily cycle: predawn departure, sunset return, and the cruel reality of toil without harvest—exposing the intergenerational exploitation of peasants.
Before dawn we gulp cold rice,
Oxen plod east through clay.
Cocks crow—lanterns slice
Night's veil off field-work's day.
Ploughshares clank, kites wheel low,
Bodies break like worn-out tools.
All harvests feed taxes—so
We sleep like drained dry pools.
Sons grow tall, but mark it well:
Their fate's the same old hell.
- Why Chinese poems is so special?
- The most distinctive features of Chinese poetry are: concision- many poems are only four lines, and few are much longer than eight; ambiguity- number, tense and parts of speech are often undetermined, creating particularly rich interpretative possibilities; and structure- most poems follow quite strict formal patterns which have beauty in themselves as well as highlighting meaningful contrasts.
- How to read a Chinese poem?
- Like an English poem, but more so. Everything is there for a reason, so try to find that reason. Think about all the possible connotations, and be aware of the different possibilities of number and tense. Look for contrasts: within lines, between the lines of each couplet and between successive couplets. Above all, don't worry about what the poet meant- find your meaning.