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Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Taunting Illusion - 虛弄


Another version of Wellson Juang's Taiwan Photo

光罩雲山烟醉日
Rays upon the cloudy mountains, mists inebriating the sun.
蓬萊隱約鎖心鬱 The blurry Immortal Isles, my heart locked in sorrow.
遙近高低來去潮 Coming in from afar, departing upon nearing, the highs and lows of tides,
虛弄紅塵非仙骨 Taunting, jesting away, the non-fairyness of the mortal world.

Monday, April 20, 2020


Destiny - 緣份

 

This poem was inspired by this Taiwan photo of Wellson Juang. During my jog, the idea formed of someone getting lost in the mountains while looking for someone and had to ask for directions and from the house, when a delicate voice calling out, “Who is it?”

1日照浮雲烟醉霞 Sunlight upon floating clouds, intoxicating the colored mists,
2斜徑崎嶇倦人馬 Craggy steep paths exhaust both horse and man.
3金烏力疲借路問 The Golden Crow is tired and directions may I ask of thee,
4未聞此處有石家 Never had I heard of this family surnamed Stone,


5可宿今夜朝明去 This night might I pass and in early morn I depart?
6老翁微笑無妨也 No problem at all! The senex breaking out a slight smile.
7屋内鶯語嬌滴傳 Out from house, a mellifluous voice daintily came,
8一聲爹爹是誰啊 Asking, “Dear father, who’s out there?”
15 Apr 2020

2. Original text, “man and horse”
3. Golden Crow: In Chinese mythology, the sun is the last of the ten golden crows that the Divine Archer shot down for rising into the sky at the same time wreaking havoc to the earth, similar to the Greek’s Phaethon’s earth scorching escapade.


Tuesday, April 28, 2020

A Night Stroll in Long Beach



A night stroll with friends in Long Beach, after dinner... The beach is not closed to those who have access to the water front...

白雲夜遍千家火
Ubiquitous white clouds over lights of a thousand homes,
孤獨寒星無嫦娥 A cold star alone upon a moonless night.
闌珊漸臨燭燈滅 The deepening night slowly extinguishing all candle lights.
愁酒自欺醉夢儍 A sorrowful drunkard is a self-deceit idiot in dreams.

Sunday, April 12, 2020




After The Rains - 雨後


I was woken up by the rain. Couldn't go back to sleep and so I wrote this. The theme was the deathly silence after the rain had stopped and unable to go back to sleep.

1寢内甜睡醉中醒 Sweet dreams awakened from my inebriated room,
2窗外水滴雨未停 And rains outside the window kept on pitter-pattering.
3酒意散盡夢入難 No more tipsiness, no more dreams entering…
4辭牀推開往日情 I dismiss my bed and let feelings of old be gone.

5尋尋覓覓何處起 Looking and searching; but where do I begin?
6堪堪冷冷此間靜 Here in this cold and quietness, enduring on and on.
7遲疑欲捲珠簾淚 Hesitantly I scrolled up this curtain of tears,
8又恐莫見嬋娟明 For I fear that there is no moon lit in brightness.

5. From the first for characters of 李清照’s 聲聲慢
8. 嬋娟, personification of the moon as a lady

Thursday, April 09, 2020


Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Untitled



Making the best use of self-home quarantine...

風橫雨滴滴打打  The wind slanting the rain, pitter-pattering away,
可憐屋外落花斜  Alas flowers outside the house falling askew.
曲河轉轉彎彎  The waters bending the river, twisting and turning,
難測夢中弄人嗟  Like unpredictable dreams teasing man into fools.

Sunday, April 05, 2020


Monday, April 6, 2020

Pastorous Respite


I have to thank Fred Liu for his posting of these two delightful paintings in which this composition was inspired from and much poetic licence taken... Without context, the title could have been easily entitled as, "A Tryst"!





1鴨江曲迎浮山影 Ducks on the meandering river welcomes the floating shadows of the mountains,
2田畝豐收雞犬寧 Bountiful are the harvest that even dogs and chickens are in contentment.
3花香濃郁伴屋傍 Profuse fragrance of the blooms becomes a companion to the house,
4遠隔翫市耽讀停 Far from the bustling city, a respite from my studies.


1. It can be the name of a place, for example Kyoto’s Kamogawa.

4. This line is derived from Thousand Character Classic’s 耽讀翫市, 寓目囊箱,”Keep the temptations of the bustling city away and your eyes on your schoolbag and bookcase”.

05 April 2020


Saturday, April 4, 2020

Faithlessness - 負戀

  
Inspired by the words “sweet dreams”from the song, “Dream a Little Dream of Me”

1孤月花窗外 Outside the window lattice is the moon alone,
2甜夢夜闌來 Sweet dreams should come drifting when night is deep.
3燈火早已滅 Long extinguished are the lights,
4又恐樓高礙 And yet fearing too high is my tower…

5荷塘濃香伴 In the lotus pond where fragrance is thick,
6鴛鴦葉下蓋 Mandarin ducks under the leaves covered.
7鳳衾寂寞寒 Alas the phoenix quilt in lonely cold,
8冷光牀前皚  That chilly light, on his bedside, in gleaming white.

1 Latticed windows are often a sign of wealth. The bedroom represents the protagonist’s imprisonment, while the moon represents her husband whose position is lofty but alone. The lattice represents the bars of her cell.

2 Since the husband is not frequently around, she can only see him in her dreams.

3 The candlelight represents the light of her life – the husband.

4 The tower (his position) is too high and obstructs the view of the moon, i.e., unable to see her husband easily.

5 A pond is a simple thing, hence representing a spartan setting. The fragrance of lotus emanates from living things but not material wealth. Hence, she was happier when they are poor.

6 Mandarin ducks symbolize connubial bliss.

7 Motifs of dragon and phoenix have the same symbolism as Mandarin ducks. Finally, we can now deduce lines 5 and 6 are description of the scenes portrayed on the quilt and it is cold because no one was sleeping in it.

The placement of a traditional Chinese bed is aligned horizontally to the facing door or window. The inner side to the wall is where the woman sleeps while the husband sleeps on the outer side where curtains can be drawn or closed. The head and the end of the bed may lead into a smaller enclosure for morning abulations etc. and so are separated with more drapery or with some kind of separation. Only the very rich may have the wall covered. Usually there is a loose brick so that it can be removed easily to reveal a safe storage place. This line implies that the curtains are still withdrawn as she waits for her dreams to come. As such, translating 牀前 as the bed’s front would become “the foot of the bed” in western imagery.


Friday, April 03, 2020

Friday, April 3, 2020

Mt. Horai - 蓬山


Putting my quarantine time to good use...

1東海橋飛羅紅跨 A flying bridge ribbons the Eastern Ocean like a bolt of red silk,
2盡頭烟鎖見紫霞 At the mist locked end, purple clouds appear.
3千載蓬山松青閑 On Mt Horai, pines in leisure lush for a thousand years,
4萬刼凡塵花黄怕 In the mortal realm, the most feared calamity is of growing into frailty.

5幾時長春夢虛幻 No matter when, eternal youth is what fantasies are made from,
6求仙道佛語假 Seekers of deathlessness and chasers of the Way; words of Buddha are but lies.
7定心鎮魔為良策 Heart be still! Quelling demons of your heart is the best plan of attack,
8無憾渡世作年華 With no regret or sense of loss, the best moments of your life maketh.

1.      The Eastern Ocean is believed where the three Blessed Isles are located. Immortals often travel on brightly colored clouds or light.

2.      Purple mists usually denote a place of fairyness

3.      Mt. Horai, Japanese pronunciation of 蓬來. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Penglai

4.      Lines 3 and 4 form a couplet if translated word for word,

Immortal world thousand        year        pine     green [in] leisure
Mortal     dust    ten-thousand calamity flower  yellow [of] fear

6.      Literally, seeking to become an immortal, search for the way of Tao, Buddhist words false

8.      年華 – “flower of years”, can mean youth or prime of life.

Thursday, April 02, 2020



Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Clothes Washing Damsel By the River - 浣溪女


半天白雲半邊水 Half is the sky of white clouds and the other of water,
滿地黃花滿臉淚 Strewn upon the ground are yellow flowers and a faceful of tears.
浮帆海雁孤獨鳴 Over the sailing mast, the brant cries in loneliness,
後庭落英寂寞悴 And in the backcourt, flowers fall in haggardness.

金杯玉碟空前宴 Golden goblets and jade platters, an empty feast before me,
詐笑虛言舉觴醉 Feigning smiles and empty words, lifting the chalice in inebriation.
枝上彩鳳誰曉 Who knows of this phoenix high in the bough?
曾本無邪浣溪女 In truth, once upon an innocent damsel washing clothes by the river.

The story of Hsi-Shih - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Shi


Wednesday, April 01, 2020

A Bunch of Poems


This is a bunch of poems that were formed in mind during my daily jogs as an exercise to kill boredom...







雲捲風去昨夜雨 The clouds had rolled away the winds from last night’s rain,
倦態疑步天邊處 Strolling away in hesitant steps to the where the horizon is.
人生難測霎時變 Life’s unpredictable as changes are sudden,
葉震忽覺水滴餘 Leaves quivered and  without warning droplets felt in falling excess.

Wednesday, March 11, 2020





青天不擇白雲飄 The blue sky does not choose what kind of white clouds float by,
泓海莫嫌水流小 Neither would the great ocean abstain itself from streamlets.
獨汝挑揀作紅塵 Only you -- would pick and choose in building your world,
孤寡一生嘻哈誚 A life of solitude that others would ridicule in mirth.

事敗奚落萬世愚 When actions fail, eternal mockery for stupidity,
虛成驚舉千秋妙 For vacuity turning into reality, a thousand years in wonderment.
榮華卑賤總是夢 Glory and honor; the lowly and the worthless are nothing but a dream,
兩袖清風何來寥 If I am upright and honest, whence loneliness cometh from?

Wednesday, March 18, 2020



It was sunny and suddenly, there was a downpour and then in the next moment, the sky was clear and sunny as if nothing had happened in between. 



青天素雲溫朗逢 I was met with blue skies, white clouds, purity and warmth,
何來烏霧雨濛 Whence came these dark mists and fuzzy rains?
身浥寒透又忽晴 Soaked all the way in cold and then suddenly out comes the sun again
弄盡人生戲無窮 Messing up lives to no end.

 As a verb, means the same as 弄.The last line can also be translated as

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Today’s a cloudy day. Last night’s rain had passed.  I better finish my jogging routine before more wetness comes. Took me quite a while to think of something unique.  In the end, this “riddle” poem resulted.  To Chinese history buffs, this poses no hindrance to them. All clues are in the first quatrain.

1寒雨催落花滿地 When frigid rain comes beating down, flowers strewn all over,
2山河別錦秀離 Bidding farewell to my empire, its richness forever gone from me.
3昨夜小樓御眠賜 Last night in my small tower,  an imperial sleep bestowed,
4夢仇八代重演味 But I dreamt that eight generations later, the flavor of history repeating itself.

5天道循回人莫測 Heaven’s law flows ever so smoothly and yet unpredictable by man,
6前世恩怨今塵理 Past Life’s gratitude and grievances, are the reasons of today.
7來生舊債二倍還 Debts of old debts repaid back in double,
8一霎誤過千古記 One moment of wrong, a story for the ages.

1.Vague clue. Can mean almost any disastrous event.
2. Still vague but narrows down a lot more.
3. A very specific clue, unless well versed in literature and history trivia. “sleep” is a euphemism for death.
4. Another very specific clue, unless well versed in history.
5. can also mean, “way”, “road”, “course.  “The course of Heaven”
6. if served as a verb, “to take care of”, “to administer”, “... are tidied up by today”
7. Literally, “wind and clouds”
8. can also be used as a verb.  

Friday, March 20, 2020



Passing this dead-end road daily that I suddenly got this inspiration…

行徑葉落微飛Falling leaves upon this lane, slightly a stir in dance,
偏僻寂寞無人到 Far from the maddening crowd in solitude.
乾轉坤移陳舊時 So long ago since Heaven and Earth had changed so much,
曾經年華一官道 Once upon my youth that this was such a grand road.

官道 - Official road, maintained by the central or the local government for military and commercial purposes and so are bigger and safer than those of "private roads". 

Friday, March 20, 2020



落盡天涯殘光豪 Sinking into the ends of the world, its glow still going strong
波浪漸滅去何路 Steadily extinguished by the waves but where can I go?
月黯星稀山頭眠 To slumber where the mountain top is even when the moon is dark with few straying stars
朝來莫恐曉日無 And in the morn, fret not as if there’s no rising sun.

Tuesday, March 24, 2020



樂盡春夜歡無限 Joy of no end in a spring night of unbounded pleasure,
來朝雲飛雨烟殘 Morning cometh, the clouds gone and the misty rain dispersed.
君情風流芳倜儻 A man’s love is suave and of refined fragrance,
妾意臭千萬 Whereas a woman’s, an abandonment that stinks for the millennia.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020