Little Primer of Du Fu, Poems 1-5

[x_los]

This week we start David Hawkes' Little Primer of Du Fu. I'll replicate the poems themselves here, but this book contains considerable exegesis, so I do advise you to grab this copy.

Because this exegesis is relatively substantial, let's start by reading poems 1 through 5, inclusive. There are 35 poems in the collection, so this should take us about seven weeks (unless we scale either up or down, after speaking about it).

I'm gathering additional research materials, but for this first week I'd like us to concentrate on Hawkes' introduction and the first of these poems. 

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1.望嶽 Wàng yuè

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望嶽
Wàng yuè

岱 宗 夫 如 何
1. Dài-zōng fū rú-hé?
齊 魯 青 未 了
2. Qí Lǔ qīng wèi liǎo.
造 化 鍾 神 秀
3. Zào-huà zhōng shén xiù,
陰 陽 割 昏 曉
4. Yīn yáng gē hūn xiǎo.
盪 胸 生 層 雲
5. Dàng xiōng shēng céng yún,
決 眥 入 歸 鳥
6. Jué zì rù guī niǎo.
會 當 凌 絕 頂
7. Huì-dāng líng jué dǐng,
一 覽 眾 山 小
8. Yì-lǎn zhòng-shān xiǎo!”

Read Aloud: https://youtu.be/dwn4MLeLK3c

On a Prospect of T’ai-shan

How is one to describe this king of mountains? Throughout the whole of Ch’i and Lu one never loses sight of its greenness. In it the Creator has concentrated all that is numinous and beautiful. Its northern and southern slopes divide the dawn from the dark. The layered clouds begin at the climber’s heaving chest, and homing birds fly suddenly within range of his straining eyes. One day I must stand on top of its highest peak and at a single glance see all the other mountains grown tiny beneath me.

2. 兵車行 Bīng-chē xíng

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兵車行
Bīng-chē xíng

車 轔 轔
1. Chē lín-lín,
馬 蕭 蕭
2. Mǎ xiāo-xiāo,
行 人 弓 箭 各 在 腰
3. Xíng-rén gōng-jiàn gè zài yāo,
爺 孃 妻 子 走 相 送
4. Yé-niáng qī-zǐ zǒu xiāng-sòng,
塵 埃 不 見 咸 陽 橋
5. Chén-āi bú jiàn Xián-yáng-qiáo.
牽 衣 頓 足 攔 道 哭
6. Qiān yī dùn zú lán dào kū,
哭 聲 直 上 干 雲 霄
7. Kū-shēng zhí-shàng gān yún-xiāo.
道 旁 過 者 問 行 人
8. Dào-páng guò-zhě wèn xíng-rén,
“行 人 但 云 點 行 頻
9. Xíng-rén dàn yún: ‘Diǎn-xíng pín.
或 從 十 五 北 防 河
10. ‘Huò cóng shí-wǔ běi fáng Hé,
便 至 四 十 西 營 田
11. ‘Biàn zhì sì-shí xī yíng-tián.
去 時 里 正 與 裹 頭
12. ‘Qù shí lǐ-zhèng yǔ guǒ tóu,
歸 來 頭 白 還 戍 邊
13. ‘Guī-lái tóu bái huán shù-biān.
邊 亭 流 血 成 海 水”
14. ‘Biān-tíng liú-xuè chéng hǎi-shuǐ,
武 皇 開 邊 意 未 已
15. ‘Wǔ-huáng kāi-biān yì wèi yǐ.
君 不 聞 漢 家 山 東 二 百 州
16. ‘Jūn bù wén Hàn-jiā shān-dōng èr-bǎi zhōu,
千 村 萬 落 生 荊 杞
17. ‘Qiān cūn wàn luò shēng jīng qǐ.
縱 有 健 婦 把 鋤 犂
18. ‘Zòng yǒu jiàn fù bǎ chú lí,
禾 生 隴 畝 無 東 西
19. ‘Hé shēng lǒng-mǔ wú dōng xī.
況 復 秦 兵 耐 苦 戰
20. ‘Kuàng fù Qín bīng nài kǔ-zhàn,
被 驅 不 異 犬 與 雞
21. ‘Bèi qū bú-yì quǎn yǔ jī.
長 者 雖 有 問
22. ‘Zhǎng-zhě suī yǒu wèn,
役 夫 敢 申 恨
23. ‘Yì-fū gǎn shēn-hèn?
且 如 今 年 冬
24.‘Qiě-rú jīn-nián dōng,”
未 休 關 西 卒
25. ‘Wèi xiū Guān-xī zú.
縣 官 急 索 租
26. ‘Xiàn-guān jí suǒ zū,
租 稅 從 何 出
27. ‘Zū-shuì cóng-hé chū?
信 知 生 男 惡
28. ‘Xìn zhī shēng nán è,
反 是 生 女 好
29. ‘Fǎn-shì shēng nǚ hǎo;
生 女 猶 得 嫁 比 鄰
30. ‘Shēng nǚ yóu dé jià bǐ-lín,
生 男 埋 沒 隨 百 草
31. ‘Shēng nán mái-mò suí bǎi-cǎo.
君 不 見 青 海 頭
32. ‘Jūn bú jiàn Qīng-hǎi tóu,
古 來 白 骨 無 人 收
33. ‘Gǔ-lái bái-gǔ wú-rén shōu,
新 鬼 煩 怨 舊 鬼 哭
34. ‘Xīn guǐ fán-yuàn jiù guǐ kū,
天 陰 雨 溼 聲 啾 啾
35. ‘Tiān yīn yǔ shī shēng jiū-jiū.

Read Aloud: https://www.bilibili.com/s/video/BV1sh41197cL

Ballad of the Army Carts

The carts squeak and trundle, the horses whinny, the conscripts go by, each with a bow and arrows at his waist. Their fathers, mothers, wives, and children run along beside them to see them off. The Hsien-yang Bridge cannot be seen for dust. They pluck at the men’s clothes, stamp their feet, or stand in the way weeping. The sound of their weeping seems to mount up to the blue sky above. A passer-by questions the conscripts, and the conscripts reply:

‘They’re always mobilizing now! There are some of us who went north at fifteen to garrison the River and who are still, at forty, being sent to the Military Settlements in the west. When we left as lads, the village headman had to tie our headcloths for us. We came back white-haired, but still we have to go back for frontier duty! On those frontier posts enough blood has flowed to fill the sea; but the Martial Emperor’s dreams of expansion remain unsatisfied. Haven’t you heard, sir, in our land of Han, throughout the two hundred prefectures east of the mountains briers and brambles are growing in thousands of little hamlets; and though many a sturdy wife turns her own hand to the hoeing and ploughing, the crops grow just anywhere, and you can’t see where one field ends and the next begins? And it’s even worse for the men from Ch’in. Because they make such good fighters, they are driven about this way and that like so many dogs or chickens.

‘Though you are good enough to ask us, sir, it’s not for the likes of us to complain. But take this winter, now. The Kuan-hsi troops are not being demobilized. The District Officers press for the land-tax, but where is it to come from? I really believe it’s a misfortune to have sons. It’s actually better to have a daughter. If you have a daughter, you can at least marry her off to one of the neighbours; but a son is born only to end up lying in the grass somewhere, dead and unburied. Why look, sir, on the shores of the Kokonor the bleached bones have lain for many a long year, but no one has ever gathered them up. The new ghosts complain and the old ghosts weep, and under the grey and dripping sky the air is full of their baleful twitterings.

3. 麗人行 Lì-rén xíng

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麗人行
Lì-rén xíng

三 月 三 日 天 氣 新
1. Sān-yuè sān-rì tiān-qì xīn,
長 安 水 邊 多 麗 人
2. Cháng-ān shuǐ-biān duō lì-rén.
態 濃 意 遠 淑 且 真
3. Tài nóng yì yuǎn shū qiě zhēn,
肌 理 細 膩 骨 肉 勻
4. Jī-lǐ xì-nì gǔ-ròu yún.
繡 羅 衣 裳 照 暮 春
5. Xiù-luó yī-shang zhào mù-chūn,
蹙 金 孔 雀 銀 麒 麟
6. Cù-jīn kǒng-què yín qí-lín.
頭 上 何 所 有
7. Tóu-shàng hé-suǒ yǒu?
翠 微 㔩 葉 垂 鬢 唇
8. Cuì-wēi è-yè chuí bìn-chún.
背 後 何 所 見”
9. Bèi-hòu hé-suǒ jiàn?
珠 壓 腰 衱 穩 稱 身
10. Zhū yà-yāo-jié wěn chèn shēn.
就 中 雲 幕 椒 房 親
11. Jiù-zhōng yún-mù jiāo-fáng qīn,
賜 名 大 國 虢 與 秦
12. Cì-míng dà guó Guó yǔ Qín.
紫 駞 之 峰 出 翠 釜
13. Zǐ tuó zhī fēng chū cuì fǔ,
水 精 之 盤 行 素 鱗
14. Shuǐ-jīng zhī pán xíng sù lín,
犀 筯 厭 飫 久 未 下
15. Xī-zhù yàn-yù jiǔ wèi xià,
鸞 刀 縷 切 空 紛 綸
16. Luán-dāo lǚ-qiē kōng fēn-lún.
黃 門 飛 鞚 不 動 塵
17. Huáng-mén fēi kòng bú dòng chén,
御 厨 絡 繹 送 八 珍
18. Yù-chú luò[…]”
簫 鼓 哀 吟 感 鬼 神
19. Xiāo-gǔ āi yín gǎn guǐ-shén,
賓 從 雜 遝 實 要 津
20. Bīn-cóng zá-tà shí yào-jīn,
後 來 鞍 馬 何 逡 巡
21. Hòu lái ān-mǎ hé qūn-xún!
當 軒 下 馬 入 錦 茵
22. Dāng xuān xià-mǎ rù jǐn-yīn.
楊 花 雪 落 覆 白 蘋
23. Yáng-huā xuě luò fù bái-pín,
青 鳥 飛 去 銜 紅 巾
24. Qīng-niǎo fēi-qù xián hóng jīn,
炙 手 可 熱 勢 絕 倫
25. Zhì-shǒu kě rè shì jué-lún,
慎 莫 近 前 丞 相 瞋
26. Shèn-mò jìn-qián chéng-xiàng chēn!

Read Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAGzDezKLFo

Ballad of Lovely Women

On the day of the Spring Festival, under a new, fresh sky, by the lakeside in Ch’ang-an are many lovely women. Their breeding and refinement can be seen in their elegant deportment and proud aloofness. All have the same delicate complexions and exquisitely proportioned figures. In the late spring air the peacocks in passement of gold thread and unicorns of silver thread glow on their dresses of embroidered silk. What do they wear on their heads? Bandeaux of kingfisher-feather jewellery which reach down to the front edges of their hair. And what do we see at their backs? Overskirts of pearl net, clinging to their graceful bodies.

Amongst these ladies are to be seen the relations of the Mistress of the Cloud Curtains and the Pepper-flower Apartments, ladies dignified by imperial favour with titles that were once the names of great states: Kuo and Ch’in. Purple camel-humps rise like hillocks from green-glazed cauldrons, and fish with gleaming scales are served on crystal dishes. But the chopsticks of rhinoceros-horn, sated with delicacies, are slow to begin their work, and the belled carving-knife which cuts those threadlike slices wastes its busy labours. Palace eunuchs gallop up in continuous succession, bearing delicacies from the imperial kitchens, the flying hooves of their horses seeming scarcely to touch the dust beneath them.

And now, with music of flutes and drums mournful enough to move the very gods, surrounded by a shoal of clients and followers, the very fountain-head of power, with what disdainful steps this last rider comes pacing! Arrived at the balustrade surrounding the pavilion, he dismounts and takes his place among the diners sitting on the patterned carpet. The willow-down falls like snow and settles on the white water-weed. A blue-bird flies off, bearing a lady’s red handkerchief in its beak. He wields a power you could warm your hands against, a power unequalled by any other man: beware of pressing forward within range of the Chief Minister’s displeasure!

4. 月夜 Yuè-yè

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月夜
Yuè-yè

今 夜 鄜 州 月
1. Jīn-yè Fū-zhōu yuè,
閨 中 只 獨 看
2. Guī-zhōng zhǐ dú kān.
遙 憐 小 兒 女
3. Yáo lián xiǎo ér-nǚ,
未 解 憶 長 安
4. Wèi jiě yì Cháng-ān.
香 霧 雲 鬟 溼
5. Xiāng wù yún-huán shī,
清 輝 玉 臂 寒
6. Qīng huī yù-bì hán.
何 時 倚 虛 幌
7. Hé-shí yǐ xū huǎng,
雙 照 淚 痕 乾
8. Shuāng zhào lèi-hén gān?”

Read Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kntjN7i-ICY

Moonlit Night

Tonight in Fu-chou my wife will be watching this moon alone. I think with tenderness of my far-away little ones, too young to understand about their father in Ch’ang-an. My wife’s soft hair must be wet from the scented night-mist, and her white arms chilled by the cold moonlight. When shall we lean on the open casement together and gaze at the moon until the tears on our cheeks are dry?

5. 哀王孫 Āi wáng-sūn

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哀王孫
Āi wáng-sūn

長 安 城 頭 頭 白 烏
1. Cháng-ān chéng-tóu tóu-bái wū,
夜 飛 延 秋 門 上 呼
2. Yè fēi Yán-qiū-mén-shàng hū.
又 向 人 家 啄 大 屋”
3. Yòu xiàng rén-jiā zhuó dà-wū,
屋 底 達 官 走 避 胡
4. Wū-dǐ dá-guān zǒu bì hú.
金 鞭 斷 折 九 馬 死
5. Jīn biān duàn-zhé jiǔ mǎ sǐ,
骨 肉 不 得 同 馳 驅
6. Gǔ-ròu bū-dé tóng chí-qū.
腰 下 寶 玦 青 珊 瑚
7. Yāo-xià bǎo-jué qīng shān-hú,
可 憐 王 孫 泣 路 隅
8. Kě-lián wáng-sūn qì lù-yú.
問 之 不 肯 道 姓 名
9. Wèn zhī bù-kěn dào xìng-míng,
但 道 困 苦 乞 為 奴
10. Dàn dào kùn-kǔ qǐ wéi nú.
已 經 百 日 竄 荊 棘
11. Yǐ-jīng bǎi-rì cuàn jīng-jí,
身 上 無 有 完 肌 膚
12. Shēn-shàng wú-yǒu wán jī-fū.
高 帝 子 孫 盡 隆 準
13. Gāo-dì zǐ-sūn jìn lóng-zhǔn,
龍 種 自 與 常 人 殊
14. Lóng-zhǒng zì yǔ cháng-rén shū.
豺 狼 在 邑 龍 在 野
15. Chái-láng zài yì lóng zài yě,
王 孫 善 保 千 金 軀
16. Wáng-sūn shàn bǎo qiān-jīn qū!
不 敢 長 語 臨 交 衢
17. Bù-gǎn cháng-yǔ lín jiāo-qú,
且 為 王 孫 立 斯 須
18. Qiě wèi wáng-sūn lì sī-xū.
昨 夜 東 風 吹 血 腥
19. Zuó-yè dōng-fēng chuī xuè-xīng,
東 來 橐 駞 滿 舊 都
20. Dōng-lái tuó-tuó mǎn jiù-dū.
朔 方 健 兒 好 身 手
21. Shuò-fāng jiàn-ér hǎo shēn-shǒu,
昔 何 勇 銳 今 何 愚
22. Xī hé yǒng-ruì jīn hé yú!
竊 聞 天 子 已 傳 位
23. Qiè-wén tiān-zǐ yǐ chuán-wèi,
聖 德 北 服 南 單 于
24. Shèng-dé běi fú Nán-chán-yú,
花 門 剺 面 請 雪 恥”
25. Huā-mén lí-miàn qǐng xuě-chǐ.
慎 勿 出 口 他 人 狙
26. Shèn-wù chū-kǒu tā-rén jū!
哀 哉 王 孫 慎 勿 疏
27. Āi-zāi wáng-sūn shèn-wù shū!
五 陵 佳 氣 無 時 無
28. Wǔ-líng jiā-qì wú-shí wú!

Read Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXaBXTljeLU

The Unfortunate Prince

Hooded crows from the battlements of Ch’ang-an flew cawing by night over the Gate of Autumn and thence to the homes of men, pecking at the great roofs, warning the high ministers who dwelt beneath to flee from the barbarian. Golden whips were flailed until they snapped and the royal horses sank dead with exhaustion beneath them; but many of the Emperor’s own close kin were unable to gallop with him.

With a precious jade emblem and blue coral pendant at his waist, a pitiful young prince stands weeping at the corner of the street. Questioned, he is unwilling to tell me his name; he will only say that he is in great distress, and begs me to take him as my slave. He has already been lying in concealment for a hundred days amongst the thorn-bushes and has not a whole piece of skin on his body; but descendants of the August Emperor all have the imperial nose; the Seed of the Dragon are not as other men are.

Wolves and jackals now occupy the city; the dragons are out in the wilds: Your Highness must take care of his precious person! I dare not talk very long with you here beside the crossroads, but I will stand with Your Highness just a little while.

Last night the east wind carried a stench of blood and the ‘former capital’ was full of camels from the east. The Shuo-fang veterans were splendid soldiers. How bold and keen they were a while ago, and how foolish they look today! I’ve heard tell that the Son of Heaven has abdicated. And they say that in the North the Khan is so indebted for the favours shown him by his Sacred Majesty that at Hua-men he and all his warriors slashed their faces and vowed to wipe out this humiliation. But we must mind what we say, with so many spies about. Alas, poor prince! Be on your guard! May the protecting power that emanates from the Imperial Tombs go always with you!