Cui Jiao (date of birth and death unknown) was a scholar in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Yuan Dynasty, and only one poem was handed down. According to records, Cui Jiao fell in love with her aunt's handmaid when she was young and lived a private life. Unexpectedly, my greedy aunt sold her handmaid to a nobleman. From then on, Cui Jiao missed him so much that he couldn't get over it. During a cold food festival, the two met unexpectedly. With mixed feelings, Cui Jiao wrote this song "To a Maid". It was this poem that moved Yu, so he betrothed his handmaid and they got married. The story of Cui Jiao's poem marrying a beautiful woman has also become a much-told story.

To the maid

original text

The prince's children rushed back, and the beautiful woman was wet with tears. Once in the depths of Hou's ocean, he became a stranger from then on.

translate

The prince and grandson rushed to catch up, and the beautiful woman wet Ropa with tears. The door of the powerful is as deep as the sea. As soon as I entered, I became a stranger to the person I once loved.

Distinguish and appreciate

The whole poem is mainly about the heartache after parting with my lover. The poet's language is very general, and he doesn't elaborate his emotions too much, but it also promotes the conception of the poem, breaks through the limitations of personal emotions, and reflects the love tragedy caused by the concept of family in feudal society.

In the first sentence, the beauty of the heroine's appearance is highlighted through the competing pursuit of "children and grandchildren". In the second sentence, the poet grasped the details of "crying a towel" and wrote the painful feelings of a woman who was forced to leave her lover and commit herself to her son and grandson. The poet borrowed the allusion of "Green Pearl", alluding to the unfortunate fate of women being robbed, and euphemistically expressed his dissatisfaction with his son Wang Sun. Lv Zhi, the favored concubine of Shi Chong, a rich man in the Western Jin Dynasty, is said to be "beautiful and gorgeous, and good at playing the flute". When Zhao Wanglun was in power, his Sun Xiu relied on his power to ask Shi Chong for the Green Pearl, but he was rejected. Shi Chong was jailed for this, and then Lvzhu fell to her death.

The last two sentences are the poet's deep affection. As soon as a woman marries into the "Houmen", such as the sea environment, she can't have any contact with the outside world, so she can only become a stranger with her former lover. The two sentences are connected by the words "once" and "ever since", and the middle is like the sea, which implicitly expresses the poet's despair, which is more sad to read and easier to impress readers. "Houmen" refers to the powerful and noble family. "Xiao Lang" is a common phrase in poetry, which refers to the man that women love. Here, the poet calls himself.

The whole poem is profound, subtle and euphemistic, complaining without anger, but it is extremely sad to read.