Mengman is a "net red professor" with the same name as Kang Zhen, and as a professor of history, she became popular through wu Zetian in the "Hundred Family Pulpit".
After becoming famous, Mengman became an "expert in Tang poetry", specializing in interpreting classical Chinese poetry in the cultural programs of major television stations. Due to the "improvisation" of the profession, Monman has caused controversy on television several times.
For example, when Interpreting Du Fu's "Happy Rain on Spring Nights", Mengman once equated the mood of the poet at that time with the mood of modern people smelling the fragrance of hot pot.
For example, when interpreting Liu Yuxi's "Wuyi Lane", Meng Man used a very "rich era" sense of perspective, which is "similar to Kang Zhen's interpretation of "Stone Trench Official".
From the above examples, we can see that Mengman's understanding of Tang poetry has not reached the level of an expert. At the same time, her thinking is also very rigid.
Because some of Mengman's interpretation of Tang poetry is obviously a reference to the "teaching reference" before the 1980s. But after reading it, she didn't really absorb, digest, and make it her own thing.
I. Controversy caused by "noon on hoe day"
When the fifth season of CCTV broadcast "Chinese Poetry Conference", Mengman explained the word "hoe" in the ancient poem to the contestants in the second episode of the program.
This time, the Internet began to talk about it again: Meng Slow interpreted the "hoe" in "hoeing at noon" as "sowing seeds". But I flipped through the 2nd episode several times and didn't hear Monman say the word "sow."
In fact, the only thing Montman keeps mentioning on the show is "the process by which farmers grow crops." "Hoeing" comes from the Tang poem "Two Songs of Compassion for Farmers", and the first sentence of the poem mentions farmers planting crops. When the midday sun is empty, the peasants are still "hoeing" in the fields.
"Hoeing" refers to hoeing off weeds in crop fields to avoid weeds competing with crops for nutrients, according to the explanation in the Qi Min Zhi Shu. "Hoeing" does not distinguish between time and needs to be carried out "in a "cycle".
The first sentence of the "Second Song of Mercy And Nong" says: "Plant one grain of millet in the spring, and harvest ten thousand seeds in the autumn." Millet refers to today's "millet", which is a grain grown in the north in the Tang Dynasty, not rice in the south.
Therefore, the "grass" mentioned in "Compassion for Farmers" is actually "corn" grown in dry land. Even if there are no weeds in this dryland, the soil needs to be loosened frequently to make the roots of the crops breathable and to store water easily.
Soil ploughing activities generally need to be continued until the seedlings grow to half an inch tall. Farmers grow different crops for months or a year, during which they go through steps such as loosening the soil, sowing seeds, fertilizing, and watering.
In the whole process, only "sowing" is a one-time action, and the rest of the loose soil, fertilization, and watering are daily operations that need to be repeated. And the action of "hoeing weeds", from beginning to end, is carried out randomly. As long as weeds grow in the field, they must be "hoeed".
Therefore, Monman said that "hoeing" refers to "the process of planting crops for farmers" and has no problems at all. Of course, if Monman did mention in other programs that "hoeing" refers to the farmer's "sowing" process, then it can be said that her understanding is wrong.
The time of "sowing" is generally in the spring, and in the "Second Song of Mercy farmers", in order to highlight the hardships of farmers farming, the author specially chose a labor scene in the hot sun and sweating like rain, which is generally understood as summer is more appropriate.
In addition, the seeds of the plant are delicate and need extra care. It is unlikely that the farmer will deliberately choose to sow seeds in the middle of the day, under the sun. This is not good for the seed and for man himself.
Only when the crops have already been planted and enter the stage of beginning to grow, farmers will choose not to avoid the hot sun and hoe away the weeds. Otherwise they will rob corn of its health at any time and affect the final harvest.
Many people on the Internet attacked Mengman's ignorance because of her interpretation of "hoeing". But in fact, not many people have seen that "problem" show.
The only show I've seen about Mengman mentioning "Hoe" is the second episode of the fifth season of the Chinese Poetry Conference. But in this video, no source of the "problem" was found. If a reader has seen it, they can give a hint at the end of the article.
Second, why Monman's interpretation is controversial
At this point, in fact, whether Monman said that "hoeing" equals "sowing" is not the most important. Above all, everyone believed that this "ignorant" word was spoken by Monman.
So why is this happening? This shows that many friends on the Internet have begun to question Montman's professional level.
Judging from Monman's studies, careers, and fame, she was never a professional scholar who was proficient in classical poetry, and her field of proficiency was only history.
Of course, we are not saying that only those who graduated in literature can most accurately interpret Classical Chinese poetry; otherwise, Kang Zhen, a professor at the College of Literature at Beijing Normal University, would not have been questioned by netizens.
So where exactly does Monman's problem arise? In fact, Mengman's interpretation of Tang poems has repeatedly overturned, except because of her personal rigid thinking and lack of "understanding" in literature and art.
For example, in "Happy Rain on Spring Night", du Fu's joy in the end cannot be understood only literally. Classical Chinese poetry is beautiful in its implications, and most of the metaphors of poetry must be found behind the literal.
Du Fu wrote this poem when he left the center of political power, traveled for many years, and finally arrived in Chengdu. Du Fu went to Shudi to defect to the "old world", and Jiannan Jiedu made Yan Wu, and then he became Yan Wu's staff.
After wandering for a long time, Du Fu thought that he had finally found a place where he could live and die. Therefore, the "joy" when creating "Happy Rain on Spring Nights" is the joy of regaining the hope of life.
Even if you don't understand the background of Du Fu's poem at all, even if you look at the neck link in the poem, "the wild paths are dark and the rivers and boats are unique", you should understand that he just wants to express in his subconscious and find a little sense of light in the darkness.
However, Mengman used the "joy" of modern people smelling the aroma of hot pot as a metaphor, which not only misinterpreted the true meaning of Du Shi, but also turned a generation of "poetry saints" into a shallow "foodie" who was only satisfied with the appetite of the mouth.
Misreading "Spring Night Happy Rain" shows that Mengman lacks "understanding" in literature and art, and the interpretation of "Wuyi Lane" exposes Mengman's "shortcomings" in thinking.
Originally, the poem was not up to pardon, and Mengman described the poem "In the old days, Wang XieTang Qianyan flew into the homes of ordinary people" as a revolution, and there was nothing wrong with it.
However, the characteristics of the times, as well as the "class antagonism" mode of thinking, directly expose the rigidity of Monman's thinking. Apparently, her interpretation of the poem "Wuyi Lane" was something she had read in textbooks and textbooks before the 1980s.
Kang Zhen also had this problem when interpreting Du Fu's "Stone Trench Official". In accordance with the teaching instructions in the 1980s edition, he forcibly described "The Stone Trench Official" as a work that praised the patriotic spirit of the old woman, which caused great controversy.
In this way, not only cross-professional, "wild road" people, when interpreting Tang poetry, may be nonsense, even if people with professional backgrounds interpret Tang poetry, it is not very reliable.
The so-called "full faith is better than no book", if you want to really read Tang poems or Song ci, appreciate the true meaning of the poems, or buy a few more authoritative books to read, do not be lazy.
epilogue
Although Mengman's interpretation of Tang poems is not considered to be an act of "not doing the right thing", the professor of history does not talk about history, but wants to talk about the content that he is not good at, or there are still some self-criticisms.
However, from the available information, Monman's interpretation of "hoeing" does not seem to be wrong. Or maybe she mentioned "sowing seeds" in a program other than "Chinese Poetry Conference", or maybe I just didn't see the relevant part of the video.
However, judging from the heat of the topic of attack on Mengman on the Internet, whether she has said that "hoeing" equals "sowing" does not seem to be the key to the problem. Anyway, maybe it's time for her to think about it.