The theme of this poem has always been controversial and can be summarized into three views:
First, the magpie refers to the groom and the pigeon refers to the bride. This view is divided into two opinions: (1) This poem is said by the poet on behalf of the groom, expressing the poet's sympathy for men. Magpies build nests and pigeons come to live. The groom prepares the house and the bride comes to live. A woman lives in a man's room and a pigeon lives in a magpie's nest. This theory is represented by Yao Jiheng. Yao Jiheng's General Theory of the Book of Songs said: "According to the meaning of this poem, the difference between birds and pigeons is said. They all say that they live in nests and magpie nests, and women live in men. " Yao's statement is highly respected. However, Fang Yurun, another storyteller in Qing Dynasty, had a different view. Fang Yurun refuted the primitive people of The Book of Songs and said, "Since the introduction, everyone who said the Book of Songs has lived in a man's room with a magpie nest dove. The husband and wife are of the same kind, and the magpie dove is a foreign body. How can it be worthy?" It means: A pigeon living in a magpie's nest is used to describe a woman living in a man's room, just as a pigeon marrying a magpie is like a woman marrying a man. But men and women of the same kind can get married, but how can pigeons and magpies be different? Fang Yurun also said: "Yao Jiheng's most attack on the preface is his self-interpretation of poetry. He thinks that' people who talk about birds and pigeons are different from people, and women who talk about nests live in men's rooms' is different from the old saying. It is also said that the heterogeneity of birds is different from that of people. Men and women are different, but they are different. This is also unreasonable. " (2) This poem is a hymn sung by the bride's family and a wedding hymn. If magpies are used to describe the groom and pigeons (cuckoos) are used to describe the bride, then this poem is a hymn to the new husband. Zhu strongly interpreted the poetic theme of Quechao as a metaphor of a pigeon's transformation of a king of letters and praised the virtues of his concubines. This theory has the earliest appearance, the longest circulation time, the greatest influence and the most critics. Although this kind of praise for Wen Wang Zhihui and his empresses' virtue has always been accused as a hypothesis completely deviating from the meaning of poetry, it is still worthy of recognition that he interprets this poem as a poem praising the wedding for his family.
Second, magpies refer to abandoned wives and pigeons refer to brides. This is a poem about an abandoned wife. If magpies are used to describe the abandoned wife and pigeons (cuckoos) are used to describe the bride, then the author of this poem is speaking on behalf of the abandoned wife, or the author himself is the abandoned wife, then this poem is deeply painful. Abandon his wife's husband, work hard with him, build a family, and marry the bride with a lively scene of 100 cars, so that the bride occupies the position of the old woman, just like "pigeons occupy the nest." I wrote this poem to blame my husband for marrying a new wife, who occupied her home: I worked hard to run a home, but now my husband has abandoned me and used a grand motorcade to pick up a new one, and the new wife is going to occupy my home. It expresses a woman who works hard for her family but is abandoned by her husband. There are many such women in The Book of Songs, such as Guo Feng, Li Feng and Gu Feng. This woman's experience in Nestle, Zhao Nan has become a social phenomenon. This poem is a complaint of ancient women who have no right to speak against their husbands who love the new and hate the old, and a helpless narrative of their tragic fate. In fact, this is also a painful accusation against the marriage phenomenon of infatuated women with broken hearts in a patriarchal society, which has gained strong social significance. Gao Feng expressed the same view in The Book of Songs: "Pigeons invade the magpie nest in the poem to compare the new lady's capture of the original lady's palace." At the same time, Gao Feng said, "(This is) a monarch in Zhao Nan abolished his original wife and married a new one. The author wrote this poem to tell his story, which is ironic. " Specifically, the parties in this poem refer to a monarch in Zhao Nan and his two wives.
3. Magpie and pigeon are two kinds of birds in nature, and the narrator of this poem is another one that has nothing to do with the wedding. This poem may also have been written by passers-by unrelated to the wedding. The poet happened to see a wedding, so he made a connection with it and made this poem.
There are three chapters in the poem, all inspired by pigeons living in the magpie nest. Magpies build nests and pigeons live in them, which is the nature of two kinds of birds. "Qi's" says: "Magpies began in the month of the summer solstice, and pigeons were born naturally because of their success." This poem also points out the season of marriage. Zheng said: "The magpie's nest was built in winter solstice, and it will be completed in spring." It was also the wedding season at that time. The two sentences in each chapter use "lift", "release" and "should" respectively, and there is a progressive relationship in quantity. "Fang" means living next door; "Remaining" means full occupancy. Therefore, the three chapters of the poem are not simple repetitions.
"Bailiang Imperial Seal" is the first link in the wedding process, and the groom comes to meet the bride. A large number of vehicles used in the wedding show the wealth of the groom and the nobility of the bride. The second and third chapters continue to write the second and third rings of the marriage process: welcome back and ceremony. "One hundred and twenty generals" means that the man was married on his way back, and "one hundred and twenty percent" means welcome home to get married. The words "emperor", "general" and "success" sum up the whole process of marriage. The Return of the Son highlights the theme of his woman's marriage. Therefore, the three chapters select three typical scenes to summarize and truly convey the wonderful wedding celebration. Only by using as many means of transportation as possible can we show the solemnity of the wedding.
This poem writes down the process of marriage in plain language. It doesn't set off the bride's beauty with peach blossoms like Nan Zhou and Yao Tao, and it doesn't directly describe the bride's appearance. If the sentence "My son comes home" also points out the protagonist of the bride, so that people can find the bride in the motorcade, then the other protagonist, the groom, is completely hidden behind the scenes in the poem, and whether he will come to the wedding is left to the readers to imagine. Written in the poem, the shuttle bus gives the picture a strong sense of time and space, just three chapters, but with a long aftertaste. Preface to Mao Shi: "Quechao" is the virtue of a lady. The monarch accumulated so much work that he was knighted and his wife lived there from the beginning. It is worthwhile to be kind as a dove. "
Zhu's Biography of Poetry: "The princes of the South China were transformed by the king of Wen, and their daughters were also transformed by the empresses, so it was beautiful to marry the princes."
Fang Yurun's "Primitive Book of Songs": "The magpie nest is a metaphor for people, and the pigeon is a metaphor for new people; Pigeons are kind and have many children and grandchildren. "Cao" poem says: "The dove is in mulberry, and his son is seven. "Anyone who marries a woman doesn't want her to have many men, but wants her to build a house. At that time, someone must have been stunned by the building, so the poet recited it, but later I thought it was important to listen. "
Chen Huan's "Biography of Shi Mao": "The ancients had frost before marriage, and ice-skating before marriage, so the poet took the magpie nest as a metaphor."