Night Lament

While jogging in the comfort of a cool evening…

1 彩袖紅霞鬥胭脂 Colorful sleeves and peach bloom cheeks vie with her rouge,
2 月色飛舞醉瑤池 Under the moonlight, her dances in the air inebriate the Jasper Pool.
3 賽比嫦娥更抱怨 Compared to the Goddess of the Moon, more aggrieved,
4 梅苑芳襟淚誰知 Tearing on fragrant lapels in the plum garden who knowest?

1紅霞 red/fiery clouds usually imply the rosiness of sunrise or sunset and on occasions, the natural peach bloom on the cheeks or from inebriation or rouge. Textually, it is the red cloud design on the sleeves or clothing because in the next line, there is a shining moon. Only when the last line is came into being, that this is the case.

2 Jasper Pool, the magical pool of the Queen Mother of the West. The line describes the luxury and sumptuous event in the imperial palace.

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

3 Chang Er, the Goddess of the Moon leads a lonely life in the lunar palace to get away from her husband. Her companions are a white rabbit, a three legged toad and an immortal Osmanthus tree. 賽 also means “to surpass”. We do not know if the lament is coming from Yang Guifei as the first two lines hint of an operatic scene from the Drunken Imperial Concubine, 貴妃醉酒 when Yang Guifei had a tiff with the Emperor when he went off to see another favorite, leaving her alone in midst of a banquet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27e

https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/beijing-opera/the-drunken-concubine.htm

4 This line suddenly shifts the scene to those even more unfortunate. 淚 is used as a verb. From the viewpoint of the Plum Concubine, Yang Guifei’s beauty is fake, relying on artificial means to enhance her beauty. Fragrant lapels are used as a contrast to the gaudy colored sleeves in the first line. The real message is that natural beauty cannot be compared to those of bewitching ones.

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

Thursday, August 31, 2023