Spring And Summer Days

While testing and experimenting on ChatGPT for tonal accordance to Classical style Chinese poetry, it suggested the following lines as a good example,

相逢約定在春風， 

花開芬芳滿園中.

I felt the lines were good and inspired me to do better...

1 相約已定在春風 

A promise made to meet when spring breezes are in the air,

2 蝶飛花香滿苑重

Fluttering butterflies and flowers once more re-scenting the garden.

3 小橋樓台荷影柳 

Small bridges and terraces reflecting with lotuses and willows,

4 鴛鴦難捨葉下夢

Adieu is difficult but under the leafy canopy, Mandarin Ducks dream in togetherness.

1 Implying that the couple is apart for whatever reason.

2 Butterflies are symbols of uneasy love, even to the point of being tragic. This is due to their current separation.  However, they are soon to reunite.

3 Bridges and terraces; willows and lotus are Chinese garden landscape essentials. These couplings imply that the lovers will be reunited in summer since lotus is that season's emblem.

4 Mandarin ducks are symbols of eternal love and fidelity. Sleep separates everyone but dreams unite.

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

A World Of Endless Noise

The first two lines came just as I was about to go to sleep but fell asleep as I sought after the next two lines. Woke up and was successful in my quest. Around 4am, once more wakened but could not return to my dreams. Might as well start my jog in the coolness of the darkness as I am sure the sun will be merciless in the day.  An extra stanza was added but took two solid days to polish the wording and imagery.

1 夜鳴鶯啼難入眠 Unable to sleep with the night song of a chirping mockingbird,
2 直至紅霞敲鐘前 Just before the moment when rosy clouds strike the temple bell.
3 寰宙漸漸甦醒覺 Stirring sounds of the cosmos and earth gradually felt,
4 流星依依殞落見 And yet reluctant falling stars still be seen.

5 郊野走獸飛禽地 The wilderness - a haven for roaming beasts and flying creatures,
6 城翫車馬遊龍天 City of heavy traffic in horse and buggy, like coiling dragons cruising in the sky.
7 豈求隔世歡招寧 How quietude from other realms be wonderfully sought?
8 何浴凡塵骸垢纒 And to wash off filthy entanglements of the body in the mundane world?

1 Other alternatives for 啼 were 叫 and 歌 but the choice made was I write it prettier with a brush and sounded more literary.

2 Implies the short duration of respite in silence before the noise of a different nature begins in line 3. In the original text, “temple” was not mentioned explicitly. It could also be the bell or drum tower to sound the morning audience with the emperor.

3 The original”大地” looked and sounded banal to me. 寰宙 suggests a grander scale of things. 

4 The original line, 銀河殘光依依見 conveys no movement. The new version also emphasizes the fleeting nature of silence as in the falling of a “star”.

5 The wilderness can still be a noisy place, filled with backland creatures noise.

6 Inspired by the 李煜’s 車如流水馬女如龍. 翫 is often used to mean artistic or cultural pursuit enjoyment while 玩 is a more general term for casual and straightforward term for enjoying activities such as playing games etc. Thus, 古翫 is the correct term used to mean “antique collecting” or “antiques” but is more cumbersome to write than 古玩. Nowadays, 翫 is considered as a variant of 玩.

7 歡招 came from the Thousand Classic’s 欣奏累遣, 慼謝歡招. Other characters influenced from the classic were 翫, 骸 and 垢.

8 Using another rhetorical question to answer the previous question is better in poetry than using a straightforward answer in my eyes. Creates more intrigue.

Sunday, July 16, 2023

One Summer Dawn

It’s summer and I had to change my jogging schedule to avoid the daylight heat. This morning, I started at 5am when it is still nighttime and cool… Halfway through, the sun was peeking out in a ball of fiery red. However, a few seconds later, when it was over the rooftops, it had turned yellow and all the rosy clouds were gone, replaced by white ones on the eastern front and dark colored ones in the other direction. This poem is the result of this experience.

1 曦暉力倦十里紅 Short is the distance of red in the languid glow of sunrise,
2 情無逐走百家夢 Without mercy chasing away dreams of countless sleepers.
3 霎顧朝霞藏甚處 A quick glance and wondered where do rosy clouds hide?
4 日窺屋簷劍光同 The sun peeped over rooftop eaves - a gleaming sword brandished.

5 夏熱慾嘗秋涼時 Amidst summer’s heat, desiring for a cool taste of autumn’s time,
6 冬寒憶望春暖逢 In winter's cold, yearning and hoping for spring’s meeting of warmth.
7 季別輪迴用何有 Of what use there be when seasons come and go?
8 如此人性盡莫窮 ‘tis the human nature to be insatiable and bottomless.

1 “Ten” is not numerically used but to represent a short distance because the sun had just “woken” up.

2 Literally, “Merciless is the dispelling of dreams in a hundred families”. Likewise, “a hundred” is just used to mean “many”. “Merciless” is used because of the sun’s selfishness. It won’t have others to dream on.

3. Time passes too quickly – for in a moment’s distraction of thinking how many dreams no longer exist, the beauty of the morning is gone. At the same time, asking rhetorically where they went. I opted for 甚 instead of as I dislike having repeated characters.

4 Implied the fleetness of beauty – a momentary distraction on pondering where the rosiness had gone, the answer is that the bright sun had it “slain”. Implied the distaste of the protagonist in seeing how hot the sun had become.

5, 6 The seasons are used to describe how mankind is not easily satisfied. Once obtained, no longer treasured but to yearn for something yet to be possessed.

7 輪迴 is the Wheel of Transmigration in Chinese mythology. Can be used either as a noun or a verb phrase.

8 This is because the human heart for desire is bottomless.

Friday, Jul 14, 2023

An Unending Dream

Ten years ago a marriage in San Diego became a reality.  Time had gone by too fast as  parties were wild and furious.  Was there moonlight in that night? It matters not for you are that same full moon.  You are the light of my life.  Perhaps this paltry poem sums up this unending dream...

1 朝飛暮巢共寢燕 Morning flight, evening nesting, swiftlets sleeping side by side,
2 十載一目夕陽前 Ten years in a blink of an eye, sunset years before our very eyes.
3 鶼鰈情深夢何了 How can dreams be at an end when love still runs deep?
4 餘世無憾每年年 Nary a regret year after year for the remainder of our lives.

1 Swallows are symbols or marital bliss. They mate for life.

3 鶼 is another term for 比翼鳥, a legendary bird with half a body. It needs another bird with the mirror image body in order to fly. The modern meaning of 鰈 is plaice, halibut or some other kind of flatfish. The original meaning is another type of fish, like the 鶼 needs another one in order to swim. Hence the term means profound love or a deep emotional bond.

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

The Buck Moon Of 2023

The Buck Moon On 3rd July Photographed By Shintaro Tay in Singapore

Started with a line while doodling with the brush before my jog. It just a coincidence that the Buck moon is occurring tonight.  Had the structure completed when I was done.

1 低斜廣寒接高樓 Lowing lying is the lunar palace receiving the high towers,
2 莫見嫦娥使人愁 But not seeing the Goddess of the Moon makes everyone in frown.
3 尋遍華燈不知處 All over the bright lights are but nary a sign of her whereabouts,
4 孤照波水湖影柳 Upon the waves, shining alone by willow shadows in the lake.

1 The tall towers represent those wanting to alight into the lunar palace. Its name means “the Great Cold”. I used this term to symbolize the frigid and uncaring place.

2 It is assumed that the seekers had successfully entered the moon. The goddess symbolizes the soul of the place. They may have the body and not the heart.

3 The most logical search are bright places but lanterns can be brighter on closer up and bedazzle the senses of any seeker. Hence the wrong place to start. Here the lanterns refer to those of a brothel.

4 Far from the Madding Crowd is the most logical choice. This poem is reminiscent of 辛棄疾’s 青玉案.

東風夜放花千樹, 更吹落, 星如雨.
寶馬雕車香滿路, 鳳簫聲動, 玉壺光轉, 一夜魚龍舞.

蛾兒雪柳黃金縷, 笑語盈盈暗香去.
眾里尋他千百度, 驀然回首, 那人卻在, 燈火闌珊處.

Monday, July 3, 2023

Paradise Found?

This was inspired upon hearing some cawing crows as I jogged around the neighborhood.

1 晨早輕步無人語 Happily in stroll one early morning with no human voice heard,
2 遠別車市世外遇 Bidding farewell to a far off city of traffic, a new world found.
3 百鳥林唱暗藏谷 A hidden forested valley where a hundred forest birds sing,
4 千字文背朗讀處 Perfect is the place to recite out aloud the Thousand Character Classic.

1 Literally, “light footed”. The human voice of others represent the mundane clutter of the world.

2 literally, “a city of cars/chariots”.

3 Does not mean one hundred literally but many. Just trying to maintain the structure of parallelism with the first four character of the last two lines. Twittering birds are thought to be the intellect.

4 I had memorized the Thousand Character Classic to practise my brush handwriting.

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

Saturday, July 1, 2023

For Love Of Lychees

While a quick doodle before my daily jog but during the run, the theme was changed drastically to a better one...

1晚霞漸臨殘影斜 Red colored evening clouds slowly approacheth, long shadows a slant,
2 紫微冷照染飛騎 And drenched is the fast dispatch in the cold light of the Emperor Star.
3 西北直向八百里 Lying straight to the northwest is the distance of eight hundred miles,
4 長安日破恐莫赦 And if dawn breaks over the city of Eternal Peace, no pardon be granted.

5 綺回初逢華清池 Returning to memories of the first meeting at the Pool of Flower Purity,
6 曾似誓約七夕夜 As if once upon a time an oath on a certain Night of Seventh pledged.
7 上陽朝無妃子笑 No more morning lychees in the Palace of the Supreme Sun,
8 夢境還舊散不舍 And yet scenes of old dreams are reluctant to dissipate.

1 With the subsequent lines in the poem, this actually paints the gradual decay of the Tang Empire.

2 The north star appears stationary while other stars revolve around it and therefore represents the throne. The line literally says, “the Polaris is shining coldly, tainting the fast dispatch in its light”.

3 Putting together the military dispatch and the 800 mile journey from the south east often associates the delivery of lychees for Yang Guifei’s breakfast.

4 The befuddled emperor won’t not be happy when Yang Guifei throws a fit because of her missing favorite fruit on the breakfast table.

5 The Pool of Flower Purity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huaqing_Pool

6. This alludes to a story that on one Seventh Night when they made an oath that they will never leave each other. However, a few years later, he was forced to have her to commit suicide as his retaining army refused to go on further to escape from the An Lu Shan rebellion as long as she was alive.

7 This is where the abdicated emperor lived. He did not live too long afterwards. 妃子笑, the “imperial concubine smiles” is also a name of a variety of lychee that Yang Guifei favored most. Thus, the line also refers to her death.

Friday, June 30, 2023

Far From The Madding Crowd

While jogging on a cloudy morning…

1 湖心孤舟雲烟鎖 Locked in the mists, trapped in the middle of the lake is a lonely boat,
2 船頭靜聽寒水破 And on the prow, listening quietly to dashing waves against its sides.
3 霧中參透難解語 Now that the undecipherable voices in the fog are fully grasped,
4 隔絕紅塵因為何 Why is it then that I’m still cut off from the red dust?

5 釣儩竿垂不忍棄 Can’t bear to cast away the dangling rod when fishing’s done,
6 曾似陳舊仍未過 Seemed that bygones of once upon a time had yet to pass.
7 無限纖絲纒夢寐 For their endless filigrees still haunt in my dreams,
8 恍若逍遙在山河 As if by being amongst the mountains and rivers wouldst I be free.

1 The lake’s center is taken to mean the human heart with the boat as body, trapped and isolated in a world of unending problems.

2 The prow is used metaphorically to represent the human head to describe the thought process of problem solving.

3 Setting up the scenario for the rhetorical question asked in the next line.

4 Red Dust – Buddhist term for the mundane world.

5 Reluctance to let go of the past. As well not to be seen as an ingrate - 過河拆橋 (crossing the river and dismantling the bridge).

6 Even with solutions, a continual nagging as if the problems had never gone away.

8 山河 also means “the empire” i.e., “If the country is as ideal as nature, then there is relief, allowing experience a sense of freedom, as if being surrounded by the tranquility of nature.

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Life In The Blue Bowers

While jogging in the hot afternoon sun…

1 夕陽紅霞漸黄昏As usual, the rosy clouds of sunset will eventually turn into dusk,
2 秦淮仍舊胭脂雲 But in Qinhuai, clouds still remain rouged in red.
3 月上妝台初照色 Upon the dressing table the rising moon began to shine on the colors,
4 嘯羅鑒別步銷魂 And finally, rustling silk departs from the mirror in dainty steps.

5 紈扇圓潔暗淚戴 Pure is her round silk fan but secret tears carrying within,
6 工顰妍笑誘心神 Adept in frowns of smiles, tugging at the hearts of all nearby.
7 一聲鶯語公子請 “This way my lords…”, a voice came like twittering warblers,
8 回眸向射醉英貧 With one back glance, all these heroes slain into intoxicated poverty.

1 This line implies that everything that is natural will turn old and fade away.

2 秦淮 is the red light district of ancient China and will remain forever young due because of newcomers plying themselves in rouge to enter the trade.

3 The moon may refer to the round bronze mirror or the lady in question. The colors refer to either to the reflection of the complexion or the makeup.

4 The routine ablution is complete. She departs from her boudoir and is ready to meet her clients.

5, 6 The first four characters of each line are from the Thousand Character Classic.

8 The idealized Chinese hero should be able to withstand the onslaught of female wiles.

Monday, June 27, 2023

San Kei En, The Garden Of Three Views - 三景園

While having an evening stroll in San Diego’s Balboa Park…

This inspired the first line. 

This inspired the 2nd & 3rd  lines.

  This inspired the last line. 

1 噴水魚頭昂天高 The spurting fish head looking high up into the sky,
2 三影苑外幾尺步 And the Three View Garden pond is but mere steps away.
3 門前上鎖春色藏 The front gate is locked and surely spring is hidden within,
4 夏日渠荷仍未報 For summer’s arrival of a lotus waterway has yet be announced.

2 The name on the stone plaque used is 園 but I preferred using 苑 as this character looks prettier.

4 渠荷 is inspired from the Thousand Character Classic - 渠荷的歷, 園莽抽條

Sunday, June 25, 2023.

When We Were Young...

While waiting for my breakfast eggs Benedict to arrive, the window view of the freeway and surrounding mountains were scenic with the morning sun… My 101st poem of 2023 had arrived. The second stanza was added when I got back home using the ChatGPT’s suggestion for improvements so that I could get a higher rating.

1. 朝陽靜灑夏日初 Early summer sunlight sprinkling gently down in quietude,
2. 白雲輕掃山頭過 And white clouds brushing mountain tops gently as they pass,
3. 默觀花間流光去 Silent are the imperial watch towers as time a flowing by,
4. 剩下舊夢一老傻 Leaving behind bygone dreams and one silly old fool.

5. 弦聲歌唱霓裳衣 Stringed music and songs sung to the tune of the Rainbow skirt,
6. 宮牆萬朶金燭火 Myriad candles dotting the palace walls in golden splendor.
7. 銀漢無奈難相比 And powerless is the Milky Way from being compared,
8. 杯傾地滿酒星河 For upon the ground, starry rivers of wine formed from tilted glasses.

3. 觀 can mean “to observe”, “a Taoist temple”, or “imperial watch towers”. In the context, all the meanings are valid.

5. 霓裳羽衣曲 – the rainbow skirt and feathered coat is a court tune and dance composed by Emperor Tang Hsuan Tsung and choreographed by Yang Gui Fei. Now we can safely deduced that 觀 is not used as a verb. It could be also infer that the temple is now silent since Yang Gui Fei had left the place as a nun. By entering into a nunnery, she is no longer considered his daughter-in-law as all her earthly were cut and upon returning to laity, she is like a newborn with a slate wiped clean.

Sunday, June 25, 2023

Life's A Rat Race

This came about when I heard birds singing in the trees during my jog…

1 遠傳林中賽鶯歌 From far yonder came wafting melodies of competing warblers,
2 騷遍樹下靜打坐 Disturbing the tranquility of the meditation under the trees.
3 夏日露出徘徊醉 Revealing summer’s reluctance to be in an inebriated dreamlike state,
4 白雲逍遙遊子過 Unlike white clouds passing through like wandering sons of leisure.

5 綺回曾似舊影淚 Harking back to teary shadows of once upon a time hazily remembered,
6 昨寐甦悟心聲妥 Like from a coma from last night awakened, my inner voice had settled.
7 鼠爭紅塵黃粱夢 Like rats of the Yellow Millet Dream vying for the mundane world,
8 早別何憾接天摩 Of what regrets there be when a closer heaven touched?

1 遠傳 represents the distant past. The songs of forested birds are the pleasures of youth.

2 The meditation represents the maturity and the seeking of inner peace as the protagonist had grown older. 坐 can be used as 座, a seat.

3 Summer represent the prime of life of others and upon seeing these images, the protagonist harkened dreamily but reluctantly back to his younger days.

4 Wandering sons for leisure are considered callous since they made their parents worry for their safety. The protagonist is now older and is no longer like the passing clouds with nary a care for others.

6 甦 carries a sense of reawakening, revival etc., than 醒 which just means to “wake”. The line suggests that enlightenment had achieved.

7 This idea came from “rat race” but translating directly as such seemed out of place in a traditional styled poem. Rats are hoarders, including material wealth and possessions even though they may be of trifle nature. The positive view of “hoarding” is “accumulation” or “securing” for emergencies.

The Yellow Millet Dream is also known as the “Yellow Sorghum Dream”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%BC_Dongbin#:~:text=Yellow%20Millet%20Dream,-The%20Daoist%20immortal&text=The%20legend%20has%20it%20that,vice%20minister%20(%E4%BE%8D%E9%83%8E%20sh%C3%ACl%C3%A1ng). under the section of “yellow millet dream”

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

Another variation is known as the Magic Pillow.

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Chinese_Fairy_Tales_(H._Giles,_1920)/1

Thursday, June 22, 2023

Willow By The Palace Wall - 宮牆柳

The first time we met, like in real life, 

We were introduced by someone one afternoon, 

On a Monday, specifically, July 23, 2018. 

Then, like two passing ships in the night… 

I enjoyed the moments watching you,

Intriguing me and seducing me to know what is yet to come. 

The sun had set. 

We continued till it had risen once more high into the sky. 

Your story had ended and I bid thee a farewell, 

Journeying into my own dreams - knowing that we will never meet again.

Almost five fleeting years had passed… 

By serendipity I saw you while searching for something else. 

Your general features - well remembered but details totally forgotten. 

Being old acquaintances, we sat down and peered into your pools of limpid depths. 

Once more, the night passed quietly but too quickly. 

The sun was on the high again when you departed. 

This time, a sirenic song lingered - the same song which I had not noticed before. 

Its melody haunted my soul, 

Its lyrics tugged at my heart as I inspected them closely. 

Sudden inspirations came surging 

And six poems sprang forth from my soul to match your voice.

首逢若人生中之相引. 

某一之周一午下, 

年時為廿一八, 月為七, 日為廿三. 

猶似二船夜逝, 背向行. 

望餘歡招, 使我心生好奇, 惑我欲知尚未來臨. 

夕陽已墜, 聚合仍續. 

東日重高方竟. 

幕謝相別夢中去, 

自曉再無遇.

匆匆五載將已近… 

尋別凑巧重圓. 

容止仍識, 細節全忘. 

既為故舊同相坐, 

細看斯人眼深淵澄. 

次度靜夜, 去時太匆匆. 

又別再次, 醉日懸三竿高. 

昔曲無異, 此刻纒綿迷魅. 

當日未察, 今刻洞鍳, 

今聆縈魂, 詞句牽心.

靈緒驀湧,

詩綻六首魂催出, 

與餘心聲相配.

Friday, June 16, 2023

These six poems were inspired from the songs from the Chinese series, Yanxi Palace (延禧攻略, literally, "attack strategies from the Yanxi Palace).

This came about from a song’s title from Yanxi Palace, 雪落下的聲音. 寐 was inspired by a line from 千字文 - 晝眠夕寐, 藍筍象牀.

1 夜闌寒霜雪 Cold frost and snow in the late of night,
2 天河萬星缺 And the myriad stars of the Celestial River are gone.
3 夢寐難重逢 Even when dreams come a visiting, ‘tis difficult for a reunion,
4 獨酌伴孤月 A lone toast with the lonesome moon.

2 The Milky Way
3 Literally, “dreams asleep”. “come visiting” is implied.
4 Because of the cold, dreams are difficult to form and…

Then a second version came and I could not decide which is better and so both were kept.

1 夜闌飛霜雪 Snow flurrying in the late of night,
2 天河銀星缺 And silvery stars of the Celestial River are gone.
3 人寤夢寐時 Upon wakening when dreams are asleep,
4 畫中看明月 Just look into the painting where the bright moon is.

Then came a seven character per line version...

Friday, June 09, 2023 - Friday, June 16, 2023

1 夜闌人靜夢寐醒 The night is late, people a quiet, dreams come and go,
2 天缺燦時銀河星 And in the sky, the brilliant Milky Way is absent.
3 房中寂寥何此亮 Such deafening sounds of loneliness in the room!
4 窗外雪落否有聲 And do then, snow falling outside have any sound?

1 Literally, “… dreams sleep and wake”

2 Literally, “The sky lacked the time when the stars were brilliant in the Milky Way”

3 Literally, "In the room where noise of loneliness is so loud”. 亮 also has the meanings of “loud and clear sounds” (嚮亮, 洪亮) or to cause things to make loud sounds (亮開嗓子唱).

4 Literally, "The outside of the window, snow falls… Do they have any sound?”

Friday, June 09, 2023 - Thursday, June 15, 2023

The first is an inspiration is from the word, 搔 from the song 宮牆柳 (Willow By The Palace Wall). Later some elements from the song.

1 月影纖枝宮牆柳 Slender are moonlight shadows of willow boughs upon the palace wall,
2 音斷曲存纒高樓 The sounds had ended but its melody still lingers within the high towers.
3 銀河萬星豈知缺 How could the myriad stars of the Silver River realize their deficiency?
4 舊夢燦時莫曉愁 Neither would sorrow be understood during heydays in dreams of old!

5 宮牆柳舞醉翩翩 Delicate is the drunken dance of willows by the palace wall,
6 淚霑飛袖歎水流 Fluttering sleeves dampened in tears, sighing away at the flowing waters.
7 難訴往日黄粱恩 ‘tis difficult to speak of the love in a yellow millet dream of old,
8 新春騷盡玉簪頭 And new springs agitate most upon a head bedecked in jade hairpins.

1 Willow symbolizes female beauty. The leaves like curved eyebrows, the slender boughs like dainty fingers and the trunk, slim waisted. “Palace wall flower” means a lady of beauty that had been overlooked or neglected by the emperor.

3 The Celestial River is the Chinese Milky Way. The stars represent the multitudinous favorites of the emperor without realizing that their brilliance had been eclipsed by the full moon as implied in the first line. The stars still think they are visible in the heavens.

5 It could be the movements of the shadows moving languidly as if they were in a drunken state. In sorrow, she got drunk and began to dance by herself - reminiscent of the story, the “Drunken Imperial Concubine” when Yang Gui Fei drank to a stupor when the emperor did not show up for the night banquet she had prepared for him because he went to see another favorite.

6 Now we know for sure that the previous line is about the person and not the tree. Flowing waters denote the passage of time. 飛 is used as a metaphor for hope to flee from the palace and fly into the sky but is constrained by the tear soaked sleeves. 霑 has more coverage or deeper penetration while 沾 means lightly moistened or stained.

7 Also known as the Dream of the Yellow Sorghum. A variation of the “Dream of the Southern Bough”. I translated this story from the original source. If, interested, it can be found at http://jeffinous.blogspot.com/2011/02/dream-of-southern-bough-chinese-antz.html after the footnotes and comment section.

8 Ancient Chinese prized the mutton fat white color of jade above all other colors. Green is now the color most associated with jade as it was most favored by the Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi. White is a color of mourning - thus reminding her of her mortality whereas green is associated with spring and youth. 騷 means “to disturb” and 搔 means “to scratch with the fingernail” and is not a simplified form for 騷 but骚. However, some dictionaries indicate that it is so. 搔頭 means hairpins and not scratching the head!

Lyrics of "Willow By The Palace Wall"

宮牆柳玉騷頭            Willow by the palace wall, jade hairpins.

纖纖紅酥                    Slender delicate rosy hands

寂寞酒鎖春愁           Wine of loneliness locked in the sorrows of spring
往事難開口              ‘tis difficult to talk about bygone matters

揮揮長袖帶不走      Try brushing away with the long sleeves but they won’t leave,
相思那堪憂             How can one endure these thoughts of lovesickness?

一覺黄粱夢醒後   Upon waking from the “Yellow Millet” dream,
閑話到頭              And all trivia talk comes to an end.

隨風走                 Follow the wind and leave,

一步一叩首         One step, one bow,

愛悠悠 恨悠悠    Forever loving, forever hating,

做繭自己囚        A cocoon made for self-imprisonment.

誰說恩愛永不朽 Who says love never decays?
碎了千金裘        Like destroying a thousand gold piece fur

一夢醉               Drunken in a dream,

倒望江樓           Looking at the inverted reflection of a tower by the river

管他萬古愁       Heed no longer the sorrow of the ages.

Friday, June 09, 2023 - Thursday, June 15, 2023

This final poem was inspired by the snow scene punishment of the heroine,  while the previous poems were being refined and while waiting the search through my entire disk drive to find out when I first watched the series so that I can write my introduction to this post.

1 白雪無情不屈錯 Harsh is the white snow – yielding to no wrong,
2 紅牆有意難相助 The red walls are willful – unable to help.
3 三步一叩遍六宮 One kowtow upon three steps taken, sweeping through the Six Palaces,
4 御庶妒心否同醋 Jealousy of an emperor or commoner, isn’t vinegar the same for all?

1 Two textual interpretations: It could mean that the snow is harsh towards evil doers or that in spite of harsh weather, the person would not yield to injustice.

2 Palace walls are painted in red, hence represents imperial authority. Here it refers to the emperor himself. Again, more than one interpretation. Does the emperor has the intention to help but unable to help due to various reasons or that he is bent on punishing the offender and no one dared come forward to help. The second interpretation is the inspired version. The last two lines lend to this credence.

3 There are six palaces that forms the Inner Court of the Forbidden City where imperial women lived. The Outer Court is for governance and administration. This line implies a vast area had been traversed by the offender.

4 “to eat vinegar” means jealousy, especially resulting from lovers etc. It came from the story during the reign of Tang Tai Tsung. The prime minister, 房玄齡 was deathly afraid of his wife. When the emperor found out, he would bestow upon him a concubine to overcome this fear. Of course, the prime minister dared not accept the gift. The emperor then sent a cup of poison wine to the wife that if she does not obey, then she can drink it so that the new woman can become the main wife after she was gone. To the surprise and horror to everyone, without blinking, she drank the wine in one gulp declaring if she was dead, she would remain the first main wife. Of course, it was a test from the emperor. The cup was filled with vinegar instead. The emperor gave up on his scheme to cower this strong willed woman.

Wednesday, June 14, 2023 - Thursday, June 15, 2023

1 朝烟慵慵纒宛宛 The morning mists coiling in sinuous laziness with no intention to leave,
2 露珠倦壓葉尖懸 Leaf tips laden with languid dewdrops hanging precariously.
3 微風稍動處境危 Even more so in the sway of gentle breezes…
4 紅牆深鎖無限怨 And endless regrets locked deeply within the Red Walls.

Monday, June 19, 2023