When used as a noun, this character refers to books, letters or script. When used as a verb, it refers to writing, the form of which has evolved from carving characters on a piece of bamboo to painting on silk and writing on paper.

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漫卷诗书喜欲狂
màn juǎn shī shū xǐ yù kuáng
Man means casually and hastily while juan refers to bundling or rolling up, because books used to come in the form of scrolls in ancient China. Shi shu refers to books while xi yu kuang is a description of great joy. The verse, taken literally, refers to rolling up scrolls hastily with great joy.

This verse is quoted from a poem by Tang poet Du Fu (712–770), “On hearing That Government Forces Have Recovered Henan and Hebei.” In early 763, the end of the An Lushan Rebellion, Du Fu received word that the government forces had recovered control of the areas north and south of the Yellow River. These were areas that had been overrun by the rebel armies. Du imagined how he would journey down the Yangzi River to his home in Luoyang. Unfortunately, the journey never materialized. “Beyond Sword Gate suddenly word—Jibei recovered!/ On first hearing it, tears splash all over my robe./ I look at my wife and children—what worries now?/ Hastily bundle up my books, mad with delight./ White-haired, singing wild songs, all the wine I want,/ In fresh spring the whole family going back home,/ Straight off through Ba Rapids, threading Wu Rapids,/ Then down to Xiangyang, heading for Luoyang!”

Du was known for his concern for society, country and people, even if he was frustrated from time to time. He called himself a Confucian scholar and expressed his political ambitions in his poems. The age in which Du lived was an age when the Tang Empire went from prosperity to decline. The An Lushan Rebellion, the corruption of the upper classes, the hardship of the country and the people are all reflected in his poems. That is why Du was especially thrilled when he heard that parts of the rebel armies had been defeated and certain areas recovered. Such joy exhibited in this poem makes it different from most of Du’s other poems, which are marked by a touch of gloom due to his concern over the country and a general sense of agony for human misery.

 

(edited by REN GUANHONG)