Baike tidbits: "claws and teeth of the king": This term is now derogatory [dictionary says pawn, lackey] "So that our mothers have to do all the labour of cooking?" baike's vernacular says "Our mothers at home have no food to eat" "rolled" is an interesting choice! The word means "to revolve, to turn, to circle about".
The context for the poem is satire on Zhou Xuan wang (again). Normally the capital guards don't get sent to the front line, but in this case they were, so they are unhappy.
An alternate interpretation for the last line is that the mother has died while the soldier was away, so the food is an offering.
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Re: 185. 祈父 - Qi Fu
Date: 2021-04-18 01:52 am (UTC)"claws and teeth of the king": This term is now derogatory [dictionary says pawn, lackey]
"So that our mothers have to do all the labour of cooking?" baike's vernacular says "Our mothers at home have no food to eat"
"rolled" is an interesting choice! The word means "to revolve, to turn, to circle about".
The context for the poem is satire on Zhou Xuan wang (again). Normally the capital guards don't get sent to the front line, but in this case they were, so they are unhappy.
An alternate interpretation for the last line is that the mother has died while the soldier was away, so the food is an offering.