Thinking of Home on the Winter Solstice in Handan
[Tang – Bai Juyi
It is the winter solstice in the Handan post, and I am sitting in front of a lamp with my shadow on my knees.
I thought of sitting at home late at night, and I should also talk about people who had traveled far.
Notes
Handan (Hándān): The name of the place, now Handan City, Hebei Province. Winter Solstice: One of the twenty-four solar terms in the lunar calendar. In late December, the day is the shortest and the night the longest. In ancient times, there was a custom of family reunion on the winter solstice.
Post: Ancient post station, a resting place for officials on their way to deliver official documents, transfer goods or travel.
Hugging knees: Sitting with hands on knees, thinking about something. Shadow accompanying body: The shadow accompanies it.
Late at night: It was late at night.
The author refers to himself.
Translation.
On the day of the Winter Solstice, I was still wandering and living in an inn in Handan.
On that night, I sat alone in my room, thinking of my relatives at home far away.
My relatives at home must have been thinking of me as well on this cold night.
Background.
This poem was written at the end of the 20th year of Emperor Dezong’s reign (804), when the author was thirty-three years old and serving as a secretary. On the day of the winter solstice, the court was on holiday, and the people were very lively, wearing new clothes, giving each other food and congratulating each other, and it was a festive scene. Bai Juyi, who was on an official trip at that time, stayed in a post office in Handan at night and composed this poem with his feelings.
Appreciation and Analysis.
The poem “Thinking of Home on the Winter Solstice in Handan” has no elaborate rhetoric and no strange and innovative imagery, but only uses a narrative tone to depict the feelings of a distant guest. The beauty of the poem is that, firstly, it speaks in straightforward and simple language about a common experience of people’s lives, and the feelings are sincere and touching. Secondly, the poem is well-conceived and charming: firstly, there is no word “thought” in the poem, but only a plain narrative, but there is “thought” everywhere. The first two lines of the poem are factual, and the first two lines are written from the opposite side.
The first two lines of the poem are documentary, with a side story of “homesickness”. The first line is about the festival in the middle of the guest, and the root of “homesickness” is already planted. In the Tang Dynasty, people should have celebrated the winter solstice at home with their relatives. But now the author is in a guest house in Handan, and he doesn’t know what to do. In the second line, the author writes about the festival in the inn in Handan. The word “hugging the knees” paints a vivid picture of the author’s sitting attitude. The words “in front of the lamp” not only color the setting, but also point out “night” and “shadow”. The word “companion” is a word that brings out the environment, “night” and “shadow”. The word “companion” brings the “body” and “shadow” together. and “shadow”, and gives The word “companion” connects “body” and “shadow” and gives “shadow” human feelings. The author’s loneliness and homesickness are overwhelmed by the fact that only the shadow sitting on its knees accompanies the body sitting on its knees.
The last two lines use imagination to write “homesickness” in a positive way. In the last two lines, the author turns the brush and makes a twist, instead of writing directly about how he is homesick, he imagines that his family is still sitting around the lamp at the late night of the winter solstice, talking about himself as a faraway person, so as to show his “homesickness”. “This is a very touching and realistic way of expressing homesickness. The touching thing is that the scene he imagines when he is homesick for his family is how they miss themselves. This winter solstice festival, because he was far away from home, so his family must have had a very unpleasant time as well. When I was hugging my knees in front of the lamp, thinking about my family, I thought that late at night, my family was still awake, sitting in front of the lamp, “talking about the people who are far away”. The author does not specify exactly what he is “talking about,” leaving the reader a wide field of imagination. Everyone who has enjoyed the joy of heaven and has had similar experiences can think a lot based on their own life experiences. The author does not use flamboyant words and phrases, does not play with too many artistic techniques, but uses plain and simple language to express his homesickness to the fullest.
Bai Juyi’s poems are often known for their simple and plain language, and their moods are often revealed. This poem is plain and simple, with a delicate and charming conception, and a faint sorrow for the hometown and a strong feeling of nostalgia for relatives flowing between the lines.
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