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Monday, December 2, 2019

Encouragement - 晨鐘暮鼓



1 白雲青山過 White clouds over the green hills passed,
2 紅葉紫泉流 Red leaves upon the purple springs floweth.
3 路遙馬亦倦 The road is long and even the horses are tired,
4 桃源各自求 To each his own, his Peach Source sought.

5 朗月飛霜冷 The moon is bright and flurrying snow is cold,
6 廣寒寂寞樓 Towers of the Great Frigid  Palace are alone.
7 桂枝為誰折 Osmanthus bough for whom to break?
8 十年窗苦瘦 Those lean decade of arduous study by the window.

1 White clouds, green hills: old age and youth.
2 Purple springs: fairy pools; Red maple leaves: an allusion from the story of "The Wondrous Tale of the Red Leaf", 紅葉奇緣
3 Horses: those helping
4 Peach Source: paradise, allusion to 桃源記
5 Remnants of a snowstorm and the clouds are gone.
6 The lunar palace where the goddess of the moon lives.
7 Breaking the osmanthus bough – success in gaining officialdom through passing the imperial exams.
8 窗苦:  So poor that one has to study by the moonlight by the window.




Friday, November 22, 2019


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