Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute: Poems 13-18

[x_los]

 This week, we're reading poems 13-18 in, and thus finishing up, this collection. Because of the nature of the book in question, I'll ask you to refer here for Chinese and English copies of the poems and the images together.

You can view the scroll as a whole more easily and read some background on the Met's website; the Wiki page will also help orient you. In case it's useful, here is a plain-text version of the scroll. 

This is the final week we'll be spending on this poem cycle. Please check the previous two entries if you'd like further background information.

Comments

Re: 18. Wen-chi Returns Home

[x_los]

So her house has gone a bit to shit since the raid and her abduction, presumably because many members of the household are dead

Is the jade a literal part of the clean up, or about her, or about the house

Homie you could play the qin before you just had it covered all the time

For almost the first time in these, she’s very surrounded by WOMEN

What’s this guy with a box on his back?

Why has this guy rucked up his tunic to display his loincloth?

This dog looks v emaciated, someone should feed this dog

I kind of expected her to finally play the qin in this

‘Nomad Husband’ sent her back with a lot of goods I guess

Pleasing bookending with the two paralleled scenes of the street

Where does the flute even come into it?

Re: 18. Wen-chi Returns Home

[superborb]

The jade seems more metaphorical to me, given that it's muddy.

Some coding about the family home as a place where women are? And inability to envision women among the nomads?

Shouldn't it be a qin of some kind since this piece was meant for guqin. What a weird choice; I guess the flute is more associated with the Xiongnu?