By Western Stream at Chuzhou

滁州西涧

韦应物

独 怜 幽 草 涧 边 生，

上 有 黄 鹂 深 树 鸣。
春 潮 带 雨 晚 来 急，
野 渡 无 人 舟 自 横。

By the River to the West of Chuzhou

Wei Yingwu

Translated by Andrew W.F. Wong

How I love the riverside where slender grasses grow

And from up on trees so leafy, songs of the orioles flow.

Spring flood and a day's rain, by dusk the river runs swift,

The country ferry deserted, the boat, by itself, lies low.

By Western Stream at Chuzhou

Wei Yingwu

Translated by Wang Dalian

I like but grasses growing by ravine;

Above them orioles sing amid trees green

With rains night in haste spring tide does rise;

At wild ford, unmanned boat alone thwart lies

  Hello people!

  I know we all come into the final, what a serious word. But I have to update my blog as a daily assignment; meanwhile it will be a best tool to communicate with you.  

  Today I bring a fresh poem even thought this one omits a bit sorrow atmosphere.

  I would like to call his poem as By Western Stream at ChuZhuo, because the last character of title in this poem is “涧”, I think it will be more suitable that translate it into stream.  

  With the respect of the author, Wei Yingwu, he is a quite a famed poet in Tang Dynasty. Maybe you have already noticed that nearly all of these poets I`ve introduced were lived in Tang Dynasty, actually Tang is the top period of Chinese history, meanwhile literature got a sufficient development in Tang Dynasty or even probably the poems approach the peak in the whole history.

  Let`s back to Wei Yingwu, he was appointed as an administrative officer in Chuzhuo, an important city in south China in that era. He wrote this poem when he went to the suburb of Chuzhuo for expressing himself. Wei Yingwu always be considered as the symbol of “Landscape poetry school”, and this poem is also be regarded as the masterwork of Wei Yingwu, hence we can get that it`s a pretty classical poem, at the same time it must describe the landscape wonderfully.

  Now turn to the poem itself:

  I love the green grass grows alone the stream lonely. Listening, there are some orioles singing on the trees.

  Quite simple sentences, just show you a picture around the stream. Grass, orioles, trees constitutes the flawless landscape. But the most splendid item is, in my eyes, the author using the adjective “Lonely” in the first line, while he did not point out that I`m lonely or the grass is lonely. For me, I`ll suppose that he felt much lonely in that situation, consequently he thought the grass is the same lone as him.

  Night, spring flood comes hurriedly with heavy rains. Canoe, lying thwart on the deserted ferry without anyone.

  Suddenly, rains are coming followed by the winds fallen in the discarded ferry. The atmosphere becomes increasingly loneliness, however then, Wei Yingwu draws a more heartbroken picture to us. “A canoe thwart lies on that ferry.” I think you even can feel the lonely air from this poem.

  Pictures in the poem. The best realm for a poet. Wei Yingwu did it. 

Farewell

送别

王维

山中相送罢，

日暮掩柴扉。
春草年年绿，

王孙归不归。

Farewell

Wang wei
Friend, I have watched you down the mountain
Till now in the dark I close my thatch door
Grasses return again green in the spring,
But O my Prince of Friends, do you?

Farewell

Wang Wei

Translated by Andrew W.F. Wong

Here in the hills, I bade you farewell;

And by dusk I closed my twiggen door.

O grass will again be green next spring!

Might you, my lord, be back once more?

  Yesterday, my friends and I talked more than 3 hours in our building; we had to mention the farewell because some of these friends only exchange in Finland one semester. Therefore, we will back in three weeks and maybe it means we cannot meet each other any more after December. I have no idea about how to express myself exactly, saying goodbye probably is the saddest event in the world I guess.

  Sometimes I really wanna my mind can change those bad sorrow emotions into some acceptable feelings. Like you could think as there will be more nice guys walk into your life and you also can enjoy the life in next semester. But I can not ensure that I can forget these beautiful days in the rest of my life, hence I`m not capability to make all the thoughts come true.

  Consequently I select this one to be my after-chat blog- Farewell.

  It`s a classical quatrain written by Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei with the simple structure. In the last continuous days, I`m looks like only focus on the quatrain, but actually I`m not posted 20-character poem each day intentionally.

  The author, Wang Wei, is a famed poet in ancient China, he also be considered as the representative of Pastoral. He is quite good at describing the sight and people of countryside, express the generous mind from nature, of course this poet, which I selected is not an exception.

  Having already seen you off in the mountains, it`s sunset now. The twilight is alike closing my firewood door.  The grass become green each spring, but my dear friend would you back?

  I translated simply by the direct meaning of this poem. It named Farewell, but as a matter of fact, the author did not say anything about farewell, the author pointed out that the process of farewell is already finished in the first sentence.  Then he describes the time of this poem- it`s sunset. At the same time the twilight was shining on my door.

  But he changed his visual angle suddenly, the grass always keep in fresh green every spring, it mean he says to his friend all the things in the nature will be brought back to its original condition that maybe can not escape.  Therefore, I just ask you straightforwardly “Will you back or not?” It seems a question, meanwhile it`s the hope that the author wanna his friend back to their hometown as well.

  I put two versions of Farewell in the first part, but I notice that the both of them translated the hero of last sentence as lord or prince. Actually I`m not approve their translation, if you translate these significant two characters into the original version “王孙” separately, the first character should be king and the second should be descendant, consequently probably the translator think the author say goodbye to the offspring of the king. However, for me it`s just a respectful symbol for his bosom friend.

  Sending this poem to all the leaving exchange students I met in JYV.

A tranquil night

静夜思

李白

床 前 明 月 光，疑 是 地 上 霜。

举 头 望 明 月，低 头 思 故 乡。

Version1:

A tranquil night

Li Po

Translator: Xu Yuanchong

Abed, I see a silver light
I wonder if it`s frost around
Looking up, I find the moon bright
Bowing, in homesickness I`m drowned

Version2:

On a Quiet Night
Li Po

Translator:  Shigeyoshi Obata

I saw the moonlight before my couch，
And wondered if it were not the frost on the ground.
I raised my head and looked out on the mountain moon，
I bowed my head and thought of my far-off home.

  December is coming!

  This time I bring a poem that it must be the most famous one in the Chinese circle across the whole world. Meanwhile, the author Li Po is the most famous poet as well. I promise all the Chinese people will say of course if you ask them do you know who is Li Po? But the premise is that they know, Li Po, this name is their Li Bai, actually it also can be called Li Pai or Li Bo. This china-beating poet has several names on account of different type of translations, while his surname never be changed by translators, it could be consider as a bit respect?

  Let`s back the poem itself.

  I would say it`s the most well-known poet in history of Chinese classic literature, the first reason I have to point is simpleness. I have been mentioned that people only higher than the literati-official class can receive the education and afford the tuition in the former blog, so simpleness is the premise for popularity.

  The first two sentences describe the light. The author lied down or leaned the bed, he found the moonlight shine on the ground, but he guessed that it`s the frost at the first sight.

  Then the author starts to voice his own feelings throughout the moon. His next sentences is quite interesting that he use two actions- “raise the head and lower the head” to express himself. He wrote: I raised my head to appreciate the moon, while lower my head to miss my home.

  The most straightforward approach to speak homesick out, it`s not common for Chinese people but Li Po did it. I have written that in China, moon is often be considered as something related to the home in the poet or even daily life, the full moon always be treated as the symbol of all relatives should be reunite at home together.

  Only 20 characters, only narrative one-night-thoughts, only two actions however Li Po described his homesick so plain but rhythm

  About two versions of translation, I like the first more. Abed and two word in the form of –ing is really fresh compared with other translation and it`s more simple in according to the original poem. 

At a Snow-storm Night

雪夜宿芙蓉山主人

刘长卿

日 暮 苍 山 远，天 寒 白 屋 贫。

柴 门 闻 犬 吠，风 雪 夜 归 人。

At a Snow-storm Night

Liu Changqing

The green mountains appear far away when they are seen at twilight

His poor straw hut stands in coldness on the hillside.

When hearing a dog’s barks from his twig-made gate,

He knows someone is coming to stay with him at this snow storm night.

  Hi people! I still have many scripts and I found these days always be snow in our JYV, therefore I selected this one “at a snow-storm night”. But if you let me translate the title into English, I`ll never give this name because at a snow-storm night is just a free interpretation. If I translated directly it should be: Accommodation in the host of FuRong Mountains in a snow night.

  Liu Changqing, the author describes a picture of “Returing in snow” in the beginning. In the first piece of poem he says that now it`s twilight and the mountains are really far so looks a bit green in the visual angle. And then he also describes that it`s pretty cold outside and even the house looks totally white but inside the houst, it`s quite worn and not warm enough.

  After introducing the static view, the author starts to narrative: he hears the bark outside the wood door, he feels that the host is backing from the winds and snows.

  The views from this poem are very simple. Mountains, twilight, sky, snow, house, door, dog and a person, maybe it`s the whole life in the village or I mean in this mountain. The lively words, the sentences tend to the life, this poem only consists of 20 characters, but a hostee, a village house, the snowing evening, all of them are in the paper, you even can touch this miserable night from his words.

  The author guess the host is backing home because the home dog is barking.  Maybe it will be induce loudly echo. The barking break the peace of mountains meanwhile it injects the air of life into the inanimate environment. But it also brings more sorrow in this picture. 

A Message to Han Chuo the Yangzhou Magistrate

寄扬州韩绰判官

杜牧 

青山隐隐水迢迢，
秋尽江南草未凋。
二十四桥明月夜，
玉人何处教吹箫。 

A Message to Han Chuo the Yangzhou Magistrate
Du Mu(Author) 

There are faint green mountains and far green waters,
And grasses in this river region not yet faded by autumn;
And clear in the moon on the Twenty-Four Bridges,
Girls white as jade are teaching flute-music.

Note: Twenty-Four Bridges is the most famous scene in Yangzhou. It is composed with twenty-four bridges and there is always girls playing flute-music on these bridges.

  Today I post my favorite poet`s best work in my eyes. It`s a bit long and wired if you only notice on the title, yes I must admit it, but all is just from the translation. The receiver, I hope this word can be found in English dictionary, Han Chuo is Du Mu (the author)`s bosom friend, who was be an procurator at Yangzhou in that current administration. I will give more information and introduction in the following paragraphs.  This poem can be considered a message that the author recalled much distant and wonderful memory meanwhile wanna his old friend know it when he left Yangzhou.

  But this time I only could find one English version of this poem maybe because this one is not as famous as the formers.

  Now, let`s talk about the poem itself.

  The background is that city- Yangzhou, which is a quite important harbor in Asia, and also the almost biggest city in Chinses coast line, meanwhile it`s the window that China communicated with other countries.  The author was appointed by the government to be a magistrate, and Han Chuo is his colleague. They became friends very soon on account of common hobbies and desires of life and literature I guess.  But time flows away easily, it only could be a piece of old good days in their heart. Du Mu, the author sent this poem to Han Chuo when he was appointed to another area.  

  The first sentence describes the view in or out of Yangzhou city. It means you can see the mountains obscurely and the water in the lake seems wanna go a distant place but it`s really far far far away.  The second one says the grass still keep in green even now it`s the end of autumn. I assumed that Du Mu wanna express even though we are not in the same place and I leave Yangzhou right now, but we also have good life in these days and our friendship does not fade.

  Then the third sentence tells a static situation that and clear and beautiful moon and a bridge, I put the explanation below the poem, it`s a well-known bridge in Yangzhou and surrounding area meanwhile now it`s tourist resort within Yangzhou city. The last sentence asks a question that where those beautiful girl teach Xiao? (Xiao is a classical Chinese musical instrument likes flute.)  I think that the author recalled the Yangzhou`s landscape, busting and flourishing. But now he used “all the girls on the bridge are disappearing” to metaphor that “all the things are changing.”

  After analyzing this poem, I love it more. If you read it as Chinese language, you will find it`s in a lively and relaxed tone poem, but in fact the author are telling a sorrow feeling.  He said the plants do not fade in the beginning but he asked where the girls are at last looks like he complains that all the things he knew are different now. 

Meeting a Messenger Going to the Capital

逢入京使

岑参(Cen Shen)

故园东望路慢慢，

双袖龙钟泪不干。

马上相逢无纸笔，

凭君传话报平安。

Verison 1:

Meeting a Messenger Going to the Capital

Looking for my home far and far, far away in the east,

My sleeves have long been wet and are still with tears.

Meeting you while riding a horse I’ve got neither paper nor brush.

I’ll rely on you telling my folks I’m pretty well indeed.

Version 2:

It's a long way home, a long way east.

I am old and my sleeve is wet with tears.

We meet on horseback. I have no means of writing.

Tell them three words: "He is safe."

  Hi people! I have a really long time not updated the blog for you, sorry for making you worried and lost. But now I`m sure that I`m back and will give you more blogs constantly.

  Today it`s a quite simple one. The “SIMPLE” I mean you can read the English version, translator only choose the common words and plain sentence structure. Actually even if in the original version, the chinses one I mean, it also only consists of simple characters and phases. Sometimes you can consider that it`s a vital factor for this poem becoming a well-known one, because nearly all the people can read it and comprehend it.

  I put two distinct versions together in the former part as usual. Each time I just want to give a comparable thing for you that maybe you can understand this appointed poem completely from different translators. But this time I found that they have not any material contributions for you, and as a matter of fact I don’t like either of them. Therefore I do one version by myself.

I look back my home throughout the endless roads

Grief with tears dampening both of sleeves

I have not paper for writing my missing words

Just told them I am on the way but never leaves.

  The author, Cen Shen always be regarded as the symbol of Unconstraint style poetry, I`m not sure about this specialized noun, maybe it should be called Cavalier Poetry in Europe.

  This poem was written in 749AD, the author was promoted by the King to be am ambassador in frontier. He has to leave the hometown to the western area to fulfill his own missions, actually Cen Shen`s hometown was the capital of that time-Xi`an as that city `s current name, still be a significant city in contemporary China. In the ancient China, the transportation situation often be unsatisfied, if you far from your home, the letters become the only thing that you can accessible to your family, and delivering a letter means more than one month. Fortunately, Cen Shen came across a messenger on the road, he told the messenger: I have not anything can write right now, so please just tell my family in the capital, I`m safety.

  We mentioned that this is a simple poem, and now I hope you could understand that the words restricted by the writing condition, he must tell the messenger as simple as possible, so at last the author gave up all the flawless others, just “safety” is enough.

  Sometimes a simple approach is also can express feelings and beauty entirely.

Coming Home

回 乡 偶 书

Written by He Zhizhang in 744

少 小 离 家 老 大 回，乡 音 无 改 鬓 毛 衰，

儿 童 相 见 不 相 识，笑 问 客 从 何 处 来。

　

Version 1:

Meeting My Kids

I left home early in my life and came back in my old age

My native dialect did not change but my hair turned white and gray

I didn’t recognize my kids at first nor did they know me

No wonder why they treated me a guest and asked me where I stayed

Version 2:

Coming Home

Translated by Andrew W.F. Wong

I left home young, now old, return care free,

My tongue unchanged, my hair now thinner be.

Unknown I am to the boys and girls I meet,

Smiling they ask, “Sir, from whence come thee?”

  I posted two different versions of this poem. The same as the “thinking of you”, these two versions have different titles. Actually the real meaning of the original title is only “writing something in a coincident case when I back home”. So the second title is translate it directly but the first one making “meeting my child” as a title is abstract from the whole poem totally.

  In fact, it`s distressing story to author. He left hometown when he was young even he was still in adolescent, but he back the hometown at the age of 80s as a retired man. In ancient China, the acreage of a village always be small and limited people lived in, therefore, you would know all your neighbors and fellows. But at the last two sentences of this poem, it said the child in our village coming towards me, and he asked smilingly “where are you from”.  The climax of the poem occurs, the child should be known the author as the fellows in the same village. It proved that the author left home too long to let the child had never been seen him.

  He Zhizhang, the author, wrote this poem to express the unchanged accent and changed environment when he was 86 years old. We can feel a slight sorrowful atmosphere from the question that the child asked with smile. 

Thinking of You

水调歌头

written during the night of Mid-Autumn Festival of 1076 by Su TangPo

明月几时有，把酒问青天。不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年。

我欲乘风归去, 又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒，起舞弄清影，何似在人间。

转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠。不应有恨，何事长向别时圆。

人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。

Version 1:

Thinking of You

Translated by Shun-Yi Lee in 1998

when will the moon be clear and bright?

with a cup of wine in my hand, i asked the blue sky.

i don`t know what season it would be in the heavens on this night.

i`d like to ride the wind to fly home.

yet i fear the crystal and jade mansions are much too high and cold for me.

dancing with my moon-lit shadow,

it does not seem like a human world.

The moon rounds the red mansion Stoops to silk-pad doors, 

Shines upon the sleepless Bearing no grudge,

Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart?

People may have sorrow or joy, be near or far apart,

The moon may be dim or bright, wax or wane,

This has been going on since the beginning of time.

May we all be blessed with longevity Though far apart, we are still able to share the beauty of the moon together.

Version 2

Shui Diao Ge Tou

translated by Lin Yutang

How rare the moon, so round and clear!

With cup in hand, I ask of the blue sky,

"I do not know in the celestial sphere

What name this festive night goes by?"

I want to fly home, riding the air,

But fear the ethereal cold up there,

The jade and crystal mansions are so high!

Dancing to my shadow,

I feel no longer the mortal tie.

She rounds the vermilion tower,

Stoops to silk-pad doors,

Shines on those who sleepless lie.

Why does she, bearing us no grudge,

Shine upon our parting, reunion deny?

But rare is perfect happiness--

The moon does wax, the moon does wane,

And so men meet and say goodbye.

I only pray our life be long,

And our souls together heavenward fly!

  i posted two different versions about this poem. you can find a big difference between this two versions directly, they have distinct titles. actually the second one is only use the english letters to imitate the similar chinses pronunciation, but the first one abstracts the mainstream meaning from the poem and give it a new title"thinking of you".

  the author of the poem, Su Tongpo, is a quite famous poet in china, and this poem probably is the most well-known work. nearly all the chinese know this poem, especially the last sentence.

  this poem wrote in Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional chinses festival,that always means "Together".  because in the chinses lunar calender, you can find the fullest moon in that day, so the family should be reunited in the fullest moon day. and we have a specialist food for Mid-Autumn Festival-- Mooncake. mooncakes are all rounded,cuz rounded in chinses has the similar pronunciation with "Together", like the full moon.

  the poem originally was written for author`s brother. Su Tongpo was far from home in the together moment, so he wrote this poem to express his missing feelings and wishing his brother best. in the poet he wrote pray our life be long, in fact in ancient china, wishing you longevity is the best wishes. 

  at the last sentence, he told his brother we can watched the same moon, as we are together now. and this sentence spreaded all around china, and hold a fresh condition in the 1000-year history.

  in the Mid-Autumn Festival day, i sent a message to my parents, it`s just the last two sentences of this poem. even our distance is more over 1000km, but we can watch the same and the only moon on our heads, as we are together now.