Ever since I stopped playing Rise of Kingdoms, on the last day of 2020, my literary output had increased. I just need to have new material to practise my calligraphy during this pandemic boredom... At least now, I have something productive to show till the end of the internet!
1 水滴芳盡巷花靜 Water a dripping, fragrance gone, quiet are the flowers of the lane,
2 一幕濛朧心鎖寧 A canopy of haziness but my heart stands vigilant with guarded tranquility.
3 隔壁忽撲酒香濃 When suddenly, from the walls a bouquet of heavy wine comes pouncing by,
4 絲竹歌舞何夜停 Music of song and dance – but which night would they be silent?
5 春時柳月觸夢冷 The springtime crescent moon turning my dreams into bitterness,
6 雨後東風掃心清 But the after rain East wind swept my heart pure.
7 波平銀湖紅塵幻 The silvery lake in rippling calm is merely an illusion of the mortal world,
8 土濕石滑赴空明 The ground is wet and the stones slippery as I meet the brightness in the sky.
1 花巷, the flowery lane – euphemism for the street where brothel houses stand. Thus 巷花, flower of the lane is a courtesan. The first line describes a rainy night and all quiet on the western front.
2 The mists are a metaphor of things that cloud one’s judgement. In Tang times, entertainment in the form of drinking, dancing and music are done before midnight. Courtesans will take their leave at the break of dawn from the arms of their paramours.
3 Alas, it was not meant to be, as another form of sensuality comes affronting.
4 Literally, strings and reeds. The sensuality of the world never stops assaulting our senses.
5 Literally, willow-leaf shaped moon made me remember my broken dreams.
7 Literally, red dust – Buddhist term for the mortal world. The calmness of the lake is alluding to “still water runs deep”.
8 This is done on purpose and let the reader decide what空明 means. 空 means sky, heaven, emptiness or vacuity. 明 means bright, clear, understanding, or enlightenment. Thus, it can mean the moon itself (since we know it was night and not in the day) or “he who understands vacuity”, a name for a Buddhist monk. Since all the lines in the second verse has something to do with nature, I chose the interpretation of “moon/moonlight reflected on a watery surface”. Temptations in the world and things are not what they seem to be in order to prevent one from reaching enlightenment. Truth is the brightness of the moon piercing through darkness. Even when it wanes, it does so ever slowly and openly and surprises no one. Truth cannot be destroyed, though it may be hidden – the duality principle of Ying and Yang.
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
2 一幕濛朧心鎖寧 A canopy of haziness but my heart stands vigilant with guarded tranquility.
3 隔壁忽撲酒香濃 When suddenly, from the walls a bouquet of heavy wine comes pouncing by,
4 絲竹歌舞何夜停 Music of song and dance – but which night would they be silent?
5 春時柳月觸夢冷 The springtime crescent moon turning my dreams into bitterness,
6 雨後東風掃心清 But the after rain East wind swept my heart pure.
7 波平銀湖紅塵幻 The silvery lake in rippling calm is merely an illusion of the mortal world,
8 土濕石滑赴空明 The ground is wet and the stones slippery as I meet the brightness in the sky.
1 花巷, the flowery lane – euphemism for the street where brothel houses stand. Thus 巷花, flower of the lane is a courtesan. The first line describes a rainy night and all quiet on the western front.
2 The mists are a metaphor of things that cloud one’s judgement. In Tang times, entertainment in the form of drinking, dancing and music are done before midnight. Courtesans will take their leave at the break of dawn from the arms of their paramours.
3 Alas, it was not meant to be, as another form of sensuality comes affronting.
4 Literally, strings and reeds. The sensuality of the world never stops assaulting our senses.
5 Literally, willow-leaf shaped moon made me remember my broken dreams.
7 Literally, red dust – Buddhist term for the mortal world. The calmness of the lake is alluding to “still water runs deep”.
8 This is done on purpose and let the reader decide what空明 means. 空 means sky, heaven, emptiness or vacuity. 明 means bright, clear, understanding, or enlightenment. Thus, it can mean the moon itself (since we know it was night and not in the day) or “he who understands vacuity”, a name for a Buddhist monk. Since all the lines in the second verse has something to do with nature, I chose the interpretation of “moon/moonlight reflected on a watery surface”. Temptations in the world and things are not what they seem to be in order to prevent one from reaching enlightenment. Truth is the brightness of the moon piercing through darkness. Even when it wanes, it does so ever slowly and openly and surprises no one. Truth cannot be destroyed, though it may be hidden – the duality principle of Ying and Yang.
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