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.