The Works of Li Qingzhao, poems 1.6 to 1.12

[x_los]

Welcome back to The Works of Li Qingzhao, freely available via De Gruyter's Library of Chinese Humanities in Mandarin and English and via several publication formats, including two open access options (the pdf appears to be better formatted than the ebook; it might be worth someone letting them know as much). This week we're reading poems 1.6 to 1.12, inclusive.

This collection uses footnotes and end notes to explicate the work. A few of this week's poems have footnotes, so look out for that.

CLP has an episode on Li Qingzhao you might find relevant.

Comments

1.6 曉夢 Dawn Dream

[x_los]

曉夢

曉夢隨疏鐘
飄然躡雲霞。
因緣安期生
邂逅萼綠華。
秋風正無賴
吹盡玉井花。
共看藕如船
同食棗如瓜。
翩翩座上客
意妙語亦佳。
嘲辭鬬詭辨
活火分新茶。
雖非助帝功
其樂莫可涯。
人生能如此
何必歸故家。
起來斂衣坐
掩耳厭喧嘩。
心知不可見
念念猶咨嗟。


Dawn Dream

A dawn dream follows the fleeting drumbeats,
soaring it treads upon the colored clouds.
It is my fate to meet the immortal An Qisheng
by chance I encounter goddess Green Blossom too.
The autumn winds truly cannot be withstood,
they blow all the flowers from Jade Well.
Together we view lotus pods the size of boats
and nibble on dates as large as melons.
How graceful, the guests at the banquet,
marvellous their thoughts, excellent their words too.
Teasing each other, they vie in witty debate,
with rekindled fire we brew fresh tea.
Although we do not assist the emperor doing good deeds,
the joy of this gathering knows no bounds.
If a person could truly live like this,
what need would there be of returning home?
Awakening, I sit up and straighten my robe,
then cover my ears, annoyed by raucous shouting.
Those who know me can no longer be seen;
sighing, my thoughts dwell on my dream.

Re: 1.6 曉夢 Dawn Dream

[x_los]

I don’t get a lot out of this first stanza. What are the drumbeats? Is she, half asleep, dreaming, and curiously dreaming of being these grand male figures (or in their positions) receiving marks of divine favour? Is it a sort of power fantasy?

“The autumn winds truly cannot be withstood, they blow all the flowers from Jade Well.” ?

And then we’ve got some imagery of fantastic plenty.

“then cover my ears, annoyed by raucous shouting. Those who know me can no longer be seen;” so again she’s interrupted by mundane bullshit, and I guess her zhiji/the companions of her heart were the compatriots at this banquet, who really Got her

So is this a sense of belonging, truly, with like--the immortals? The dead?

Re: 1.6 曉夢 Dawn Dream

[superborb]

Baike says she's yearning for the "free and at leisure" (idiom) world of the immortals. I think it's basically like, wow dreamt my ideal world, too bad the real world sucks.

Gloss for the autumn winds line gives the last bit as "without reason, not pleasing others, play a practical joke" -- kind of like, the autumn winds being unruly.

The immortals in this sense are more like lesser gods than the dead.