Some Old Updates

One of my earliest poems when I had more courage to delve into the world of Chinese poetry. This one stems from some time in November of 1994.  Refinements were made in 2009. 2015 and 2017.  Then on 12 January, 2023, a complete rewrite was undertaken.

飛騰白雪影 The shadow of swirling white snow,
縹緲仍未停 Unceasingly misty and indiscernible.
越冷更梅紅 Colder and plum blossoms seems redder,
氣傲不近情 An aura of haughtiness that cannot be neared.

The plum tree is one of the Three Friends of Winter. The other two being the bamboo and the pine. They are admired for their tenacity against the cold.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Friends_of_Winter

This was originally written in 29 April 2009 inspired by the video, 醉花緣 and the song 葬心.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3L6C85UY3Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJqzJwObPCA

1 往日花艷少年壯 In days of yore, when flowers were amorous and youths virile,
2 芬芳紅梅畫中降 And fragrance of red plum blossoms came wafting down from the painting.
3 月色迷人醉老儍 Enchanting is the moonlight inebriating one silly aged fool,
4 舊夢重演當初漢 And old dreams began to act out of a man once before.

1 Flowers are a euphemism for pretty girls.

3 Literally, the color of the moon. Ordinary, it means the night scene of a full moon.

This one was originally written in 20 December, 2009 and then updated on 21 July 2015 and 23 August 2015. An almost complete rewrite occurred on Friday, January 13, 2023.

蜂蝶細語凡塵看 Look upon the earth, hear whispers among the bees and butterflies,
浮世氣傲水花浪 Everchanging world of mortals and pride will always be like crashing waves.
人生夢長人生短 Life is short but its dreams are long,
往事籌謀往事忘 How we planned; how we plotted, are now but memories long forgotten.

Originally written in 09 January, 2010 and went through an update in 05 August 2015 and finally on 14 January 2023.

1 風和湖畔綠柳蔭 Winds warming green willow shades by the banks of lakes,

2 白雲輕掃花間暗 And white clouds sweeping gently over the darkening flower beds.

3 蝶戀紅塵無多時 There’s not much time for butterflies to be attached to this mortal world,

4 瑤池仙子更難堪 ‘tis more difficult for Jasper Pool fairies to endure.

1 和 is used as a verb and in this context “to warm” since the scene is not set in the cold.

2 花間, “amid the flowers”, “the space among flowers” etc.

3 紅塵, “red dust”, i.e. Buddhist term for the mortal world.

4 瑤池, the fairy pools in the abode of the Queen Mother of the West, 西王母, reputed to be in the Kunlun mountains. Technically, “fairy” is not an accurate translation; for Chinese fairies do not have wings nor are they tiny beings. This is English lore. 仙人 is an immortal and 仙子 is an incredibly beautiful female immortal. They are indistinguishable from human beings. 仙子 is also used for female spirits so as to flatter them and to avoid trouble. For example, 狐仙, fox fairy, when they take on the guise of a woman.

Intermarriage between fairies and mortals are not allowed by the Laws of Heaven. If flouted, the fairy or both parties would be punished as in the story of the Heavenly Spinning Maid and Cowherd. In the story of the Seventh Fairy Maid, 七仙女, the husband is threatened to be torn into a thousand threads if she does not go back to the celestial realm. On the other hand, when the celestial beings violated the rule of having impure or human emotions, they were banished from Heaven as punishment and be reborn as mortals so that they suffer and learn the futility of human emotions are transitory. Tragic lovers such as those from the Butterfly Dream Lovers are said to be the result of such punishments.