I still remember those days of peace --
Twenty years among mountains and forests,
The pure stream running past my yard,
The caves and valleys at my door.
Taxes were light and regular then,
And I could sleep soundly and late in the morning-
Till suddenly came a sorry change.
…For years now I have been serving in the army.
When I began here as an official,
The mountain bandits were rising again;
But the town was so small it was spared by the thieves,
And the people so poor and so pitiable
That all other districts were looted
And this one this time let alone.
…Do you imperial commissioners
Mean to be less kind than bandits?
The people you force to pay the poll
Are like creatures frying over a fire.
And how can you sacrifice human lives,
Just to be known as able collectors? --
…Oh, let me fling down my official seal,
Let me be a lone fisherman in a small boat
And support my family on fish and wheat
And content my old age with rivers and lakes!
Original Poem:
「贼退示官吏」
元结
昔岁逢太平，山林二十年。
泉源在庭户，洞壑当门前。
井税有常期，日晏犹得眠。
忽然遭世变，数岁亲戎旃。
今来典斯郡，山夷又纷然。
城小贼不屠，人贫伤可怜。
是以陷邻境，此州独见全。
使臣将王命，岂不如贼焉。
令彼征敛者，迫之如火煎。
谁能绝人命，以作时世贤。
思欲委符节，引竿自刺船。
将家就鱼麦，归老江湖边。
Interpretation:
This is a political poem. In 763 A.D., the Xiyuan barbarians, an ethnic minority, launched an armed uprising against the Tang dynasty, first capturing Daozhou, and then Yongzhou and Shaozhou in the following year, but gave up the chance to capture Daozhou again. The poet, who happened to be the assassin of Daozhou at that time, thought that the reason why the “thieves” did not attack Daozhou again was that they “hurt and sympathized” with the people.
The thieves knew that they sympathized with the people, but the officials sent down by the imperial court to collect taxes still imposed exorbitant taxes without regard to the people’s lives and deaths. Outraged, the poet wrote this satirical poem.
The poem is divided into four stanzas. The first six lines are the first paragraph, writing about the peaceful days of the past years, the life of leisure and contentment.
Seven to fourteen lines for the second paragraph, write “thieves” do not attack Daozhou reason, show that like the thieves of the people still have compassion, for later compared to the cruelty of the officials to make a pad.
The fifteenth to twentieth sentences are the third paragraph, directly attacking the officials and expressing the anger towards the ambassadors who do not sympathize with the people.
The last four lines are the fourth paragraph, which expresses one’s own will: one would rather give up one’s official position than to be a so-called “capable official” to persecute the poor people. He would rather live a quiet life in seclusion.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Yuan Jie (元结), 719 – 772 A.D., was a native of Lushan, Henan Province, and was admitted as a jinshi (进士) in 753 A.D.
In his poetic creation, he strongly opposed the formalist style of poetry, which was “restricted to sound and disease, and preferred resemblance”, and did not write any close poems in his life, and his ancient poems were plain, simple, simple, and natural, and formed their own style. His poems are simple, plain, simple and natural, and he has his own style. The contents of his poems are mostly satirical of current politics and reflect the hardships of the people.
