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The Works of Li Qingzhao, Ci Poems 3.17 - 3.24
The thrilling third instalment of Li Qingzhao’s ci poetry. This book is 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). We're reading the poems 3.17 through 3.24, inclusive.
Four of this week’s poems have endnotes, but these offer only small points of Chinese language exegesis.
How to Read Chinese Poetry has three chapters on the ci forms Li Qingzhao uses here:
Chapter 12, Ci Poetry: Short Song Lyrics (Xiaoling)
Chapter 13, Ci Poetry: Long Song Lyrics (Manci)
Chapter 14, Ci Poetry: Long Song Lyrics on Objects (Yongwu Ci)
This week, we look at Chapter 12 as recommended additional reading.
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3.17
春到長門春草青。
江梅些子破
未開勻。
碧雲籠碾玉成塵。 留曉夢
驚破一甌春。
花影壓重門。 8 疏簾鋪淡月
好黃昏。
二年三度負東君。
歸來也
著意過今春。
To the tune “Low Rows of Hills”
Spring comes to Long Gate, spring plants are verdant. Red plum blossoms are beginning to open, not yet in full flower.
Cyan clouds cover the grinder, jade slivers lie piled like dust. My lingering dawn dream is abruptly broken by a pot of spring.
Blossom shadows press upon double doors. Spaced blinds are covered with pallid moonlight,
what a fine evening it is! Three times in two years I’ve betrayed the Lord of the East.
Now that he has returned again, let me set my mind on enjoying this spring.
Re: 3.17
“The “pot of spring” is a pot of newly brewed tea.” Okay, but why?
“Spaced blinds” like slatted wooden Venetian blinds?
“Blossom shadows press upon double doors.”
“Three times in two years I’ve betrayed the Lord of the East.” So what does it mean here to betray the god of spring?
Re: 3.17
It's an abbreviation for 春茶 lit. spring tea, "tea leaves gathered at springtime or the tea make from them." Then it gives a Tang and a Song reference for other times this appears.
They're carved screens (or the word could be curtains, but I assume in this case some kind of screen).
The vernacular tl (and the plain text) references the layers of the shadows of the flowers in particular.
It means that three springs have passed, so two years (or slightly more).
3.18
湖上風來波浩渺。
秋已暮
紅稀香少。
水光山色與人親 說不盡
無窮好。
蓮子已成荷葉老。
清露洗
蘋花汀草。
眠沙鷗鷺不回頭
似也恨
人歸早。
To the tune “Remembering the Prince”
Wind comes across the lake, waves stretch endlessly. At the end of autumn the red flowers are few, the fragrances slight.
They befriend me, the water’s glimmer and the hues of the hills— impossible to describe, the infinite beauty of the scene.
The lotus seeds are formed, the leaves droop.
Pure dew washes
duckweed flowers and islet grasses. Sleeping gulls on the sand do not turn their heads, as if they begrudge me
going home so early.
Re: 3.18
Common poetic rhetorical move of finding poetry unequal to experience
“They befriend me, the water’s glimmer and the hues of the hills—“ really lovely
Re: 3.18
Re: 3.18
Re: 3.18
Re: 3.18
3.19
歐陽公作《蝶戀花》有「庭院深深深幾許」之句，予酷愛
之，用其語作「庭院深深」數闕。其聲蓋即舊《臨江仙》
也。
庭院深深深幾許
雲窗霧閣常扃。
柳梢梅萼漸分明。
春歸秣陵樹 人客建康城。
感月吟風多少事
如今老去無成。 誰憐憔悴更彫零。
試燈無意思
踏雪沒心情。
To the tune “Immortal by the River”
Master Ouyang (Ouyang Xiu) wrote a song lyric to the tune “Butterfly Loves Flowers” with the line “Deep, the deep courtyard, how deep is it?” which I’m most fond of.1 I have borrowed his line to write several “Deep, the deep courtyard” songs. In fact, the tune he used is the one formerly known as “Immortal by the River.”
Deep, the deep courtyard, how deep is it? Cloudy windows and misty halls are forever locked. Willow tips and plum buds can gradually be seen.
Spring returns to the trees of Moling, this person is a sojourner at Jiankang city.
Moved by the moon, chanting in the wind, so much has happened!
Today I’m old and have accomplished nothing. 8 Haggard and declining, yet who shows concern?
Lighting the lanterns holds no interest for me, and I’ve no enthusiasm for treading on the snow.
Re: 3.19
““Deep, the deep courtyard, how deep is it?” which I’m most fond of. I have borrowed his line to write several “Deep, the deep courtyard” songs.” What does this mean to her?
“chanting in the wind” ?
“Lighting the lanterns holds no interest for me, and I’ve no enthusiasm for treading on the snow.” I feel like she’s alluding to customs I don’t know about
Re: 3.19
Also, Baike says about the line that is translated to "have accomplished nothing": here it is not referring to the general meaning of not succeeding in an activity, but rather that the 'wind and moon' are not interesting and she can't seem to write anything.
The lantern lighting refers to the Lantern Festival; the specific term used here is 'test lanterns', which Baike informs me refers to lighting them in advance of the festival itself [to appreciate their beauty?]
The walking on the snow is glossed as walking on the snow or appreciating the snow's beauty.
Re: 3.19
3.20
薄霧濃雰愁永晝。
瑞腦銷金獸。
時節又重陽
寶枕紗廚 半夜涼初透。
東籬把酒黃昏後。
有暗香盈袖。
莫道不銷魂
簾捲西風 人比黃花瘦。
To the tune “Drunk in the Blossom’s Shadows”
Light mist, thick vapors, sad through an endless morning. Camphor incense turns to ash inside the golden beast. Again it’s Double Ninth Festival,
to the precious pillow, within the gauze netting, a chill enters at midnight.
Holding wine after sunset by the eastern fence,
a subtle fragrance fills the sleeves.
Don’t say she’s not heartbroken—
as the west wind lifts the blinds, she’s more withered than the yellow flowers.
Re: 3.20
“In the second stanza we see again the association of “eastern fence,” wine, and chrysanthemums that we encountered in 3.16, but now with a very different mean- ing and mood.“ homie I did not get the initial meaning and mood, I’m clearer on this one
Re: 3.20
Yellow flowers are as haggard/withered people, and that leanness is used to suggest deep yearning.
The gauze netting is to prevent mosquitos.
The fragrance by the eastern fence is that of the chrysanthemums. Usually this phrase refers to plum blossoms.
West wind = autumn wind
3.21
風定落花深
簾外擁紅堆雪。
長記海棠開後
正是傷春時節。
酒闌歌罷玉尊空
青缸暗明滅。
魂夢不堪幽怨
更一聲啼鴂。
To the tune “A Happy Event Draws Near”
The wind calms, fallen blossoms lie thick, outside the curtains, piles of reds and snowy mounds of whites. I always know, once the crab-apple blossoms,
it is truly the time to be pained by spring.
The wine finished, singing over, the jade goblet is empty, as the bronze lamp flickers dimly. My dreaming soul cannot stand the lone resentment,
what’s more, the isolated cry of the shrike.
Re: 3.21
“it is truly the time to be pained by spring.” This woman’s death vendetta against Spring, I swear
“the jade goblet is empty” I am lost as to how prohibitively expensive jade is, like, can you make objects out of it if you’re not the Emperor level rich?
Weird tune choice for a desolate poem?
Re: 3.21
My first reaction to the translation was that qing ALSO MEANS BRONZE?! but thankfully Baike has clarified that the qing is referring to the flame, which is weakly pale. So the translator must be editorializing by inserting bronze.
3.22
夜來沈醉卸妝遲。
梅萼插殘枝。
酒醒熏破春睡
夢遠不成歸。
人悄悄
月依依。
翠簾垂。
更挼殘蕊
更撚餘香
更得些時。
To the tune “Telling My Deepest Feelings”
Drunk last night, I delayed taking off my make-up. A withered sprig of plum blossoms still sits in my hair. Sobering up now, their scent interrupts my spring sleep,
my distant dream did not carry me home.
No sounds of people now, the moon hangs longingly in the sky. The green blinds are lowered.
Again, I toy with the fading flowers, pinching out, again, what fragrance remains, to make it last, again, a little longer.
Re: 3.22
This one's really evocative, this works great
Re: 3.22
3.23
草際鳴蛩。
驚落梧桐。
正人間天上愁濃。
雲階月色 關鎖千重。 縱浮槎來 浮槎去
不相逢。
星橋鵲駕
經年才見
想离情別恨難窮。
牽牛織女
莫是离中。
甚霎儿晴
霎儿雨 霎儿風。
To the tune “Incense Offering”
Chirping crickets in the brush startle paulownia leaves off the branch. This is a time of deep sadness, in the heavens as on earth.
A stairway of clouds to a moonlight terrain, the thousand gates are locked shut. Even if the raft comes floating by, it drifts on by,
and never encounters Herd Boy.
A bridge across the River of Stars, formed by magpies meeting only once a year. Their parting sorrows and regrets never come to an end.
Herd Boy and Weaving Maid— all they know is separation.
Truly, theirs is a moment of clear sky,
a moment of rain,
a moment of wind.
Re: 3.23
“(It was sometimes said that the celestial River of Stars connected to the worldly ocean at the
edge of the sky.)” This is a cool image, like in Narnia when Reepicheep sails off the world
Really evocative one again
Not quite sure I get the logic of the ending, with the turn from clear sky, which makes sense, to the more obscure rain and wind
Re: 3.23
3.24
年年雪里。
常插梅花醉。
挼盡梅花無好意。
贏得滿衣清淚。
今年海角天涯。
蕭蕭兩鬢生華。
看取晚來風勢
故應難看梅花。
To the Tune “Clear and Peaceful Music”
Year after year, in late snow I put plum blossoms in my hair and drink too much. Touching them only spoils them, bringing no pleasure.
4 All I get is a blouse full of tear stains!
This year, at the edge of the sea and end of the sky, the hair at my temples shows streaks of grey. Watching now as the evening winds arise,
8 it will be hard to look at plum blossoms anymore.
Re: 3.24
“Watching now as the evening winds arise, it will be hard to look at plum blossoms anymore.” What is she watching, and why in particular is this hard? How are the blossoms connected to her sadness at ageing?
Re: 3.24
The sentence translated to "edge of the sea and end of the sky" is a set phrase meaning "the ends of the earth," but Baike says that it is referring to Lin'an, a city in Hangzhou. Hangzhou does border the ocean, but modern-day Lin'an does not.
"streaks of grey" is MUCH less poetic than the original "growing flower", which Baike says means flower hairs = white hairs.
Baike says the "evening winds" are a reference to the continued Jin army advance on the Southern Song. Similarly, though the plum blossoms are on the surface a reference to the hair ornament and [object of sorrow?], they have a symbolic meaning. The exegesis later specifies this meaning to be that the plum blossoms symbolize beautiful things, so the difficulty of looking at them indicates the misfortunes of the state; with the hardships endured, she doesn't have the leisurely mood to admire the plum blossoms.
Chapter 12
played an important role in setting the ci’s thematic range and made problematic
its legitimacy as a genre for serious literary pursuit. It also makes the ci a particularly interesting genre from the point of view of feminism and gender studies.1
The predominance of feminine themes in early ci meant that a female courtesan
might be found singing the female-voiced song of a male poet, whose work, in
turn, drew on female voices in the tradition as well as on male imitations of those
voices." eh, but even the shi jing also does this extensively, re the assumed female voice?
This chapter's very clear and provides a decent historical exegesis.
It's interesting to see the ci described as lyric poetry in contrast to the shi, bc really don't we think a LOT of shi poetry came out of musical traditions initially as well? I guess perhaps re Tang shi poetry, this is less true.
"In the ci, the stanza break comes to serve an important aesthetic function, with
the expectation that it will introduce a change in meter, rhyme, setting, or mood,
in a practice known as huan tou. The form this transition takes in any particular
song lyric is a unique and important element of the poem’s aesthetic effect. In this
sense, the ci is both similar to and different from Tang regulated verse; the third
couplet of a regulated shi poem was also expected to introduce a thematic shift or
change (chap. 8). But in regulated verse, a strong metrical and tonal equivalence
unites the second and third couplets, thus in effect subordinating the thematic
shift to the tight unity of the poem. This is replaced in the ci with variation of both
line length and tonal patterning."
"the suggestion of eroticism that had been attached to some
conventional depictions of abandoned women, especially in the sensuous palacestyle poetry of the Six Dynasties period, which preceded the Tang" oh D told me about this also
cloud locks? cicada locks?
"The candle’s tears in line 2 are a typical example of the poetic device of
fusing emotion and scene (qing jing jiao rong). This practice of imbuing physical
elements of the scene with human emotion brings to mind the Western notion of
the “pathetic fallacy,” a term coined by John Ruskin in the nineteenth century for
a practice he deplored"
“Buddha-Like Barbarian” is this just Bodhisatva Barbarian?
"The first
two lines, often cited by subsequent critics, evoke the image of the female figure
by reference to the resplendent screen that hides her in line 1," oh I would NOT have known this without exegesis
Li Qingzhao's poems feel forcefully more serious than these other guys', and more 'honest' in their presentation of female PoV. Only Wei Zhuang and Li Yu approach her in seriousness.
"It is important to note that in the last line, the relationship of heartbreak in the
first two characters with the “fragrant grasses green” is not explicit. As translated
here, the heartbreak applies to the speaker, who sees the grasses, the color of which
reminds her, again, of late spring and hence of the irretrievable loss of time. Another translation would be “Heartbroken, the fragrant grasses green,” in which the
emotion is linked more explicitly to the grasses. While in either case the emotion
must ultimately be traced back to the speaker, the poetic effect is quite different.
In Chinese, these phrases can simply be juxtaposed. No decision needs to be made
concerning the attribution of the emotion. This is one of the ubiquitous problems
in the translation of Chinese poetry into English: the translator is often forced to
make a choice one way or the other in order to craft a smooth English line. The same
is true for the choice of pronoun where none is present in the original or for the
choice of verb tense. For the Chinese reader, these details can remain unspecified,
allowing the poem to retain its polysemous and indeterminate, evocative quality."
"Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072), a statesman and
an essayist of the Northern Song" him again!
"The shi and ci at this point occupied different spheres, characterized by a division of labor in which the ci was assigned the treatment of delicate emotions. If the
shi was seen as a vehicle of the will or intent (shi yan zhi [the shi gives voice to the
intent]), then the ci was seen as a vehicle of feeling (ci yan qing [the ci gives voice to
emotion])."
"The poem moves from scene to
feeling, in a typical progression known as “entering the emotion through the scene”
(you jing ru qing),"
"These poets’ song
lyrics remain largely within the “delicate and restrained” wanyue school, as opposed to the “bold and unrestrained” or heroic haofang school, which developed as
the thematic range of the ci broadened even further during the Song."
"But the emotion remains at
arm’s length, as vague as the sense of familiarity aroused by the swallows: “as if we
knew each other.”" I didn't know how to read that, but it's v nice once you do
"Yan Shu’s
poem addresses its subject from without, leaving an empty space at the center
where the complaint (yuan) remains unspoken."
"In conclusion, it may be useful to review some characteristics of the shorter, xiaoling, ci poems, which have been the subject of this chapter. Generally consisting
of two stanzas (although some have only one), the poems are structurally simpler
than the more elaborate manci (chap. 13). Often the break between stanzas marks
a move from past to present, from interior to exterior, from speech to scene, or vice versa. In the manci, these shifts become more complex. Early literati ci may
betray the influence of shi aesthetics in their use of juxtaposed scenes and states;
although the ci allows more elaboration of the relationship between them than
does the shi, it remains for the manci to take this elaboration further, incorporating
descriptive and narrative sequences that the xiaoling could never accommodate.
Thematically, the xiaoling tends to restrict itself to subjects involving the delicate
and personal emotions surrounding love, abandonment, separation, or nostalgia, treating these subjects with a characteristic allusiveness that accords with its
brevity and concision. The manci came to accommodate a broader variety of subjects and a greater range of emotion, which its length and complexity allowed it to
treat in a more exhaustive manner. But the xiaoling set the stage for the manci and
the development of the haofang (heroic) style by adapting a popular medium for
literati use and carving a niche for it in the hierarchy of literary forms that were
acceptable for intellectual pursuit."
"Thematically, the xiaoling tends to restrict itself to subjects involving the delicate
and personal emotions surrounding love, abandonment, separation, or nostalgia, treating these subjects with a characteristic allusiveness that accords with its
brevity and concision" so I can see now how Li Qingzhao is taking this form and doing More with it