Yellow Grass

1. First read the whole poem two or three times, marking unfamiliar words and images, then look them up to understand them.
2. Consider the connection between the plant description in the poem and the poet's personal feelings in light of Du Fu's life and the historical background of its composition.
3. Read it alongside Du Fu's other poems on objects, comparing similarities and differences in image selection and emotional expression.
4. Read the poem aloud and copy it out, experiencing the dense, brooding rhythm and the restraint of its diction.

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) was a private publishing and distribution house in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republican periods, issuing traditional works by lithographic printing. Judging from the 1,194 titles in the collection, its publishing focused on classical poetry, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, traditional Chinese medical texts, and canonical works, along with books on literary appreciation. Representative titles include the poetry and prose collections of Du Fu and Ouyang Xiu; historical works such as the Book of Han and Zizhi Tongjian; classical texts such as the Book of Documents and Mencius; and specialized and literary classics such as Treatise on Cold Damage and Li Sao. Its author resources cover major figures across the ages, including Du Fu, Ban Gu, Sima Guang, Zhang Zhongjing, Qu Yuan, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Shenwei, reflecting the house's characteristic reliance on traditional scholarship and medical literature while serving general readers. Public information on its early history and operational details is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.