#chinese poem

[tendaysofrain]

“How Often Does Such a Bright Moon Come Around?” (水調歌頭 · 明月幾時有) Translation

(Another year, another Mid-Autumn Festival, another poem translation. This particular poem is very famous because of the first and last lines, which are frequently referenced in popular culture. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!)

How often does such a bright moon come around?

By Su Shi (Song dynasty, 1076 AD)

Mid-Autumn of the year Bingchen (2), drank all night in celebration, became heavily inebriated.  Composed this poem to commemorate this occasion, and in dedication to Ziyou (3). (4)

How often does such a bright moon come around?  With wine in hand, I ask the heavens.

Wondering what year it is for this day in heaven (5), in the palace high above.

Wishing to ascend on the wind, yet I cannot stand the chilly air around those lofty towers of jade.

Dancing and amused at my own crisp shadow, the frigid heavens surely cannot compare to the mortal realm below.

Rounding the vermilion building, hanging low near the intricate windows, the moon casts light over the sleepless (6).

The moon should not feel bitter jealousy, so why is it only full on parting?

Humans feel grief and joy, partings and reunions, just as the moon waxes and wanes.

For both of these heartening things (7) to happen together is very rare indeed.

May we be blessed with longevity, so that even when thousands of li (8) apart, we can still gaze upon this wonderful moon together.

—————————-

Notes:

This poem is in the Ci/词 format, and follows the rhyme scheme (Cipai/词牌) called Shuidiaogetou/水調歌頭/水调歌头.

Bingchen/丙辰 is a year in the Chinese Sexagenary Cycle, which is known in Chinese as Tiangandizhi/天干地支 ("Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches") or simply Ganzhi/干支 ("Stems and Branches"), and is used to record time. This system has been in use since at least the Shang dynasty around 3000 years ago (oracle bone artifact bearing inscriptions of ganzhi has been found at Yinxu/殷墟, the archaeological site of the ancient capital of Shang dynasty; however, during Shang dynasty the Ganzhi system was used to track days and not years, unlike how it has been used in later times). Because there are 60 years in one cycle, it is possible to trace back to specific years. In this case, Bingchen would be exactly 1076 AD.

Ziyou/子由 is the courtesy name of Su Shi's brother, Su Zhe/蘇轍.

This section is a short introduction to the poem, which begins after this section.

This may be a reference to the concept that "a day in heaven is a year on earth" ("天上一天，地上一年"; famously included in Journey to the West), which in turn is a reference to the ecliptic plane (called Huangdao/黄道 in Chinese), since for an observer on Earth, the Sun appears to move in an elliptical path throughout the year. This means that it takes a year (i.e. "a year on earth") for the Sun to "complete" one round in this elliptical path (i.e. "a day in heaven").

Here, "the sleepless" is a reference to the poet himself.

"Both of these heartening things" refers to reunion with family and/or friend, and the occurence of a full moon.

Li/里 is a traditional unit of distance. During Su Shi's time (Northern Song dynasty, 960 AD - 1279 AD), 1 Li ≈ 576 meters = 0.576 km or 0.36 miles (Note: link leads to pdf).

—————————-

Original Text (Traditional Chinese):

《 水調歌頭 (1) · 明月幾時有 》

[宋] 蘇軾

丙辰中秋，歡飲達旦，大醉，作此篇，兼懷子由。

明月幾時有？把酒問青天。不知天上宮闕，今夕是何年。 我欲乘風歸去，惟恐瓊樓玉宇，高處不勝寒。起舞弄清影，何似在人間。

轉朱閣，低綺戶，照無眠。不應有恨，何事長向別時圓？ 人有悲歡離合，月有陰晴圓缺，此事古難全。但願人長久，千里共嬋娟。

[marilearnsmandarin]

Book of Tang poetry (and messy piles of pages from New Practical Chinese Reader) on the couch in the sunset on a lazy Sunday afternoon

The book is open on 白居易 (Bai Juyi)'s 红鹦鹉 (Red Parrot).

There are many unknown characters for me and English translations I've found are a bit different from the Portuguese translation on the book, and on my very quick search I've already found criticism on them... so here's a translation of the translation:

The Red Parrot Came from far, Annan*, a red parrot. The color of peach, spoke like a person. As happens to wise, eloquent scholars, Got a cage and spends the years between bars.

*present-day Vietnam

[gennsoup]

Is it just coincidence that it's November again, with fog and a leaden twilight?

Adam Zagajewski, Chinese Poem

[chineselangblr]

Hey guys, look at this chinese poem I found!

Hanzi:

施氏食狮史

石室诗士施氏, 嗜狮, 誓食十狮。

氏时时适市视狮。

十时, 适十狮适市。

是时,适施氏适市。

氏视是十狮, 恃失势,使是十狮逝世。

氏拾是十狮尸, 适石室。

石室湿,氏使侍拭石室。

石室拭, 氏始试食是十狮。

食时, 始识是十狮, 实十石狮尸。

试释是事。

Pinyin :

Shīshì shíshī shǐ

shíshì shī shì shī shì, shì shī, shì shíshí shī.

Shì shí shíshìshì shì shī.

Shí shí, shì shí shī shì shì.

Shì shí, shì shī shì shì shì.

Shì shì shì shí shī, shì shī shì, shǐ shì shí shī shì shì.

Shì shíshì shí shī shī, shì shíshì.

Shíshì shī, shì shǐ shì shì shí shì.

Shí shì shì, shì shǐ shì shí shì shí shī.

Shí shí, shǐ shí shì shí shī, shí shí shí shī shī.

Shì shì shì shì.

English translation:

Shi's history of eating lions

Shi Shishi, a poet in the stone room, was fond of lions and swore to eat ten lions.

It is always appropriate to see the lion in the city.

At ten o'clock, the ten lions are suitable for the city.

It's time for Shishi's market.

Shi regarded the ten lions as ten lions, and lost his power, so that the ten lions died.

Shi Shi is ten lion corpses, suitable for stone chambers.

The stone room was wet, so the clergyman wiped the stone room.

The stone room was wiped, and Shi Shi first tried to eat ten lions.

When eating, the first consciousness is ten lions, which are actually ten stone lion corpses.

Explanation is a thing.

•••

I am not ok-

[starlitwishforu]

青玉案 · 元夕 - 辛弃疾 english translation (and notes!)

ok well. all this chinese poetry posting has put me on a bit of a translation high so i wanted to share my most recent translation project, which i actually just finished recording and uploading yesterday after two whole months of waffling. the poem itself is SO fucking cute but SO hard to translate and i'm honestly very proud that i stuck with it to the end. it instantly became one of my top favourites the very first time i heard it so i hope other people can also find some joy from it!

here is the original:

青玉案 · 元夕

【宋】 辛弃疾

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。

and here is my translation:

Qing Yu An: Lantern Festival at Dusk

by Xin Qiji

Fireworks blossom beneath the touch of evening's eastern breeze; flurrying as they fall, sparks shower like stars. Prancing steeds pull chiseled carriages, sweeping fragrance across the path. The xiao’s decadent notes adrift, the jadelike light’s prismatic shift; the dragon-fish dance as the night-hours pass.

Combs shining in their hair, golden, silver, silken sway; sweet perfume and tinkling mirth linger in their wake. My searching gaze is futile as I scan the thronging crowds; at last I turn, and you are there, in the quiet dark of evening wane.

translation notes beneath the cut! there is a LOT, be warned!

translation notes:

so to start from the very top, let's first introduce the title 青玉案 · 元夕.

青玉案 (pinyin: Qing Yu An, lit. the matter of the verdant jade) is actually the name of a 宋词排名 (song cipaiming, song dynasty poetic/musical form). just as shakespeare wrote sonnets and basho wrote haiku, so the poets of the song dynasty wrote, among hundreds of other forms with fun names like this, Qing Yu An poems.

each 词排名 had a set number of characters per line, set rules for its tone patterns, and even came with its own tune. maybe a better western parallel would be twinkle twinkle little star, which uses the same tune as the alphabet song and baa baa black sheep.

the end result is that there are many titles under the heading of Qing Yu An, and even, according to chatgpt, another 青玉案 · 元夕.

anyway, this one by Xin Qiji, the most famous one, is titled 元夕 (yuanxi); 元 refers to 元宵节 (yuanxiaojie), the lantern festival held on the fifteenth day of the lunar new year which marks the end of the spring festival/chinese new year, and 夕 is dusk. hence a very naturally poetic name, lantern festival at dusk.

before i get into the text of the poem, i want to note that i often sacrifice rhythm/rhyme for precision of meaning. i ✨artistically✨ speed up/slow down some syllables while recording to preserve some sense of metre lol, but it does read quite awkwardly on paper. i'm a very inexpert student and have a lot to improve on!

ok so! line by line!

东风夜放花千树

--is a literally genius pun. it transliterates as: the east wind in the evening blows open the flowers of a thousand trees. very spring, right? haha spring festival get it.

however! its a chinese celebration, so what will there definitely be? fireworks 😎 and it just so happens that one word for "setting off fireworks" in chinese is 放烟花 (fang yanhua). yep, that's the same 花, which means flowers, but when combined with 烟 (smoke), it becomes a "fire-flower" 🎆!!

it's also the same 放, which in the context of actual flowers means the opening of petals, but in the phrase 放烟花 means to set off (the fireworks).

together, this line evokes both the blooming of the spring flowers under the eastern breeze* and the blooming of a thousand fireworks in the evening sky.

*spring comes from the east ofc; this is folklore and not science i think but lends to the spring-ness of the line

更吹落，星如雨

this one is pretty straightforward. lit. blown through the air by aforementioned wind, falling like a rain shower of stars.

宝马雕车香满路

oh boy. when i tell you my mom (who is my chinese teacher) and i got in several petty arguments over baomadiaoche...

so 宝马 (baoma) are just well-bred horses, prize steeds with a pedigree. a 雕车 (diaoche) (lit. carved chariot) is a very expensive carriage carved with lots of intricate decorations. in other words, these ppl are RICH.

however, it was difficult to convey the sheer decadence of 宝马雕车 without either using a miles worth of syllables or entirely losing the original cultural context. carved was too direct and ugly to hear besides, etched was not elite enough, sculpted conveyed entirely the wrong image... also, for some reason, "proud" to describe steeds was vetoed for being inaccurate???? hence the arguments.

in this scenario, the final word choice really is a matter of the least bad option.

at the same time, the second half of this line 香满路 (lit. fragrance fills the path) implies movement: the carriage is passing by, leaving the fragrance of rich people perfume in its wake. for the sake of syllables, i shifted that movement to the fragrance part of this line. i also like that this evokes a high-headed noble sweeping elegantly through the crowds.

overall, this line adds to the picture of a decadent, bustling market street during the most joyous celebration of the year.

凤箫声动，玉壶光转，一夜鱼龙舞

lit. the notes of the phoenix xiao (chinese recorder) move, jade gourd light shimmers, the fish dragons dance all night.

chinese ppl, ok, use two motifs to describe the beauty and virtue of every artistic thing ever: phoenix and jade. phoenix xiao means NOTHING. it's like virtuous xiao. jade gourd is a little harder; some say it's the moon, some say it's the lanterns. jade and light put together kinda implies moon anyway, so i just sidestepped the problem entirely.

as for 鱼龙 (lit. fish dragons), theyre a type of dragon lantern which supposedly has some characteristic of a fish. they are puppet-danced on sticks - dragon dancing, the classic. my mom and i both had a vivid image of this dragon-lantern-dancing, but we couldn't find it ANYWHERE. if anyone knows the right search query to pull this up, please lmk how to tame 谷大哥*. anyway, i left the lanterns implied because idk how the fuck to explain this whole thing in four syllables.

*lit. big bro google. its funnier in chinese

蛾儿雪柳黄金缕

this is the line that, when i finally bothered to properly research it, made everything about this translation click into place. these are all hair decorations. 蛾儿 (lit. li'l moth) are silk moths, 雪柳 (lit. snow willow) are silver tassels, and 黄金缕 (lit. yellow-golden cords) are gold cords lmao. hence golden silver silken sway, which was SO satisfying to come up with.

笑语盈盈暗香去

lit. laughing speech tinkles and faint fragrance goes by. this one is also fairly straightforward. 去 means to go, so we specifically want the image of a group of giggly teenage girls fading into the crowd.

众里寻他千百度。蓦然回首，那人却在 灯火阑珊处。

and finally we reach the most famous line, the 千古名句 (qiangumingju) - iconic line of a thousand histories!

lit. within the crowd, searching for him* in a thousand hundred directions; suddenly the head turns, it turns out that person is standing in the darkness where the lights have gone out.

*"him" is highly debated. 他, used in modern chinese like the pronoun "he", was historically a catchall pronoun for people of any gender. iirc, 她 for "she", and the gendered distinction, was only introduced when china started integrating to the west. in this line, 他 could be the teen girl that just passed by, or her beau. whichever way, one is the searcher, the other is the searched. i chose here to sidestep this by using i and you bc fuck gender.

anyway, when the searcher's head turns - even this bit had to be suitably poetic, a nightmare - they find their lover in the 灯火阑珊处.

灯火阑珊处 this phrase refers to a very specific image. imagine, in the early hours of the morning, a dwindling market street; the stands are closing one by one, lights winking out, leaving a gentle blanket of dark and calm behind. it is the quiet after the rain, the breath after the shout; it is the sigh of closing your front door at the end of the night. it's not the absence or complete lack of light, but rather the exit of it. a place of that just-left-behind dark is a 灯火阑珊处.

this sentence gave me so much grief and i am so proud to have done it even just a little bit of justice.

so after all that, the scene described by this poem is something like this: a lively late-night market street. people from many walks of life fill the path, celebrating the lantern festival, the turn of a new year and coming of spring, a riotous party of light and noise and joy. as the night slips into the sixteenth, the market begins winding down, stalls closing and lights winking out. amongst the teeming crowds ambling their way home, a young person searches for the their lover from whom they were separated; on some sudden instinct, they turn, to find their lover already looking back from the darkness of the fading festival, gaze caught in the divide between light and dark, wake and sleep: a quiet young love on the edge of spring, something fresh and new.

if anyone made it to this point, thank you and i hope this was an interesting read! please feel free to add comments questions and observations!! i would love to discuss at any level with someone other than my mom and chinese poetry truly is one of my passions even when it makes me want to kill, so i'm always down to talk. :] <3

[rodolfo9999]

勧　酒　　（于武陵）

　　　　　　　　　　　　　（書き下し文）　　酒をすすむ　 勧君金屈巵　　　　　　　　　君に勧む　金屈巵 満酌不須辞　　　　　　　　　満酌　辞するをもちいず 花発多風雨　　　　　　　　　花ひらけば　風雨多し 人生足別離　　　　　　　　　人生　別離足る 和訳（直訳） 　　

君に　この金色の大きな杯を勧める　  なみなみと注いだこの酒　遠慮はしないでくれ花が咲くと 雨が降ったり風が吹いたりするものだ　  人生に 別離はつきものだよ 

（註）・金屈巵＝把手（とって）がついた黄金の大型の杯。 　　　・満酌＝杯になみなみと酒をつぐこと。 　　　・不須辞＝辞退する必要はない。 　　　・足＝多い。

（井伏鱒二の訳） 

コノサカヅキヲ受ケテクレ 

ドウゾナミナミツガシテオクレ 

ハナニアラシノタトヘモアルゾ

「サヨナラ」ダケガ人生ダ

（In English）

I offer you this golden, large cup. The overflowing sake poured into it. Please don't hold back. In life, partings are inevitable. Just like flowers blooming and rain falling or winds blowing.

（Japanese pronunciation）

Kono sakazuki o uketekure

Douzo naminami tsugashiteokure

Hanani arashino tatoemo aruzo

Sayonaradakega jinsei da

[teresafunfun]

BLENDER SCENE - 君不见

◇ Created in blender 3.3 (Works only on blender NOT IN GAME)

◇ Can be used with eevee or cycles (cycles for better results)

◇ Scene was modelled, Textured, Surfaced and Lit by Teresaft

◇ Props are Owned by their Respective Owners

◇ Please do not to re-upload my file to any website!

FREE DOWNLOAD (PATREON)

[inmoonlightpoetry]

中秋节: The Mid-Autumn Festival

Ever wanted to learn more about the Mid-Autumn Festival (September 29th of 2023)? Here are some tales surrounding the holiday, as well as famous poems made with the holiday feeling in mind.

For whom do we eat mooncakes? Why is it that on every 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, many cultures across Asia reunite with their families to sit out and admire the moon? Why should the moon be admired, and how did this come to be in the first place?Chinese tales hold many beliefs about the holiday’s origins, and a quick look into history provides an added layer of understanding…

[freshminttea]

"Colorful cloud drifts,

shooting stars strike the sky.

Tonight I sneak into the milky way,

encountering you in the dewy autumn,

its the happiest thing in my life.

Your tenderness is like water,

we've had a fairylike dream.

Part from each other on Magpie Bridge.

Don't worry baby, as long as we truly love,

time can't defeat the yearning between you and me"

-"Colorful Cloud Drifts" Qin Guan, Song Dynasty

[tendaysofrain]

“Three Poems for the End of the Year” (歲晚三首) Translation

(Happy Spring Festival/Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year to all!  I thought this series of poems was a good introduction for certain traditions and customs surrounding the festival, so here they are, please enjoy!)

Three Poems for the End of the Year

By Su Shi (Song dynasty, 1062 AD, 11th century)

Exchanging gifts at the end of the year is called “gifting the year” (1); inviting others to feast together is called “sending off the year” (2); keeping vigil through the night of the eve is called “watching over the year” (3).  Such are the customs in Shu (4) (5).  Since I am now a government official in Qixia (6) and cannot return home at the end of the year, I am writing these three poems here for Ziyou (7).

Gifting the Year (1)

Each household’s harvest is now done, which will aid in the yearly event (8).

Worried about missing out on the festivities, people exchange presents freely.

The contents vary according to their place of origin, the poor gives little while the rich gives plenty.

An enormous carp lays across the plate, within the cage rests a pair of rabbits.

The wealthy displays extravagance, their embroidered silks glowing in lustrous hues.

The poor cannot afford the luxury, and opted for small gifts of pastries.

The official residence doesn’t have familiar faces, while the celebrations continued in the alleys.

I wish to celebrate with the customs of my hometown, yet there's nobody who will join me.

Sending Off the Year (2)

Faraway lives my old friend, reluctantly do we part.

Though people can return to visit, the years never will.

Where have the years gone?  To the ends of the earth.

Off chasing the east-flowing waters (9), and into the timeless seas.

The neighbor to the east has the well-aged wine, and the neighbor to the west owns the fattened pig.

All for a day’s festivity, to compensate for the melancholy of the ending old year.

But never be consumed while mourning this loss, lest you forgo the fresh new year.

If one looks back while moving forward, old age and infirmity shall catch up.

Watching Over the Year (3)

The year shall soon end, a long snake swimming towards the gloomy depths.

Its slender scales already half out of view, who can hide its intention to leave?

And if one wishes to tie up its tail, though diligent this is still in vain.

Trying their best to fight off sleep, children play merrily into the night.

Wishing the morning rooster won’t crow, my anxiety grows amid the urging of the geng drums (10) (11).

Sitting through the night whilst petals of ash drifts from the lamp (12), the Big Dipper already askew when I stand up.

Will the New Year be absent next year?  I fear what’s on my mind will be delayed again.

The youth who can cherish this singular night, their will and spirit are praiseworthy indeed.

—————————-

Notes:

“Gifting the Year”/饋歲/馈岁:  refers to the custom of exchanging gifts at the end of the year.

“Sending Off the Year”/別歲/别岁:  refers to the custom of feasting on the 29th day of the Twelfth month in order to “bid farewell to the old year”.

“Watching Over the Year”/守歲/守岁:  refers to the custom of staying up through the entire night of the eve and the early hours of the first day of the new year; lamps and candles are also kept on or lit through the night so the light can rid the residence of all evil, pestilence, and illness in preparation for the new year.

Shu/蜀:  name of a region; the archaic name of the region known today as Sichuan/四川.

The first two sentences in Su Shi’s introduction here are a direct reference to the records of New Year’s customs from the Jin dynasty (266 - 420 AD) book 《風土記》 by Zhou Chu/周處/周处.  In fact, Su Shi’s description here is a paraphrase of the same information in 《風土記》:  ”蜀之風俗，晚歲相與餽問，謂之餽歲。酒食相邀為別歲。至除夕，達旦不眠，謂之守歲”.

Qixia/岐下:  refers to the foot of the Qishan/岐山 mountain in Shaanxi province/陕西省 today.

Ziyou/子由:  courtesy name of Su Shi’s younger brother Su Zhe/蘇轍, the recipient of this letter.

Yearly event/歲事:  implies the New Year’s festival, colloquially called “passing the year” (Guonian/過年/过年 or Dusui/度歲/度岁) or “yearly festival” (Nianjie/年節/年节), now known more widely as “Spring Festival”/春节 (this name came about in 1914 from an official document), “Lunar New Year”/农历新年, or “Chinese New Year”.

East-flowing waters:  a common Chinese literary motif that refers to the passage of time; this is because both Yangzi River and Yellow River flow eastwards.

Geng drum:  a drum carried by night watchers, called Gengfu/更夫; gengfu will sound the drum every Shichen/時辰/时辰 (1 shichen = 2 hours) during the night while he is patrolling the streets and on the look out for potential dangers like fires or robbers.

It should be noted that in the old times, age is calculated as “1 year old” at birth, and increases by 1 every New Year’s festival (the resulting age number from this traditional age calculation method is now called Xusui/虛歲/虚岁).  This is reflected in the character sui/歲/岁, which means both “age” and “year”.  This also means that in the old times, everyone has a birthdate, but there are no annual “birthdays”.  Now we can understand Su Shi’s anxiety while waiting for the old year to end:  he will be considered “1 year older” after the eve ends, which reminds him that he’s aging.

Petals of ash:  refers to the ash left by the burning candle wick.

—————————-

Original Text (Traditional Chinese):

《 歲晚三首 》

[宋]  蘇軾

歲晚相與餽問為“餽歲”；酒食相邀呼為“別歲”；至除夜達旦不眠為“守歲”。蜀之風俗如是。餘官於岐下，歲暮思歸而不可得，故為此三詩以寄子由。

《 饋歲 》

農功各已收，歲事得相佐。

為歡恐無及，假物不論貨。

山川隨出產，貧富稱小大。

置盤巨鯉橫，發籠雙兔卧。

富人事華靡，彩繡光翻座。

貧者愧不能，微摯出舂磨。

官居故人少，里巷佳節過。

亦欲舉鄉風，獨唱無人和。

《 別歲 》

故人適千里，臨別尚遲遲。

人行猶可復，歲行那可追。

問歲安所之？遠在天一涯。

已逐東流水，赴海歸無時。

東鄰酒初熟，西舍彘亦肥。

且為一日歡，慰此窮年悲。

勿嗟舊歲別，行與新歲辭。

去去勿回顧，還君老與衰。

《 守歲 》

欲知垂盡歲，有似赴壑蛇。

修鱗半已沒，去意誰能遮。

況欲系其尾，雖勤知奈何。

兒童強不睡，相守夜歡譁。

晨雞且勿鳴，更鼓畏添撾。

坐久燈燼落，起看北斗斜。

明年豈無年，心事恐蹉跎。

努力盡今夕，少年猶可誇。

[marilearnsmandarin]

It took me a while to choose my February poem for the 2024 dostoyevsky-official challenge by @dostoyevsky-official.

I read several poems by 杜甫 (Du Fu), another Tang dynasty poet, and eventually chose 春望 because it is a bit easier for me atm and seems more widely known and quoted, but I'd like to talk about the runner-up, another poem I liked very much: 登岳阳楼 (dēng yuè yáng lóu, Climbing Yueyang Tower):

登岳阳楼

昔闻洞庭水，今上岳阳楼。

吴楚东南坼，乾坤日夜浮。

亲朋无一字，老病有孤舟。

戎马关山北，凭轩涕泗流。

Yueyang Tower

It made me curious about the tower (I expected it to be somewhat taller lol) and interested me because of the historical reference (historical wars and the ongoing war) and the bittersweetness of the scene.

I was going to translate it to English, but this has been sitting in my drafts for days so here is a translation by Stephen Owen:

And a translation to Brazilian Portuguese from Antologia da Poesia Clássica Chinesa:

The book explains that Du Fu and his family were traveling with the intention of returning to Chang'an after years displaced due to wars, but a new conflict, with Tibetans, caused them to remain in that region. Du Fu's health was very debilitated (Wikipedia says he'd had several health issues throughout his life, including asthma and probably malaria, and had diabetes and tuberculosis at the end of his life), and he would never finish the trip.

[fouryearsofshades]

Music：董冬冬

短歌行 A Short-Song Ballad By 曹操 Cao Cao (155 AD - 220 AD) Tr. 秦大川 Qin Dachuan 对酒当歌，人生几何！ 譬如朝露，去日苦多。 Before wine, sing a song! How can life last long? Dissipated like morning dew, Happy time is woefully gone. 慨当以慷，忧思难忘。 何以解忧？唯有杜康。 Noble ideas soar and overflow; Innermost concerns keep in mind. How to drown such grief and sorrow? Best resort to Du Kang Wine. 青青子衿，悠悠我心。 但为君故。沉吟至今。 For the talented youth in coat blue I always cherish a deep love. It is all for the sake of you That I’ve crooned till now. 呦呦鹿鸣，食野之苹。 我有嘉宾，鼓瑟吹笙。 Bleat, bleat call the wild deer; They feed on grass on the field. If the honored guests should come, I’d play music to the heart’s fill. 明明如月，何时可掇？ 忧从中来，不可断绝。 Bright, bright shines the moon. When does it stop illuminating? Sorrows arise out of the scene, Growing on without ceasing. 越陌度阡，枉用相存， 契阔谈宴，心念旧恩。 May friends from every direction Condescend to come to call at me. We’d talk about long separation And blessed reunion o’er the feast. 月明星稀，乌鹊南飞。 绕树三匝，何枝可依？ Moon-lit night with few stars in sky, Crows are flying to the south, Hovering to circle a tree thrice. Whereon to alight, and which bough? 山不厌高，海不厌深， 周公吐哺，天下归心。 Hills are not content with altitude; Oceans their depth yet to deepen. Zhou Gong, with benevolent rule, Wins over all men under heaven!

[miracris]

暖冬

这年冬天 是个温暖的冬天

金灿灿的暖阳 宛如你的笑靥 消融冰雪

一切都热情洋溢 在这个有你的冬天

朝阳升起 将万物鞭策

风儿是如此和煦 吹拂着松树的臂膊

枯木仿佛也充满活力 跟着风声轻和

枯草也被复活 享受着盖亚女神的抚摩

怎奈何美���美景 从未曾定格

夕阳的画笔 将这世界染成金色

黄昏之神 从不曾在冬天惜墨

霎那间 一切只剩轮廓

未央的夜 却并未令我落寞

就如曾经我们许过的承诺

虽已陨落 但至少温热过

朝阳依旧会每日升起 将大地万物重新注入生机

昼夜总要更替 光明和希冀 总是可期

就如同回忆里和你的打闹嬉戏

原来脑海里 内心里 都是你

不经意间 读取记忆的残片 好似触电

就如你的身影 突然掠过我的视线

试图压抑执念 让关于你的一切 不再浮现

突然发觉 寒冷黑夜 犹如巨兽饕餮 瞬间吞噬一切

蓦然重拾执念 一切重归温暖 仿佛时过境迁

任何风景都看不厌 在这个有你的冬天

每一秒都让人留恋 在这个有你的冬天

原来暖冬这年 因为这是个有你的冬天

Wrote this poem during a long drive lol took me around 2 hours 😂 It's good to know that I'm still able to write poems in Chinese after around 13 years (last time I wrote one was in 2010 I believe) while spending 12 years in the United States 😂

[haystackpancake]

Walking - Chen Kehua

once we moved in an age of ideas and signs debate's lexicon gouging at truth

we then entered a world of instruments and logic trudging through wastes beyond hypotheses and equations

before soaring into a universe of introspection and dream unfocussed consciousness like the 3000 layers of an onion of worlds-within worlds

these days, we walk in an age of replication and chatter this limited life forging away specially for the sake of futility

new dilemmas hatch from outdated language as fertile as ants nests

"love is universal but we are universally unable to love" light goes in straight lines but it also curves

time is delusion, space illusion no birth no death no filth no purity no increase no decline

must we go on walking whereverwards or will wherever come walking towards us?

-- Chen Kehua, translated by Simon Patton

one of my favorite poems

[citizen-of-a-floating-world]

there in the rain goes a messenger

bearing a passionate letter under the open window

stands one with a broken heart up in the mountains a lover rolls up a pearl screen, looking out

sadness comes back and comes back as fragrant and lush as the grass

"The Fragrance of Orchids" Yu Xuanji, Translated by David Young and Jiann Lin

[teresafunfun]

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