King Xiang of Chu asked Song Yu, "What is your legacy? He Shimin's public reputation is very bad!

Song Yu said to him, "Only, naturally, there is! May the king forgive his sins and make him finish his words. There are thousands of people who belong to the middle school and are in harmony with each other. They are yang a and Qiu Lu, and there are hundreds of people who belong to the middle school. They are Yangchun and Snow White, and there are only a few dozen people in the country who are in harmony. There are only a few people who attract merchants to carve feathers, miscellaneous to levy, and belong to the country. It is that its music is high and its harmony is sparse.

Therefore, birds have phoenixes and fish have Kun. Emperor Feng struck nine thousand Li, and Yun Ni was absolutely lost, and the sky was full of clouds, soaring above the sky. How can the hedge of husband and wife match the height of heaven and earth? Kunyu went to the market of Kunlun, where it suddenly disappeared in Jieshi and stayed in Mengzhu. How can you measure the greatness of the river and the sea? Therefore, not only birds have phoenixes, but fish have Kun, and so do scholars. The husband, sage, noble and graceful, detached and alone, secular people, and aware of the actions of ministers? Song Yu asked the King of Chu for translation and comments

Translation 1 The King of Chu Xiang asked Song Yu, "Perhaps your husband has behaved indiscreetly? Why don't all the scholars and people praise you so much? Song Yu replied, "Yes, that's right, there is such a situation. I hope your majesty will forgive me for my sins and allow me to finish. "There was a man singing in the capital. At first, he sang" Xiali "and" Ba People ",and there were thousands of people singing with him in the capital. Later, he sang "yang a" and "Qiu Lu", and hundreds of people followed him in the city; When he sang "Yangchun" and "Snow White", there were only dozens of people singing with him in the city. In the end, he quoted his voice as a business tone, lowered his voice as a feather tone, and mixed with the flowing voice, only a few people followed him in the city. In this way, the more elegant the song is, the fewer people will sing with it. "So there are phoenixes among birds and Kun fish among fish. Phoenix spread its wings and flew nine thousand miles across Yun Ni, carrying the sky, disturbing the clouds with its feet and soaring in the extremely high sky; The little bird jumping under the fence can understand the height of heaven and earth like it! Kunyu set out from the foot of Kunlun Mountain in the morning, basked in Jieshi Mountain near Bohai Sea at noon, and spent the night in Mengzhu at night. How can the giant fish in the one-foot deep pond measure the vastness of the river and sea like it! "So there are not only phoenixes among birds, but also Kun fish among fish, and there are also outstanding talents among scholars. The sage's great ambition and beautiful conduct exist alone beyond ordinary people. How can ordinary people know what I have done?

King Xiang of the Second Chu asked Song Yu, "Is there any bad behavior on your part? Why do all the people say that you are not good? Song Yu replied, "Yes, yes, there is. But I hope you can forgive my mistake and let me finish. "There was a guest who sang in Yingdu. At first, he sang Xiali and Ba People, and thousands of people gathered in the city to sing along with him. Then he sang yang a and Qiu Lu, and hundreds of people gathered in the city to sing along with him. Later, he sang Yangchun and Snow White, but the city gathered to sing along with him. This shows that the more profound the songs he sings, the less he can follow and sing. ""Therefore, there is a phoenix among birds and a giant Kun among fish. Phoenix slaps the air, reaching an altitude of 9 thousand miles, running through clouds, carrying the blue sky and soaring in the high sky; And how can the bird jumping between fences measure the height of heaven and earth as well as the wind and phoenix? Kunyu set out from Kunlun Mountain in the morning, exposed his fins in Jieshi, and stayed in Mengzhu Daze at night. How can the fish in a small pond detect the vastness of the river and sea like Dakun? It's not just that there are chickens among birds and Kun among fish! There are also outstanding figures among the scholars. Those noble characters are as beautiful as jade, and they are independent; And how can those ordinary people in the world understand my behavior?

Note (1) It is used before the predicate "you" to indicate inquiry, which is equivalent to "probably", "possibly" and "perhaps" in modern Chinese. (2) He Shimin's public reputation is very low: Why don't so many people praise you? This is a euphemism, which actually means that many scholars are accusing you. He, used at the beginning of a sentence, cooperates with the "ye" at the end of the sentence to express the tone of rhetorical question or exclamation. Scholars here refer to those who study Taoism or martial arts. One of the four ancient people. Common people, common people, common people. Praise, praise, praise. Very, very, very serious. (3) Wei: independent sentence, which means that you have heard clearly or agreed with the other party's words, which is equivalent to "yes" and "um" in modern Chinese. Ran: That's it. Used to replace the situation mentioned above. (4) Wish: Hope. Bi: over, over. (5) Guest: People from outside. Song: Sing. Ying (yǐng): The capital of Chu State, in the northwest of jiangling county, Hubei Province, Xiali and Ba People: folk songs of Chu State, which are relatively popular and low-level. Xiali, village. Ba people refer to the people of Bashu. Country: national capital, capital, genus (zh incarnation): connect and follow. And (he): Sing along. (6) yang a and xie-: two slightly advanced songs. Yang a, the title of an ancient song. "Qiu Lu" is said to be an elegy of the eastern part of Qi (now the eastern part of Shandong), which was sung by people holding a coffin at the funeral. Dew means that life is short, like dew on a leaf, which dries up in a flash. (7) Yangchun and Snow White: elegant songs of Chu State. (8) citation: citation. Carve: depict. Shang, Yu and Hui: three of the five tones. Ancient music has five levels: Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng (zhǐ) and Yu, which are equivalent to 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 in the notation. Miscellaneous: mixed. Flow. Smooth. (9) yes: this. Mi: The more, the more. (1) Phoenix: Phoenix, the legendary bird king in ancient times. When the male is called "phoenix" and the female is called "phoenix", they are usually called "phoenix". Kun (kūn): A big fish in ancient legends. (11) absolutely: exhausted, poor. Yun Ni: refers to the clouds in the sky. Negative: carry things on your back. Heaven: heaven. Aoxiang: spread your wings and fly in a roundabout way. Ping: The usage is equivalent to the preposition "Yu". Yao Ming (y ? o): refers to a very far place. (12) Husband: That, that. Used before the noun as the subject, it plays an indicative role. The word "husband" below is the same. Fence: a fence. Yan: A kind of bird. Qi: Used before the predicate "material" and together with the "zai" at the end of the sentence, indicating backchat. As the object of the preposition "and", it replaces the "phoenix" above. The following "can you measure the greatness of rivers and seas" is the same as "yes", "zai" and "zhi". Liao: estimate, estimate. (13) Chao (zhāo): In the morning. F: Let's go. Kunlun: A famous mountain in the northwest of China, starting from the eastern Pamirs in the west, crossing Xinjiang, and extending into Qinghai in the east. Market (xū): mound. Violence: exposure. Beard (qi): fish ridge. Jieshi (jie-): A mountain near the Bohai Sea. In today's Changli North, Hebei Province. Meng Zhu: The ancient name of osawa is in the northeast of Shangqiu and the northwest of Yucheng. (14) ruler: a small pool with a big ruler. Ni: Small fish. Quantity: measure, measure. (15) Non-independence: Not only. (16) GuΟ-qi-:excellent thoughts and beautiful conduct. Secular: refers to the ordinary people at that time. It contains ordinary and ordinary meanings. Ann: Why, where? It's a rhetorical question. (17) secular people: here refers to ordinary people, ordinary people. Song Yu's comments on the King of Chu

In today's words, Song Yu's group relationship is probably terrible. Not only did his colleagues slander him and criticize him, but even the "ordinary people" didn't speak well of him, which led King Xiang of Chu to ask himself, showing its seriousness. In the face of King Xiang of Chu's rebuke, Song Yu had to defend himself. However, there was not a word directly defending himself in the whole response, but a metaphor was used to explain the reason. Compare music, animals and saints respectively. First, compare Qu with He to explain the height and scarcity of Qu; After comparing the phoenix with the cockroach, Kun with the giant, cast a contemptuous glance at the secular world; Finally, compare saints with secular people to explain things. In short, it is not surprising that elegance and vulgarity are opposed to each other, and that their actions are not understood by all sentient beings. "The secular people, and know what I did! It is not only a powerful counterattack against the slanderers, but also shows his aloof and lofty feelings.

The image of Song Yu is quite representative. In the feudal society of more than 2, years, most intellectuals have more or less Song Yu's personality characteristics, except those bureaucratic literati who are in high positions or slave literati who have not climbed to high positions. They are tall and short-lived, upright and weak, sensitive to the darkness and ugliness of society, but powerless. Most of them want to be an official and do something for the country and the people, but "the world" is vulgar and a paradise for villains. Therefore, they are often frustrated in their official careers, and finally they only end up pretentious and arrogant, enjoying themselves with pain and indignation that are not understood. When this character evolved into modern times, it formed the so-called "petty bourgeoisie" sentiment.

Song Yu and Qu Yuan are both intellectuals of past dynasties in China, and the only difference lies in their fortitude and weakness.

Poems: Song Yu asked the King of Chu about poems by: Classification of Song Yu's poems in the pre-Qin period: ancient prose, writing style and character.