He was unyielding and undaunted by
obstacles.(不屈不撓)
During the Southern Song dynasty in China,
there was a famous minister named He Menggui. Born in 1229 AD, he lost his
country when the dynasty collapsed at the age of 50.
While many scholars and officials chose to
join the Yuan Dynasty's central government after the fall of the Southern Song
Dynasty, He Menggui made a different choice. He retired and returned to his
hometown to live as an ordinary citizen.
There, he met a good friend named Zhang
Mingfu. Zhang Mingfu had written a collection of poems and asked He Menggui to
write a preface for them.
The preface roughly translates as follows:
'We can see the author's inner emotions and
thoughts in a good poem. Furthermore, when reading a good poem, we can also
sense the author's powerful inner spirit. This is my criterion for judging the
quality of a poem.'
Ancient China boasted many great poets. I
will use Du Fu, Liu Zongyuan, Su Shi and Huang Tingjian as examples. Despite
experiencing extreme hardship in their lives, these individuals produced their
greatest and most powerful works during their most difficult periods.
I believe this is because they maintained
their inner cultivation and morality even in their darkest times. They
confronted life's challenges with honesty, creating those magnificent works in
the process.
Following the fall of the Southern Song
dynasty, China descended into extreme chaos. My good friend Zhang Mingfu and I
lived through this turbulent era.
Zhang Mingfu lived in poverty and scarcity.
While his literary status and poetic talent certainly couldn't compare to the
most renowned writers in Chinese history, I could sense his innermost thoughts
and feelings in his poems.
Drawn from his daily experiences, his poems
contain profound thoughts. They are deeply melancholic and poignant; reading
them, I could sense his inner sorrow.
His poems are very powerful, reminiscent of
famous ancient Chinese poems that depict frontier life and war. Reading them
left me feeling deeply moved.
But what I find most valuable is that,
despite the injustices he has encountered in reality, his poetry retains its
love and pursuit of life. Despite encountering many injustices in reality, his
poems contain an indomitable and unyielding spirit.
Another good friend of ours, Xu, has
already written a preface for this collection, and I am honoured that he asked
me to write one too.
Another good friend of ours, Xu, has
already written a preface for this collection, and I am honoured that he asked
me to write one too.
Reading this poetry collection and writing
its preface has brought back memories of my life over the past few years and
the low spirits I have felt since the fall of the Southern Song dynasty. As I
write this preface, I can almost hear the bleak autumn wind and see the sun
setting in the west, and my heart is heavy with sorrow.
The idiom translates as "he is
unyielding and unafraid of obstacles".
It is used to describe someone with an
extremely strong will who will never succumb to pressure or difficulties.
Dear friend, what have you learned, and
what inspiration have you gained from this story?
When faced with pressure, do you confront
it or run away? What is the most moving poem you have ever read?
I hope this story brings you new insights.
不屈不撓(He was unyielding and undaunted by
obstacles.)
中國的南宋王朝有一個著名的大臣，他的名字叫做何夢桂。他出生於西元1229年，在他50歲的時候，南宋王朝滅亡，他成為了一個失去了自己的國家的人。
南宋王朝滅亡之後，有很多南宋王朝的學者與官員選擇加入元王朝的中央政府，但是何夢桂做出了不同的選擇，他選擇退休回到自己的家鄉做一個普通百姓。
何夢桂回到家鄉後認識了一個好朋友，這個好朋友的名字叫做(章明甫)，章明甫寫了一本詩集後請何夢桂為這本詩集寫一篇序。
這篇序大概意思如下。
我們能夠從一篇好詩中看出這首詩的作者在寫這首詩時的內在的情感與心中的想法，另外，我們在閱讀一首好詩時的時候，還可以感受到作者內心那種雄渾的精神力量，這就是我對於一首詩的好壞的評判標準。
中國古代有許多偉大的詩人，我以其中的杜甫與柳宗元和蘇軾還有黃庭堅這四位為例子來說明，這些人都曾經在生命中遭遇到極度的困苦，但是他們人生中最偉大的最有力量的作品也幾乎都出自他們一生中那些最低潮的時期。
如果你問我為什麼會有這種現象，我認為那是因為他們的在人生的最低谷的時候仍舊堅持內心的修養與道德，他們用坦率的心去面對生活中的窘迫，所以他們寫出了那些偉大的作品。
南宋朝朝滅亡之後，整個中國陷入極度的混亂，我與我的這個名字叫做(章明甫)的好朋友就生活在這個動亂的時代。
章明甫的生活在貧窮與缺乏之中，他的文學地位與寫詩的造詣當然無法跟那些中國歷史上最耀眼的偉大作家一樣，但是我從他的詩中讀到了他的內心中的許多的情感與情緒。
他藉由他的日常生活中的經驗所寫的詩歌中蘊含著深刻的思想，他的文字非常的悲涼與悽苦，讀他的詩的時候讓我感受到他內心的憂愁。
他寫的詩讀起來感覺非常的壓抑，讓我聯想到就中國古代那幾首著名的描寫邊疆與戰爭的詩，讀完他的詩都讓我感到非常得唏噓。
但是最讓我覺得可貴的，是他的詩沒有失去他對於生命的熱愛與追求，他雖然在現實中遭遇到很多不公義的遭遇，但是他的詩中蘊藏著一種不屈服且不怕阻撓的精神力量。
我們兩個人的另外一個姓徐的好朋友已經為他的這篇詩集寫了一篇序，我感到很榮幸因為他邀請我來為他的這本書寫這篇序。
我讀完這本詩集然後寫序的這段過程中，讓我回想到我這幾年的生活，讓我回想起自從南宋王朝滅亡之後，我這段時間的低落心情，我寫著這篇序的時候，我感覺我的耳朵邊聽到蕭瑟的秋天的風的聲音，我彷彿看到太陽漸漸從西邊落下，我的心情感到沉重與悲傷。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是他不屈服且不怕阻撓。
這句成語被用來形容一個人意志非常堅毅，這個人絕不屈服與眼前所遭遇的壓力和困難。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有什麼樣的或有什麼樣的啟發呢
你遭受壓力時你會選擇面對還是逃避呢?你讀過最讓你感動的詩是那一手呢?
我期待這個故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為宋-欽定四庫全書-潛齋集卷7-何夢桂-章明甫詩序