I first wrote 仙宮雲烟鎖 while I doodled with my brush. The second line came easily. However, I had great difficulty in completing the rest. After a night of dreams and thinking, I could only refine on the first two lines until I started to listen to the flute version of 妝台秋思. Using the title of the melody, I was able to complete the third line and setting up a theme. In an hour or so, the poem was complete.
1 紫泉雲低鎖 The Purple Spring is obscured by the low-lying clouds,
2 紅塵月醉迷 And the moon in the mortal world beguiles me into a stupor.
3 妝台秋思聞 Listening to Thoughts of Autumn by the Dresser,
4 蓮池一水泥 The lotus pond must by now is just a stretch of water and mud.
5 同月共千杯 To the moon, a thousand cups had drinketh,
6 與夢度萬黎 And passed countless nights with my dreams.
7 不畏九重遠 I fear not that the palace is faraway,
8 只恐五更啼 Dreading only by the crowing of dawn.
1 Purple Spring is a pool where its purplish waters are frequented by fairies. It is also a name of a river in the Han Capital of Chang An (長安, Eternal Peace). Its original name was 紫淵, Purple Pool. However, during the Tang Dynasty, the name clashed with the personal name of Li Yuan, 李淵, the founder of the dynasty and hence the name change. Even names of gods had to be change in order to avoid such name taboos. Guan Yin, 觀音, the Goddess of Mercy is an example. Her original name was 觀世音 (to see the sounds of the vulgar world) because the name of the second Tang Emperor, Li Shih Min has the same character of 世. Here, it refers to the capital city, now known as Sian (Western Peace), the first cosmopolis in the world. It so far away that only clouds can be seen in the distance by the horizon.
2 “Red Dust”, the mundane world.
3 “Autumn Thoughts by the Dresser” is the fourth movement of an ancient Chinese melody based on the story of Wang Chao Chun. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Zhaojun
4 The previous line hints of autumn and the summer represented by lotuses had withered away by now.
6 黎 means darkness.
7 Literally, 九重 means nine tiers. It could also mean the palace gate, the emperor himself etc. For all other definitions see https://cd.hwxnet.com/view/jnpbdaahapklapea.html
8 The third hour denotes midnight and each Chinese hour is equivalent to two western hours. Hence the fifth hour corresponds to the period between 5am and 6am.
This poem is trying to imagine the thoughts of Wang Chao Chun as she played the pipa while journeying to her future home in the barbaric north.
Thursday, February 18, 2021
1 紫泉雲低鎖 The Purple Spring is obscured by the low-lying clouds,
2 紅塵月醉迷 And the moon in the mortal world beguiles me into a stupor.
3 妝台秋思聞 Listening to Thoughts of Autumn by the Dresser,
4 蓮池一水泥 The lotus pond must by now is just a stretch of water and mud.
5 同月共千杯 To the moon, a thousand cups had drinketh,
6 與夢度萬黎 And passed countless nights with my dreams.
7 不畏九重遠 I fear not that the palace is faraway,
8 只恐五更啼 Dreading only by the crowing of dawn.
1 Purple Spring is a pool where its purplish waters are frequented by fairies. It is also a name of a river in the Han Capital of Chang An (長安, Eternal Peace). Its original name was 紫淵, Purple Pool. However, during the Tang Dynasty, the name clashed with the personal name of Li Yuan, 李淵, the founder of the dynasty and hence the name change. Even names of gods had to be change in order to avoid such name taboos. Guan Yin, 觀音, the Goddess of Mercy is an example. Her original name was 觀世音 (to see the sounds of the vulgar world) because the name of the second Tang Emperor, Li Shih Min has the same character of 世. Here, it refers to the capital city, now known as Sian (Western Peace), the first cosmopolis in the world. It so far away that only clouds can be seen in the distance by the horizon.
2 “Red Dust”, the mundane world.
3 “Autumn Thoughts by the Dresser” is the fourth movement of an ancient Chinese melody based on the story of Wang Chao Chun. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Zhaojun
4 The previous line hints of autumn and the summer represented by lotuses had withered away by now.
6 黎 means darkness.
7 Literally, 九重 means nine tiers. It could also mean the palace gate, the emperor himself etc. For all other definitions see https://cd.hwxnet.com/view/jnpbdaahapklapea.html
8 The third hour denotes midnight and each Chinese hour is equivalent to two western hours. Hence the fifth hour corresponds to the period between 5am and 6am.
This poem is trying to imagine the thoughts of Wang Chao Chun as she played the pipa while journeying to her future home in the barbaric north.
Thursday, February 18, 2021
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment