Qingming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Day) is a traditional Chinese festival for families to pay respect (尊敬) to their ancestors. People visit their ancestors’ grave sites and offer food, drinks and flowers. The festival falls on April the fourth this year. There are some Chinese poems that offer clues to Chinese history and culture through ancient expressions. Here we look at one of the classic poems in the history of Chinese literature:
In China around the time of Qingming Festival, there is more rain. The poet is traveling far away from home on these rainy days. The rain and lonely walks lead to the separation of the soul and body, which adds a sad mood to this poem. The writer, Du Mu describes a rainy scene in a village in the first two lines. Then in the last two lines, the poet wants to find a place to take a rest, drink some wine (酒) and get rid of the sad mood. Where can I find a good tavern? In the last line, a cowherd points to a direction, which vividly depicts (生动描绘) two people looking far ahead on the rainy day.
Mourning Day
Drizzling rain falls like tears on the Mourning Day,
The mourner’s heart is going to break on his way.
Where can a wineshop be found to drown his sad hours?
A cowherd points to a cot amid apricot flowers.
(Translated by Xu Yuanchong, Chinese translator)
In this poem, Du Mu presents a village with apricot flowers around as the direction of the tavern. He doesn’t describe its details on a rainy day but leaves it to the readers’ imagination.
Qingming is not only a sad festival, but can also be a happy time for people to enjoy the spring and get closer to nature in an outing. Trees are green and flowers are blooming, so it’s a good time to be outside.
【小题1】The Chinese title of this poem is ________.| A．《清明》 | B．《咏柳》 | C．《春望》 | D．《秋思》 |
| A．snowy | B．windy | C．cold | D．rainy |
| A．make friends | B．eat some food | C．drink some wine | D．buy a raincoat |
| A．a boy sits on the cow | B．a place where the cow lives |
| C．a person who herds (放牧) the cow | D．a place where the cow eats grass |
| A．offer food, drinks and flowers to old people |
| B．pay respect to our ancestors and enjoy the spring |
| C．feel sad all day and drink some wine with family |
| D．find a beautiful place with a lot of flowers around |
