The idea came from the previous poem. I was thinking of the how to use the four characters as the concluding line, 雲烟春夢. It is difficult to use it in the style of Tang classics. I thought of using a lyrical form which I know nothing of. At least I tried… This poem is difficult to translate as there are so many allusions that one has to know what the poem is really all about. The gist of the poem is nothing more than the unchangeability of things mythical but of human nature, it is always the same and repeating albeit in a different form and in the end, life is like a spring dream awakened and that it is no more ethereal than mists and clouds. This is more of a mental exercise for my brain and something to practise my brush writing.
1 離恨兜率九天宮 Leaving Regret, Tushita, the Palace of Ninth Heaven,
2 莫愁雨別桃源紅 Sorrow not when rains depart - Peach Blossom Spring will be in freshly red.
3 篷山逍遥松古青 Carefree is the life in the Immortal Isles where ancient pines are still green,
4 銀河鵲橋二仙重 And that the magpie bridge in the Milky Way is where the two stars reunite.
5 金風恨 The regret of the golden wind,
6 玉露新 The jade dew afresh like tears.
7 人性難移江山易 ‘tis more difficult to change the nature of men than to change of the empire.
8 雕鞍馬蹄落雁從 The brocaded saddle and horses’ hooves are, the descending ansers follow.
9 金屋長門飛燕寵 House of gold, the Gate of Eternity and the most favored Flying Swallow.
10 梅楊爭 The plum flowers vying with the poplar blooms.
11 安祿亂 And the chaos of Peaceful Emolument ensued.
12 雲烟春夢 A spring dream as ethereal as the mists and clouds.
1 Leaving Regret is the highest level of the 33 levels in Buddhist cosmology.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tushita.
It is also the name of the place where the Patriarch of the Way, 太上老君lives. According to Taoist cosmology, there are nine levels of heaven. The highest is where the Jade Emperor lives.
2 莫愁 is also a place name.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochou_Lake
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peach_Blossom_Spring
3 The mountain in the Immortal Isles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Penglai
4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qixi_Festival
5 Autumn belongs to the metal element. In the old days, 金 means metal and not gold.
6 Dew of Jade. Pure unadulterated dew in autumn. The preferred color of jade is a kind of white known as mutton fat. The green color became synonymous with jade is a recent phenomenon compared to the long history of China. The Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi loved the green color because it symbolizes youth while white is associated with old age. In poetry, 玉人 means a beautiful girl with skin like alabaster and not a green colored person! "like tears" is not in the original text but to make things easier to understand for the reader.
7 Adapted from a adage, 江山易改, 本性難易 – The empire is easily transformed but true nature of man is not.
8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Zhaojun
9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Jiao
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhao_Feiyan
10 Plum is the imperial title of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consort_Mei
Poplar is the last name of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Guifei
11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Lushan_Rebellion
Sunday, February 6, 2022
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