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心中为念农桑苦

心中為念農桑苦
xīn zhōng wèi niàn nóngsāng kǔ
quotation

Meanings

  1. 1 in my heart I think of the hardship of farming and silkworm-raising
  2. 2 an official's conscience keeping the common people's labor in mind
  3. 3 heart - in - because - ponder - farming - mulberry/silkworm - hardship

Examples

HSK 4
父母官应当心中为念农桑苦。
Fùmǔguān yīngdāng xīn zhōng wèi niàn nóngsāng kǔ.
A magistrate should 'keep in his heart the hardship of the farmers and silk workers.'
HSK 7-9
诗人自勉心中为念农桑苦，不敢坐享其成。
Shīrén zìmiǎn xīn zhōng wèi niàn nóngsāng kǔ, bù gǎn zuòxiǎng-qíchéng.
The poet reminded himself: 'in my heart I think of the hardship of farming'; he would not take its fruits for granted.

Tips

history
From 白居易 《观刈麦》 (Bai Juyi, Tang, 806 CE), reflecting on his comfortable official's salary while watching peasants harvest in the heat: 今我何功德，曾不事农桑。吏禄三百石，岁晏有余粮。念此私自愧，尽日不能忘 (What merit have I? I have never done farm work. My official salary is three hundred shi; at year's end there's still grain to spare. Thinking on this I am privately ashamed, unable all day to forget). Bai Juyi is the Tang poet most celebrated for social conscience and plain-language 讽喻诗 (allegorical remonstrance verse).
usage
为 here reads wèi = 'because of / for the sake of' (4th tone, not wéi). 农桑 = farming (农) + silkworm / mulberry (桑), together meaning 'peasant labor.' A line used in contexts of official accountability and remembering the common people.

Stroke Order

心 xīn
中 zhōng
为 wéi
念 niàn
农 nóng
桑 sāng
苦 kǔ