#three hundred tang poems

[ruiconteur]

Any chance you could explain the five poem references in the chorus of 山外? 👀👀👀

(I love love love ur tls and the accompanying notes for context/elaboration, you put so much thought and effort into them and it shows!! Just read ur tl of Hen Bie and cried ;-;)

i'll take any chance to obsess over classical chinese poetry so i'd be delighted to :D ty for finally giving me the motivation to flesh out my explanations of them in my translation bc i've been too lazy to do it before this, but also you might regret having asked me this by the time you finish reading this post lol

also i'm rly rly glad you liked my tl of henbie! the last line still gives me ulcers every time i think about it, it was so difficult 😭

anyway so 山外 chorus!! it has eight lines split into two stanzas and the first three lines of each stanza is a poetic reference which is absolutely insane to me?? lyricist大大 真是太佩服您了

the first line of both stanzas is 山外青山楼外楼 / beyond the mountains are yet more verdant mountains—beyond the towers are yet more towers. i translated it a bit more literally to get the parallel structure, but a more figurative translation might be something like an unending expanse of verdant mountains—the buildings stretch on for so long one cannot tell where they begin or end.

this line comes from the 七绝 / seven-character quatrain 《题临安邸》 / on the subject of the inns and residences in lin'an by song dynasty poet 林升 lin sheng. (note: 邸 here refers to an inn, but i've also translated it as residence to emphasise lin sheng's criticism of the government officials who have come, in his view, to visit lin'an in this poem.)

the poem goes something like this (aka, have yet another very rough tl):

山外青山楼外楼， / beyond the mountains are yet more verdant mountains—beyond the towers are yet more towers; 西湖歌舞几时休？ / at what hour will the singing and dancing on the western lake come to an end? 暖风熏得游人醉， / the fragrance wafting through the warm breeze sweeps the sight-seers into a drunken stupor; 直把杭州作汴州。 / they have simply taken hangzhou to be once-glorious bianzhou.

context! this poem was written after the fall of the (northern) song to the jurchen invaders. as the capital of the song dynasty, bianzhou (known today as kaifeng) was captured and sacked by the jurchen, and the song rulers who managed to escape fled to southern china, whereupon they made hangzhou the capital of the southern song. the emperor gaozong, the only one of the imperial house who wasn't in bianzhou at the time, took the throne in lin'an, which he favoured for being a 人间天堂 (paradise on earth, basically). the officials then proceeded to engage wantonly in song and dance—that is, in a life of degenerate extravagance and debauchery, and it got to the point where hangzhou was labelled a 销金锅 (lit. "a pot of melting gold"), which is now used to describe a place in which huge amounts of money and gold are frittered away. it was this exact attitude that this poem is criticising lol.

(i'm putting the rest under a read more because i am apparently incapable of shutting up)

the second line is 不如黄鹂鸣翠柳 / it cannot compare to the singing of golden orioles in jade-green willows. this line is adapted from the first line of the third (and most famous) of 杜甫 du fu's 《绝句四首》 / four quatrains: 两个黄鹂鸣翠柳 / two golden orioles sing in jade-green willows.

some background info on du fu because the guy is just ridiculous: he's known as one of the three greatest tang dynasty poets, aka the triumvirate 李杜白 lidubai, which stands for 李白 li bai, 杜甫 du fu, and 白居易 bai juyi. depending on who you ask, either he or li bai is the greatest classical chinese poet of all time. he's known as either the 诗圣 / poet-sage, for the way he engages with morality in his poetry, and also the 诗史 / poet-historian, because of his extant poetry (and it's a truly insane amount, btw, i mean, close to 1500, which is wild for a guy who lived in the 8th century), many were intended as political commentary and therefore indirectly shed light on the effects felt by the common people. anyway, he's also extremely notable for his range and technical excellence, because given just how many poems he wrote, it's kind of understandable that he ended up writing in all the poetic forms available to him at the time. but also wow.

the most incredible part to me about him is that he specialised in 律诗 / regulated verse (about two-thirds of his extant poetry is in this form) which is. holy shit. this form is incredibly demanding, and it's absolutely astounding just how easy du fu makes it look. i won't get into it here because i've already rambled enough about him, but if you watched shl, part of his poem 《登高》 / climbing the heights, which is one of the best existing examples of 律诗 out there, was quoted in the lyrics for 天涯客, and i explain it in the footnotes of my translation.

anyway, onto the actual poem! the context is that it was written after the an-shi rebellion was quelled; coincidentally, it was this exact rebellion that greatly influenced du fu's writing. after learning that his good friend yan wu, the governor-general of chengdu, had returned to his post, du fu too returned to his home in chengdu in great spirits. upon seeing the fresh and vivid spring scenery, he was seized by the impulse to compose a poem about it. the reason it's just named 绝句 / quatrains is because he didn't think of a title before writing it and was too lazy to come up with one afterwards (mood).

the couplet that's quoted also uses parallelism, btw. specifically:

两、一 -> number 个、行 -> measure word 黄、白 -> adjective: colour 鹂、鹭 -> noun: type of bird 鸣、上 -> verb 翠、青 -> adjective: colour 柳、天 -> noun: nature

(yeah he writes like that. constantly. how, you ask? excellent question, i don't know either.)

anyway, the full poem, as roughly translated by me:

两个黄鹂鸣翠柳， / two golden orioles sing in jade-green willows; 一行白鹭上青天。 / a line of white herons rise into the blue skies. 窗含西岭千秋雪， / within the window—snow atop the western ridges, gathered over a thousand autumns; 门泊东吴万里船。 / outside the door—vessels in anchorage, come ten thousand miles from eastern wu.

and now, finally, the third line! this one isn't a line from a poem, but the title of one: 春江花月夜 by tang dynasty poet 张若虚 zhang ruoxu, which i've translated as flowers by the spring river on a moonlit night. i won't be translating the full poem because it's incredibly long and this post is long enough as is, but it's gorgeous. it was praised by the poet 闻一多 wen yiduo as being 诗中的诗，顶峰上的顶峰 / the poem of poems, the pinnacle of pinnacles, and is also considered to have 压全唐 / surpassed the entirety of the tang [in poetry], which is insane considering just how many incredible poems/poets came out of the tang dynasty, aka the literal golden age of chinese poetry (if you recall, 李杜白 lidubai were all tang dynasty poets).

this is a 宫体诗 / palace-style poem, and each character in the title is described in great detail: 春 / spring, for the gentle and exquisite spring; 江 / river, for the winding and flowing river; 花 / flowers, for the hazy but resplendent flowers; 月 / moon, for the glow of the distant moon reflected in water; and 夜 / night, for the tranquil and melancholic night.

other than the scenery, this poem also explores the enigmas of the universe and human existence—specifically, how although each of our lives are short and limited, the existence of humanity as a whole stretches on unendingly, much like the bright moon that rises over the river day after day. it then goes on to describe the yearning of a wife for her travelling husband (fun fact: he's travelling by boat on the river), and the last line in particular is very, well. it's very li lianhua-core, shall we say? 不知乘月几人归，落月摇情满江树。 / i know not how many will return with the moonlight; the falling moon sways with the sorrow of parting, spilling it over the riverside trees. yeah. :)

next up is a quote from tang dynasty poet 王勃 wang bo, who wrote one of my absolute favourite couplets of all time, it literally rewrote my brain chemistry omg: 海内存知己，天涯若比邻。 / as long as there remains someone who knows me within the four oceans, we will be as neighbours even at the edges of the earth. (i definitely shoved it in here bc it's relevant to this post since zeng shunxi quoted it in his farewell letter to fang duobing and absolutely not bc i just wanted to :D)

anyway the ACTUAL quote is 物换星移几度秋 / landscapes change and stars shift—how many autumns have passed? it comes from the poem 《滕王阁诗》 / prince teng's pavilion: a poem, which is considered a founding piece of tang literature. in days of yore, this pavilion was constructed by prince teng, son of the tang emperor gaozu, and was often used by him to host great feasts and guests, but now that he's now long gone, the only thing left is the empty expanse of river water that flows beneath the railings. basically, it laments the ephemeral prosperity and declines of human life, particularly when contrasted against the perpetuity of the universe.

and now, at long last, the final poetic reference! the line in question is 举杯销愁愁更愁 / raise a cup to drown your sorrows, but the sorrows only worsen, which, apart from referencing a classical poem, also links back to a very similar line from the opening theme 就在江湖之上 / at the pinnacle of the jianghu: 千杯不醉入愁肠 / a thousand cups of wine lead not to intoxication but despair.

as for the poem, this one comes from 李白 li bai, the man the legend the icon himself, poet-drunkard-swordsman-hermit-he of the multiple moon and wine poems (although that pretty much describes all of classical chinese poetry so, eh). i only know three (five?) chinese poems by heart in their entirety and one of them is by this guy (静夜思, bc every cn diaspora kid learns that growing up).

this particular poem, 《宣州谢朓楼饯别校书叔云》 / ascending xie tiao's pavilion in xuanzhou for a farewell repast with uncle yun of the imperial record-keepers, is a leavetaking poem (clearly), and opens with the lines 弃我去者，昨日之日不可留。乱我心者，今日之日多烦忧。 / yesterday, which has abandoned me, can no longer be pleaded with to stay. today, which upsets my heart, causes me much anxiety. then it takes a rapid one-eighty into describing the gorgeous scenery (长风万里送秋雁 / the great winds escort the wild geese through the autumn skies) and the noble aspirations being discussed while drinking their fill atop this tall pavilion. and then right after the couplet 俱怀逸兴壮思飞，欲上青天览明月 / all harbouring intrepid and grandiose thoughts, in our surging states of mind, we desire to leap into the blue skies and take the bright moon into our arms, the poem plummets once more into the abyss of misery at the realisation that these ideals/aspirations sharply conflict with reality. (remind you of someone?)

here's where the couplet this song quotes comes into play: 抽刀断水水更流，举杯消愁愁更愁。 / draw a blade to stem the flow of water, but the surge of water only gets fiercer; raise a cup to drown your sorrows, but the sorrows only worsen. it is at this moment that the poet decides, you know what, i'm going to retire to live in the jianghu. specifically, he says: 人生在世不称意，明朝散发弄扁舟。 / since life in this world is so incongruous with my desires, i may as well let my hair down and drift through the jianghu on a small boat. :) everything's about li lianhua here huh.

and there you have it! 2,222 words about all the poetic references (that i'm aware of) in 山外.

[fwoopersongs]

春怨 - Spring Bitterness

春怨 - Spring Bitterness by 刘方平 (Liu Fangping, ~Kaiyuan Era, 713 to 741)

纱窗日落渐黄昏 shāchuāng rì luò jiàn huánghūn Beyond the silk window, the sun sets, yellow fading into dusk.

金屋无人见泪痕 jīnwū wú rén jiàn lèihén Within the gilded house, no one is here to see her trailing tears.

寂寞空庭春欲晚 jìmò kōng tíng chūn yù wǎn In the lonely silence, in the empty court, Spring longs for the close of day.

梨花满地不开门 líhuā mǎn dì bù kāi mén Parting’s blossoms carpet the way… to a door that does not open.

..............................................................................................

春怨 | Spring Bitterness is one of two homework poems (the other is 月夜 |  Moonlit Night), for a poetry translation workshop hosted by Chenxin Jiang that ran from Jan to Feb of this year. Both are from the anthology 唐诗三百首 Three Hundred Tang Poems and were written by the Tang Dynasty poet and artist Liu Fangping.

Side note that no one asked for but that I always feel obliged to mention xD: Three Hundred Tang Poems does not collect the best of the best Tang poetry, that wasn’t the intention! Compiled by 蘅塘退士 Retired Master of Hengtang in 1763, Qing Dynasty, these were mostly popular works and poets from the Tang Dynasty during the Ming/Qing Dynasties (probably skewed toward his own preferences too lol) intended for a beginner or a child's gentle introduction to Tang poetry. This is also why many modern editions you will find at the bookstore today have the poems organized according to poetic form. 

Poetry and Song

I found this cool video of a teacher, 吳秀真 Janice Wu, first reading Liu Fangping’s 春怨 then singing it in Hokkien. Sharing this here so we can appreciate the rhythm, rhyming and their effect in the poem together! 

To help this along, another line which represents the tone pattern has been added. In Pinyin, the romanization system for mandarin which is used here, there are four tones.The first (◌̄) and second (◌́) tones are Level - longer sounds that are represented by the ‘_’ underscore in this notation. The third (◌̌) and the fourth (◌̀) pinyin tones are Oblique - shorter sounds represented by the ‘\’ backslash. The third tone is one that starts level, dips, then goes up again, and the fourth has an almost staccato rhythm. Words with Oblique tones are also bolded in the pinyin.

纱窗 | 日落 | 渐 | 黄昏 gauze window | sunset | gradual | twilight (lit. yellow, darkening) shāchuāng | rìluò | jiàn | huánghūn _ _ \ \ _ _

金屋 | 无 人 | 见 | 泪痕 gold house | no one | sees | tear tracks jīnwū | wú rén | jiàn | lèihén _ _ _ _ \ \ _

寂寞 | 空 庭 | 春 | 欲 晚 lonely silence | empty hall | Spring | desires lateness jìmò | kōng tíng | chūn | yù wǎn

\ \ _ _ _  \ \

梨花 | 满 地 | 不 | 开 门 pear blossoms | fill floor | no | open door líhuā | mǎn dì | bù | kāi mén _ _ \ \ \ _ _

Title

Now to the title - 春怨 chūn yuàn (lit. Spring Laments). There is a trope in poetry called 怀春 huái chūn embracing spring (lit.). You may have heard of the sexual connotation, and it can be that! But a lot of the time 怀春 is also a romantic thing. Being attracted, being drawn by beauty like the bright and lively sceneries of Spring, it’s natural to want to share the moment with someone close to her. 

A twist on this trope comes when that person - a lover, a husband - isn’t around or can’t be around. There could be lots of reasons, ok? Like being called away to war, separated because of politics, posted to distant counties and difficulty uprooting the family to move for a three-year thing - in other words, life giving lemons in general or simply that his heart is not here. But whatever it may be, this is how you get a flaw, a regret, a dissatisfaction, some unhappiness in a life... and now we feel 怨. 

Spring itself is also very about the world waking up again, a time of renewal where life is everywhere (or the seeds of it are being sown… literally!) and the year is young. A person’s youth is also often compared to Spring, and its passing or a ‘wasted youth’ is something worthy of regret.

The genre of poetry in which the speaker or main focus is a sorrowful lady usually for any form or combination of the mentioned reasons is called 闺怨 guī yuàn boudoir repining. It’s also called 宫怨 palace lament when the focus and setting is on the ladies - the empress, a concubine and so on - in the palace. (Roughly 10% of the Three Hundred Tang Poems are of the boudoir/palace repining genre. I really can’t help but wonder if this is one of the editor’s favoured tropes.) Such poems could be written by ladies, but the theme was often co-opted by men who used it to express adjacent feelings e.g. not being appreciated by their bosses (xD), failure to attain office via the state exams and so on. This is what has happened here for our poem of the day.

So now, Liu Fangping, what laments do you have for us this Spring?

[Family background check, praise and gossip - come get the scoop on Liu Fangping, beautiful man and mountain hermit from the Height of Tang Dynasty.]

Reading

The setting for this poem is in someone’s room, before their window. From it, they can see the fallen pear blossoms across the floor outside and the closed door.

Time for clue hunting to get some more context. 

Who

The use of 纱 shā gauze, a light silk with an especially airy weave, as window screens was not something the average commoner family could afford. 

(Source)

We know the POV character is in their room and facing their window, enough to observe the sunset. They must be indoors. What sort of building? The next line tells us it’s a 金屋 jīnwū, literally translated, that would be golden house - but this is should not be taken literally. This is actually a reference to the ‘urban legend’ (or maybe RPF as we call it these days LOL) that gave rise to the idiom, 金屋藏娇 jīn wū cáng jiāo a golden house to keep one's mistress (lit.). 

As collected by 班固 Ban Gu (32 to 92 CE) in his 汉武故事 Stories of Emperor Wu of Han, the story goes:

数岁，长公主嫖抱置膝上，问曰：儿，欲得妇不？胶东王曰：欲得妇。长公主指左右长御百余人，皆云不用。末指其女，问曰：阿娇好不？于是乃笑对曰：好！若得阿娇作妇，当作金屋贮之也。长主大悦，乃苦要上，遂成婚焉。 (Rough translation because I want to SLEEP) When he was couple of years old, the Grand Princess, (Liu) Piao carried him, put him on her knee and asked, “Child, do you want a wife?” The Prince of Jiaodong said, “Yes,”  The Grand Princess pointed out over a hundred palace officials - similar to ladies-in-waiting - all of whom were refused. Finally, she pointed at her own daughter and asked, “Would a’Jiao suit?”  And he smiled and said in reply, “Perfect! If I were to have a’Jiao as wife, I would build her a golden house and stow her away.”  Delighted, the Grand Princess worked hard at convincing the Emperor to agree to their marriage and eventually succeeded.

Afterwards, when the Prince of Jiaodong also known as Liu Che (156 - 87 BCE) became the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty, he built his Chen Jiao a beautiful palace and later officially made her his Empress. A fairytale might have ended there but while this is a story, it is also a story about real people… and so instead of a happily-ever-after, in real life we get this. The palace of gold that was built did not bring a’Jiao happiness, the childhood promise of love didn’t last half as long as the palace did, but the ironically romantic idiom that came from it outlasted them all.

Now back to Tang Dynasty in the 8th century! 

Liu Fangping writes 金屋无人见泪痕. This 金屋 could hint at a broken promise of love, or it could be a hint at the identity of the lady in this poem. No matter the intent for both or either one of these though, what’s for sure is that the reason for 怨 is answered. More on this later.

When

There are three clues that answer this. First, line one tells us that it’s on an evening gradually painted in the colours of sunset (as seen through the silk screen window). Second, is how the poem’s POV tells us it seems to be late Spring in line three. Third, is the evidence that it is indeed late Spring - the fallen pear blossoms that are all over the floor in line four. 

While we’re on the topic of pear blossoms, let’s segue into…

Imagery

Pear Blossoms

Observe the pear blossoms in this yard. How do you feel as you look at them?

(Source)

Each flower is so delicate and pure, their petals soft and velvety. Up close these white flowers give me a peaceful and refreshing vibe. 

Pear blossoms bloom in late Spring when the weather has thoroughly warmed, around the solar term period of Qingming. They’re very fragile and are easily blown from their branches by the wind. But while they’re around and the pear trees fully blossomed, it’s a beautiful and tranquil sight to be appreciated.

（Source)

And we should appreciate them while they’re here because their flowering period is so short! All too soon, they’re strewn across the floor as time marches on. 

(Source)

The sight of pear blossoms carpeting the ground is a marker of the end of Spring.

梨 lí, the word for pear in pear blossom is a homophone of 离 lí, parting, and this coupled with its image of fleeting, fragile beauty often leads to association with grief and/or mourning. Following from there, the image of a ‘sorrowful woman confined in the boudoir as her youth passes’ is easily linked and a common accompanying theme. (Yes it’s a trope xD I’ll point it out again in the future as we encounter them.)

Side note: Taking the ‘unfavoured concubine’ reading of this poem, the fact that the sun isn’t down, yet the yard is littered with flowers that likely have been there for a while and there are no servants attending to that - all of this just emphasizes ‘unfavoured’. Few would make that extra effort on a team with no future!

Empty courtyard

It is getting dark, the day growing colder and it is so very quiet in this house. The loneliness is the trigger for her tears; both the quiet and the empty courtyard from which Spring is receding only amplifies it. 

Setting sun

黄昏 huáng hūn is sunset. Literally, it reads yellow-dim/dark. The movement of the light is the only thing in this poem. The sunset is gradual, dimming from the warm yellow tones of the setting sun to shadows and darkness. But the fallen white petals and flowers in the courtyard are going to be very visible until the very last of the light is gone. 

In this poem, each line is a different, standalone image that stacks to build the atmosphere, expressing 春怨 perfectly.

Framed by her silk screen window, the sun goes down on her gilded house where there is no one to see, or no one who will care to see her tears. Her emotion overflows this evening because the loneliness has grown to fill her neglected yard, and she is accompanied only by the silence and the last remnants of her Spring. There is nothing for her outside, and no one comes. The door does not open. 

Some pictures...

It's a rather depressing note to leave this post on, so I thought it might be on interest to all of us how a palace or a house might have looked!

Here is the scene of a banquet in a Tang Dynasty palace as imagined by an artist of the Five Dynasties or Song Dynasty some two to four hundred years later.

This painting is from the The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Visit the source for the writeup and description!

(Source)

This is an imagining of how a Tang (618 - 907) Palace concert might have looked like by a Yuan (1279-1368) Dynasty artist. Again, check out the description at the source!

(Source)

[linjunjian]

The Chariots Roll[1]

By Du Fu (712 - 770)

Chariots rumble, horses neigh,

Conscripts with bows and arrows at their waists stay.

Parents, wives, children, all run out to wave goodbye,

Xianyang Bridge[2] shrouded in dust, hides away.

Clothes gripped, feet stomp, they block the way,

Their wails ascend, piercing through the cloudy day.

A passerby[3] by the roadside queries a conscripted man,

The man responds, “Drafts continue without end.

From fifteen, we march north to guard the river's bend,[4]

Until forty, we till the fields of the western land.[5]

Our lizheng wrapped our heads as we departed,[6]

Returning with white hair, we guard the border still.

The border outposts bleed, an ocean charted,

Yet the Martial Emperor's thirst for expansion remains unfulfilled.[7]

Sir, have you not heard of Han’s provinces east of the mountains,[8] two hundred strong,

Where thousands of villages and hamlets, brambles and thorns belong.

Though strong women wield hoes and ploughs with might,

The fields' crops grow wild, chaos in sight.

And the soldiers of Qin, in battles they brave,

Driven like dogs and chickens, no difference in their fate.

Though you, elder, may inquire with care,

Can a conscript dare voice his despair?

In this winter, west of the Pass,[9]

Soldiers still await their rest.

County officials demand their share,

But whence do taxes and rents flare?

Know that bearing a son brings distress,

While having a daughter is a prize blessed.

A daughter, at least, can wed a neighbor,

But a son will be buried among the hundred grasses.

Sir, have you not seen Qinghai's edge so vast?

Through the ages, white bones untouched and cast.

New ghosts mourn, old spirits weep,

In the mist and rain, their cries seep, wailing, wailing.”

[1] The Chariots Roll, written by Du Fu (712-770) during the Tianbao period (742-756) of the Tang Dynasty, likely in 751, captures a turbulent era marked by the Tang Empire's frequent military campaigns against ethnic minorities in the southwestern regions. In 751, under the command of General Xianyu Zhongtong, an army of 80,000 suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of Nanzhao, resulting in the loss of 60,000 soldiers. To replenish the severely diminished forces, the principal chancellor, Yang Guozhong, initiated an impressment campaign, involving the coercive drafting of civilians, who were bound in chains and sent to military camps. This poem poignantly reflects the harsh realities and human suffering brought about by these historical events.

[2] The Xianyang Bridge was built by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It was located southwest of present-day Xianyang City in Shaanxi Province. It served as a vital route for travel from Chang'an to the northwestern regions.

[3] Refers to Du Fu himself.

[4] During the 750s, the Tang Dynasty frequently clashed with the Tibetan Empire. Tang troops from the Longyou, Guanzhong, and Shuofang regions were strategically stationed west of the Yellow River to defend against Tibetan incursions.

[5] Under the tuntian system, troops were sent to harsh frontier landscapes with the objective of transforming uncultivated land into self-sustaining agrarian settler colonies. This was also a measure to defend against Tibetan incursions.

[6] In the Tang Dynasty, for every one hundred households, an official called lizheng (里正) was appointed. The lizheng was responsible for managing household registrations, overseeing civil affairs, and urging the completion of tax and labor duties. Young recruits needed the assistance of a lizheng to wrap their heads with a three-chi-long black silk.

[7] In Tang poetry, it was common to use "Han" as a euphemism for the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, the term "Martial Emperor" (or Emperor Wu of Han) is used to refer to Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. "Han" in the following line also refers to the Tang Dynasty.

[8] Mount Xiao and Mount Hua.

[9] The Hangu Pass.

兵车行 杜甫 车辚辚，马萧萧，行人弓箭各在腰。 耶娘妻子走相送，尘埃不见咸阳桥。 牵衣顿足拦道哭，哭声直上干云霄。 道旁过者问行人，行人但云点行频。 或从十五北防河，便至四十西营田。 去时里正与裹头，归来头白还戍边。 边庭流血成海水，武皇开边意未已。 君不闻汉家山东二百州，千村万落生荆杞。 纵有健妇把锄犁，禾生陇亩无东西。 况复秦兵耐苦战，被驱不异犬与鸡。 长者虽有问，役夫敢申恨？ 且如今年冬，未休关西卒。 县官急索租，租税从何出？ 信知生男恶，反是生女好。 生女犹得嫁比邻，生男埋没随百草。 君不见，青海头，古来白骨无人收。 新鬼烦冤旧鬼哭，天阴雨湿声啾啾！

[journeythroughjourneytothewest]

Chapter Recap: Chapter Twenty-Two: Eight Rules fights fiercely at the Flowing-Sand River; Moksa by order receives Wujing's submission

This chapter begins with the three pilgrims proceeding swiftly through the Yellow Wind Mountain and then traveling without any special difficulty until autumn. Yet it is at this time that they come upon “a huge and turbulent river, its waves surging and splashing.” Tripitaka and Eight Rules are doubtful that they can cross it, and even Sun Wukong is left “somewhat frightened” by the ferocity of its waves and the fact that it is at least eight hundred miles wide. For while he “need only make one twist of his body” to “reach the other shore…for you, Master, it’s a thousand times more difficult, for you can’t traverse it even in ten thousand years!”  

Anxious to cross but equally anxious at the dangers that lay in trying, Tang Sanzang soon discovers a slab of stone. All three pilgrims read it and discover that their most recent obstacle is the “Flowing-Sand River,” which is not only eight hundred miles wide but also three thousand miles deep. It is further composed of “weak water” so that even feathers and petals sink to its bottom. As the trio are going over these facts, a “most savage and hideous monster” with a “head full of tousled and flame-like hair,” a “pair of bright, round, eyes which shone like lamps,” “an indigo face, neither black nor green,” a neck adorned with “nine skulls” as a necklace, and wielding “an awesome priestly staff” suddenly bursts from the water. This yaoguai “went straight for the Tang Monk,” but Pilgrim Sun manages to pull his shifu to higher ground while Zhu Bajie engages this “fiend” in a battle. We also learn through a poem that just as Eight Rules was once the Marshal of Heavenly Reeds, this river yaoguai was once the Curtain-Raising Captain by the Throne, and that in years past they had met each other as deities in the Divine Mists Hall. Now, however, they fight ferociously for twenty rounds, with neither one emerging the victor.

Sun Wukong, for his own part, is standing guard over Tang Sanzang, Bai Longma, and the luggage. Yet he “became so aroused by the sight of Eight Rules engaging that fiend” that eventually the monkey “could not restrain himself,” and leaves Tripitaka’s side so that he could “go play with [the yaoguai] a little.” Ignoring the Tang monk’s pleas for him to stay, the Monkey King joins the fight “with a loud whoop” and leaves the river monster “so shaken” that he “dove straight into the Flowing-Sand River and disappeared.” This upsets Zhu Bajie greatly, who leaps about wildly asking Sun Wukong while he spoiled the battle. The Monkey King laughingly tells the pig that when “I saw how delicious your fight with him was…I jumped up here to have some fun with him.” The two soon return to Tang Sanzang “holding hands and teasing each other,” but they do have to tell Tripitaka about their failure to catch the yaoguai. The Tang monk also suggests that the river yaoguai might be a good person “to lead us across” the Flowing-Sand River, as he had “probably lived here for a long time.” Sun Wukong agrees, and states that when they catch this yaoguai they won’t kill him immediately but will “just make him take Master across the river before we dispose of him.”

All apparently agreeing to this plan, Zhu Bajie tells Sun Wukong to fight with the river yaoguai while he guards Tang Sanzang. The Monkey King, however, reveals with a laugh that “doing business in water somewhat cramps my style” because he either has to transform into a water creature or use one hand to wield a water repelling spell when dealing with that element. Eight Rules then states that he had once “commanded a naval force of eighty thousand men” and had thus “acquired some knowledge” of moving through water when he was the Marshal of the Heavenly River, but that he is afraid that the river yaoguai might “have a few relatives down there in his den, and I won’t be able to withstand him if his seventh and eighth cousins all come out.” As such, Sun Wukong proposes that Zhu Bajie fight with the monster a little bit before feigning defeat to entice him to the shore, whereupon “old Monkey will help you.” Eight Rules agrees to this plan, and immediately “leaped through billows and waves and headed for the bottom of the river.”

The river yaoguai, for his own part, is at home catching his breath. Yet he is forced to confront Zhu Bajie once again, with the pig demanding that this monster explain what he means when he says he’s “no demon or fiend, nor do I lack a name or surname,” even though he does “stay here and take human lives.” The river yaoguai then reveals through poetry how he was once the Curtain-Raising Captain in the South Heaven Gate, exalted by the Jade Emperor himself. Yet one day when the Queen Mother was giving the Festival of Peach, he had dropped and broken a jade cup, which so enraged the Jade Emperor that he immediately stripped him of his rank and finery and would have had him killed if the Naked Feet Great immortal hadn’t begged to free the ex-captain. So instead the Jade Emperor sentenced the ex-captain to exile on the shores of the Flowing-Sand River. Here the ex-captain had become a yaoguai who’s “eaten many men;/over and over I took human lives.” He then threatens to make Zhu Bajie his “minced meat sauce.” This so enrages Eight Rules—for “Old Hog is tempting enough to make people’s mouths water, and you dare say that I’m coarse, that I’m to be chopped up for a chopped meat sauce!”—that they immediately start fighting. They go at it for two hours with neither one prevailing.

Up on the shore, Sun Wukong watches the fight “with bulging eyes,” but he dares not intervene. Finally Zhu Bajie feigns defeat and makes for the eastern shore, the river yaoguai hot on his heels. The plan is ruined, however, when “our Pilgrim could no longer restrain himself. He abandoned his master, whipped out the iron rod, leaped to the riverside and struck at the monster’s head. Fearing to face him, the monster swiftly dove back into the river.” An infuriated Eight Rules calls Sun Wukong a “BanHorsePlauge” and “impulsive ape,” berating him for spoiling the effort. The Monkey King merely laughs and says they should talk to Tang Sanzang.

Returning to the monk, Zhu Bajie first gives his report before Sun Wukong suggests they bed down for the night “and let old Monkey go beg some vegetarian food.” The Monkey King quickly returns with a full bowl, laughing when Tripitaka suggests that they “go to that household which gave us the food and ask them how we may cross this river”; the family the meal is from, after all, live “about six or seven thousand miles” away. Eight Rules accuses Sun Wukong of fibbing, which leads the monkey to describe the merits of his cloud somersault, “which with one leap can cover one hundred and eight thousand miles.” Hearing this, Zhu Bajie asks Sun Wukong why he doesn’t simply carry Tripitaka to the Buddha. Yet when the Monkey King asks the pig why he doesn’t do so, for he too knows how to ride the clouds, Eight Rules states that the “mortal nature and worldly bones of Master are as heavy as the Tai Mountain…How could my cloud soaring bear him?” Sun Wukong says it’s the same case with him; “old Monkey knows every trick well, including becoming invisible and making distances shorter. But it is required of Master to go through all these strange territories before he finds deliverance from the sea of sorrows; hence even one step turns out to be difficult. You and I are only his protective companions, guarding his body and life, but we cannot exempt him from these woes, nor can we obtain the scriptures all by ourselves.” And after all, as Sun Wukong concludes, “What’s easily gotten/ soon forgotten.” Zhu Bajie accepts this all “as instruction,” and all three pilgrims eat some of the vegetarian food before going to sleep.

The next morning, Sun Wukong suggests that they try to pull the same trick as last time, promising that “this time I’ll try not to be impulsive.” After some complaining Eight Rules agrees to go along with it, and so dives back down to confront the river yaoguai. After the ex-captain gives a lengthy poem on the merits of his treasure staff, the two deities turned yaoguai start fighting in earnest “from the bottom of the river up to the surface of the water.” Zhu Bajie once again pretends to be defeated and flees, but the river yaoguai sees through it and refuses to go out on the bank. When Sun Wukong sees this state of affairs, “he became highly irritated” and tries to capture the monster nevertheless, but the river yaoguai “dove into the water and disappeared” before he has a chance. Eight Rules and the Monkey King are thus once again unsuccessful, and once again decide to talk to Tang Sanzang.

When he hears the news of this most recent failure, Tripitaka immediately starts crying. But Sun Wukong asks him to “please don’t worry,” as he’s going to leave for the South Sea to seek out Bodhisattva Guanyin again in hopes of her help while Zhu Bajie stays behind to guard the monk. The monkey leaves on this mission with Tang Sanzang’s encouragement and Eight Rules’ request to “please convey my gratitude to her for her kindly instructions in the past.” It takes Sun Wukong no time at all to reach the South Sea and the Potalaka mountain, and soon enough he prostrates himself before the bodhisattva. The monkey explains this most recent ordeal with “a monster in the river who is quite accomplished in the martial arts,” and asks her to “take pity and grant us deliverance.” Bodhisattva Guanyin, however, but asks Sun Wukong if he is “still acting so smug and self-sufficient that you refuse to disclose the fact that you are in the service of the Tang Monk?” The Monkey King is forced to admit that he had never brought the matter up to the river yaoguai. The bodhisattva chide Sun Wukong further, revealing to him that the “monster in the Flowing-Sand River…happens to be the incarnate Curtain-Raising Captain, who was also brought into the faith by my persuasion…Had you been willing to mention that you were a scripture pilgrim from the Land of the East…he would have yielded.”

There is, of course, the problem of this monster being “afraid to fight now; he refuses to come up to the shore and is hiding deep in the water.” Bodhisattva Guanyin thus summons her disciple Hui’an and gives him “a little red gourd from her sleeves” along with the instructions to “Take this gourd and go with Sun Wukong to the Flowing-Sand River. Call ‘Wujing,’ and he’ll come out at once. You must first take him to submit to the Tang Monk. Next, string together those nine skulls of his and arrange them according to the position of the Nine Palaces. Put this gourd in the center, and you will have a dharma vessel ready to ferry the Tang Monk across the boundary formed by the Flowing-Sand River.” Sun Wukong and Hui-an leave to carry out Bodhisattva Guanyin’s instructions “with the Great Sage carrying the gourd.”

Soon enough the Monkey King and Moksa meet up with Tang Sanzang and Zhu Bajie. Sun Wukong gives an account of what just happened and what he was told to do. Moksa, gourd in hand “and treading half on cloud and half on fog,” “moved directly above the surface of the Flowing-Sand River” and cries out the river yaoguai’s religious name, asking him why he hadn’t yet submitted to the scripture pilgrim. Wujing, who, “fearful of the Monkey King, had gone back to the bottom of the river to rest in his den,” swiftly leaps out of the water as soon as he hears Moksa calling, “all smiles” as he greets Hui-an but quickly souring when he spots Eight Rules and the Monkey King. Yet Moksa is able to smooth over any tension with some explanation, even though the river yaoguai is soon called a “bum” by Zhu Bajie, who asks Wujing why “did you not submit to me in the first place?” This time, it is Sun Wukong who calms the pig down, even stating that it’s “really our fault for not mentioning that we were seeking scriptures, and we didn’t tell him our names.” The river yaoguai then tells the Tang Monk that that Bodhisattva Guanyin already gave him “the religious name Sha Wujing,” and that he’s eager to accept Tripitaka as his master. At Tang Sanzang’s request, Sun Wukong shaves Sha Wujing’s head, and the river yaoguai thus becomes “the youngest disciple of the Tang Monk.” Tripitaka, when he sees that his newest follower “comported himself very much like a monk,” also gives him “the nickname of Sha Monk.”

The matter settled, Moksa then has Sha Wujing take off his skull necklace and arrange the skulls “after the design of the Nine Palaces, placing the gourd in the middle.” Tang Sanzang “thus embarked on the dharma vessel,” finding it to be “as sturdy as a little boat.” He is further “supported by Eight Rules on his left and Wujing on his right, while Pilgrim Sun, leading the dragon-horse, followed in the rear, treading half on cloud and half on fog. Above their heads Moksa also took up his post to give them added protection. In this way our master of the Law was safely ferried across the boundary of the Flowing-Sand River.” As soon as they reach the other side Moksa takes back the gourd, while “the nine skulls changed into nine curls of dark wind and vanished.” After receiving thanks from the Tang monk, Moksa goes back to the South and Tang Sanzang remounts Bai Longma, and the journey to the west goes on.

What adventures the now complete pilgrim group may encounter next is a question that will be answered in the next chapter.

[liberty-or-death]

Hua Cheng's Poem (Part 2) - The Song of Mourning (The full translation) (Yuan Zhen 元稹's Mourning 离思)

This is the full translation of “The Song of Mourning”.  I’ve translated the whole thing so it’s easier to get a sense of the whole poem.  (Annnnd, I just wanted to do it lol).  The poet Yuan Zhen was married to his wife, Wei Cong so this poem was likely about her.  @fwoopersongs has explained the historical context in greater detail!

TLDR: the first two segments are about how he loves his wife and their idyllic life. In the third segments he says his wife's the best. (ie. the best materials). The fourth segment talks about how his wife is incomparable and compares her to Mount Wu and the rippling sea. And the final segment talks about her passing. :(

Segment 1

自爱残妆晓镜中,

Loves looking at the remnants of her makeup in the mirror in the morning 

环钗漫篸绿丝丛。

Her hairpin’s still stuck in her hair. 

须臾日射胭脂颊，

Shortly after, the rising sun shines on her blush stained cheeks. 

一朵红苏旋欲融。

Like a red flower blooms and melts 

Segment 2 

山泉散漫绕阶流，

The mountain springs flow gently through the steps 

万树桃花映小楼。

Ten thousand peach blossoms line the small tower

闲读道书慵未起，

I flip through my Taoist books lazily without getting up 

水晶帘下看梳头。

As I look down at you comb your hair behind the crystal veil.  

(The image of a beautiful person behind the veil is a common recurring theme in poetry.  In ancient times, the crystal veils were made of top notch material, so it was supposed to be almost translucent.  During the Tang Dynasty, the glass was imported so it was regarded as a gem and loved by the aristocrats.) 

Segment 3

红罗著压逐时新，

Hongluo, that has been pressed (a weaving technique), is always used in the pursuit of fashionable prints.  

(Hongluo refers to red gauze curtains)

吉了花纱嫩麴尘。

An embroidery of a crested myna is dyed in delicate colour of wine. 

第一莫嫌材地弱，

Please don’t be the first to say these materials are too weak

些些纰缦最宜人。

The thinly wrapped silk is the most pleasant

Segment 4

曾经沧海难为水，

If you’ve experienced the rippling sea, you won’t be attracted to water anywhere else

除却巫山不是云。

If you’ve been enchanted by the wind and cloud of Wushan (Mount Wu), you won’t be attracted to the clouds of other scenery

取次花丛懒回顾，

Even amidst all the flowers, I’m lazy to take another look. (The “flowers” refer to the prostitutes in the brothers or women)

半缘修道半缘君。

This is because, half of it the reason is due to a Tao cultivator’s pure mind, and the half is because of the you that I once had.

(I’ve previously explained Segment 4 in detail)

Segment 5 

寻常百种花齐发，

When the hundred different flowers were blooming

偏摘梨花与白人。

I just had to pick a white pear flower for you, my fair one

(The white pear flower was used to symbolise a lady’s tears in ancient poetry)

今日江头两三树，

But now I’m like the two or three trees that stand by the river.

可怜和叶度残春。

It’s pitiful there’re only leaves that spend the rest of spring with me.

Resource: (1)

Related Meta

Hua Cheng’s Poem (Part 1) - “The Song of Mourning: Fourth Segment”

[sane-human]

Yamato Period - (250–710) (or Asuka Period from 592 to 645) - At the era of Prince Shōtoku in the early 7th century, a new constitution was prescribed for Japan based on the Chinese model. After the fall of Baekje (660 AD), the Yamato government sent envoys directly to the Chinese court, from which they obtained a great wealth of philosophical and social structure. In addition to ethics and government, they also adopted the Chinese calendar and many of its religious practices, including Confucianism and Taoism.

Kumashu - Kuma (meaning "bear") and So (written with the character for "attack" or "layer on"). & Hayato - (隼人), which is Japanese for "falcon-people"

Emishi - Shrimp Barbarian (In later records, the kanji spelling changed to 蝦夷, composed of the characters for "shrimp" and "barbarian". The use of the "shrimp" spelling is thought to refer to facial hair, like the long whiskers of a shrimp, but this is not certain.)

I did some more research on the kingdoms of Korea and based on the history Silla is the kingdom that will take over Baekje and that took over already Gaya, and later will attack Goguryeo too! The Goguryeo–Tang War will be from 645 to 668 and there Goguryeo will die. (The war marked the end of the Three Kingdoms of Korea period)

🡆 Important- I did some confusion in a previous post with them , Ill try to be more careful!

Tang Dynasty -(618 to 907 AD) It is traditionally considered the greatest age for Chinese poetry! (Three Hundred Tang Poems), Many famous painters (like Zhou Fang) were active, while Chinese court music flourished with instruments such as the popular Pipa!

(I may have done errors , if anyone has more information or adjustements you're more than welcome to help!)

[shaguagua]

This is poem 將進酒(jiāng jìn jiǔ; Offering a drink) by 李白(Li bai) in 唐朝(tang dynasty). He is very well know in Asia, and he is respected as god of poem. He wrote many poems about drinking that 李白 loved to drink.

The poem comes up here and there with different people while drinking or offering drinking🥂

君不見，黃河之水天上來，奔流到海不復廻。

Have you not seen the yellow river flows down from the sky that could not reach the sea.

又不見，高堂明鏡悲白髮，朝如靑絲暮如雪。

Also have you not seen the hair turns black to white in a day.

人生得意須盡歡，莫使金樽空對月，

If there is a joy, you must enjoy, why would you fill the gold cup with moonshine?

天生我材必有用，千金散盡還復來。

There will be a day when the sky-given talent will be used, even the riches are gone, they will come back anyways.

烹羊宰牛且爲樂，會須一飮三百杯。

Make delicious food and enjoy them, if we are to drink we must drink at least three hundreds.

岑夫子，丹丘生，將進酒，君莫停。

岑夫子(cén fū zǐ)，丹丘生(dān qiū shēng)，Let us drink, do not let the cup rest

與君歌一曲，請君爲我側耳聽。

I will sing a song for you, please listen to it.

鍾鼎玉帛不足貴，但願長醉不願醒，

Treasure and wealth, what of those? I just do not want to be sober but drunk,

古來賢達皆寂莫，惟有飮者留其名。

In old times, all wise men and masters have been silent, only a person who drinks, would be remembered.

陳王昔日宴平樂，斗酒十千恣歡謔。

The king gave feast in his palace with a drink worth as a gold.

主人何爲言少錢，且須沽酒對君酌。

How could I say I lack money, anyway I would buy a drink right now for you.

五花馬，千金裘，

The precious, the treasure and anything worth,

呼兒將出換美酒，與爾同銷萬古愁。

I will change those to drinks for we to melt our sorrows away.

I accidentally deleted it, I don't know why.. anyways I update with the full poem. This poem is amazing that the last syllables of poem in chinese and Korean are the same(well not exactly the same but somehow rhyme? match?) why it's so amazing is that he was writing those on a whim. 🤯

[tongliheavymachinery]

LINXI LAKE GREEN MOUNTAIN SPRING VALLY WATER&STONE BUDDHA TEMPLE

Why you should go to linxi spring water vally mountain in anji China?

long story short because it has spring and water and vally and a beautiful temple.

Anji Lingxi Mountain Scenic Area is located in Shanchuan Township, Anji County, only 50 kilometers away from Hangzhou City, with convenient transportation. It is an eco-tourism area integrating religious culture, streams, waterfalls, canyons, strange rocks, and precious plants. 

Nature has created unique tourism resources deep in the mountains of Lingxi Mountain, with towering dangerous peaks, towering ancient trees, high mountains and flowing water, and far-reaching artistic conception. The main peak, Lingxiao Peak, is 1,169.6 meters above sea level. 

It is located in a forest oxygen bar with rich ecological resources, creating a unique reputation as “a new talent in northern Zhejiang, a picturesque Lingxi River”.

Why you should go to linxi spring water vally mountain in anji China?

Because it is beautiful, Anji Stone Buddha Temple is located in the Lingxi Mountain Scenic Area. It takes half an hour to forty-five minutes to climb the mountain to reach it. It is at an altitude of 1085.9 meters. It is surrounded by mountains, evergreen all year round, and beautiful scenery.

It is worth mentioning that the gate of Shifo Temple is well preserved in its original state. The gate is 2.1 meters high and 1.33 meters wide. It is made of 15 pieces of bluestone on both sides. The bluestone is carved with two lifelike, small and exquisite stone lion reliefs and Eight Immortals props. There are pictures. Carve 17. The three characters “Shifo Temple” are in Yan style regular script, each word is about 20 square centimeters. The stones on the remaining wall of Shifo Temple have turned gray or black, and shrubs and weeds have grown diagonally from the cracks in the wall, making people feel like they are in ancient times; On the Guanyin Cave in the Buddhist temple, there are four characters “Zizhu Lingshan” carved on the stone cliff.

According to the “Lin’an County Place Names Chronicle”, it was found that in the Xinyou Year of Guanghua (901 AD) at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the scholar Huang Yan visited the Stone Buddhist Temple and left a poem: “The purple air is dense and the pines surround the river, the mountains are broken by the clouds, the stone walls are cold, and hundreds of birds are chirping. Flowers surround the valley, winding paths lead to quiet and flowing water, there is a stone Buddhist temple in the core of lotus roots, and Guanyin Cave with long drops of nectar.” If verified from this poem, Shifo Temple is more than a thousand years old.

Where you should stay and how to book a hotel if you plan to go to linxi spring water vally mountain and stone buddha temple?

I use Ctrip to book the hotel when i go to linxi spring mountain vally stone buddha mountain.

You can use Ctrip’s website or app, users need to select the “hotel” option and enter the name of the destination city or region. In the search results, users can filter out suitable hotels based on their needs. Filter criteria include price, star rating, location, etc.

Once the target hotel is selected, the user needs to fill in the check-in and check-out dates. At the same time, Ctrip will also provide price and room type choices. After determining the check-in date, check-out date and room type, the user needs to fill in the check-in person’s information, including name, gender and contact information.

After filling in the information, Ctrip will generate an order and ask the user to pay. Payment methods include Alipay, WeChat, credit card and other methods, providing users with convenient payment channels. After completing the payment, the user will receive a text message or email confirming the successful booking, and the details of the order will also be displayed in the personal account, allowing the user to check the order status at any time.

How do I get to linxi spring water mountain scenic area?

Buy Car or taxi only. first of all  this scenic area is far from the city like 2 hour, and part of the road is narrow therefore no bus get there, only taxi or private taxi cab. The ticket is 160RMB with cable car back and forth.

[mycatwantstoeatpins]

Blood of Youth recap - episode 7

Lei Yuzhai orders the rest of the disciples to attack.

The Spear Deity Sikong Changfeng (Third City Lord of Xueyue City) arrives. Xiao Se says Shen Jingzhou and Wang Rensun are first-rate experts and this man is the greatest spear fighter of the age.

Sikong Changfeng gives Wushuang a message for Song Yanhui and takes control of the Wushuang sword box.

Lei Wujie almost passes out from excitement.

Sikong Changfeng has an awkward dad moment with Qianluo and calls Lei Wujie a promising young man. He says he’s here to send Ye Anshi back to the sect.

The White-Haired Deity arrives and says he’ll take Wuxin. Lei Wujie says he hasn’t asked if Wuxin wants to go. Xiao Se says the armistice is over and Wuxin can go wherever he wants.

Mo Qishi kneels to Wuxin and asks him to come back to Tianwaitian. Sikong Changfeng congratulates Ye Anshi on his return. Wuchan says Hanshui Temple will always be his home.

Wuxin tells Lei Wujie to practise his technique and tells Xiao Se he hopes he never has to use his. Xiao Se says he’s already forgotten it. There’s a callback to Wuxin’s poem from episode 6.

I wish to travel north with the wind watching the snow sweeping across the land. I wish to travel east with the ship seeing the elegant fairy brave the wind. I wish to travel far with the clouds – even the emperor ruling the court cannot stop me. I will bathe in sunlight on the top of Mount Kunlun. I will witness lush mountains rise at the edge of the ocean. We shall reunite after a long journey. But I won’t go home unless I’ve seen the world!

Qi Tianchen, State Preceptor, plays weiqi with Xiao Ruojin, Emperor Mingde and tells him losing the hostage was good outcome.

Xiao Se and Lei Wujie arrive in Xueyue City. Lei Wujie wins a series of fights to climb Dengtian Tower. On the thirteenth floor he meets Luo Mingxuan whom he has to duel with dice, so Lei Wujie goes down to see Xiao Se. Xiao Se charges him another three hundred silver taels for advice.

Xiao Se invites Li Fansong and Feixuan from Mount Wangcheng to have tea with him since they know divinaiton.

Lei Wujie uses martial arts to manipulate the dice and fight Luo Mingxuan to win.

Sikong Qianluo comes to fight Lei Wujie and Xiao Se intercepts her.

Lei Wujie meets Tang Lian on the fourteenth floor. Tang Lian says he doesn’t need to challenge the tower to enter the sect and Lei Wujie says there’s someone he wants to meet, and he has to beat the tower first. Lei Wujie wins and Tang Lian tells him he’d better not tell anyone he threw the fight.

[sinetheta]

蘭葉春葳蕤， 桂華秋皎潔； 欣欣此生意， 自爾為佳節。 誰知林棲者？ 聞風坐相悅， 草木有本心， 何求美人折？ Tender orchid-leaves in spring And cinnamon- blossoms bright in autumn Are as self- contained as life is, Which conforms them to the seasons. Yet why will you think that a forest-hermit, Allured by sweet winds and contented with beauty, Would no more ask to-be transplanted Than would any other natural flower?

Orchid and Orange I (感遇其二) by Zhang Jiuling (張九齡). Tang Dynasty.

Zhang Jiuling (678-740), courtesy name, Zishou (子壽) and nicknamed Bowu (博物), was a notable poet and scholar of the Tang Dynasty. He was also Count Wenxian of Shixing (始興文獻伯) and was a prominent minister who served as a chancellor during Emperor Xuanzong’s reign. The poem’s first line is the arrival of tender orchid in spring, and sweet osmanthus in autumn. Osmanthus, known as sweet olive, or tea olive, is a symbol of love and romance. Zhang was also a commandant of the city of Guilin for a period of time. Guilin, meaning, “fragrant forest,” was distinguished for its fragrant blooming Osmanthus and as a destination of enlightenment for Buddhist monks. 

Follow sinθ magazine for more daily posts about Sino arts and culture.

[nobrashfestivity]

On a Xuande bottomless vase', Qing Gaozong yuzhi shiwen quan ji [Anthology of imperial Qianlong poems and prose], Yuzhi shi si ji [Imperial poems, vol. 4], juan 1, pp. 32-33 .

Song for a Xuande Ware Bottomless Jar

Second only to guan and Ru wares,            it’s the Xuande and Chenghua that are praised, For as age succeeded age,            though the making became finer, Just as skill involved for wheeled carriages            gradually changed, One may want to recover the start,            but, alas, who ever can! This piece basically emulates            zun vessels and lei wine jars, But why is it made without a bottom,            impossible to hold water! Now, don’t say this means            We should be criticized, As when Tang Xigong had the occasion            to confront Marquis Zhao, Who belittled a pottery goblet and            so valued the glitter of a jade, Whose liquid when poured leaked out,            unable to hold it at all. Then, he used the pottery one            and just set the jade one aside. That its three folds integrate nicely,            does this surprise or not? Though the porcelain is without a mark,            We provide it with a title. The copper lining held inside            brings green malachite to life, On the base of which “Xuande” is inscribed,            for the lining is from the “Great Ming”. Fitting together as do inner and outer garment,            as close as elder and younger brother, Though several hundred years have passed.            these join well together. Since it is treasured as a numinous object,            trust that Our words are sincere: Not only can it store water,            it holds flowers as well, So as the meaning of Our gentle words unravel,            may they calm all the six emotions.

[barcarole]

Do you read chinese classical poetry? Do you have any suggestions where to start?

These are some of my favorite poets:

Du Fu

T'ao Ch'ien

Li Bai

Li Qingzhao

Su Shi/Su Tung-p’o

Du Mu (II)

Li Po

You can also start with several collections:

Classic of Poetry/Odes (trans. Ezra Pound)

Nineteen Old Poems

Three Hundred Tang Poems

Songs of the South (this is one of my absolute favorites)

These are some anthology/reference books:

Classical Chinese Poetry: An Anthology, David Hinton

How to Read Chinese Poetry: A Guided Anthology, Zong-qi Cai

Autumn Willows: Poetry by Women of China’s Golden Age, Bannie Chow, Thomas Cleary

Mountain Home: The Wilderness Poetry of Ancient China, David Hinton

Li Po and Tu Fu: Poems, Arthur Cooper; Shui Chien-Tung

Three Chinese Poets: Translations of poems by Wang Wei, Li Bai, and Du Fu, Vikram Seth

Five T’ang Poets, David Young

Personally, I started with an anthology of Du Fu’s poetry (in Spanish, here - also several Tang poets), and then started reading the collections by David Hinton and Vikram Seth. Afterwards, I continued with Li Po, Li Qinzhao, Su Shi, and the classical Tang poetry collections. 

[fwoopersongs]

Thanks for tagging me, @fishylife. I do love doing these and reading your updates!

Favourite colour | Ultramarine as always, but next up maroon has been shunted to third place by powder blue

Currently reading | Oh. A BUNCH of things, nearly all of them works-in-progress on that Chinese webnovel website, JJWXC. Physical book wise though, I’ve been reading 诗书礼乐: 李茀民文化随笔, which is a collection of really charming articles and essays on poetry and music by Prof Lee. It’s changing the way I read Chinese poetry! Also working on reading my way through 唐诗三百首 / Three Hundred Tang Poems.

Last series | 《星汉灿烂》Love Like the Galaxy! I enjoyed it quite a lot. The humor was on point, family drama delicious, and the main character quite delightfully witty. My favourite part of it is the emperor and his epic shipping of the main character and his godson, and BEST of all - how neither of his wives have any respect for him 

"You've been together since you both were young. What did you see in him?" "His face."

Last movie in a theatre | Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Good movie. I had one major major issue with a certain creature and how it was used, but otherwise I liked Mads’ performance as Grindelwald plus his scenes with Dumbledore. They have incredible chemistry.

Currently working on | A couple of translations (when am I not though?). Improving my currently atrocious handwriting with a brush. I’m also drafting notes for Li Qingzhao’s 《一剪梅·红藕香残玉簟秋》 as I read it, and hoping to sub Zhou Shen’s 《光亮》 by next week or the week after. That song is taking a while because I’m also trying to watch the documentary episode it was written for LOL.

Tagging: @liberty-or-death, @merelhyn, @decrescendo, @tofufei, @waningcrescentserenade - But only if you want to! Take however long you need :D! 

[yokohamabeans]

Glossary

Note: This page explains some of the terms / references used in my fic, Requital of a Crane. Explanations are very summarized and will only highlight pertinent points from the story, so do look these up if you’re interested in knowing more! This list will be updated with each new chapter.

Series Index

Chapter 1

Journey to the West [ 西遊記; Xī Yóu Jì / Saiyuki ] : A famous 16th Century Chinese novel about the legendary pilgrimage of a Buddhist monk and his disciples to retrieve sacred scriptures from the ‘Western Regions’ (India) [ 天竺; Tiānzhú / Tenjiku ]. In the manga, Izana and Kakucho alluded to this story as kids at the orphanage when coming up with the idea of Tenjiku.

Sanzō Bōshi [ 三蔵法師 ] : Japanese translation for Tang Sanzang [ 唐三藏; Táng Sānzàng ], the Buddhist monk making the titular pilgrimage in Journey to the West. It is believed that eating his flesh would grant immortality.

Son Gokū [ 孫悟空 ] : Japanese translation for Sun Wukong [ 孙悟空; Sūn Wùkōng ], or the Monkey King, who is Tang Sanzang’s first disciple and main bodyguard. Before meeting Tang Sanzang, he committed a series of offences against the gods and heaven, and was imprisoned and immobilised under the Five Elements Mountain [ 五行山; Wǔxíng Shān ] for six hundred years (or five) before being freed by the Bodhisattva of Mercy , who entrusts him with the mission to guard Tang Sanzang on his journey. To keep Sun Wukong in check, the Goddess makes him wear a magical headband that will tighten and cause an unbearable headache whenever Tang Sanzang recites a special incantation. The Bodhisattva of Mercy [ 観音; Guānyīn / Kannon ] is often depicted as a woman in white robes, holding a vase of pure water that relieves suffering.

Jade Emperor [ 玉皇 (大帝); Yù Huáng / Gyokukōtaitei ] : The supreme leader of the Heavens in Chinese folklore. In Chinese Buddhism, he is identified with Taishakuten [ 帝釈天 ], who rules and commands the Four Heavenly Kings [ 四天王; Sì Tiānwáng / Shitennō ]. In Journey to the West, he is constantly antagonised by Sun Wukong and he seeks the Buddha’s help in teaching him a lesson with imprisonment.

Ashura [ 阿修羅; Ashura ] : A type of Buddhist demon / demigod who is powerful and driven by intense passions, such as wrath, violence, pride and greed. They are usually depicted as having three faces and six (or four) arms.

Kokudō Station [ 国道駅; Kokudō-eki ] : A real-life station in Tsurumi Ward of Yokohama City. The place where South and Kakucho fought is likely based off here.

Chapter 2

Furo [ 風呂 ] : Japanese-style bathtub that is usually deep and narrow. Typically comes with most Japanese houses and apartments. 

Ultraman : A popular superhero character in Japan.

FamilyStore : Tokyo Revenger’s in-universe allusion to the FamilyMart chain of convenience store in Japan.

BlackBox Magazine : An adult / gravure magazine in Japan.

Chapter 3

The Legend of Bo Ya : Bo Ya was a Chinese musician during the Warring Periods. His friendship with Zhong Ziqi is often used as an example of an ideal friendship, and the origin of the term zhī yīn [ 知音; lit. know the tune ] which is used to describe a close and sympathetic friend.

Ron [ 栄 / ロン ] : Winning in Japanese Mahjong with the discarded tile of another player. The player who discarded the tile must pay for all the points attained in the round by the winner.

In Japan, casinos are illegally operated by yakuza / criminal groups.

Chapter 4

The Tale of Genji : Classic work of Japanese literature, written in the early 11th Century by the noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu. It is a work of fiction essentially about the life and many romances of the handsome and amorous Prince Hikaru Genji (光源氏), a son of the Japanese Emperor. One of his romantic pursuits is the wife of provincial deputy, who he calls Utsusemi (空蝉; lit. ‘empty cicada/locust’, aka cicada/locust shell). ‘Sadly I muse upon the shell of a lady’ is a line from a poem in her chapter.

After : Term that hosts and hostesses use to refer to a meeting with clients after club hours.

Mizu-shōbai [ 水商売; lit. Water Trade ] : Night-time entertainment business in Japan.

Seiza [ 正坐 ] : A formal, traditional way of sitting in Japan in a kneeling position.

Gyōza [ 餃子 ] : Japanese dumplings. In Character Book 3, Mocchi recounts a story where he had them with Kakucho and vomited it out after a fight with him.

In Japan, the Customs and Tariff Bureau is under the Ministry of Finance.

Japanese Mahjong Terms Used:

Chī [ 吃 / チー] : Making a meld (sequence of 3 consecutive tiles) from a discarded tile from the player before you.

Pon [ 碰 / ポン ] : Making a set of 3 identical tiles from a discarded tile from any player.

Tsumo [ 自摸 / ツモ ] : Winning with a tile drawn by the player themselves. All other players must pay for the points attained in the round by the winner from this type of winning.

Chītoi [ 七対 ] : A special winning hand in mahjong made up of 7 pairs of tiles. This hand can only be drawn entirely by the player, which makes it one of the more difficult hands to attain.

Kokushi Musō aka Thirteen Orphans [ 国士無双 ] : A special winning hand in mahjong made up of all terminal and honour tiles. This hand can only be drawn entirely by the player, and is worth full points.

Ryūīsō [ 緑一色 ] : A special winning hand made up of only green tiles. This hand is worth full points.

Iiwan [ 一萬 ] , Chūsō [ 九索 ] : Numbered tiles in mahjong. 

Shā [ 西; West ] : One of the honour and wind tiles, which are named after the four cardinal directions. Winds go in order of East > South > West > North.

Chapter 5

"Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?” Quote from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

LINE : An instant messaging / social network application, used as the main platform for communication in Japan.

Tennyō [ 天女 ] : Celestial maidens in Japanese Buddhism. Often described as female servants or courtesans for the emperor of heaven, and companions of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

Tanabata [ 七夕 ] : Annual festival in Japan celebrating the reunion of Orihime and Hikoboshi, which is based on the Chinese folklore of Cowherd and Weaver Girl. It tells the story of two star-crossed lovers who are only allowed to reunite on a bridge of magpies, every year on the seventh day of the seventh month. Legend has it that if it rains on Tanabata, the magpies cannot form the bridge and the lovers must wait for another year to meet.

Zaibatsu [ 財閥 ] : Large Japanese conglomerates that have existed since the pre-World War II period, usually owned by a single family.

“There are as many sorts of women as there are women.” Quote from The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu.

 TBC | Last Updated: 9 February 2023

[hunxi-guilai]

永隔 YONGGE / FOREVER SEPARATED

INTRODUCTION:

永隔 Yongge (Spotify link here; YouTube link here) is the fifteenth song on the CQL companion album, and is performed by Liang Xinyi and Yang Qiyu as Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan, respectively.

I… actually have nothing to say about the title. It’s all right there on the tin.

PRODUCTION STAFF:

Lyricist：林乔 Lin Qiao / 刘恩汛 Liu Enxun

Composer：余竑龙 Yu Honglong / 郁采真 Yu Caizhen

Arranger：陈启天Sky Chen

Producer / Mixer：余竑龙 Yu Honglong

Vocal Producer：颜仁宣 Yan Renxuan / 林晏安 Lin Yan’an

Background Vocal Arrangement / Additional Voices：Emma郁采真

Recorder：Andrew Lu

Producer：黄喜luffy / 王鑫 Wang Xin

Performed by: 梁心颐 Liang Xinyi, 杨奇煜 Yang Qiyu

LYRICS + TRANSLATION:

杨奇煜 Yang Qiyu:

三生有幸 今生有你 / In my three lives, I am fortunate in that this one, I have you

用几世 才修得[1] / How many lives did I have to cultivate to earn this?

天造地设 连理比翼[2] / Heaven’s making, earth’s designing—interwoven branches, wings pressed together

梁心颐 Liang Xinyi:

白首不离 余生不弃 / Even whitehaired, I will not leave you; for my remaining years, I will not discard you

有情人 秉花烛[3] / To have someone who cares, carrying the patterned marriage candles

举案齐眉[4] 心心相印[5] / Our respect raised to eye level, our hearts in harmony

合 / Together:

可岁华[6] 短如嗟叹 / But our flowering years together were as short as a sigh

须臾间 曲终人散 / in a mere moment, our song ended, people scattered

谁曾料 因果乱 造化误算 / Who predicted the tangling of cause and effect, the miscalculation of fortune?

穷奇道 成绝路 永隔人寰 / Qiongqi Dao became a dead end, forever separating us in the human realm

杨奇煜 Yang Qiyu:

痛到黄泉[7]也 / Pain, all the way into the underworld

合 / Together:

望不穿[8] / No longer able to hope

梁心颐 Liang Xinyi:

流水似忆 轩昂[9]如你 / Flowing water, like memories—dignified and imposing, like you

那相守 的点滴 / Waiting and watching, like falling droplets

缱绻多少 爱意 / How love tangles and ties us together

杨奇煜 Yang Qiyu:

莫忘记 / Do not forget

梁心颐 Liang Xinyi:

我铭记 / It is inscribed on my heart

杨奇煜 Yang Qiyu:

柔情痴心 / Gentle emotions, infatuated heart

梁心颐 Liang Xinyi:

与你随行 / Travelling beside you

合 / Together:

这一生彼此牵系 / In this life, we will be tied by each other

怎么舍得离去 / How can we bear to part

可岁华 短如嗟叹 / But our flowering years together were as short as a sigh

须臾间 曲终人散 / in a mere moment, our song ended, people scattered

谁曾料 因果乱 造化误算 / Who predicted the tangling of cause and effect, the miscalculation of fortune?

穷奇道 成绝路 永隔人寰 / Qiongqi Dao became a dead end, forever separating us in the human realm

凡尘告一段 / We’ll separate in this mortal world for a time

来世再作伴 / In the coming life, we’ll accompany each other once more

啊 / Ahhh...

合 / Together:

宿命时与愿违 思念从未断 / Our fate conflicts with what we’d wish— our thoughts and yearnings for each other have never broken

杨奇煜 Yang Qiyu:

岁华 短如嗟叹 / Our flowering years together were as short as a sigh

合 / Together:

孤泪悬 天妒红颜[10] / A lonely tear hovers, suspended—heaven envies beauties

不夜天 血衣染 以身挡剑 / Nightless City—clothes stained with blood—blocking a sword with a body

厌离者[11] 却尝尽 愁苦离散 / and yet it is the one who is sick of parting who tastes the bitterness and sorrow of separation

遗言千千万 / The words of the deceased number a thousand, ten thousands

来不及讲完 / but it is too late to say them all

ANNOTATIONS:

[1] The concept of 三生 sansheng / three lives derives from Buddhism: the three lives are one’s past life, one’s current life, and one’s next life. The idea, generally speaking, is that one cultivates goodness in one’s present life in order to improve one’s allotment/fortune/fate in the next one.

[2] The “interwoven branches” and “wings pressed together” are both symbols of eternal love in the Chinese tradition, featuring prominently in the last lines of Bai Juyi’s masterpiece,《长恨歌》 Changhenge / “Song of Everlasting Regret.” The poem is over eight hundred characters long, and both dramatizes and romanticizes the love between 唐玄宗 Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and his concubine, 杨玉环 Yang Yuhuan.

The lines in question:

[...]

在天愿作比翼鸟，/ in the heavens, let us be biyi birds

在地愿为连理枝。/ on earth, let us be interwoven trees

天长地久有时尽，/ heaven is long-lasting, earth long-enduring, but eventually, they will end

此恨绵绵无绝期。/ only this regret, unending, unbroken, will have no day of end.

A 比翼 biyi bird is a mythical bird that actually consists of two half-birds; only when they are paired together can they fly.

[3] The 花烛 huazhu / “patterned candles” are candles traditionally lit on wedding nights, decorated with dragons and phoenixes, which in turn are symbolic of talented men and virtuous women.

[4] The chengyu 举案齐眉 ju’an qimei / literally, “to hold the tray level with the brow,” is used to describe a married couple treating each other with courtesy, as bowing one’s head while raising the proffered item demonstrates respect.

[5] The chengyu 心心相印 xinxin xiangyin / is used to describe two people who are kindred spirits, or otherwise have a mutual affinity.

[6] The characters I’ve translated as “time” are actually 岁华 suihua, which is the name of Jin Zixuan’s sword. 岁华 suihua could also be translated as “magnificent years” or, more in a more pedestrian manner, simply “time.”

[7] 黄泉 huangquan, literally “yellow spring,” is another name for the land of the dead in Chinese folklore. Here I’ve rendered it as “underworld.”

[8] 望穿 wangchuan / means “to look forward to,” “to eagerly await.” The insertion of the negation particle in this phrase inverts the meaning—they are no longer able to look forward to something they’ve been eagerly awaiting because that has been rendered impossible or unattainable.

[9] 轩昂 xuanang, here translated as “dignified and imposing” is particularly notable because the character 轩 xuan is in fact the xuan of Jin Zixuan’s name.

[10] The binome 红颜 hongyan, literally “rosy face,” is often used to describe beautiful women, likely alluding to a healthful flush or the use of cosmetics. The sentiment of 天妒红颜 tiandu hongyan, literally “the heavens envy beautiful women,” references the tendency of beautiful women in history to lead difficult, often tragic lives.

[11] The lyrics here play on the literal meaning of Jiang Yanli’s name, as 厌 yan means “to detest, to be sick of” and 离 li means “parting, farewell, departure.”

ONCE MORE WITH CLARITY VERISON:

In my three lives, I am fortunate in that this one, I have you

How many lives did I have to cultivate to earn this?

Heaven’s making, earth’s designing—interwoven branches, wings pressed together

Even whitehaired, I will not leave you; for my remaining years, I will not discard you

To have someone who cares, carrying the patterned marriage candles

Our respect raised to eye level, our hearts in harmony

But our flowering years together were as short as a sigh

in a mere moment, our song ended, people scattered

Who predicted the tangling of cause and effect, the miscalculation of fortune?

Qiongqi Dao became a dead end, forever separating us in the human realm

Pain, all the way into the underworld

No longer able to hope

Flowing water, like memories—dignified and imposing, like you

Waiting and watching, like falling droplets

How love tangles and ties us together

Do not forget

It is inscribed on my heart

Gentle emotions, infatuated heart

Travelling beside you

In this life, we will be tied by each other

How can we bear to part

But our flowering years together were as short as a sigh

in a mere moment, our song ended, people scattered

Who predicted the tangling of cause and effect, the miscalculation of fortune?

Qiongqi Dao became a dead end, forever separating us in the human realm

We’ll separate in this mortal world for a time

In the coming life, we’ll accompany each other once more

Ah...

Our fate conflicts with what we’d wish— our thoughts and yearnings for each other have never broken

Our flowering years together were as short as a sigh

A lonely tear hovers, suspended—heaven envies beauties

Nightless City—clothes stained with blood—blocking a sword with a body

and yet it is the one who is sick of parting who tastes the bitterness and sorrow of separation

but it is too late to say them all

MORE PL TRANSLATIONS:

masterlist

PL Translations: an introduction

无羁 Wuji

曲尽���情 Qujinchenqing

不忘 Buwang

赤子 Chizi

恨别 Henbie

不由 Buyou

清河诀 Qinghejue

疏林如有诉 Shulinruyousu

荒城渡 Huangchengdu

孤城 Gucheng

最是少年不可期 Zuishishaonianbukeqi

[littlemisswonton]

How Shanghai is losing its mother tongue

In the past 20 years, Shanghai has surged to become an international commercial, cultural and transport hub with eye-opening speed. While gaining worldwide attention with its fast-growing economy and skyscrapers, the megacity is quickly - and silently - losing a precious part of its own: its mother tongue.

The Shanghai dialect is a part of an ancient language family, Wu Chinese, which originated in eastern China some 2,500 years ago and is spoken by roughly 80million people today.

Known for its soft and elegant sound, Wu Chinese is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin, which is based on the Beijing dialect. And because Wu Chinese has preserved some ancient pronunciations non-existent in Mandarin, classic Chinese literature from hundreds of years ago - such as popular poems from Tang and Ming dynasties - would sound more authentic and rhythmical when being read in it.

The Shanghai dialect, also known as Shanghainese, is a young but prominent member of Wu Chinese due to Shanghai’s prosperity as a colonial trading port between the mid 19th and 20th century. It was a fashionable tongue in the pre-Communist China and introduced many then-trendy Western items to Chinese people’s life through phonetic translation, for example “vez lin” for Vaseline, “fa le niong” for flannel and “kes mi” for cashmere.

It was associated with intellectual, entertainment and political icons, such as novelist Eileen Chang, singer Zhou Xuan and “the mother of modern China” Soong Ching-ling. It also spawned opera, comedy and entertainment productions enjoyed by generations of Shanghai dwellers.

But the distinct lingo, which could be heard in the city’s every nook and cranny up until three decades ago, is struggling to survive the rapid modernisation that has propelled Shanghai to its global status today.

(Soong Ching-ling, the wife of Sun Yat-Sen, was born in Shanghai and spoke the Shanghai dialect all her life. The above picture of her, via Wikimedia, was taken by British photographer Sir Cecil Beaton during the Second World War in China’s wartime capital, Chungking.)

A 2016 survey showed that only 30 per cent of Shanghai residents would use the Shanghai dialect in their daily conversation, while more than half of the locals preferred to speak Mandarin, China’s official language. Another study from 2017 found that nearly 80 per cent of local youngsters between the ages of six and 20 could not speak their mother tongue fluently, highlighting a sombre cultural crisis.

The dialect’s popularity was dealt with a sudden blow in 1992 when the central government launched a hard-hitting campaign to “promote Mandarin”. Aimed to establish a lingua franca for the country, the language movement, however, imposed heavy restrictions on the use of Shanghainese in Shanghai.

Among a list of mandatory rules, school children must receive lessons in Mandarin and were banned from speaking dialect in class and during breaks. Besides, public servants and service industry staff must stick to Mandarin at work. A few years later in 2001, Shanghainese programmes, beloved by the locals at the time, were pulled from TV and radio stations by a language law.  Only a few opera and comedy shows were permitted to be run in dialect.

Propaganda slogans, such as “Learn Mandarin, be a civilised person” and “Speak Mandarin is the symbol of civilisation”, appeared ubiquitously in Shanghai during the 1990s and early 2000s, leaving many youngsters feeling ashamed of using dialect.

Some of those compulsory policies were in place for more than a decade, others still remain effective.

(The above photo, via Vmenkov/Wikimedia, shows a ‘Mandarin-promoting’ slogan outside a kindergarten in Shanghai. It reads: ‘Everybody, please speak Mandarin, and standardise the language and writing.)

Qian Nairong, a Chinese language professor at Shanghai University, views the school ban a major cause of the dialect’s decline. He notes that the city’s primary school pupils were prohibited from speaking the Shanghai dialect on campus from the 1990s for over 10 years. As a result, several generations of Shanghai children grew up unable to express themselves well in their mother tongue.

“The inheritance of Shanghainese has met a rift when it comes to people born after 1985,” lamented Prof Qian during an interview with China News.

The ardent Shanghainese promoter authored a comprehensive dictionary in 2007 in a bid to romanise the dialect and standardise its written form. Five years later, he penned a petition with 81 other scholars, calling authorities to set up systematic regulations to protect Shanghainese.

Unfortunately, these grass-rooted efforts are yet to yield substantial changes in the government’s directives. Moreover, they might have come a little too late to alter millennials’ communication style.

Wang Kanyu, a 30-year-old Shanghai author, admits that it is difficult for her to hold a conversation purely in the Shanghai dialect because she talks to her friends and colleagues mostly in Mandarin.

Born in 1990 to a local family, Ms Wang began her primary school education in 1997 and was strictly forbidden from speaking the dialect by her teachers.

“I remember we promoted the using of Mandarin in my primary school. We had rankings with stars for pupils in our class. If anyone spoke Shanghainese, they would have a star taken away from them,” Ms Wang explains slowly using the Shanghai dialect.

“In middle and high school, all of my classmates were from Shanghai, but few of them would talk to each other in Shanghainese because most had got used to using Mandarin.”

She says as she grew up, she rarely conversed in Shanghainese with anyone outside her family. “Therefore, I am not accustomed to speaking it now. Besides, I feel that I cannot speak it well,” adds Ms Wang.

(I was among the very last generation of Shanghai children to be taught predominantly in my mother tongue throughout my school years. Above is my kindergarten graduation photo taken in the summer of 1989. I am in the front row, the fifth to the left.)

Apart from the tough Mandarin mandate, Shanghai’s swiftly shifting demographics pose as a challenge.

The city’s population ballooned by a third between 1998 and 2018, largely due to an influx of migrants from around the nation in search for work and better life. In other words, more than eight million out of Shanghai’s current 24million citizens did not grow up speaking the Shanghai dialect and rely on Mandarin to communicate in their daily life.

Huang Peide, a 37-year-old native, considers this a primary factor that prevents many Shanghai locals from using dialect.

“It is not that Shanghai people don’t speak Shanghainese any more. The fact is they have fewer and fewer people to speak it with,” Mr Huang points out using a mixture of the Shanghai dialect and Mandarin.

He says: “Environment can change people. For example, for people born after the 1980s, many of their friends, colleagues and clients are not from Shanghai. If they talk in Shanghainese, the listeners can’t understand. So what can you do?”

Mr Huang and his wife, both born in Shanghai, are encouraging their eight-year-old son to communicate with them in Shanghainese at home, “but he sometimes uses it, sometimes doesn’t”.

The father notes that around a third of his son’s classmates are from non-Shanghai-native families, and some 30 per cent of the teachers are non-Shanghainese speakers. Therefore it would not be practical for his son to speak the tongue while in school.

“In daily life, I insist teaching him the dialect, but he doesn’t have the environment to use it outside our home,” Mr Huang admits.

(The Shanghai dialect, or Shanghainese, could be heard in every nook and cranny of the city up until three decades ago. This picture, circulating on social media and believed to be taken in the early 1990s, shows pedestrians and cyclists on Nanjing Xi Road near the Jing’an Temple.)

Prof Qian believes it has become “urgent” to protect Shanghainese and the “key” is to encourage Shanghai youngsters to converse in it.

“The inheritance of a language relies on people, especially children,” the 75-year-old urged in a recent column. “We must let Shanghai pupils bring Shanghainese, which they have spoken with their parents since infancy, to their schools freely and allow it (the dialect) to be used after class. This is the key to passing forward Shanghainese.”

The academic, who has also developed a Shanghainese input method for computer users, stresses that promotion of Shanghainese is not aimed at marginalising Mandarin, but to build a society where the two can co-exist in a “harmonious” way.

“‘Bilingual people’ who can switch between Shanghainese and Mandarin can, for sure, have a more smooth, natural and free life in Shanghai. Furthermore, there are more and more occasions for [people to use] English. Therefore, Shanghai will certainly become a ‘multi-lingual’ society,” Prof Qian writes. “… In a diverse society, we need to build a harmonious, ‘multi-lingual’ life. Mandarin and Shanghainese can achieve a ‘win-win’ situation in Shanghai.”

Prof Qian’s comments echo the social stigma Shanghai locals face while talking to strangers in dialect. Out of fear that the addressees would not understand Shanghainese, and thus they would be regarded as “discriminating against migrants” - a sensitive topic in today’s Chinese society – many have now abandoned Shanghainese entirely in public and at work.

Mandy Chen, an analyst for a Fortune 500 firm in Shanghai, considers the discrimination topic “an interesting social discussion”.

“Normally, if we go to a less-fortunate place and hear the locals talk in their dialect, you won’t think they are discriminating against you. But if we go to a more developed area and hear the local use their dialect, you might feel that they are excluding you,” says the 36-year-old “new Shanghai citizen”, who can understand Shanghainese but has not actively learnt it.

(The Shanghai dialect spawned opera, comedy and entertainment productions enjoyed by generations of Shanghai dwellers. This picture shows Shanghainese stand-up comedy legends Yao Mushuang, right, and Zhou Baichun, left.)

Ms Chen grew up in northern China’s Inner Mongolia and has lived in Shanghai for 10 years on and off after moving to the city for university. She says she doesn’t mind - sometimes even prefers – her friends and colleagues speaking Shanghainese to her. But she acknowledges that some non-natives would, indeed, feel being looked down upon if spoken to in Shanghainese.

“This is more a psychological issue of the listener than a language issue. Often, the speaker doesn’t have any intention to show prejudice against the listener. It could be that they sound cold naturally,” she explains.

While the lingo-in-crisis is yet to be officially allowed in school or added into the curriculum, many of the city’s community schools have set up Shanghainese courses intended for “new Shanghai citizens” who moved to the city from other places.

“To pay more attention to teaching Shanghainese to new Shanghai citizens would be very beneficial to their children’s adoption of Shanghainese,” Prof Qian pens.

Ms Chen confesses that if she has a child in Shanghai, she would be happy to learn Shanghainese and the Shanghainese culture together with her son or daughter, so “my child can somehow relate to Shanghai as their hometown”.

She says that due to her family background, she grew up speaking only Mandarin. Still, she supports the idea of protecting Shanghainese because dialect is “a symbol of a region” and “a bridge between a person and their native culture”.

“I don’t wish to see Shanghai children unable to understand Shanghainese one day. It would be very unfortunate. For one thing, many cultural nuances and household gossips can only be expressed thoroughly through dialect,” Ms Chen points out in Mandarin. “In this regard, I am a sad example. If you ask me to talk, I can only use Mandarin.”