Novelty Never Lasts

While jogging, the first line came into the mind. It was difficult to come up with the second line during the jog and could not complete the poem till a few days later…

1 天無白雲青於藍 Bluer are the azure skies without white clouds,
2 海味山珍每日淡 Even the most exotic dishes will taste bland if eaten daily.
3 梅紅未盡先已舊 The red plum blossoms had not faded and yet it had become stale,
4 一斛明珠血淚衫 One bushel of pearls, one coat drenched in tears of blood.

1 Short for青出於藍而勝於藍, 冰生於水而寒於水 from 荀子’s 勸學. Bluer is the dye that comes from the indigo plant, just as ice comes from water is colder than water. This is means that if the student is diligent, in time, he would surpass the master.

2 Literally “tastes from the ocean and precious are the food [products] from the mountains”.

4 This comes from the story of the once most favored concubine of Tang emperor, Hsuan Tsung before Yang Guifei came along. It was said that the Plum Concubine loved plum blossom so much that in order to please her, the emperor had different species of the plant brought into the imperial gardens of Changan as tributes. One day, when Yang Guifei was not around, the emperor thought of his former favorite and sent her a bushel of pearls as a gift.  She rejected it and sent it back with the flowing poem,

柳葉雙眉久不描, Her willow shaped brows had not been touched up for a long time now,
殘妝和淚汚紅綃. Tears from her remnant makeup had sullied her thin red silk.
長門自是無梳洗, No need to be made pretty when one lives in the Long Gate,
何必珍珠慰寂寥. So, why the need to have pearls to console my loneliness.

Long Gate is the name of an outer Han Dynasty Palace where Chen Ah Chiao was banished and Emperor Han Wu Ti never visited her anymore.

Friday February 3, 2023