Chinese poetry

[shunyadragon]

In the translation of the poem 东风夜放花千树 I think a better translation of this line is more appropriate for the symbolism of the jade pot for the full moon.

玉壶光转，yù hú guāng zhuǎi

As the full moon (jade pot) illumines,

一夜鱼龙舞。yī yè yú long wǔ

The fish dragon dancing in the night.

Frank

Go with the flow the river knows.

化干戈为玉帛 Turn weapons into peace and friendship with gifts of jade-silk.

[studentyoung]

Hehe. This thread is getting more and more romantic.

青玉案 元夕

Then Lantern Festival

辛弃疾（1140-1207）

Xin Qiji （1140-1207）

Translated by Mr. Zhang Bingxing (张炳星)

东风夜放花千树

During the night the east wind blew open thousands of sliver flowers

更吹落星如雨

and blew down fireworks like stars and raindrops on the floor.

宝马雕车香满路

Painted carriage and precious horses bustled to and fro while fragrance filled the road.

凤箫声动

Sweet music was played high,

玉壶光转

and a bright moon hang in the sky.

一夜鱼龙舞

Fish-like and dragon-like lanterns danced merrily the whole night.

蛾儿雪柳黄金缕

Pretty women wore ornaments on their heads of various kinds.

笑语盈盈暗香去

They chatted cheerfully and laughed heartily, leaving secret fragrance belind.

众里寻他千百度

In the crowd for a thousand times, I failed to look for my love.

蓦然回首, 那人却在

Suddenly she turned her head and appeared in the corner

灯火阑珊处

where lights were sparse and somber.

Thanks!

[shunyadragon]

Thank you for this translation. I have included it with my compilation of translations of this poem and others that use jade symbolism.

[reisen]

beautiful translation!!

[skylee]

I've always liked this poem. And just now I was flipping thru a book of poetry and it was right there. Written by Su Shi, one of our greatest poets, of Song Dynasty, this one is very easy to understand. And the more you know about the life of the poet, the more you would know about the poem.

《臨江仙》蘇軾

夜飲東坡醒復醉，歸來彷彿三更。

家僮鼻息已雷鳴，敲門都不應，倚杖聽江聲。

長恨此身非我有，何時忘卻營營。

夜闌風靜縠紋平，小舟從此逝，江海寄餘生。

[studentyoung]

《臨江仙》蘇軾

夜飲東坡醒復醉，歸來彷彿三更。

家僮鼻息已雷鳴，敲門都不應，倚杖聽江聲。

長恨此身非我有，何時忘卻營營。

夜闌風靜縠紋平，小舟從此逝，江海寄餘生。

《行香子•述怀》苏轼

清夜无尘，月色如银，

酒斟时，须满十分。

浮名浮利，虚苦劳神，

叹隙中驹、石中火、梦中身。

虽抱文章，开口谁亲。

且陶陶，乐尽天真。

几时归去，做个闲人，

对一张琴，一壶酒，一溪云。

Thanks!

[amormio]

I really like it since i was in the middle school,

let me add some comments on it, hope helpping you understand it better.

My English is not so well,

so i have to use some chinese in those complicate meaning.

here is the poem

(断句实际上是对诗歌的意群进行分离，也是非常有助于理解的。)

东风夜放花千树，

更吹落、星如雨。

宝马雕车香满路，

凤箫声动，玉壶光转，

一夜鱼龙舞。

蛾儿雪柳黄金缕，

笑语盈盈暗香去。

众里寻他千百度，

蓦然回首，那人却在，灯火阑珊处。

I spent more time looking at the poem this morning' date=' and came up with this translation.

东风夜放花千树， dōng fēng yè fàng huā qiān shù

Thousand trees release blossoms in the east wind.

(in china，because of the mainland geography,

wind from east usualy to be warm, and the cold usualy come from west,

so if you want to tell a warm scane, you may use 东风, and 西风 for some tragedy story.)

更吹落星如雨。gēng chuī là xīng rú yǔ

As if stars falling like rain in the wind.

(这一句是描写星星点点的夜间小雨，你可以想象一下夜晚在灯光下闪烁的情景，非常美:)

实际上要表达的意思是“雨如星”，但是中国古典诗词中的最后一个字押韵，

不仅要声音上近似，声调上也要符合一定规律，以便这一小段年起来有抑扬顿挫的效果，这个规律在每行字数相等的诗歌中更为明显，如果细心的话会发现有一些固定的声调组合。

在这首诗歌里，为了和“树”、“落”在声调上搭配，所以才把“雨如星”写为“星如雨”，

你可以试着念一下：东风夜放花千树，更吹落、星如雨(雨如星)。)

宝马雕车香满路，bǎo mǎ diāo bǎo mǎ diāo chē xiāng mǎ lù

Majestic horses and ornate carriages follow a fragrant road,

(you can imagine a movie montage, first the Majestic horses, then the ornate carriage,

last the back of the carriage went far, and left a lot of fragrant smell fill in the road)

凤箫声动，fēng xiāo shēng dòng

Feng huang* plays flute in the (fragrant) breeze,

*I prefer feng huang to pheonix in English translation.

玉壶光转，yù hú guāng zhuǎi

As the brightly polished jade pot reflects,

一夜鱼龙舞。yī yè yú long wǔ

The fish dragon* dancing in the night.

*Fish dragon is a mythical Chinese dragon that I have jade carvings for.

("一夜" could be understanded as 'all the night' here)

蛾儿雪柳黄金缕，éér xuě lǐu huáng jīn lǔ

Caterpillars weave gold threads in the snowy willow,*

*Likely the tree called the Silver Willow.

(蛾儿,雪柳,黄金缕, all these are girls' headgear or something beautiful like that,

都是古时候女子的饰物。诗人借此来表现一位年轻貌美的女子)

笑语盈盈暗香去。xiào yǔ yíng àn xiāng qù

Laughing (smiles) fills the dark as the gloom fades.

众里寻他千百度，zhòng xún tā qiān bǎi dù

He desires to search for her over many leagues,

蓦然回首，mò rán huí shǒu

But turns and rushes back,

那人却在，nā rén què zài

The one who returns will stay,

灯火阑珊处。dēnghuǒ lán shān chǔ

Lights fade where the coral lives.

[Outofin]

天地一沙鸥……

雪泥鸿爪……

Some poems take you 30 years to comprehend!

旅夜书怀

杜甫

细草微风岸，危樯独夜舟。

星垂平野阔，月涌大江流。

名岂文章著，官因老病休。

飘飘何所似，天地一沙鸥。

和子由渑池怀旧

苏轼

人生到处知何似，应似飞鸿踏雪泥。

泥上偶然留指爪，鸿飞那复计东西。

老僧已死成新塔，坏壁无由见旧题。

往日崎岖还知否，路长人困蹇驴嘶。

[studentyoung]

Some poems take you 30 years to comprehend!

I agree!

天地一沙鸥……

雪泥鸿爪……

君有心事否，感慨如斯夫？

Cheers!

[student]

Columbia University press has recently published a nice book, "How to Read Classical Chinese Poetry: a Guided Anthology",

http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Chinese-Poetry-Anthology/dp/0231139411/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205522981&sr=8-1

There is a wonderful online resource, available for free, to go with this book: the text (in characters and pinyin) of the poems, along with mp3 sound files. These can be found at

http://www.cup.columbia.edu/static/cai-sound-files

[Sam Addington]

Student in Ke-li-fu-lan:

My copy of

"How to Read Classical Chinese Poetry: a Guided Anthology"

just arrived in the mail last night. Thanks to you I spent about $80 with Amazon.com! (You can't just buy ONE book!)

It is a very nice book, but it is a bit clumsy (very big pages, lots of analysis, few poems). I naturally went straight to the Tang poetry since that seems to be the most popular. I was very annoyed by the translations, but I will get into that in a future posting.

The first thing that annoys me TREMENDOUSLY is calling a five syllable poem pentasyllabic and a seven syllable poem heptasyllabic. I felt like I was reading a chemistry book. My only words for such nonsense are "pompous" and "pendantic." I suppose I could add "pretentious" too. And for good measure I will add "phony" "professorial" and "let's impress people with our big vocabulary so we can justify our lofty positions at the university."

Sorry. Just had to vent. Sour grapes since I never become a professor.

I was also very disappointed not to find 长恨歌and 赤壁赋in the anthology. For me these were the all time bests and I will have to dig them up again. Both were by 白居易weren't they?

[skylee]

長恨歌 by 白居易 (original and English translation) -> http://afpc.asso.fr/wengu/wg/wengu.php?l=Tangshi&no=71

As to 赤壁賦 written by 蘇軾, you can find the Chinese and English translation (with lots of typos) here -> http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/40826669.html?fr=qrl

And the writer's own calligraphy (11th century) -> http://tech2.npm.gov.tw/sung/html/obw/t2_1_a09.htm (apart from the beginning most is original)

[Sam Addington]

I thought I would offer a challenge ... I will post the English first. You have to identify it. The translation is mine.

A nation shattered;

Mountains and rivers reign.

The city in spring;

Grass and trees deepen.

Emotional times --

Flowers covered in tears.

Bitter the separation --

Birds startle the mind.

Bonfire beacons;

For three months they continue.

A letter from home

Worth mounds of gold!

The white of my head

Thins as I scratch.

Muddled longing

Won't bear the weight of pins.

[studentyoung]

You have to identify it.

杜甫：

春望

国破山河在，

城春草木深。

感时花溅泪，

恨别鸟惊心。

烽火连三月，

家书抵万金。

白头搔更短，

浑欲不胜簪。

Cheers!

[Sam Addington]

Excellent job!

Now for a more challenging assignment: Translate the following poem by Du Fu into English! I have a translation in front of me made by a professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature at the University of Illinois, Mr. Zong-qi Cai. I was quite surprised by his translation, because I feel he missed the essential quality of the poem. I realize there may be several ways to translate a Tang poem, but I feel certain he missed the point. I am eager to see your translations!

杜甫：

江汉

江汉思归客

乾坤一腐儒

片云天共远

永夜月同孤

落日心犹壮

秋风病欲苏

古来存老马

不必取长途

[Sam Addington]

I felt moved to try my hand at translating a previously posted poem:

The Lantern Festival

The night wind blew east

Placing flowers on a thousand trees.

It also blew shooting stars

Like rain across the sky.

There were prize horses and carved carriages

And fragrances filled the street.

The sound of wind flutes moved about;

The light of moonbeams twisted and turned.

All through the night the scaly dragons danced.

Women, moth-like, willow-like, golden filagree clad,

With talk and laughter plied their softly scented trade.

I sought her in a thousand different places, all through the crowd.

And then, at a turn of the head, there she was!

There where the light of the lanterns was waning.

[Sam Addington]

I feel he missed the essential quality of the poem

I should have known better: he wasn't missing the essential quality of the poem - I was. I read several commentaries in Chinese and realized that I was reading something into it that wasn't there. Nonetheless, the translation into English was quite poor. I don't know that mine is any better (it seems that ancient Chinese poems are almost IMPOSSIBLE to translate -- so many have tried and so many were accomplished Engish poets) but anyway here is my attempt:

At the confluence of the Yangtze and the Han

A traveler thinks of returning home --

Qian and kun -- where the earth meets the sky

There a rotten old scholar!

As distant as a cloud in the bright of day

As lonely as the moon in the ever-lasting night.

The mind is as strong as the setting sun.

Sickness is dispelled by the autumn breeze.

Of old the aged horse was valued --

No need to send it on long trips.

NOTE: Qian and kun are the first of the sixty-four hexagrams of the Yi Jing, the yang (pure male) and ying (pure female). The Chinese reader doesn't need to be told that they stand for the sky and the earth. I didn't want the reference to be lost so I included the original.

[Sam Addington]

It is spring in Michigan! The yard was bare when I went to bed last night. This morning daffodils and forsythia! The first signs of spring are always yellow in Michigan.

In tribute to spring I offer the following:

游园不值 A Failed Visit to the Garden

应怜屐齿印苍苔 He must becry footprints on the moss!

小扣柴扉久不开 Lightly tapping on the gate, no response --

春色满园关不住 Spring in the garden cannot be contained.

一枝红杏出墙来 The pink apricot peeps above the wall.

At least the visitor was greeted by a very tiny, bashful creature!

[studentyoung]

A nation shattered;

Mountains and rivers reign.

The city in spring;

Grass and trees deepen.

国破山河在，

After An & shi’s Rebellion (安史之乱), the country collapsed, while the mountains and rivers remained as they used to be.

城春草木深。

The capital Chang’an（长安）was in spring with overgrown grass which seemed buried the city deeply. The view looked so desolate.

My country collapsed,

while mountains and rivers remain the same.

The capital is in spring

with grass overgrown.

烽火连三月

Bonfire beacons;

For three months they continue.

The flames of war

for three months they lasted.

江汉思归客

At the confluence of the Yangtze and the Han

A traveler thinks of returning home --

A traveler longs for returning home on the Han Jiang River.

乾坤一腐儒

Qian and kun -- where the earth meets the sky

There a rotten old scholar!

In the vast universe,

there is a rotten old scholar!

落日心犹壮

The mind is as strong as the setting sun.

The mind is strong as usual even facing up to a setting sun.

游园不值 A Failed Visit to the Garden

应怜屐齿印苍苔 He must becry footprints on the moss!

小扣柴扉久不开 Lightly tapping on the gate, no response --

春色满园关不住 Spring in the garden cannot be contained.

一枝红杏出墙来 The pink apricot peeps above the wall.

Well done! Just some small improvement. 春色 means “the look of spring”. 关不住means “can’t be locked.”. The whole line is “the spring look in the garden can’t be locked”. Please consider whether it is “the pink apricot” or “a pink apricot”. (Hehe. Although, according to the contexts, it was “a failed visit”, but the poet just didn’t forget to give his readers a little surprise at the last two lines.)

Cheers!

[Sam Addington]

Dear Student Young,

Thank you for your reply. It is nice to know that I am more than an electric signal wandering aimlessly on the internet.

Re. the use of "remain" for 在

This seems to be the standard translation. However I was trying avoid interpretation of the words as much as possible. It has often been said of Western poetry that it is philosophical and perhaps a bit pendantic whereas Chinese poetry is subtle and relies more on the reader's wits to fill in the gaps. I was trying to respect this principle. Granted "reign" is a fairly loaded word, but it is frequently applied to mountains in Western poetry. I suppose "are there" would be the best translation, but it is somehow clumsy.

My initial translation was even more liberal in its interpretive qualities than the use of "remain." I wanted to convey the universal qualities of the poem and show that it could have been written today.

My initial translation:

The world is in turmoil

Time goes on.

I also thought long and hard about the word 深

One translation suggests an association with the word green -- the green deepens. I like this better than the idea that the city is overgrown in weeds. I guess this is due to my own observations of spring. In fact, the grass does not become "deep" until later in the summer. Spring grass is all beat down by the previous winter's snow. Of course I have no idea of the climate in Chang'an ... I assume the climate in Chang'an is fairly temperate. It is certainly not tropical. In 1967, forty years ago, the city of Detroit experienced a "war" of its own when much of the central city was burned to the ground. To this day you can still see vast areas of vacant lots in the center of the city. Although the grasses grow high in the summer, the trees have not deepened. Perhaps in the tropics trees would take over in forty years, but not in this climate. (Of course now days we have lawnmowers.)

How long was the An Shi rebellion? Was the capital totally abandoned during that period? Certainly the everyday folk remained behind to maintain somewhat the capital? Then again, the deep growth of trees could have all been in the poet's mind. He, after all, was away at war.