'The Old Men' and'Watching the Wheat Harvest' by Bo Juyi

白居易诗赏析 ：卖炭翁，观刈麦 Yiming Sun 2022. April

The poems I chose were The Old Man and Watching the Wheat Harvest by Bo Juyi. Bo Juyi's realistic criticism poems include objective descriptions of the bitterness of the lower-class people and interpretation of the society, including psychological descriptions of people's livelihood concerns criticism of official corruption, and his will of saving the people through political reforms. What impressed me most was his interpretation of the helplessness and abnormal psychology of the oppressed people in the poem.

Both of Bo Juyi's poems are devoted to revealing profound class contradictions. By depicting the lower classes, such as older people and women, Bo Juyi reflects the miserable living conditions of labourers and peasants under the oppression of high taxes and corrupt officials The poem The Old Man combines three words with seven words and rhymes in meter, making it easy to sing. This expression is mimicking the practice of ordinary people, Together with the action description, appearance description and psychological description of the old charcoal seller, this poem vividly presents the miserable life of him, as a representative of the lower class in a chaotic society with exploitative confiscation policies.

the poem began by describing the troublesome and time-consuming production steps "He cut and burned woods" to sell charcoal (Owen, 41).Then, the poem shows a discomfiting image of an older man with a dusty face. black fingers, and white hair which reflects the vicissitudes of appearance and physical trauma brought by years of hard work. There is also a reflection of his miserable life. "Just for the clothes put on his body and foods put into his mouth"(Owen, 41) is Bo's description of the objective reality that the elderly are so tired just to meet the minimum living needs. This carload of carbon is his survival necessity and hope for life. The contradiction in the sentence"light clothing, but he undertook for cold weather" impressed me (Owen, 41) The older man wears very little but wishes the weather to be chillier so that he can sell his carbon for a better price.The desire to violate human nature is not the enjoyment of the older man's self-abuse but the desire to survive based on the helpless life. The second half of the article describes the extortion of officials. The word "flighty" describes the dashing image of an official and the speed of his horse as a sharp comparison to the arduous journey of an old man. In addition, officials' highlighted yellow and white clothes reflect their rich and luxurious appearance, which forms an intense contrast with the black and white image of the elderly. The action of the arrogant officials demonstrates the speed of forced buying and selling. "Half bolt of red tarlatan and ten feet of silk,(Owen, 41)" which was tied to the cow's head, was replaced by more than a thousand pounds of charcoal. Although the older man was not satisfied by the unequal deal, his hope for life was dashed, and he could do nothing about the tragedy. Through the contrast between the old man and the officials, this poem shows the poet's sympathy for the older man, his criticism of the dark society, the disclosure of the ugly performance of the officials, the bitterness of the toiling people and the indignant hope for improvement.

Another poem Watching the Wheat Harvest also describes the bitterness of the lower-class farmers and Bo's sympathy.Although "Feet sweating in the moist and summer heat, backs burned in the scorching bright sun( Owen.49)," farmers. oppressed by high taxes. were tired and cherished the scorching summer.This kind of abnormal ambivalence, similar to the older man selling charcoal, comes from society's oppression. Bo Juyi also depicts the sad image of a woman in ragged clothes carrying her baby on her back, collecting unwanted wheat to survive which embodies the dilapidated and miserable life of a woman who is forced to mortgage her land because of high taxes. Based on sympathy, the author expresses his shame that he does not work as hard as a farmer but has plenty of food, his dissatisfaction with policies, and his desire to solve serious social problems.

Bo's poems were full of realism, intended to let the emperor see the real life of the people and make appropriate policies. While criticizing the luxurious life of the upper-class people, he expressed sympathy for the lower-class people, which reflected his broad mind and political ambition.

Reference:

1. The Old Men by Bo Juyi(772-846)P41

2. Watching the Wheat Harvest by Bo Juyi(772-846)P49

Stephen Owen, The Late Tang: Chinese Poetry of the Mid-Ninth Century, Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University Asia Center 2006. Reprinted by permission of the Harvard University Asia Center,© The President and Fellows of Harvard College,2006.