Baike: this is a work of 'realism poetry', expressing "the hungry sing for food, the laborers sing for work" [I'm not sure what the last word is supposed to express; it also means matter/thing/item/affair]. The first stanza describes refugees performing forced labor, even the widowers not spared; the geese flying around represent the sigh/lament of the homeless with no place to settle down. The second stanza describes the forced labor as building the wall; the geese gather like the refugees are gathered. The final stanza expresses how the refugees' sorrow is met with ridicule by the rich; the cry of the geese is in echo of the bleakness of the refugees' lives. The poem combines bi and xing techniques.
I think Legge's translation of the second stanza contradicts Baike's reading -- Baike reads the last sentence as if they are unable to have a place to live.
The title of the poem, the swan goose, is now a byword for the suffering of refugees.
The time period is either during Zhou Li wang or Zhou Xuan wang, during the late Western Zhou Dynasty when there was a rebellion by Li wang, an invasion by the Xianyun, and drought, so a large number of people were displaced.
Mao's commentary, as always, says this praises Zhou Xuan wang, that there may be scattered and restless people, but they can work and gather safely. Others believe it is the refugees describing their misery. Others that it describes how Zhou wang sent out envoys everywhere to give emergency relief to the refugees.
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Re: 181. 鴻雁 - Hong Yan
Date: 2021-04-11 09:37 pm (UTC)I think Legge's translation of the second stanza contradicts Baike's reading -- Baike reads the last sentence as if they are unable to have a place to live.
The title of the poem, the swan goose, is now a byword for the suffering of refugees.
The time period is either during Zhou Li wang or Zhou Xuan wang, during the late Western Zhou Dynasty when there was a rebellion by Li wang, an invasion by the Xianyun, and drought, so a large number of people were displaced.
Mao's commentary, as always, says this praises Zhou Xuan wang, that there may be scattered and restless people, but they can work and gather safely. Others believe it is the refugees describing their misery. Others that it describes how Zhou wang sent out envoys everywhere to give emergency relief to the refugees.