Neither sowing nor reaping.(不稼不穑)
(The Book
of Songs) is China's earliest collection of poems.
The book
contains 305 poems.
These
span 500 years, from the 11th to the 6th century BC.
The
poems' content can be divided into three main categories.
The first
category consists of folk poems from various parts of China at that time.
The
second category comprises poems from the Zhou dynasty, which ruled China during
this period.
The third
category comprises poems used by the royal family and nobility of the Zhou
dynasty in sacrificial rites.
One
example is a folk poem from the Kingdom of Wei. It depicts the lower classes'
dissatisfaction with the ruling class. The people resent and oppose the
exploitation and oppression by those in power, and raise heartfelt questions to
them. The poem's content is as follows:
The sound
of felling sandalwood trees never ceases; over there, a large pile of felled
trees lies by the river.
The wind
blows on the clear water and the ripples gently sway.
You
neither sow nor reap, yet you store three hundred bundles of rice in your home.
You
neither hunt in winter nor at night, yet why are wild badgers dangling in your
yard?
A leader
of high moral character should know that people shouldn't eat without working.
The
sandalwood trees that were felled to make cartwheels lie in a large pile by the
river.
The wind
blows on the clear water, and the surface flows smoothly and continuously.
You
neither sow nor harvest, yet why do you monopolise these three hundred bundles
of rice?
You
neither hunt in winter nor at night, yet why do small wild animals dangle in
your yard?
A leader
of high moral character should recognise that people shouldn't eat for free.
Those
sandalwood trees were felled to make cartwheels; there's a large pile of timber
by the river.
The wind
blows on the clear water, and the clear river flows smoothly.
You
neither sow nor reap, so why are you hoarding these three hundred bundles of
rice? You don't hunt at night or in winter, so why are there wild quails in
your yard?
If a
leader is a person of high moral character, they shouldn't enjoy delicious food
without working for it.
This
idiom translates directly as 'neither sowing nor reaping'.
Dear
friend, what inspiration or thoughts have you gained from this story?
Which
leaders in your country do you despise? How do you react when faced with
oppression and exploitation?
I hope
this story gives you some new insights.
不稼不穑(Neither sowing nor reaping.)
(詩經)是中國最早的詩歌合輯。
這本書中有305首詩。
這些詩寫的時間橫跨500年，從西元前11世紀到西元前6世紀。
這些詩的內容主要分為三類。
第一類是當時中國各地的民間詩歌
第二類是當時統治中國的周王朝的詩歌。
第三類是周王朝中的王室與貴族祭祀用的詩歌。
其中有一首當時的魏王國中的民間詩歌，這首詩歌中描繪了當時社會中的底層百姓對統治階層的不滿情緒，百姓們厭惡與反對在上位者的剝削與欺壓，百姓們向在上位者提出了發自內心的質問。這首詩的大概內容如下。
砍伐檀樹的聲音響個不停，那邊有一大堆被砍倒的樹木堆放在河邊。
風吹在清澈的水上，水波輕輕地搖擺。
你既不播種也不收割，爲何把三百捆稻穀堆放在自己家裡。
你冬天與夜晚都不狩獵，為何你的庭院中吊掛著野生的(貆)?
領導者如果是一個品德高尚的人，那麼他應該知道人不要白吃閒飯。
那些被砍伐後準備做成車輪的檀樹啊，那邊有一大堆被砍倒的樹木堆放在河邊。
風吹在清澈的水上，水面平順地不停流淌。
你既不播種也不收割，爲何要獨占這三百捆稻穀?
你冬天與夜晚都不狩獵，為何你的庭院中吊掛著小野獸?
領導者如果是一個品德高尚的人，那麼他應該知道人如果不工作就沒有資格吃東西。
那些被砍伐後準備做成木車的檀樹啊，那邊有一大堆被砍倒的樹木堆放在河邊。
風吹在清澈的水上，清澈的河水平順地流淌。
你既不播種也不收割，爲何要獨占這三百捆稻穀?
你冬天與夜晚都不狩獵，為何你的庭院中吊掛著野生的(鵪鶉)?
領導者如果是一個品德高尚的人，那麼你不應該沒有工作就享受那些美味的食物。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是不播種也不收割。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你的國家有那些被你厭惡的頂導者呢?當你面對人們的壓迫與剝削時，你會有怎樣的反應呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為詩經-國風-魏-伐檀
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E8%A9%A9%E7%B6%93/%E4%BC%90%E6%AA%80