The Last Tempest

Another nostalgic moment while listening to Vanessa Mae’s Butterfly Lovers Concerto…  Originally, the theme was about a personal perspective about recovery from an ailment.  However, the punchline lacks zest and I was at a loss.  In the end, I had Autumn Thoughts By the Dresser playing in the background the next morning… It is incredulous to see how the original theme could be so drastically changed.

1 日見窗外花已殘 By day through the window, I see the flowers had withered away,
2 夜醉夢中蓬山還 By night through inebriation, my dreams of the Immortal Isles returned.
3 瀛臺泣血夕陽斜 The last tempest at the Ocean Terrace and the sun is setting,
4 凡塵多情何時散 When will the passions of the mundane world end?

2 A group of three isles in the Eastern Ocean where earth immortals make their abode. At this time, we do not know if the author was a banished immortal or a frequent guest to the place.

3 瀛洲 is one of the three Immortal Isles, the other two being 蓬萊 and 方丈. 瀛臺is a building on that isle. It is also a manmade island in the imperial gardens to mimic the place which can only be reached by boat. 泣血 means “to weep until tears became blood”. It is just an exaggeration due to the redness of the eyes through weeping. 瀛臺泣血 is a book written by Princess Derling (德齡公主) about the imprisonment of Emperor Kuang Hsu after his failed palace coup against the Empress Dowager.

There is also a 1976 movie of the same title but translated as “The Last Tempest” which I find more intriguing than “Weeping in the Ocean Terrace”.

Now that the identity of the character in the poem is established, we know that the flowers represent the Pearl Concubine.

The sunset refers to the declining years of the Ch’ing Dynasty.

4 After the death of Emperor Kuang Hsu, the dynasty lasted three more years when the “Last Emperor” abdicated.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Der_Ling

Thursday, March 3, 2022

A few days later, I thought I did not have the calligraphy of the poem and so I started to write it out again to be digitized.  However, I did not realize that I had the wrong version and refinements were made as it was being written out...  And when I realized it, it seemed such a waste not to use it.

1 日見窗外花鳥間 In daylight, through the window is a world of flowers and birds seen,
2 夜醉矇矓蓬山還 But at night in drunk in grogginess is a realm of immortals returned.
3 紅塵繁華殷勤盡 The bustling beauty of mortal earth has no soul,
4 瀛臺依舊長歸難 Alas the fairyland is still difficult to return in permanence.

1 The flowers represent the smells and birds the sounds of the world.

3 繁華 means “excitement, hustle and bustle, colorful, adventure etc,”. Usually, the word order in Chinese has no significant change in meaning but as with everything, there are exceptions. In this case,  殷勤盡 means “no more solicitous” whereas 盡殷勤 is “being utmost solicitous”. Another example would be 天子, the son of Heaven i.e. the emperor vs 子天 – 子 has meanings of “son”, “you”, “a rank of nobility”, “a specific hour” etc….

Thursday, March 3, 2022