Yuan Dynasty
黑漆弩·村居遣兴
刘敏中
长巾阔领深村住，
不识我、唤作伧父。
掩白沙翠竹柴门，
听彻秋来夜雨。
闲将得失思量，
往事水流东去。
便宜教画却凌烟，
甚是功名了处。
Translation
Wearing a long kerchief and a wide-collared robe, I live deep in a village. People do not know who I am; they simply call me a rustic old man. Behind a brushwood gate, among white sand and green bamboo, I listen through the night to autumn rain. In leisure I weigh gain and loss, while the past flows east like water. Even if one’s portrait were painted in the Lingyan Pavilion, what would that amount to? Fame and office, in the end, come to just this.
Analysis
This song is not merely a pastoral piece; it is a late meditation on public success and withdrawal. The opening image presents the speaker as a recluse, but the phrase “people call me a rustic old man” erases his former identity and status. The quiet scene of white sand, green bamboo, a brushwood gate, and autumn rain creates a world apart from official life. The crucial turn comes when the speaker weighs gain and loss and lets the past flow away like water. The reference to the Lingyan Pavilion, where meritorious ministers were commemorated, represents the highest form of public fame. Yet the poem questions even that honor. What remains of achievement, finally, is only an image and a name. Its wisdom lies in its calmness: fame is not denounced loudly, but dissolved in the sound of night rain.
About the Author
Liu Minzhong was a Yuan-dynasty scholar-official and writer from Zhangqiu, Jinan. He held important literary and administrative posts, including positions in the Hanlin and Jixian academies. His sanqu often reflects the perspective of a literatus looking back on public life with restraint and distance. Rather than ornate brilliance, his best songs value clarity, quietness, and mature reflection.