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dankodesThe fourth 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 3.25 through 3.32, 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 13 as recommended additional reading.
It may interest you to know that if you’ve been doing the additional reading, you’re now more than 1/3 of the way through How to Read Chinese Poetry:
Ch 1 (Shi Jing)
Ch 5 (19 Old Poems)
Ch 8 (Du Fu
Ch 9 (Du Fu)
Ch 10 (Du Fu)
Ch 12 (Li Qingzhao)
Ch 18 (Du Fu)
These next two chapters related to ci poetry will see us to the halfway point.
In contrast, I’ve been neglecting Chinese Poetry in Context: I believe we've read only Ch 15. I hope to be more assiduous about recommending it in future, when we cover pertinent people. So far, we’ve been a bit misaligned (or I wasn’t yet recommending specific chapters for discussion, when something pertinent came up).
THIS WEEK, recall from the introduction that 3.24 - 3.28 may be misattributed.
If you’d like to be added to the reminder email list, let me know the address you wish to be contacted via. (You can also unsubscribe from the reminders at any time simply by replying ‘unsubscribe’.)
3.25
雪里已知春信至。
寒梅點綴瓊枝膩。
香臉半開嬌旖旎。
當庭際。
玉人浴出新妝洗。
造化可能偏有意。
故教明月玲瓏地。
共賞金尊沉綠蟻。
莫辭醉。
此花不與群花比。
To the tune “The Fisherman Is Proud”
Amid snow we know spring’s messenger has arrived.
The cold plum is adorned, its jeweled branches lustrous.
The perfumed face is half visible, showing coy beauty.
At the edge of the courtyard,
a jade beauty emerges from the bath, her make-up newly rinsed.
The Creator must be biased in his intent
to cause the bright moon to shine on this spot. Together we enjoy the dark bubbles in the golden goblet.
Do not decline to drink too much, this flower cannot be compared to any other.
Re: 3.25
“this flower cannot be compared to any other.” What is this last line up to?
Re: 3.25
The dark bubbles are literally green ants, which baike says used to refer to the fragments/foam on top of wine and later became an alternative name for wine.
I guess a superficial reading is just that the whole poem is praising the plum blossom, so the last line just reemphasizes that?
Re: 3.25
Re: 3.25
Are they drinking plum wine?
Re: 3.25
3.26
世人作梅詞，下筆便俗。予試作一篇，乃知前言不妄耳。
藤床紙帳朝眠起。
說不盡
無佳思。
沈香煙斷玉爐寒
伴我情怀如水。
笛聲三弄
梅心驚破
多少春情意。
小風疏雨瀟瀟地。
又催下千行淚。
吹簫人去玉樓空
腸斷与誰同倚。
一枝折得
人間天上
沒個人堪寄。
To the tune “The Solitary Wild Goose”
People say that when writing songs on the plum blossom, as soon as your brush touches the page the piece is vulgar. I tried writing one, and discovered it’s true.
A rattan bed, paper curtain, awaking in the morning. I could never describe it, this mood with no pleasant thoughts.
The aloeswood incense no longer burns, the censer is cold, the despair that attends upon me is like a stream that never stops. Three tunes on the flute,2 startle open the plum blossoms,
but the excitement of spring—how much is there?
A light breeze brings fine rain that moistens the ground. It also hastens the shedding of a thousand lines of tears. The flute-player has left, the jade tower is empty,
with whom can my broken heart fly off ?1 A sprig of blossoms may be picked, but not in this world, nor in heaven, is there anyone to send it to.
Re: 3.26
“thousand lines of tears.” Why lines of tears—like is that the way they drip down her face? Or is this primarily a nature image, where the storm shakes loose lots of petals?
“the jade tower is empty,” look it’s all very well to say this is a reference, but drop a line or two of explanation, please
Re: 3.26
If it takes a couple of flute blasts to open the plum blossom buds, how much more to ‘open’ all of spring? ? ?
Really don’t get this one. Thought it was about the frustration of not being able to capture a response to natural beauty but then it seemed to morph into being abandoned by a lover - unless the flute player is a metaphor for creative inspiration
Re: 3.26
I read the excitement of spring line as "how much spring affection" -- mourning for past springs with her husband.
Yeah, the lines of the tears down her face.
This http://chineseaesop.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-phoenix-terrace.html is the story being referenced.
Re: 3.26
3.27 On Wilted Plum Blossoms
殘梅
小閣藏春
閒窗銷晝
畫堂無限深幽。
篆香燒盡 日影下簾鉤。 手種江梅更好 又何必臨水登樓。
無人到 寂寥恰似何遜在楊州。
從來知韻勝
難堪雨藉 不耐風揉。 更誰家橫笛 吹動濃愁。
莫恨香消玉減 16 須信道
掃跡情留。
難言處
良宵淡月
疏影尚風流。
To the tune “Fragrance Fills the Courtyard”
On Wilted Plum Blossoms
This small building conceals the spring season, the lattice windows lock the morning inside, the painted hall is infinitely deep and secluded.
Seal-character incense has all turned to ash, the sun’s shadows move down the hooked curtain. The river plums I planted myself grow ever more attractive, why bother going to the river or climbing to the balcony?
No one comes, the loneliness here is just like He Sun’s in Yangzhou.
From olden times, such outstanding beauty,
could hardly bear being pelted by rain 12 or tossed about by winds.
What’s worse is when the flute song being played somewhere buffets it with such deep sadness!1 Do not regret the fragrance fading or the snow melting—
you must understand the feeling lingers after the form is swept away. Yet the hardest part is recalling these lines, “On a fine evening in pale moonlight,
the delicate shadows retain their charm.”
Re: 3.27 On Wilted Plum Blossoms
“Seal-character incense” ?
“the feeling lingers after the form is swept away.” Particularly nice
The Lin Bu she’s adapting is great
Re: 3.27 On Wilted Plum Blossoms
Re: 3.27 On Wilted Plum Blossoms
Re: 3.27 On Wilted Plum Blossoms
Baike also says the title was added by later people.
3.28 On the Red Plum
紅梅
紅酥肯放瓊苞碎。
探著南枝開遍未。
不知醞藉幾多時
但見包藏無限意。
道人憔悴春窗底。
悶損闌干愁不倚。
要來小看便來休
未必明朝風不起。
To the tune “Spring in the Jade Tower”
On the Red Plum
The red cream displays itself, the jeweled pod bursts. I look to see if the southern branch is fully in blossom yet. There’s no telling how long they were concealed in preparation,
all we see is the boundless feeling they contain.
The blossoms know the person beside the spring window is haggard, troubled beside the balcony railing, too sad to lean and gaze afar. If you want to come view them a while, please do!
There’s no guarantee wind will not rise in the morning.
Re: 3.28 On the Red Plum
Interesting that the subject in the second stanza slips from the speaker into ambiguity—probably just the translator trying to capture the fact that it’s not absolutely certain, in Chinese?
Re: 3.28 On the Red Plum
all we see is the boundless feeling they contain.
That is such a good line.
Re: 3.28 On the Red Plum
'red cream': Didn't make sense to me on first read bc the word being translated to cream now means 'flaky pastry, crunchy, limp, soft, silky', but baike clarifies that it means they have a moist luster.
'jeweled pod' ofc the original word is jade; baike says something about it having a tender / moist / glossy quality.
'southern branch' = the one that blossoms first as it's in the sun.
The first gloss on the 'person' in the 'person beside the spring window' is that it indicates (potentially LQZ referring to herself as, if she is the subject of the poem) a Daoist. The Baike gloss also offers an alternative interpretation that it could mean that "people are talking about her as [haggard]", since Dao also means 'to say'. The Baike vernacular translation just says 'a person'.
3.29
蕭條庭院
又斜風細雨
重門須閉。
寵柳嬌花寒食近 種種惱人天氣。 險韻詩成 扶頭酒醒
別是閑滋味。 征鴻過盡 萬千心事難寄。
樓上幾日春寒
簾垂四面
玉闌干慵倚。
被冷香消新夢覺
不許愁人不起。
清露晨流
新桐初引
多少遊春意。
日高煙斂 更看今日晴未。
To the tune “Recalling Her Charm”
So deserted, the courtyard, what’s more, a fine drizzle is blown by slanting winds, the double doors must be kept shut.
Oh, the beloved willows and lovely flowers, as Cold Food Day approaches,
it’s the season that’s unsettling in so many ways. My poem set to a difficult rhyme is finished, I sober up from strong wine
to a special flavor of idleness. The migrating geese fly past, but they could never transmit the countless concerns on my mind.
Spring chill has lasted several days in my upper-story room,
the blinds hang down on all four sides,
I’m too languid to lean on the jade balustrade. My blanket is cold, the incense burned out, awake now from a dream, it’s impossible with such sadness not to arise.
See—pure dewdrops drift down in the morning air, new paulownia leaves are putting forth buds, perfect for a springtime outing! As the sun rises and the mist burns off,
Let me look to see if the sky will be clear today.
Re: 3.29
It’s that goose based postal system again
“jade balustrade.” Is this whole balustrade literally made of jade wtf it can’t be can it?
The wording on “it’s impossible with such sadness not to arise.” Is awkward—is the sentiment inescapable, or the rising?
“paulownia leaves” these guys again
Uncharacteristically cheerful ending
Re: 3.29
The vernacular translation makes it seem like the rising is inescapable, and that she's been sad lately.
3.30
尋尋覓覓
冷冷清清
悽悽慘慘戚戚。
乍暖還寒時候 最難將息。 三杯兩盞淡酒 怎敵他
晚來風力。 雁過也
正傷心 卻是舊時相識。
滿地黃花堆積。 憔悴損
如今有誰忺摘。
守著窗兒 獨自怎生得黑。
梧桐更兼細雨
到黃昏
點點滴滴。
這次第
怎一箇愁字了得。
To the tune “Note after Note, Long Song”
Searching, hunting, seeking, looking, so chilly and yet so clear. distressed, dismal, and forlorn.
Warm awhile then cold again, it’s that season, the worst for taking care of yourself. How can two or three cups of weak wine hold up against
the strength of the evening wind? The wild geese have flown past, truly saddening the heart, what’s more, I recognize them from years past.
Yellow petals cover the ground, strewn in piles. I’m so haggard and weakened now, who bothers to pluck them anymore before they fall? I sit beside the window, all by myself,
how could it have turned so black outside? Paulownia trees and fine rain, until dusk has fallen, I listen to drip after drip, drop after drop.
This scene, this feeling— how could the word “sorrow” ever suffice?
no subject
“Warm awhile then cold again, it’s that season, the worst for taking care of yourself.” This feels apposite, but I wonder when she means exactly
Really evocative one
no subject
3.31 The Lantern Festival
元宵
落日鎔金
暮雲合璧
人在何處。
染柳煙濃 吹梅笛怨 春意知幾許。 元宵佳節
融和天氣 次第豈無風雨。
來相召
香車寶馬 謝他酒朋詩侶。
中州盛日
閨門多暇
記得偏重三五。
舖翠冠兒 撚金雪柳
簇帶爭濟楚。
如今憔悴
風鬟霜鬢
怕見夜間出去。
不如向
簾兒底下
聽人笑語。
To the tune “Always Having Fun”
The Lantern Festival
The setting sun is molten gold, the clouds at dusk are a disk of jade. and where am I now?
The willows dyed with dark mist, “Plum Blossom” flutes are sorrowful, how much springtime feeling is there? The lovely time of the Lantern Festival:
the weather is balmy now, but any moment there could be wind and rain.
They come to invite me out,
in fragrant carriages drawn by festooned horses, but I turn them down, drinking buddies and poetry friends.
In the halcyon days back in the central provinces, there was much leisure in the women’s apartments, I remember how we cherished the Fifteenth!
We wore kingfisher feather caps, and snowy willows of plied gold, each trying to outdo the others in layered splendor! But today, gaunt and haggard,
hair disheveled by wind and temples touched by frost, I’m embarrassed to go out at night. Better to sit behind lowered blinds
and listen to others’ talk and laughter.
Re: 3.31 The Lantern Festival
“the clouds at dusk are a disk of jade.” Weird image—how are they disc-like?
““Plum Blossom” flutes” oh it’s the tune mentioned in the earlier footnote I guess
“It was one of the few times of the year that women were permitted to go out at night, to view the lanterns that were hung everywhere to celebrate the start of the New Year.” He should maybe specify the class he means, because working women must have had marketing and such anyway. Also, many of the women in Li’s poems seem to be mobile and active at night?
“poetry friends” a whole category of friends
“and snowy willows of plied gold,” ?
Re: 3.31 The Lantern Festival
I think it might be a different tune, bc Baike calls it 梅花落 which might translate to something more like 'plum blossom falling'
Baike says the snowy willows are a white head ornament like willow leaves, made of thin white silk and silver paper.
3.32
臨高閣。
亂山平野煙光薄。
煙光薄。
棲鴉歸後
暮天聞角。
斷香殘酒情懷惡。
西風催襯梧桐落。
梧桐落。
又還秋色
又還寂寞。
To the tune “Remembering Qin E”
A high balcony overlooks jumbled hills and a level plain, as sunset mist fades.
Sunset mist fades. After the crows have gone to roost,
in the evening sky comes the sound of a horn.
The incense is burned out, some wine remains, but my mood is foul.
The west wind hurries the paulownia leaves to fall.
The paulownia leaves fall.
Once more, an autumn scene—
once more, loneliness.
Re: 3.32
Shades of that one Du Fu tower poem on this one
Re: 3.32
It also gives an alternate meaning to 'hurries' where it could also mean to give charity / assistance.
Baike notes the paulownia tree dying / losing leaves in classical poetry can also refer to wives or husbands dying.
Chapter 13
I don’t know that I really get what the writer means by leading words
It’s fair to say tho that with the tunes mostly lost we don’t really have the substance of Li Qingzhao’s complaint about Su Shi anymore
‘ Then he changes his mind. He forgives the moon’ lol
This critic doesn’t read the brother as an implied subject of 13.2, which I find a bit odd? That was v much my understanding
Nice that we’re gonna treat LinQingzhao directly now
‘One of the most prominent female figures’ dude seriously who else exists I legit want to know
Odd that this counts as ‘long’
The preface on 13.5 is v cute
Heroic style is wanky but fun
How do we know this persona is female? That didn’t occur to me
Interesting re jun in the last poem. I read do not dance as a warning to a woman!