From: Qu Yuan's Li Sao in the Warring States Period.

Excerpts from the original text:

There is a long way to go in Xiu Yuan, and I will go up and down.

After drinking too much, the horses in the salty pond always rest on hibiscus flowers.

When the wood breaks, blow the sun and chat with the sheep.

Wang Shu was the pioneer before, and Fei Lian was the subordinate after.

Explanation:

The road ahead is long, and I will pursue my ideal wholeheartedly.

Let my horse drink in the salty pool and tie the reins to the hibiscus tree.

If I break a branch to block the sun, I can wander leisurely for a while.

Let uncle Wang in front be the pioneer, and let Fei Lian in the back follow closely.

Extended data

This poem centers on the poet's life experience, experience and mental journey. The first half repeatedly confided the poet's concern about the fate of Chu and people's life, expressing his desire to reform politics and his will to stick to his ideals and never compromise with evil forces even in times of disaster. The second half reflects the poet's thoughts and feelings of patriotism and love for the people after wandering in heaven, pursuing the realization of ideals and dying after failure.

Poetry shows his indomitable fighting spirit of bravely pursuing truth and light and upholding justice and ideals. At the same time, it profoundly exposed the decadent and dark nature of the noble group of Chu headed by Chu Jun, and criticized their crimes of reversing right and wrong, running a private party, harming talents and doing evil for the country.

Qu Yuan is the first great patriotic poet in the history of China, the founder of China's romantic literature, the founder and representative writer of Songs of the South, and has created the tradition of "vanilla beauty", and is known as "the father of Ci Fu" and "the father of China's poetry". The appearance of Qu Yuan's works indicates that China's poetry has entered a new era from collective singing to individual originality. His main works are Li Sao, Nine Songs, Nine Chapters and Tian Wen.

The symbolism of Qu Yuan's "vanilla beauty" inherits and uses the metaphor of The Book of Songs. Qu Yuan's creation shows emotional liberation to a certain extent, thus creating a brand-new poetic style full of vitality and strong appeal.

Because of the need of this kind of emotional expression, we can't be satisfied with plain writing techniques, but need to borrow a lot of mythical materials from Chu and use beautiful fantasies, which greatly expands the realm of poetry and shows its magnificent characteristics.