I came from the mountains with orchid grass.
Planted in a small garden, I hope the flowers will bloom early.
I watch it three times a day, and it takes a lot of time.
The orchids are still there, and there is not a single bud.
In the blink of an eye, autumn arrived, and the orchid moved into the greenhouse.
The dynasty is frequently cherished, and the night is not forgotten.
I hope that the flowers will bloom early and the wish will be fulfilled.
In the summer of 1921, Hu Shi went to Xishan to play, and Xiong Bingsan, a friend of the first democratically elected prime minister of the Republic of China, gave him a pot of orchids. He went home happily and took care of it carefully, and waited until autumn, but never bloomed, so he was moved and wrote this little poem, which he named "Hope". Let's take a look at the original text first:
I came from the mountains and brought orchids and grass.
Planted in a small garden, I hope the flowers will bloom early.
Look at it three times a day, and look at it for a long time.
Anxious to see the flowers, there is no bud.
Seeing that autumn is coming, move flowers for home.
Next year's spring breeze will return, I wish you a full pot of flowers!
Creative background: On January 1, 1917, Hu Shi published a paper "Discussion on Literary Improvement" in "New Youth", and in the same month, Chen Duxiu officially took office as the dean of liberal arts at Peking University, and also moved "New Youth" from Shanghai to Beijing to edit, and he wrote a letter to invite Hu Shi, who was studying at Columbia University in the United States, to teach at Peking University.
In July, Hu Shi, who had completed the defense of his doctoral dissertation, returned from the United States. On September 10, he reported to Peking to take up the post of professor at National Peking University, and directly participated in the editorial activities of "New Youth", advocating the New Culture Movement and the Literary Revolution together with Chen Duxiu.
In May 1919, the May Fourth Movement broke out. With the help of politics, the New Culture Movement also rapidly developed throughout the country, converging into a torrent of great cultural revolution on a national scale. Hu Shi and Chen Duxiu vigorously advocated the May Fourth Movement, and they became the backbone representatives of the May Fourth Movement. Hu Shi was a member of the revolutionary united front in the "May Fourth" New Culture Movement, but compared with Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao, he had a relatively moderate personality, not a revolutionary, but a reformer.
In February 1920, the first collection of vernacular poetry in the history of modern Chinese literature, "Trial Collection", was published, in which "Two Butterflies", originally titled "Friends", was written on August 23, 1916, which can be regarded as the first transformation of Chinese poetry from literary to vernacular.
Hu Shi's poem implies the cherishing and hope of life, and at the same time, it also conveys the ardent hope and firm belief in the New Culture Movement, as well as the expectation of the spread of liberal ideas in China, so it is named "Hope"; in traditional Chinese culture, the orchid is a symbol of a gentleman who is not afraid of the cold, endures loneliness, and is firm and noble, so the poem also implicitly expresses his chastity and integrity.
Postscript: In 1975, the rise of Taiwan's folk song movement, and in 1976, the famous "Danjiang Incident" in the history of music occurred, under the inspiration of the slogan of ""Sing Your Own Song", a large number of well-known campus folk songs were created during this period, such as "Grandma's Penghu Bay", "Country Road", "Childhood", etc., including the long-dusted poem "Orchid Grass".
In 1979, Taiwanese female singer Yin Xia and male singer Liu Wenzheng released their own albums respectively, and both albums included the same song "Orchid Grass", and the composers and signatures were Chen Xiande and Zhang Bi. Among them, the first song was Yinxia, and "Orchid Grass" sung by Liu Wenzheng won the top spot on the Hong Kong Dragon and Tiger List that year. It turns out: the simpler the more classic.
Feeling this, the author also tried to draft an article to pay tribute to the classics:
See Orchid Grass Again
I woke up in a dream and saw orchids and plants again.
The orchid is still you, but I am old.
Hundreds of songs have flowed, but this is the only song.
Chant three times a day, and still hum in your nasal cavity.
Listening to my daughter sing today, I reminisce about my childhood.
The ripples in my heart are unforgettable.
Looking forward to the early east wind, the flowers are full of fragrance.
I am afraid that spring will return, and the sun and moon will fry people's intestines.
Author: Hua Ling, formerly known as Liang Chenghao, male, Han nationality, born in 1974, from Wolong District, Nanyang City, Henan Province. He is a contemporary Chinese avant-garde poet, a cutting-edge writer, and a columnist of the Reading Sleep Poetry Society. He is now a local village doctor. The first collection of poems, Love Songs and Lamentations, was successfully published in Henan Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House in April 2015, and won the silver medal of the third New Poet Award held by the Chinese Poetry Society in Beijing in June of that year, and the bronze medal of the second Red Sorghum PEN Club in Qingdao in August. The second collection of poems, "Beauty Snake", is also being planned for publication.