Lychee Smiles

While in Singapore, being invited to his place for dinner,  to a friend gave me a tour of his condo complex. I was not interested in the tour because of the oppressive tropical heat and humidity. Suddenly the a line, 廿五絃音撥雲開, came into my mind. It was a great distraction for me as I began to work on the structure of the poem.  However, this line was edited out in the final version as it no longer worked in the scheme of things.

1 華清池浴撥雲開 A bath in the Pool of Flower Purity swept all the clouds away,

2 霓裳羽衣飃下來 The feathered dress and the rainbow skirt came wafting down.
3 嬌態橫掃力無意 Her languid bewitching repose came so naturally,
4 樂盡明君看癡獃 Befuddling even the enlightened emperor into endless joy.

5 八百騎飛朝暮塵 Eight hundred miles, morn to dusk, the imperial dispatch covered in dust,
6 千萬星辰宇宙蓋 And in nights, under the canopy of countless stars and constellations.
7 早膳難得妃子笑 ‘tis not often to see the imperial concubine to smile at breakfast,
8 回眸魂失半天哀 One backward glance, souls be lost, half the celestial court in distress.

1 Name of a warm spring in the Tang Palace. Those with special imperial permission are allowed to enjoy the waters. When Emperor Tang Hsuan Tsung favorite, the imperial concubine Wu passed away, he was inconsolable. All serving directly under him knew no peace as the emperor would throw into fits of anger for no reason. His personal eunuch, Gao Li Shih, suggested that the emperor should take a peek at his daughter-in-law taking a bath in the pool to see if she was acceptable. The Tang dynasty would have lasted longer if she were not suitable at all.

2 The feathered dress and rainbow skirt was a tune composed by the emperor when he visited the moon in a dream and the dance was choreographed by Yang Guifei. Later she would wear such a robe in the dance. Thus, this garb is forever associated with her. This line is ambiguous. It could be describing that of a striptease or that she was descending like a fairy in her dance!

3 From this line and the next, we can deduce that the pool scene was described.

4 In popular literature, Tang Hsuan Tsung is known as the enlightened emperor for his reforms made the dynasty rise to its greatest height. It is ironic that he is the one who also caused its decline. In this way, the Chien Lung Emperor of the Ch’ing Dynasty is very similar to the Tang Emperor but for different reasons.

5 八百飛騎 does not mean “800 flying riders” but horse riders speeding through 800 miles from Canton to Changan. It could mean either the military dispatch is covered with dust or rising dust made by the galloping horses.

6 “in the night” is not explicitly stated in the original line but implied.

7 Lychee is Yang Guifei’s favorite fruit which is grown in the tropical areas of the empire such as Canton. Because of this, the tastiest variety is named as “the imperial concubine smiles”. As such, this line can be translated literally or “lychees are such a rarity to see on the breakfast table”. 食, “to eat” is not used because a slight change of tone sounds like the word for death. Instead, 進膳 – “entering meals” are used.

8 “回眸” is lifted from Po Chu I’s, “Song of Eternal Sorrow”, 長恨歌. This line is also ambiguous. “soul lost” could refer to the emperor as her backward glance is so alluring or a fearsome look to the servants that the fruit did not taste good enough. “Half the heaven” then can taken to mean either “half the empire” or “half the imperial court”. I am more inclined to the second interpretation.

Saturday, September 3, 2022