1 弦歌酒宴舉目同 Banquet music of the zithers rose, our eyes met at the same time,
2 猶豫曾似昨夜夢 In hesitation, as if a dream from last night.
3 暗淚先滴杯未落 Secret tears a trickled even before the wine cup is at rest,
4 梅雨無聲雪地紅 Silent plum blossom rain, staining the snow-covered ground in red.
5 一春十六牡丹盛 One spring of sixteen, when peonies are blossoming in profusion,
6 亭外兩心蝶戀逢 Ill-met are the two hearts of butterfly lovers by the pavilion.
7 可恨今世女兒身 Spiteful is this life of a girl’s body,
8 遺憾樓高困彩鳳 The regrets of a multi-colored phoenix; in the high tower imprisoned.
1.Taken and adapted from a line in Thousand Character Classic (千字文) 弦歌酒宴, 接杯舉觴
5. An allusion to The Peony Pavilion 牡丹亭 where the hero dreamt of the heroine. The play was considered obscene because of free choice of love which goes against the grain of Confucian ethics.
6. Another allusion – The Butterfly Lovers, Chinese version of Romeo and Juliet.
7. Women in ancient China are considered as properties of the parents, then the husband when married and then of the sons if the father is gone. However, there are loopholes because of filial piety. There are many strong women in the long history of China. The most famous being Empress Wu, who broke many precedents and gave much equality to the fairer sex.
8. Unmarried girls are resided in the highest location of the house.
31 Oct 2019
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