Tang Poems English Translation, 英译唐诗, 唐代の詩英語翻訳

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Tang Poems

(Volume 2)
25 top Tang Poems of the Tang Dynasty by 14 poets
Annotated with Chinese historical references and explanations

Authors: Marie L. Sun and Alex K. Sun
孙罗玛琍, 孙国強
(Mother and Son)
This eBook is published by www.amazon.com Authors' website: www.mariesun.com Twitter: @mariesun88yes

(last updated on 2019/06/16: on "去美亚买书指南" --- How to purchase this book on www.amazon.com )

The calligraphy images in this book may be freely copied/screenshot for educational or noncommercial purposes and uses of a legitimate nature (i.e., no gambling or pornography, etc.) with an attributional reference to "Tang Poems - Marie Sun and Alex Sun" or "at MarieSun.com"; other uses require explicit, written authorization by Marie Sun or Alex Sun.

英译唐诗, Tang Poems English Translation, Tang poet Li Yi 李益夜上受降城闻笛
回乐烽前沙似雪受降城外月如霜不知何处吹芦管一夜征人尽望乡
translated at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗篆字

英译唐诗, Tang Poems English Translation, Tang poet Du Mu 杜牧清明清明时节雨纷纷路上行人欲断魂借问酒家何处有牧童遥指杏花村
translated at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

英译唐诗, Tang Poems English Translation, Tang poet Liu Zongyuan 柳宗元江雪千山鸟飞绝万径人踪灭孤舟蓑笠翁独钓寒江雪
at mariesun.com, ebook - Tang Poems zhuanzi 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

英译唐诗, Tang Poems English Translation, Tang poet Li Shen 李绅悯农之一春种一粒粟秋收万颗子四海无闲田农夫犹饿死
translated to English at mariesun.com, ebook - Tang Poems 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

Nine of the poems are presented with zhuanshu/zhuanzi calligraphy (see above) and the rest xingshu calligraphy.

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它将助您取得您的㐧一本免费电子书。作者: 扬帆, 孙罗玛琍; Yang Fan, Marie Sun.

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Preview Table of Contents

Preface

This book is the expanded edition of book 25 Tang Poems (volume 2).

In addition to English translation, historical annotations etc., this expanded edition devotes one chapter to Empress Wu Zetian, an important promoter of Tang poems, second only to her grandson - the Emperor Tang Ming Huang. Furthermore, it provides extended information about the major battle between General Ge Shu and the rebel leader An Lushan. The battle determined the fate of the Tang Dynasty.

Copyright

All rights reserved. The scanning, uploading, and/or distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the authors is illegal and strictly forbidden.

Chapters:

1. Poets and Poems

The following is the concise list of the 25 poems covered in this book, of which 22 are selected from the most popular Chinese anthology of poems, namely, Three Hundred Tang Poems 唐诗三百首 compiled by Sun Zhu 孙洙 (1711 - 1778); the rest (poem #38, #39 and #42) are from the Quantangshi 全唐诗.

The poems are numbered after book Tang Poems volume 1. And all poets are listed in chronological order, since reading their poems as such allows the reader to follow the historical rise and fall of the the Tang dynasty. Most of the most famous Tang poems, especially the ones related to the frontier are closely related to the strength of the state. During the empire's early, prosperous years, the frontier poems, such as poem #20 and #21, were full of heroic spirit; then during the downward spiral of the latter half of the dynasty, such poem as #40 - Hearing a Flute at Night up on Shouxiang Tower - began to reflect a more decadent and depressed mood.

Wang Wei 王维

Wang Wei (699 - 759; lived mostly in the High Tang period into the beginning of the Mid Tang period) was born in Yongji, Shanxi Province 永济, 山西省, also known as the Poet-Buddha 诗佛. Twenty-nine of his poems are included in the popular anthology "Three Hundred Tang Poems."

Born into an aristocratic family, he was the eldest of five brothers. Wang Wei was not only a talented poet and painter, but also a famous musician, as well as calligrapher. While residing in Chang'an before taking the imperial examination (see Tang Poems - Volume 1), Wang's proficiency at poetry and his musical talent had helped him gain popularity at the imperial court. Indeed, his first appointment at the imperial court was as a Deputy Master of Music. However, none of his music compositions have survived.

He passed the imperial examination obtaining a jinshi degree title at the age of 22 with a first class award (Zhuangyuan 狀元), thus leading forthrightly and directly to civil service career. He was soon demoted from his musical position, however, for a petty reason. Namely, performing a Lion-dance at an "inappropriate" time. He was then assigned to the prominent and capable Prime Minister Zhang Jiuling 张九龄 (a statesman, poet, and literary scholar, as well), as a Youshiyi remonstrate official. In the ensuing years, he enjoyed a series of merit-based promotions. After Zhang's demotion in 737 due to the machinations of his co-Prime Minister Li Linfu (during the Tang Dynasty, as well as others, an emperor might appoint several "prime" ministers at the same time, depending upon his inclinations), Wang Wei experienced a roller coaster like career path.

In December 755, The An Lushan Rebellion broke out. In June the next year, An Lushan occupied the capital of Chang'an and Wang Wei was captured by the insurgent. Due to his status, he was sent under prison escort officers to Luoyang, the capital of An Lushan's newly created state of Yan 燕 and was forced to work for the provisional government. Wang Wei had been unable to escape Chang'an in time due to having contracted dysentery, which had made traveling difficult. After the Tang forces recaptured Luoyang the next year from the rebels, Wang Wei was arrested and jailed again, this time by the Tang army, who charged him with treason. His brother, Wang Jin 王缙, a high level Tang official at the time, intervened by offering to trade away his own official rank in exchange for his brother's criminal charges being dropped. In the end, other documentary evidence, including the poem "Ningbi Palace" 凝碧宮, which was written during his rebel captivity, proved his unwavering loyalty to the Tang. Therefore, he was spared the criminal charges, and indeed, was assigned an official position, while his brother, Wang Jin, was demoted only one rank level.

Eventually, Wang Wei reached the high rank of Shangshu Youcheng 尚书右丞 (a deputy prime minister in the upper schedules of rank Four, just next to the rank of prime minister) at the end of his long career.

Wang is especially known as a poet and painter of nature. It was said of him: "The poems hold a painting within them; within the painting there is poetry.” His poems were collected and compiled by his scholar brother, Wang Jin 王缙, under imperial court order. A total of some four-hundred of his poems and a few of his paintings have survived, all due to Wang Jin's efforts. Still, most of his works were lost during the An Lushan Rebellion.

He was 32 when his dear wife passed away, and he never remarried. Remaining celibate for the rest of his life and experiencing professional upheaval, he felt unsatisfied at times with his lot. Therefore, he entrusted his spiritual life to the study of Zen Buddhism 禅宗, seeking inner peace. He stated once, "How could I have released the lifetime of deep sorrows that I had incurred, had there not been Zen Buddhism?" 一生几许伤心事，不向空门何处销. In his will he donated many of his buildings and properties to the local, public zen organization.

Due to his affinity towards nature and his faithful adherence to Zen Buddhism, his poems (as well as his paintings) are filled with a feeling of tranquility, peacefulness, and aloofness from worldly affairs.

In China (and other parts of East Asia), Du Fu, Li Bai, and Wang Wei came to be regarded as representing Ruism/Confucianism 儒家, Taoism/Daoism 道家, and Zen Buddhism/Chan Buddhism 禅宗佛家 respectively, due to their different personal beliefs and outlooks on life.

#26 Deep Yearning 相思

(Poems #1 to #25 are covered in Tang Poems volume 1.)

Traditional Chinese

相思王維

紅豆生南國，
春來發幾枝。
願君多採擷，
此物最相思。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

相思王维
xiāng sī wáng wéi

红豆生南国，
hóng dòu shēng nán guó ,

春来发几枝。
chūn lái fā jǐ zhī .

愿君多采撷，
yuàn jūn duō cǎi xié ,

此物最相思。
cǐ wù zuì xiāng sī.

* Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Notes *:

Recitation 1: Click it to listen to a recitation of the poem in Mandarin Chinese and to view a transliteration into pinyin.

Recitation 2: Click it to listen to recitation through other options.

Deep Yearning Wang Wei

The red beans grow in the southern lands;
Each spring their branches spread anew.
Please gather as much as you wish, my lord,
These incarnations of yearning love most true.

* * *

The red bean, also known as the the mutual-love-bean, is the seed of the adenanthera pavonina and is shaped like a red human heart. The attractive abrus precatorius seeds are also called the mutual-love-beans by the Chinese, though they are shaped differently.

From this poem, one can perceive that Wang Wei was a very passionate and romantic person. Unfortunately, at age 32, his wife passed away and he never remarried. It seems that Wang Wei was not just affectionate, but also only had one heart to give!

* * *

红: red, vermilion, blush, flush 豆: beans, peas, bean-shaped 生: birth, life, living, lifetime 南: southern part, south, southward 国: nation, country, nation-state

春: spring 来: come, coming, return, returning 发: grow, send out, issue, dispatch, hair 几: a few, small table 枝: branches, limbs, branch off

愿: wish, desire, want, ambition, sincere, honest, virtuous 君: you (a respective way to address to a male), prince, sovereign, monarch, ruler, chief 多: many, much, more than, over 采: gather, collect, pick, pluck 撷: pick up, gather up, hold in lap

此: this, these, in this case, then 物: thing, substance, creature 最: most, extremely, exceedingly 相思: to miss each other, to be in love with each other, longing for someone, love and endearment

View the following images related to the poet or poem:

1. Wang Wei's paintings:
(1). "Snow Stopped over a Creek 江干雪霁" thru Baidu.
(2). "Snow Over a Creek" "雪溪图" thru Baidu.
(3). "Snow Over Rivers and Mountains (Wikipedia)" - Wang Shimin's painting in the style of Wang Wei.

2. Zen temples, gardens, and other scenes:
(1). Zen Buddhist temples thru Baidu.
(2). Zen concept gardens thru Baidu.
(3). A Zen spirit can be sensed in some of these images - thru Baidu.

3. Chinese calligraphy 红豆生南国书法: view thru Google or Yahoo.

Throughout this book, the poems presented here as images follow the traditional Chinese manner - written in vertical columns from top to bottom and from right to left without punctuation:

Calligraphy in xingshu 行书 style

Tang poet Wang Wei 王维红豆生南国春来发几枝愿君多采撷此物最相思
at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

calligraphy in zhuanshu/zhuanzi 篆书/篆字 style

Tang poet Wang Wei 王维红豆生南国春来发几枝愿君多采撷此物最相思
at mariesun.com, ebook - Tang Poems 唐诗

calligraphy in zhuanshu/zhuanzi 篆书/篆字 style

#27 Homesick for My Shandong Brothers on 9/9 九月九日忆山东兄弟

Traditional Chinese

九月九日憶山東兄弟王維

獨在異鄉為異客，每逢佳節倍思親。
遙知兄弟登高處，遍插茱萸少一人。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

九月九日忆山东兄弟王维
Jiǔ yuè jiǔ rì yì shān dōng xiōng dì wáng wéi

独在异乡为异客，
dú zài yì xiāng wéi yì kè

每逢佳节倍思亲。
měi féng jiā jié bèi sī qīn

遥知兄弟登高处，
yáo zhī xiōng dì dēng gāo chù

遍插茱萸少一人。
biàn chā zhū yú shǎo yī rén.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Homesick for My Shandong Brothers on September 9 Wang Wei

Alone, a foreign guest in a distant land,
A deep yearning for loved ones at each feast.
Far away, I know my brothers scale the heights,
All adorned in dogwood, but with one missing.

* * *

September 9th on the Chinese calendar is called the Double Ninth Festival, also known as the Hill Climbing Festival. Per Chinese tradition, the family spends this day climbing mountains or high hills, enjoying the Chrysanthemum 菊花 bloom, drinking Chrysanthemum wine, and eating Chrysanthemum cake. It is also a time to care for and appreciate the elderly, as well as visit the graves of one's deceased ancestors. Customarily, everyone on this day also wears dogwood (zhuyu 茱萸 flowers) or leaves on their clothing or (for women) in their hair. dogwood plants and Chrysanthemum wine are symbolic of warding off evil and extending life. It appears that Wang Wei's family followed this tradition closely.

Wang Wei was the eldest of five brothers. This poem was written when he was away from home for the first time at age seventeen. A deep yearning for loved ones and for brotherly affection during the festival inspired him to pen down this poem.

Indeed, the brothers got along grandly and were very close to each other. In 757, when Wang Wei was tried by the Tang court for being a traitor, one of his brothers, Wang Jin, stepped in and offered to trade away his own official rank in exchange for Wang Wei's acquittal. It was a display of deep brotherly love and kindness.

The verse "alone, a foreign guest in a distant land; A deep yearning for loved ones at each festival." "独在异乡为异客, 每逢佳节倍思亲." has long become an oft cited saying by the Chinese.

* * *

九: nine 月: month, moon 日: day, daytime, sun 忆: remember, reflect upon, memory
山东: the eastern of Huashan 华山 location of Wang Wei's hometown Puzhou 蒲州 (located in today's Yongji city, Shansi Province 永濟市, 山西省) 兄弟: brothers

独: alone, single, solitary, only 在: be at, in, on, consist in, rest 异: strange, different, unusual 乡: land, country, rural, village 为: be, do, handle, govern, act 异客: traveler, guest

每: every, each 逢: come upon, happen meet 佳: good, auspicious, beautiful, delightful 节: festival, holiday, knot, node, joint, section 倍: multiple times, double, times, fold 思: think, consider, ponder 亲: relatives, parents

遥: far away, distant, remote 知: know, perceive, comprehend 兄弟: brothers 登: mount, climb, rise, board 高: high, tall, lofty, elevated 处: place, locale, department

遍: everywhere, all over, throughout 插: stick into, insert, plant
茱萸: dogwood, a kind of Chinese herb similar to Cornus or Cornelian cherry, with small flowers and fruits that can be turned into wine. 少: less, few, inadequate 一: one, a, alone 人: person, man, people, mankind

View the following images related to the poem:

1. Zhuyu 茱萸 - people wear it on 09/09 festival day: View thru Google or Baidu.

2. Chinese calligraphy 九月九日忆山东兄弟书法: view thru Google or Yahoo.

Tang poet 王维九月九日忆山东兄弟独在异乡为异客
每逢佳节倍思亲
translated at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

#28 Deer Enclosure 鹿柴

Traditional Chinese

鹿柴王維

空山不見人，但聞人語響。
返景入深林，複照青苔上。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

鹿柴王维

Lù zhài wáng wéi

空山不见人，但闻人语响。
Kōngshān bùjiàn rén, dàn wén rén yǔ xiǎng.

返景入深林，复照青苔上。
Fǎn jǐng rù shēnlín, fù zhào qīngtái shàng.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Deer Enclosure Wang Wei

No one can be seen on the empty mountain,
Yet the murmur of human voices cross.
Beams of light reflect back deep into the woods,
Shining once again upon the emerald moss.

* * *

Luzhai 鹿柴 (pinyin: Lù zhài) is the name of a location in present-day Lantian, Shanxi Province 蓝田, 陕西省. In ancient times Lantian is famous for producing Lantian jade. During Wang Wei's civil service career, he received handsome bonuses as a result of his court artwork; thus he was able to acquire a sizable estate in Lantian and built a shrine for his Zen Buddhist mother, as well as a private cottage for himself. There, he spent time painting, practicing Zen Buddhism, and receiving and entertaining friends in relative seclusion during his semi-retirement. He wrote many popular poems there and this was one of them.

In the poem, there is a juxtaposition and blending of seeming opposites - an empty mountain, yet the voices of people present; dark woods, yet penetrating light. It describes a beautiful, serene world apart from the disturbances of worldly desire, yet with the vivaciousness of life hovering just around the fringes. A beautiful and harmonious zen world (accessible to the not so zen enlightened) is concisely captured by Wang Wei in an economy of words.

* * *

鹿: deer
Two ways to pronounce 柴:
(1). zhài - enclosure, fence, and stockade.
(2). chái - firewood.

空: empty, hollow, bare, deserted 山: mountain 不: no, not, un-, negative prefix 见: see, observe, behold, perceive 人: man, people, mankind, someone else

但: yet, but, however, still 闻: hear, smell, make known, news 语: saying, language, words, expression 响: make sound, make noise, sound

返: return, revert to, restore 景: scenery, view, conditions 返景： the reflection of sunlit 入: enter, come in(to), join 深: deep, depth, far, very, extreme 林: forest, grove

复: return, repeat, repeatedly 照: shine, illumine, reflect 青: blue, green, black, young 苔: moss, lichen 上: top, superior, highest, go up, send up

View the following images related to the poem:

Chinese calligraphy 王维鹿柴书法.
view thru Google or Yahoo.

poet Wang Wei 王维鹿柴空山不见人但闻人语响返景入深林复照青苔上
translated at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

#29 Send Off 送別

Traditional Chinese

送别王維

山中相送罷，日暮掩柴扉。
春草明年綠，王孫歸不歸？

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

送别王维
Sòng bié wáng wéi

山中相送罢，日暮掩柴扉。
Shān zhōng xiāng sòng ba, rì mù yǎn chái fēi

春草明年绿，王孙归不归？
Chūn cǎo míng nián lǜ, wáng sūn guī bù guī

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Send Off Wang Wei

We bid each other adieu in the mountains,
As dusk descends, I close my wicker door.
The green grass will return again next spring;
Will your young lordship return ever more?

* * *

The poem describes a farewell on a mountain side, as an older gentleman sees off a young man striking out into the world. With a few pen strokes, the poet paints a melancholic scene of a hazy mountain at twilight. After returning to his wicker gate and closing it, the elder is left to wonder how long it may be until the young man returns again to visit. A meeting again next spring is what he deeply hopes for, but no one knows the future - the world is full of unpredictability, and anything could happen. A lingering touch of sadness and suspense invoked by just a few simple words! While the relationship between the two men in the poem is left unknown, yet it remains a masterful sketch of human emotion through indirect, yet concise, imagery.

* * *

送别: see off, farewell
山: mountain, hill 中: in the midst of, center, middle, central, hit (target), attain 相: each other, mutual, reciprocal 送: see off, send off, dispatch, give 罷: finish, cease, stop, give up

日: sun, day, daytime 暮: sunset, dusk, evening, ending 掩: shut, conceal, to cover (with the hand), ambush 柴: firewood 扉: door panel 柴扉: wicker gate

春: spring 草: grass 明: bright, light, brilliant, clear 年: year, new-years, person's age 明年: next year 綠: green

王: royal, king, ruler, surname 孙: descendant, grandchild, surname 王孙: The descendant of a royal or notable family, respectful form of address for a friend 归: return, return to (home), return to, revert to 不: no, not, un-, negative prefix

View the following images related to the poem:

Chinese calligraphy 王维送别诗书法: view thru Google or Baidu.

poet Wang Wei 王維送別山中相送罢日暮掩柴扉春草明年绿王孙归不归
translated at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

#30 Song of Weicheng 渭城曲

Traditional Chinese

渭城曲王維

渭城朝雨浥輕塵，客舍青青柳色新。
勸君更盡一杯酒，西出陽關無故人。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

渭城曲王维
Wèi chéng qū wáng wéi

渭城朝雨浥轻尘，
Wèi chéng cháo yǔ yì qīng chén,

客舍青青柳色新。
kè shě qīng qīng liǔ sè xīn.

劝君更尽一杯酒，
Quàn jūn gèng jǐn yī bēi jiǔ,

西出阳关无故人。
xi chū yáng guān wú gù rén.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Song of Weicheng Wang Wei

The Weicheng morning rain moistens the light dust;
The willows by the tavern look newly green and sussed.
Come, let's down another drink, my dear friend;
Hometown friends are missing beyond the Yang Pass, out west!

* * *

Weicheng 渭城 (in blue) is located in the northwestern outskirts of Chang'an (present-day Xi'an 西安, in yellow) by the former Wei River Bridge. People departing Chang'an towards the west, such as Wang Wei's friend, did so at Weicheng Pass - the bridgehead associated with the Wei River Bridge. Heading east from Chang'an, travelers departed at Baqiao Pass (in purple) at the foot of the former Ba River Bridge. The departing party would then take the road leading to Tong Pass/Tongguan 潼关 (located in present day Weinan city), the major checkpoint that controlled all incoming and outgoing traffic between Chang'an and the eastern part of the empire. The exact locations of these two bridges have long been lost to history.

(source: Google map - click here to expand, then click drops to view context)

At the tavern at Weicheng, Wang Wei was seeing off his good friend, Yuan Er 元二, who was embarking on his official dispatch to the Anxi Protectorate in the western regions under an imperial court order during the High Tang. He planned to travel through the Yangguan/Yang Pass 阳关 border checkpoint, which was located at the end of the far western extension of the Great Wall. From Weicheng to Yangguan was about a little over 1,000 mi/1,609 km (the exact location of Yangguan is now unknown). Beyond Yangguan a wide, desolate desert has stretched in all directions since ancient times. The Anxi Protectorate was located in the Tarim Basin further west of Yangguan. Thus, once past Yangguan, all travelers to Anxi would be faced with a lonely and arduous journey.

This was a very popular "farewell" theme poem at the time and still is today. It was set to a melancholic tune called "Yangguan Sandie" (Three Refrains on the Yangguan) 阳关三叠 to further accentuate the sad feelings captured by the poem.

In the poem, willow trees are mentioned. Willows symbolize the sad feelings of departures for the Chinese, and people in ancient times would often present a willow branch to the party taking leave as a show of their tender thoughts and also to wish the traveler a safe trip.

Since many more people headed east than west, more poems were written about departures from the Ba River Bridge; consequently, the name was incorporated into a saying: "Presenting Parting Willows over Ba Bridge" 灞桥折柳赠别.

* * *

曲: song, crooked, bent 朝: morning, dynasty 雨: rain, rainy 浥: dampen, wet, moist 轻: light, easy, simple, gentle 尘: dust

客舍: tavern, inn, lodge, hostel, roadhouse 青: blue, green, young 柳: willow tree 色: color, tint, hue, shade, form, body, beauty, desire for beauty 新: fresh, new, recent, modern

劝: urge, recommend, advise 君: you (an archaic way of respectfully addressing a male) 更: more, still further, much more 尽: exhaust, use up, deplete 一: one, a, an, alone 杯: cup, glass 酒: wine, liquor, alcoholic beverage

西: western, westward, occidental 出: go out, send out, stand, produce 无: no, not, negative 故人: old friend

View the following images related to the poem:

1. The relics of Yangguan: view thru Google or Yahoo.

2. The desert regions of the Silk Road through which Wang Wei's good friend, Yuan Er, would have to travel: view Silk Road thru Google or Yahoo.

3. The underground Turpan water systems skirting the barren areas of the Taklamakan Desert where Wang Wei's friend was heading towards. View thru Google or Baidu. For details about the underground water systems: Wikipedia.

4. The song of "Three Refrains on the Yang Pass" 阳关三叠: thru YouTube. 5. Chinese calligraphy 渭城朝雨浥轻尘书法: view thru Google or Yahoo.

5. Chinese calligraphy 渭城曲书法: view thru Google, Baidu.

poet Wang Wei 王维渭城曲渭城朝雨邑轻尘客舍青青柳色新劝君更尽一杯酒西出阳关无故人
at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

Xi Biren 西鄙人

The name "Xi Biren" 西鄙人 is an alias meaning "a humble person from the western border." Xi's real name is unknown, as are his birth year and birth place. In fact, there are no known records of his past or background. Only one of his poems, "Geshu Ge/Geshu Song" 哥舒歌 - describing the famous Tang General Geshu Han's 哥舒翰 early life on the western frontier - is in the the popular anthology "Three Hundred Tang Poems."

#31 Geshu Song 哥舒歌

Traditional Chinese

哥舒歌西鄙人

北斗七星高, 哥舒夜帶刀。
至今窺牧馬, 不敢過臨洮。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

哥舒歌西鄙人
Gē shū gē xi bì rén

北斗七星高，哥舒夜带刀。
Běi dǒu qī xīng gāo， gē shū yè dài dāo

至今窥牧马，不敢过临洮。
Zhì jīn kuī mù mǎ， bù gǎn guò lín táo

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Geshu Song Xi Biren

The Big Dipper dangling on high,
With sabre, Geshu patrols the night.
Till now, they've preyed upon pasture horses,
But, dare not cross Lingtao,
In awe of Geshu's might.

* * *

General Geshu 哥舒

His formal name was Geshu Han 哥舒翰, and he came from a Turgesh tribe in Central Asia. Born into a well-to-do family, he could speak, read, and write Chinese. Though he led a life of debauchery during his youth, he became a capable general who defeated multiple Tufan 吐蕃 attacks in the Tibetan Plateau 西藏高原 around Qinghai Lake 青海湖. Hence, he made a respected and feared name for himself among the Tufan tribes.

Poet Xi Biren wrote this poem praising the brave and invincible General Geshu and his outstanding achievements in the far western frontier region around Lingtao. Geshu, however, met a tragic ending.

In December of 755, the An Lushan Rebellion broke out and the rebels quickly captured Luoyang 洛阳. In March 756, the rebels were ready to break through the key garrote fortress at Tong Pass/Tongguan 潼关 and invade Chang'an.

Tong Pass was located about 120 mi/193 km to the west of Luoyang and 80 mi/129 km to the east of Chang'an. To its north was the turbulent Yellow River, and to its south, the soaring Qinling 秦岭 (or Qin Mountains). The road to the Tong Pass from the east was very narrow, bounded for some 40 miles/65 kilometers by rough terrain, with some sections, especially near the Pass, allowing only one war chariot to pass through at a time. And it was the only route for military chariots and people to get in or out of Chang'an's east side. Due to its geographical position, the Pass was the most important military strategic point protecting access to Chang'an and its surrounding areas.

The red arrows show the main pathways that the An Lushan rebels took from December 755 to June 756 to invade Chang'an:

(This map is based on current Chinese territory. Not all mountains, rivers, or plateaus are displayed. The map's outline was retrieved from Joowwww [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

(You may copy this map from mariesun.com for non-profit, educational purposes of uses for free.
您可以从 mariesun.com 复制此地图用于非营利性教育用途。)

View Tong Pass/Tongguan relics: thru Google, Baidu, Bing or Yahoo.

During this critical time, Geshu was called in by the imperial court to take over the positions of generals Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi 封常清與高仙芝 in the defense of the Tong Pass against the An Lushan's rebel forces. The two capable generals had been beheaded for not following the military strategies issued by the court.

Geshu and An Lushan, both imperial generals, had never gotten along, as Geshu had always looked down on An Lushan for his "lack of culture". The emperor, Tang Ming Huang, tried once to alleviate the friction by holding a banquet in Chang'an for the two of them, but to no avail.

Upon investigating the terrain surrounding the Tong Pass, General Geshu knew the only and the best way to defend Chang'an was through a defensive strategy, i.e., the same strategy advocated by the two previous generals. The court, however, continued to think otherwise.

In June of 756, as imperial edicts kept piling up, urging him to take immediate action and attack the rebel forces, Geshu knew his fate - either to attack and fight an unwinnable battle or be executed by the court in the same manner as his predecessors. Without any other options, he was forced by court machinations and intrigue to follow the flawed military strategies advocated by the corrupt and incompetent Prime Minister Yang Guozhong 楊国忠, cousin to Yang Guifei 揚貴妃 - Emperor Tang Ming Huang's favorite consort.

Geshu, commanding a 200,000 man strong Tang army at Tongguan, eventually followed the order, confronted An Lushan and his equally large force (or so it was claimed) that had trekked hundreds of kilometers to invade Tongguang. Yet, in the battle, more than 70% of the Tang army perished, with only 8,000 loyal soldiers eventually making their way back. Geshu overwhelmingly lost this key battle. His subordinates saw the hopeless future, intoxicated Geshu, bound him to a horse and took him to surrender to the rebels. Geshu was killed in the rebel army's jail the next year.

After the Tang lost the Tong Pass battle, An Lushan's rebels marched into Chang'an and looted the city. Emperor Tang Minghuang escaped towards Chengdu, and the Crown Prince fled to Lingwu, soon proclaiming himself to be the the new Tang emperor. The rebellion resulted in a great loss of life, extensive destruction, and the ceding of huge tracts of northern territories to the rebels, who took advantage of the situation to proclaim independence. Only the Jiangnan 江南 region was spared.

After rampaging through the country for more than 7 years, the rebellion was finally pacified by Tang troops. Nevertheless, the country continued to experience latent divisions, with continuing local wars and border region uprisings. The Silk Road running along the Hexi Corridor in the northwest regions was, thus, essentially cut off, interrupting international trade for almost 80 years. The loss at the Battle of Tong Pass was a painful one, and the Tang would never fully recover, instead embarking on a precipitous downward spiral.

The An Lushan Rebellion was, indeed, a watershed moment for the Tang Dynasty - as well as for General Geshu. Several years later Emperor Li Yu 李豫, the grandson of Tang Ming Huang, conferred upon Geshu the posthumous name of Wumin 武愍, which literally means "martial and suffering".

(For more background information on An Lushan and An Lushan Rebellion, please refer to Tang Poems Volume 1, chapter 4 - The turning point of Tang - the An Lushan Rebellion )

* * *

歌: song, lyrics, sing, chant; praise

北斗七星: the Big Dipper 高: high, tall, lofty, elevated

夜: night, dark, in night, by night 带: carry, belt, girdle, band, strap, zone 刀: sabre, knife

至今: till now, till today 窥: pry on, peep, watch 牧马: pasture horse

不敢: dare not 过: go across, pass, pass through

临洮: A county located in present-day Gansu Province 甘肃省, not too far from Lanzhou city 兰州市, along the the eastern bank of the Tao River 洮河 (a tributary of the Yellow River 黄河). The area was established as Lingtao County in 753 by Geshu. It is located to the east of Lake Qinghai 青海湖.

View the following images:

1. The Big Dipper 北斗星: View thru Google or Yahoo.

2. Lingzhao 临洮: view thru Google or Baidu.

3. Chinese calligraphy 北斗七星高书法: view thru Google or Baidu.

Tang poems, poet Xi Biren 西鄙人哥舒歌北斗七星高哥舒夜带刀至今窥牧马不敢过临洮

Lu Lun 盧倫

Lu Lun (739 - 799; lived during the Mid Tang period) was born in present-day Yongji city, Shanxi Province 永济市, 山西省. Around 180 of his poems are extant, of which six are collected in the popular anthology "Three Hundred Tang Poems."

He passed the imperial examination (see Tang Poems - Volume 1), attaining a jinshi degree title during the An Lushan Rebellion period. He was prevented from taking a civil service appointment due to the chaotic situation. Through the recommendation of the then "Prime" Ministers Yuan Zai 元载 and Wang Jin 王缙 (poet Wang Wei's young brother), he was able to embark on a civil service career in 771 at age 32. In 776 during a political struggle, the party faction with which he was aligned was defeated and the leaders, Yuan Zai and Wang Jin, were executed and banished, respectively. Lu was punished with a lifetime ban on assuming any governmental appointments. In 780 at age 41, however, the new emperor Li Kuo 李适 (Tang Ming Huang's great grandson), appreciating his literary talent, recalled him back to Chang'an and re-assigned him to a new governmental position, where he worked until his retirement.

As a poet, Lu Lun is representative of the "Frontier Fortress" genre of the middle Tang period, along with Li Yi 李益 (refer to poem #43). As an optimist, many of Lu's frontier fortress poems still reflect his positive and progressive spirit even during the Mid Tang period. His four "Borderland Songs" are his most famous ones.

#32 Borderland Song (#2 of 4) 塞下曲 (四首之二)

Traditional Chinese

塞下曲 (四首之二) 盧倫

林暗草驚風，將軍夜引弓。
平明尋白羽，沒在石棱中。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

塞下曲 (四首之二) 卢伦
Sāi xià qū sì shǒu zhī èr&n lú lún

林暗草惊风，将军夜引弓。
lín àn cǎo jīng fēng, jiān gjūn yè yǐn gōng.

平明寻白羽，没在石稜中。
Píng míng xún bái yǔ, Mò zài shí léng zhōng.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

correction on recitation 1: 没在石稜中, "没" in here should be pronounced as mò (sink into) instead of méi (none, not).

Borderland Song (#2 of 4) Lu Lun

Darkened woods, a gust startles the grass;
In the night the General draws the bow to his chest.
Searching for the white-plumed arrow at dawn,
It was sunk deep in the solid rock fast.

* * *

Lu Lun wrote this poem to praise the "Flying General" Li Guang 李广, a famous military figure in the Han Dynasty 漢朝. He was renowned for his excellent and powerful archery. In one legend, General Li Guang was out in the woods one night patrolling and saw a tiger in the dark. He aimed his arrow at the beast and let fly. Since it was too dark to search, they left the woods and returned at dawn. What they found was that the mighty general, so skillful at archery, had sunk the arrow deep into a large rock formation resembling a tiger!

* * *

塞: fortress, pass, frontier, stop up, block, seal, cork 下: under, underneath, below, down, inferior, bring down 曲: song 四: four 首: a poem, head, first, leader 二: two 四首之二: two out of four poems

林: forest, grove 暗: dark, obscure, in secret, covert 草: grass, straw, thatch, herbs 惊:startle, frighten, surprise 风: wind, air

将军: general 夜: night, dark, in night, by night 引: to pull, draw out, attract, to stretch 弓: bow, curved, arched

平明: at dawn 寻: seek, search, look for 白: white, pure, unblemished, bright 羽: feather, plume, wings

Two ways to pronounce 没:
(1). Mò - to end, sink, drown; the boat sank into the lake: 船沉没在湖水中.
(2). Méi - not, have not, none, on and on, without an end; it doesn't matter: 没什么.

在: in, be at, on, consist in 石: stone, rock 棱: angle, edge, corner, squared timber 中: middle, in the midst of, center, central, hit (target), attain

View the following images related to the poem:

1. Bows and arrows in the Tang Dynasty 中国唐代弓箭: View thru Google, Bing or Baidu.

2. Chinese calligraphy 林暗草驚風书法: view thru Google or Baidu.

Tang poet Lu Lun 卢伦塞下曲林暗草惊风将军夜引弓平明寻白羽没在石棱中 at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy
唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

#33 Borderland Song (#3 of 4) 塞下曲 (四首之三)

Traditional Chinese

塞下曲 (四首之三) 盧綸

月黑雁飛高，單于夜遁逃。
欲將輕騎逐，大雪滿弓刀。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

塞下曲 (四首之三) 卢纶
Sāi xià qū sì shǒu zhī sān lú lún

月黑雁飞高，单于夜遁逃。
yuè hēi yàn fēi gāo, chán yú yè dùn táo.

欲将轻骑逐，大雪满弓刀。
yù jiāng qīng qí zhú, dàx uě mǎn gōng dāo.

* Recitation 1 Recitation 2

correction on recitation 1: 单于夜遁逃, "单于" in here should be pronounced as chán yú.

Borderland Song (#3 of 4) Lu Lun

A black, moonless sky, the wild geese fly high,
The chieftain of the Huns at night in flight.
Ready to dispatch a light cavalry to chase,
Heavy snow muffles the bow and broadsword's might.

* * *

Lu Lun had first hand military experience as a magistrate for the Chief Command in the army. Thus he was able to describe army life vividly and accurately, giving his poems authenticity.

In this poem, he realistically depicted the gloomy and heavy night environment that helped to aid in the escape of the Hun (Xiongnu) chieftain. Right as light cavalry was ready to give chase, a heavy snow started silently falling in the dark, still night, which made the unstable situation even more tense and heart-pounding.

* * *

塞: fortress, pass, frontier, stop up, block, seal, cork 下: under, underneath, below, down, inferior, bring down 曲: song 四: four 首: a poem; head, first, leader, chief 三: three
四首之三: three out of four poems

月: moon, month 黑: dark, black, gloom, evil, sinister 雁: wild goose 飞: fly, go quickly, dart, high, in the air 高: high, tall, lofty, elevated

Three ways to pronounce 单:
(1). chán - 单于 (chán yú): the chieftain of the Huns/Xiongnu 匈奴
(2). dān - single, odd; such as only one 单一, odd and even numbers 单数双数.
(3). shàn - used as a last name, or name of a city or town, such as Mr. shàn 单先生, shàn xiàn 单县.

夜: night 遁: escape, hide, conceal oneself 逃: escape, flee, abscond, dodge

欲: want, desire, long for, intend 将: going to, will, future, general 轻: light, easy, simple, gentle 骑 (pinyin: qí or jì): cavalry, ride horseback, mount 逐: chase, expel, one by one

大: great, large, big, vast, high 雪: snow, wipe away shame, avenge 满: fill, full, satisfied 弓: bow, curved, arched, a measure of length (equal to five Chinese feet) 刀: saber, knife, blade, knife-shaped coins of an ancient China, measure 弓刀: bow and broadsword, bow and saber, bow and knife, bow and machete

View the following images related to the poem:

1. Wild geese 雁: View thru Google or Yahoo.

2. Chinese Guanguong 关公 shape broadsword: View thru Google or Baidu.

3. Chinese calligraphy 月黑雁飞高书法: view thru Google or Yahoo.

Tang poet Lu Lun 卢纶塞下曲之三月黑雁飞高单于夜遁逃欲将轻骑逐大雪满弓刀
translated at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

Bai Juyi 白居易

Bai Juyi (772 - 846; lived during Mid and Late Tang periods) was born in Xingzhen, He'nan Province 新鄭，河南省 into a poor but scholarly family. His ancestors originally came from the "Western Regions" ("Xiyu") 西域. His family had long become sinicized 汉化 by the time of his birth. Not long after he was born, a local war broke out in Henan Province. In order to avoid the fighting, his father moved the whole family to Fuli County - a town on the border between Anhui 安徽 and Jiangsu 江苏 Provinces - where he spent his childhood.

Bai went by many names; he preferred early on to refer to himself as Letian 乐天 (roughly the equivalent of "happy-go-lucky"). Later in life, he referred to himself as the Hermit of Xiangshan 居香山隐士.

Bai Juyi lived through the Middle Tang period, after the conclusion of the flourishing era of poetry marked by Li Bai, Du Fu, Wang Wei and others. Bai's lifetime coincided with the attempted rebuilding and recovery of the empire after the An Lushan Rebellion.

In the year 800, at age 28, he passed the imperial examination (see Tang Poems - Volume 1), achieving a jinshi degree title. Then, at age 30, took an advanced imperial exam and passed it, along with Yuan Shen 元稹; therefore, the two formed a lifelong friendship.

Bai started his civil service career in the capital of Chang'an at age 31 and had a long, successful career, enduring nine emperors, although he suffered a brief period of banishment.

At age 34 after passing yet another specialized imperial exam, he was appointed an imperial examiner and also was made a Hanlin scholar 翰林学士 of the Hanlin Academy 翰林院 (see Tang Poems - Volume 1) the following year. Two years later, he was assigned a position as a remonstrate official Zuoshiyi 左拾遗 (see Tang Poems - Volume 1) and married in the same year. With the prestigious Hanlin Academy Scholar title and his own capabilities, he continued to garner more and more promotions.

Seven years later, in 815, the famous Prime Minister, Wu Yuanhen 武元衡, was assassinated, and Bai Juyi spoke up on Wu's behalf, seeking justice. As a result, he was defamed by his political opponents in front of Emperor Tang Xianzong 唐宪宗 and was banished to Jiangzhou 江州 (also named Xunyang 浔阳, present-day Jiujiang 九江, Jiangxi 江西 Province on the northern slope of Lushan/Mt. Lu, where Li Bai had lived 50 some years before) as a Sima 司马, a low position usually reserved for exiled officials with low pay and no power. Bai Juyi wrote his famous "Pipa Xing" "琵琶行" during his exile in Jiangzhou to express his melancholic mood. Another of his poems, "Everlasting Regret" "长恨歌", describing the tragic love story between Emperor Tang Ming Huang and Yang Guifei, enjoyed the same popularity as "Pipa Xing".

At age 46 in 818, he was promoted to Zhong County 忠州 Governor near present-day Chongqing city in Sichuan Province 重庆市, 四川省, due to his good record while in exile at Jiangzhou. Bai Juyi's young brother, Bai Xingjian 白行简, also a jinshi scholar and court official, took time off to escort Bai Juyi from Jiangzhou to Zhong County. This was the same brother who had escorted Bai from Chang'an to his exile in Jiangzhou three years before. On their way to the new post in Zhong County, they met up with Bai Juyi's good friend, Yuan Shen, who was in exile for the second time to a different remote area.

The three of them toured several scenic spots along the Yangtze River, bringing attention to the scenic rock caves of Xiling Gorge 西陵峡. The cave site hence became famous and was later named Sanyoudong 三游洞, literally the "three toured caves", in memory of the three of them. view Shanyoudong 三游洞 thru Yahoo. View the scenery around Sanyoudong: View Xiling Gorge 西陵峡 thru Google or Baidu.

In ancient China, the imperial court often punished its central government officials by banishing them to remote regions. Many of them were competent officials who could make some or even great positive differences in the underdeveloped areas. This seems not a bad idea for the benefit of the state. With meritorious work and good luck, the imperial court might summon the exiled back to the capital to resume their career - more often by a new emperor who had different political insights from the old one.

In 820 at age 48, Bai was finally summoned by the new Tang Emperor Muzhong 唐穆宗 back to Chang'an, ending his five years of exile and enabling the resumption of a successful career.

Two years later in 822, in order to avoid the intrigue of the Niu-Li Factional Struggles (808 - 846), he asked to be transferred out of the imperial court in Chang'an and was assigned as governor of Hangzhou 杭州 County, Zhejiang 浙江 Province. The county was located in the Jiangnan 江南 region, the only area of the empire that was not affected by the An Lushan Rebellion and was (and is still) renown for its lakes and natural scenery.

Bai Juyi accomplished a great deal as a governor of Hangzhou, including implementing flood control measures and irrigation systems. In 825 at age 53, he was assigned to the post of Governor of Suzhou 苏州 County in present-day Jiangsu 江苏 Province - another region known for its scenic lakes and waterways, where he also governed successfully. In 826 he left the post due to health problems. Later, he was assigned different posts on and off in the imperial court. He did not retire until a ripe, old age. At the peak of his career, he attained the level of a Libu Shangshu 吏部尚书 third rank official, i.e., equivalent in rank class to that of the prime minister.

Bai is a major representative of middle Tang period poetry and was an advocate of the "Classical Prose/Guwen Movement" "古文运动" which promoted clarity and colloquialism in describing subject matter. Bai was also one of the promoters of the folk song style, also known as the "New Yuefu Movement" "新乐府运动" which tried to use media to satirize social mores and fashions, while at the same time improve social morality.

In many of his poems, Bai spoke up for the underprivileged, shined a light on the realities of society, and revealed a penchant for moral fortitude. "An Old Man Selling Charcoal" "卖炭翁" and "Qinzhongyin-Buying Flower" "秦中吟‧买花" are two of his famous poems representing these themes. Like Li Bai, he enjoyed fame in his life time.

He was not only an excellent poet-literature, but also an excellent executive and governor. While in power, he cared for the people under his administration and improved their lot. Before he left his Hangzhou post, he donated his salary to a fund for public needs and also at times donated his income from other sources to various charities. His philosophy was "if poor, keep oneself good and virtuous; if rich, bring benefit to all under heaven" "穷则独善其身,达则兼济天下". His poems and philosophy had a profound impact not only in China, but also in Japan and Korea.

#34 Jiang Nan Nostalgia(1) 忆江南 (一)

Traditional Chinese

憶江南白居易

江南好，
風景舊曾諳。
日出江花紅勝火，
春来江水綠如藍,
能不憶江南?

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

忆江南白居易
Yì jiāng nán bái jū yì

江南好，
Jiāng nán hǎo,

风景旧曾谙。
Fēng jǐng jiù céng ān.

日出江花红胜火，
Rì chū jiāng huā hóng shèng huǒ,

春来江水绿如蓝,
Chūn lái jiāng shuǐ lǜ rú lán,

能不忆江南?
Néng bù yì jiāng nán?

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Jiangnan Nostalgia Bai Juyi

Jiangnan is marvelous!
Its scenery so familiar and appealing.
At sunrise, riverside flowers shimmer redder than fire,
In spring, the river flows so sapphire clear.
How could I not hold Jiangnan memories dear?

* * *

Bai Juyi wrote three poems in ode to Jiangnan and this is one of them. The Jiangnan here implies the Hangzhou and Suzhou regions where he had worked as a governor.

Surrounded by beautiful lakes and waterways, both Hangzhou and Suzhou have been considered some of the most beautiful areas in China since ancient times. There is a classic verse well describing the sentiment - "Up above they have heaven's paradise; down below are Suzhou, Hangzhou prized" "上有天堂，下有苏杭".

* * *

江南 Jiangnan:

江南 literally means "the river south" or "the Yangtze River South". During the Tang Dynasty, this region was roughly considered the lands and country along the south shore of the Yangtze River downstream of present day Anhui Province to the coast along the East China Sea. Prosperous cities in the area during the Tang Dynasty included Yangzhou 楊州 (1), Nanjing 南京 (2), Hangzhou 杭州 (6), and Suzhou 苏州 (4), among others.

Bai Juyi governed Hangzhou (6) and Suzhou (4).

好: good, excellent, fine, well

风景: scenery, landscape, sight, views 旧: past, old, ancient, former 曾: at some time in the past, before, already, once, great-grand (parents), surname 谙: fully acquainted with, be versed in

日出: sun coming out 江花: flowers along the river 红: red, vermilion, blush, flush 胜: be better than, excel, victory 火: fire, flame, burn

春来: when spring comes, when spring returns 江水: the water in the river, river 绿: green 如: as if 蓝: blue, sapphire color, indigo color

能: can, to be able, permitted to, ability 不: no, not, un-, negative prefix 忆: remember, reflect upon

View the following images related to this poet or poem:

1. There once was a Baigong Causeway across the Western Lake (Xihu) 西湖 in Hangzhou while Bai Juyi was stationed there, but it was later destroyed. It was rebuilt and renamed as the "Bai Causeway" or Baiti 白堤, in honor of the memory of Bai Juyi.
View thru Google, Google Hong Kong, Baidu, Yahoo, Yahoo JP or Bing.

2. Another beautiful and scenic causeway at Xihu is named the Su Causeway or Suti 苏堤, in honor of Su Shi 苏轼, also known as Su Dongpo 苏东坡. Su, a famous poet, writer, calligrapher, and statesman during the Song (Sung) Dynasty had also worked in Hangzhou for three years, some 248 years after Bai Juyi.
View thru Google, Baidu, Yahoo JP or Bing.

3. Seven Mile Shantang 七里山塘 - one of the accomplishments of Bai Juyi while Governor of Suzhou. Due to its prosperity and beauty, it was regarded as the "Number 1 Ancient Street in China" during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
View thru Google or Yahoo.
Another famous point of interest - Qiantang Jiang 钱塘江 - famous for its tidal bore, is also located in Hangzhou. (It figures in the background, yet prominently, in poem # 34 - A Song of the Southern River.)

4. In the Tang Dynasty silk products were manufactured mainly by the government in Hangzhou and Suzhou (as well as the capital, Chang'an) and shipped to Guangzhou (Canton) 广州, where they then embarked on a journey to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe via water route equivalents of the Silk Road. As of today, Hangzhou is still famous for its fine silk products and wholesale center.
View store displays of silk and silk satin products in the silk shopping district of Hangzhou thru Goole or Baidu.
View Hangzhou silk scarves thru Baidu or Google Hang Kong.
View Hangzhou silk umbrellas and fans thru Google or Baidu.

5. Cuisine in this area - View Hangzhou cuisine 杭州菜 thru Google or Suzhou cuisine 苏州菜 thru Baidu. Both cuisine styles are very similar and not spicy hot at all.

6. Chinese calligraphy 忆江南书法: View thru Google or Yahoo.

Tang poet Bai Juyi 白居易忆江南 ...日出江花红胜火春来江水绿如蓝
translated at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

#35 Grass 草 (赋得古原草送别)

Traditional Chinese

草白居易

離離原上草，一歲一枯榮。
野火燒不盡，春風吹又生。
遠芳侵古道，晴翠接荒城。
又送王孫去，萋萋滿別情。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

草白居易
cǎo bái jū yì

离离原上草，一岁一枯荣。
lí lí yuán shàng cǎo, yī suì yī kū róng.

野火烧不尽，春风吹又生。
Yě huǒ shāo bù jìn, chūn fēng chuī yòu shēng.

远芳侵古道，晴翠接荒城。
Yuǎn fāng qīn gǔ dào, qíng cuì jiē huāng chéng.

又送王孙去，萋萋满别情。
Yòu sòng wáng sūn qù, qī qī mǎn bié qíng.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Grass Bai Juyi

Grasses spread over the vast prairie,
withering and returning each year.
Wildfires cannot wipe them out;
A gentle Spring breeze
And again they sprout.

Their far away fragrant verdure
Invades the ancient routes;
Under cloudless skies
Their green entwines ruins.

My dear friend,
I'm seeing you off again,
And even the lush foliages
Feel the parting pain.

* * *

The poem paints a picture of a beautiful, thriving prairie dotted with sentimental relics, capturing the vibrant and nostalgic beauty that can arise from the sometimes deep melancholy that commonly accompanies the partings of loved ones.

It was composed by Bai Juyi at a very early age - around 16 - and became very popular.

The first four verses - "Wildfires cannot wipe them out - a gentle Spring breeze - and again they sprout" has long become a Chinese classic quote. It signifies that no matter how dire the situation, life will roar back and thrive again. It is a sentiment full of vitality and also representative of Bai Juyi's life attitude.

* * *

离离: abundance, plenty 原: plain, former, original, primary, raw 上: up, top, superior, highest 草: grass, straw, thatch, herbs ，一岁: each year , one year 枯 : dried out, withered, decayed 荣: prosper, glory, honor, flourish

野火: wildfire 烧: burn, bake, heat, roast 不尽: not deplete, not exhaust, not use up 春风: spring breeze, spring wind 吹: blow, puff, brag, boast 又: again, in addition, also, and 生: life, living, birth, lifetime

远: distant, remote, far, profound 芳: fragrant, virtuous, beautiful 侵: invade, encroach upon, raid 古: ancient, old, classic 道: path, road, street, method, way 晴: clear weather, fine weather 翠: bluish green, color green, green jade 接: connect, catch, receive, continue 荒: wasteland, desert, uncultivated 城: the walls of a city, to surround a city with wall, town, city, castle, municipality

又: again, and, also, in addition 送: see off, send off, dispatch, give 王孙: archaic form of respectful address of a friend, someone who is born into a noble family 去: depart, leave, go away 萋: luxuriant foliage, crowded 满: fill, full, satisfied 别: separate, other, do not 情: feeling, sentiment, emotion

View the following images related to this poem:

1. Prairie scenery in China 中国草原风光: View thru Google or Yahoo.

2. Chinese calligraphy 离离原上草书法: View thru Google or Yahoo.

Tang poems, Tang poet Bai Juyi 白居易离离原上草一岁一枯荣野火烧不尽春风吹又生
translated at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

Liu Yuxi 刘禹锡

Liu Yuxi (772 - 842; lived in Mid and Late Tang periods) was born in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province 苏州, 江苏省. His family was originally from Luoyang 洛阳. In order to escape the An Lushan Rebellion, the whole family moved to Suzhou. Around 800 of his poems are extant, of which four are included in the popular anthology "Three Hundred Tang Poems."

In 793, at age 21, he passed the imperial examination (see Tang Poems - Volume 1) obtaining jinshi title degree. Soon thereafter, he also passed the advanced imperial examination and started his civil service career right away in the capital of Chang'an. In 806, at age 34, he was "suppressed" in a political struggle due to his association with the Yong Zhen Ge Xin 永贞革新 reform movement. The leader of the movement, Wang Shuwen 王叔文, was executed; Liu was banished along with Liu Zongyuan (author of poem #37 "River Snow" and also Yuxi's good friend) and six other movement supporters to various remote areas of the empire. Then, 9 years later, in 815, he was recalled to Chang'an to resume his post. That same year he was banished again due to his penning of political satire poems. Then, once again, 13 years later, he was called back at age 56 to Chang'an by a new emperor. He spent a total of 22 years in exile.

Liu was strong-willed, broad-minded, and passionate. He upheld the truth and refused to simply follow the crowd. No matter whatever frustrating environment he encountered, he was never defeatist, but always faced the situation with a positive and unyielding fighting spirit.

His banishment forced him to travel to various remote areas, such as present-day Changde city in Hu'nan Province 湖南省; Zunyi city in Guizhou Province 贵州省; Qingyuan city in Guangdong Province 广东省; and Fengjie County and Chongqing city, both in Sichuan Province 四川省. This provided him the opportunity to come in contact with different ethnic groups and cultures. He took advantage of his experience, infusing and enriching his poetry and essays with flourishes informed by local folk songs and customs.

Liu was an associate of Bai Juyi 白居易 and had a major influence on folk-style poems - yuefu 乐府. He was not only an exceptional folk-style poet, but also a well-known philosopher and essayist. One of his most famous prose works is "A Motto of (my) Humble Abode" "陋室铭".

"The Black Clothes Alley" is one of the four of his poems included in the popular anthology "Three Hundred Tang Poems." It was said that after his good friend Bai Juyi read this poem, he pondered it for a moment and then repeatedly recited it rhythmically for a while. The suggestion was that Bai really enjoyed the poem and appreciated his old friend's competence and talent.

Liu spent most of his later years in close contact with his lifelong friend, Bai Juyi, both of whom lived in Luoyang, not far from each other. Being the same age and sharing the same interests, they were able to reminisce together and support each other spiritually, which is a blessing for the elderly. Liu died at age 70. Four years later, his good friend Bai Juyi followed him into the next world.

#36 Black Clothes Alley 乌衣巷

Traditional Chinese

烏衣巷劉禹錫

朱雀橋邊野草花，烏衣巷口夕陽斜。
舊時王謝堂前燕，飛入尋常百姓家。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

乌衣巷刘禹錫
Wū yī xiàng liú yǔ xī

朱雀桥边野草花，
Zhū què qiáo biān yě cǎo huā,

乌衣巷口夕阳斜。
wū yī xiàng kǒu xī yáng xié.

旧时王谢堂前燕，
Jiù shí wáng xiè táng qián yàn,

飞入寻常百姓家。
fēi rù xún cháng bǎi xìng jiā.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Black Clothes Alley Liu Yuxi

Weeds and wildflowers spread by Vermilion Sparrow Bridge;
Setting sunlight slants down Black Clothes Alley's entrance.
Sparrows in olden days at courtyards of Wang and Xie mansions,
Now flitter into ordinary people's humble houses.

* * *

Wuyi Alley 乌衣巷, literally "black clothes alley", is located on the south side of the Qinhuai River 秦淮河 in Nanjing 南京. During the Three Kingdoms period 三国时代 (220 - 280) it was the barracks site of an ancient fortified city - Stone City - built on a hilltop overlooking the Yangtze River and guarding Nanjing, capital of the state of Wu 吴. The name "Black Clothes" was chosen because the imperial guard troops at that time always dressed in black. Later the location became the residence of the rich and powerful Wang Dao 王导 and Xie An 谢安 families during the Eastern Jin Dynasty 东晋 (317 - 420).

Zhuque Bridge 朱雀橋, literally "vermilion sparrow bridge", was the main access over the Qinhuai River between Nanjing and Black Clothes Alley. There used to be two bronze vermilion sparrows astride the bridge for decorative effect, and thus the bridge was so named.

Wang Xie 王谢 is a reference to the rich and powerful families led by Wang Dao 王导 and Xie An 謝安. Wang Dao (276 - 339), a famous statesman, military expert, and calligrapher, was wholeheartedly loyal to the Eastern Jin royal family. Wang had helped three generations of Eastern Jin emperors establish and stabilize the dynasty during the warring states era.

Xie An 谢安 (320 - 385), a famous military expert and statesman, won the famous Fei River Battle 淝水之戰 in 383 with 70,000 outnumbered soldiers, decisively defeating Fu Jian's 苻堅 700,000 soldiers. (Fu Jian was also known as the Lord of the "Former Qin" 前秦 which had nothing to do with the First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, of the Qin Dynasty in the 3rd century B.C.) The victory strengthened the position of the Eastern Jin in southeast China and led to the downfall of Fu Jian's state. After the battle, in order to assuage the Eastern Jin emperor's concern about being possibly usurped by Xie (a not uncommon occurrence in Chinese history), he voluntarily turned all military power over to the royal family and subsequently won over the confidence and highest respect of the emperor (in 420, however, a prominent general - Liu Yu 刘裕 - usurped the throne and ended the Eastern Jin).

By the time Liu Yuxi visited Black Clothes Alley some four hundred years later, the descendants of Wang Dao and Xie An had long lost and squandered the families' fortune and power, with the halo of noble splendor all but gone, replaced by the humble tenement dwellings of ordinary people carved out of the once elegant but now dilapidated mansions. Through Liu's magic brush, the glory of the past was revived and the alley was made famous again. Today, the area is dotted by very expensive high-end residential units due to the economic boom in China. Indeed, changes and transformations through the ages are quite unpredictable and can be ironic.

* * *

朱: vermilion, cinnabar 雀: sparrow 桥: bridge, beam, crosspiece 边: edge, margin, side, border 野: wild 草: grass, straw 花: flower, blossom

乌: black, dark, crow, rook, raven 衣: clothes, clothing 巷口: alley entrance 夕阳: sunset 斜: slanting, sloping, inclined

旧: old, ancient, former, past 时: time, o'clock , period, era, 堂: hall, government office 前: in front, forward, preceding 燕: sparrow

飞入: fly into 寻常: regular, common, normal 百: hundred 姓: surname, one's family name (in Chinese, the family name is listed first, then followed by the given name) 百姓: ordinary people 家: home, family, house, residence

View the following images related to the poem:

1. Wuyi Alley/Black Clothes Alley was rebuilt in 1993 based upon the architecture of the Ming and Qing styles. 乌衣巷: View thru Google or Yahoo.

2. The newly reconstructed Vermilion Sparrow Bridge is located on the south side of Nanjing. The exact location of the original structure has been lost to history. 朱雀橋: View thru Google or Yahoo.

3. Chinese calligraphy 乌衣巷书法: View thru Google or Yahoo.

Tang poet Liu Yuxi 刘禹锡乌衣巷朱雀桥边野草花乌衣巷口夕阳斜旧时王谢堂前燕飞入寻常百姓家
translated at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

Liu Zongyuan 柳宗元

Liu Zongyuan (773 - 819; lived in the Mid Tang period) was born in present-day Yongji, Shanxi Province 永济市, 山西省. Around 180 of his poems are extant, of which five are collected in the popular anthology "Three Hundred Tang Poems." "River Snow" 江雪 is his most famous poem.

In 793, at age 20, he passed the imperial examination (see Tang Poems - Volume 1) obtaining a jinshi degree title. In the same year, Liu Yuxi 刘禹锡, at age 21, (the author of poem #36 "Black Clothes Alley") also passed the imperial exam. The two young men went on to form a solid, lifelong friendship. In 798, Liu Zongyuan passed an advanced imperial examination and started his civil service career right way in the capital of Chang'an.

His civil service career was initially successful. But in 805, when the new Emperor Li Song 李诵 ascended the throne, Liu joined the Yong Zhen Ge Xin 永贞革新 reform movement to rectify corruption and curtail the military and political power of the eunuchs (see Tang Poems - Volume 1) and frontier peoples in order to help the new emperor to solidify central government power. The movement was in direct conflict with the eunuchs and soon Emperor Li Song, in reign for only one year, was forced by the eunuch faction to abdicate in favor of Prince Li Chuen 李纯; Li Song died within a year. The leader of the movement - Wang Shuwen 王叔文 - was executed at age 47 by the puppet Emperor Li Chuen 李纯. That spelled the end of the reform movement, which lasted for only 146 days.

At the same time, major movement advocates, such as Liu Zongyuan 柳宗元 and his good friend Liu Yuxi 刘禹錫, as well as six others, were banished to various remote areas of the country. Liu Zongyuan was banished first to Yongzhou, Hunan Province 永州, 湖南省 as a Sima 司马 (a low position usually reserved for exiled officials with low pay and no power) for ten years. In January 815 he was recalled back to the capital of Chang'an. After a month of arduous travels, he arrived in Chang'an in February. Then almost immediately thereafter in March he was re-banished to Liuzhou, Guangxi Province 柳州, 广西省 due to further political intrigue. After living in bleak and desolate conditions for four years, he was placed on yet another state amnesty list in 819 for repatriation back to Chang'an. Before the imperial edict arrived, however, he died in Liuzhou, leaving behind his pregnant wife and three young children. He had led a tough life of intermittent banishment during his prime and died at age 46.

Exile, however, allowed him to spend more time studying and working on philosophy, history, politics, and literature. He thus produced a great many poems, essays, fables, political commentaries, and reflective travelogues during this period.

Along with Han Yu 韩愈 (768 - 824), he was an initial promoter of the Classical Prose/Guwen Movement 古文运动 which advocated clarity and colloquialism in describing subject matter. It was a reaction against "Piantiwen" 骈体文, which was informed by pomposity and restrictive structures.

The Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song were:

Han Yu (韩愈; Tang Dynasty),
Liu Zongyuan (柳宗元; Tang Dynasty),
Ouyang Xiu (欧阳修; Song Dynasty),
Su Shi (苏轼; Song Dynasty),
Su Xun (苏洵; Song Dynasty),
Su Zhe (苏辙, father of Su Shi and Su Xun; Song Dynasty),
Wang Anshi (王安石; Song Dynasty), and
Zeng Gong (曾巩; Song Dynasty).

#37 River Snow 江雪

Traditional Chinese

江雪柳宗元

千山鳥飛絕，萬徑人蹤滅。
孤舟簑笠翁，獨釣寒江雪。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

江雪柳宗元
Jiāng xuě liǔ zōng yuán

千山鸟飞绝，万径人踪灭。
qiān shān niǎo fēi jué, Wàn jìng rén zōng miè.

孤舟蓑笠翁，独钓寒江雪。
gū zhōu suō lì wēng, dú diào hán jiāng xuě.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

River Snow Liu Zongyuan

Across a thousand mountains,
Have the birds all away flown;
The myriad tracks of human footprints,
Have all away blown.
In a solitary skiff,
Is dressed an old man in straw,
On the icy river,
Angling in snow all alone.

* * *

Liu wrote this poem during his difficult exile. With a peaceful mind and sense of self-cultivation, he transformed his grief into this artistic conception - tranquil, peaceful, and self-possessed - a true reflection of zen 禅 thought.

This "pictorial" poem has been attracting the attention of great many a painters since the Tang Dynasty, yet none has been able to quite capture and express the exceptional tranquility and profoundness embedded within the verses. It is, indeed, an exquisite poem.

* * *

江: river 雪: snow
千: thousand, a great many 山: mountain 千山: hundreds of mountains 鸟: bird 飞: to fly 绝: to vanish, to cut short, extinct, to disappear, by no means, absolutely

万: ten thousand, a myriad, a great many, a great number 径: footpath, track 万径: thousands of footpaths/tracks 人: man, person, people 踪: footprint, trace, tracks 灭: to extinguish or put out, to go out (of a fire, etc.), to exterminate or wipe out

孤: lone, lonely 舟: boat 蓑: raincoat made of straw or coir 笠: rain hat made of straw, coir, or bamboo 翁: elderly man

独: alone, single, sole, only 钓: to fish with a hook and bait , angle 寒: cold, poor, to tremble, chilly, chilling, cool, frigid, chill, icy 江: river

View the following images related to the poem:

1. Straw cape 蓑衣: View thru Google or Yahoo.

2. Rain hat made by straw or bamboo 斗笠: View thru Google or Yahoo.

3. Chinese calligraphy 江雪书法: view thru Google or Yahoo.

Tang poet Liu Zongyuan 柳宗元江雪千山鸟飞绝万径人踪灭孤舟蓑笠翁独钓寒江雪
at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

Tang poet Liu Zongyuan 柳宗元江雪千山鸟飞绝万径人踪灭孤舟蓑笠翁独钓寒江雪
at mariesun.com, ebook - Tang Poems zhuanzi 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

Li Shen 李绅

Li Shen (772 - 846; lived in Mid and Late Tang periods) was born in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province 湖州, 浙江省 Zhejiang Province. When he was five years old, his father passed away.

He excelled in literature and poetry, yet none of his poems are included in the popular anthology "Three Hundred Tang Poems."

After passing the imperial examination at age 27 (see Tang Poems - Volume 1) and obtaining a jinshi degree title, he was assigned an assistant professor position at the Imperial Educational Institute (an organization responsible for educating the young male members from the royal family) and later eventually was made a member of the highly prestigious Hanlin Academy 翰林学院 (see Tang Poems - Volume 1). Not long after he started his professorship, he was re-assigned as a remonstrate official Youshiyi (see Tang Poems - Volume 1) and worked his way up.

During his career, he became deeply involved in the Niu-Li Factional Struggles 牛李党争 (808 - 846) and was the right hand man of Li Deyu 李德裕, leader of the Li Faction, whose supporters were officials of largely aristocratic origins. The opposing Niu Faction was led by Niu Sengru 牛僧孺, and was composed of officials from humble origins. The Niu-Li Factional Struggles brought the already weakened Tang into further disarray. In the latter years, Both Li and Niu factions were forced to work hand in glove with eunuchs to carry out their plans. Carefully maneuvering the treacherous path to power, Li Shen eventually became prime minister at age 70, dying four years later at age 74 in 846.

Soon thereafter, the capital case of Wu Xiang 吴湘 was appealed by Wu Xiang's brother against Li Shen. The new Emperor Li Chen 李忱 ordered a re-investigation of the matter, which determined that Wu Xiang had been improperly executed at the hands of Li Shen and Li Deyu. As a result, Li Shen was posthumously stripped of three honorary titles and Li Deyu was demoted and exiled to Hainan Island 海南岛. Li Deyu eventually died on Hainan in 850 at age 63 (the opposition leader, Niu Sengru, had died at home in 848 at age 69). Thus ended the nearly 40 year long Niu-Li factional struggles.

Sun Zhu 孙洙, the compiler of "Three Hundred Tang Poems", did not include any of Li Shen's poems in his anthology - not even the popular "Sympathize with Farmers (1)" and "Sympathize with Farmers (2)". It might have been that Sun Zhu perceived Li Shen as being corrupted by power and lacking in moral character due to the latter involvement in Wu Xiang's wrongful execution.

#38 Sympathy for Farmers (1) 悯农 (一)

Traditional Chinese

憫農 (一) 李紳

春種一粒粟，秋收萬顆子。
四海無閑田，農夫猶餓死。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

悯农 (一) 李绅
mǐn nóng (1) lǐ shēn

春种一粒粟，秋收万颗子。
chūn zhòng yī lì sù, qiū shōu wàn kē zi.

四海无闲田，农夫犹饿死。
sì hǎi wú xián tián, nóng fū yóu è sǐ.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2
correction on recitation 1: 春种一粒粟, "种" in here should be pronounced as 种 zhòng (plant, sow seed) instead of 种 zhǒng .

Sympathize with Farmers (1) Li Shen

A grain of millet sown in the spring,
Leads to a harvest bounty by the fall.
Under the sky, no idle fields lie,
Yet peasants succumb to starvation's pall.

* * *

The two "Sympathize with Peasants" poems were written by Li Shen before he rose to power. During his official career as prime minister, there were no records of any policy that he may have ever carried out on behalf of the peasants. Most of his time and effort was apparently devoted to struggles for political power and wealth, ending in corruption and criminal involvement in a wrongful death case. Despite his apparent immorality, these two poems truly spoke on behalf of the disadvantaged, hard-laboring, and struggling peasantry.

* * *

悯: sympathize with, pity, grieve for 农: farmer, peasant, agriculture, farming
春: spring, joyful, youthful, love, lust

Two ways to pronounce 种:
(1). zhòng - to plant, to grow, or to cultivate something. Such as to plant trees 种树 [zhòng shù], plant flowers 种花 [zhòng huā]
(2). zhǒng - seeds 种子 [zhǒng zǐ], species 种类 [zhǒng èi], race 种族 [zhǒng zú]

一: one, 1, single 粒: grain, granule, classifier for small round things (peas, bullets, peanuts, pills, grains, etc.) 粟: millet, grain

秋: autumn, fall 收: collect 秋收: fall harvest, to reap 万: a myriad, a great number, ten thousand, thousands and thousands 颗: a grain, a drop or droplet, a pill, a bead 子: seed, son, child

四: four 海: sea, ocean 四海: all over the world, under the sky 无: not to have, no, none, not, to lack, un- 闲: to stay idle, to be unoccupied, not busy, leisure 田: agricultural land, cultivated land, rice-field, field

农夫: farmer, peasant 犹: yet, as if, (just) like, just as, still 饿: to be hungry, hungry 死: die, to die

View the following images related to the poem:

1. Farmers working at millet or rice fields in China: View thru Google or Yahoo.

2. Chinese calligraphy 春種一粒粟书法: view thru Google or Baidu.

Tang poet Li Shen 李绅悯农之一春种一粒粟秋收万颗子四海无闲田农夫犹饿死
translated to English at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

Tang poet Li Shen 李绅悯农之一春种一粒粟秋收万颗子四海无闲田农夫犹饿死
translated to English at mariesun.com, ebook - Tang Poems 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

#39 Sympathy for Farmers (2) 悯农 (二)

Traditional Chinese

憫農 (二) 李紳

鋤禾日當午，汗滴禾下土。
誰知盤中餐，粒粒皆辛苦。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

悯农 (二) 李绅
Mǐn nóng (èr) lǐ shēn

锄禾日当午，汗滴禾下土。
Chú hé rì dāng wǔ, hàn dī hé xià tǔ.

谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦。
Shuí zhī pán zhōng cān, lì lì jiē xīn kǔ.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Sympathize with Farmers (2) Li Shen

Tilling the field,
Under the noon sun's worst,
Sweat dripping,
Seeds thrust into the earth.
Who knew the meal
Within our bowl,
Required of each grain
Such a bitter toll?

* * *

This is another outstanding poem speaking for the unfortunate, exploited and arduous peasants.

* * *

悯: sympathize with, pity, grieve for 农: farmer, peasant, agriculture, farming 二: two

锄: to hoe or dig, to weed, get rid of, a hoe 禾: rice plant, grain still on stalk 锄禾: To weed and to plow 日: sun, day, daytime 当: bear, accept, undertake, just 午: noon, 7th terrestrial branch

汗: perspiration, sweat 滴: drip, drop of water 禾: grains, grain still on stalk, rice plant 下: down, under, underneath, below, inferior, bring down 土: soil, earth, items made of earth

谁: who? whom? whose? anyone? 知: know, perceive, comprehend 盘: dish, plate, tray, examine 中: in the midst of, central, center, middle, hit (target), attain 餐: meal, food, eat, dine

粒: grain, small particle 皆: all, every, everybody 辛: laborious, toilsome, bitter, the 8th heavenly stem 苦: hardship, suffering, bitter 辛苦: laborious, toilsome

View the following images related to the poem:

1. Rice fields in China 稻田: View thru Google, Baidu or Yahoo.

2. Chinese calligraphy 锄禾日当午书法: View thru Google or Yahoo.

Tang poet Li Shen 李绅悯农之二锄禾日当午汗滴禾下土谁知盘中餐粒粒皆 at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

Meng Jiao 孟郊

Meng Jiao (751 - 814; lived in the Mid Tang period) was the grandson of the famous Tang poet Meng Hao'ran 孟浩然. He was born in what is now Deqing County, Zhejiang Province 德清, 浙江省. Two of his poems are collected in the popular anthology "Three Hundred Tang Poems."

Meng Jiao was born into difficult times. Shortly after his birth, the An Lushan Rebellion broke out, which caused huge economic and social upheaval throughout the whole country. At the end of the rebellion, the country was troubled by continuing local wars, border insurgents, and outside invasions. The lingering turmoil condemned him to an early life of poverty.

In his middle age, he traveled to Chang'an and met with Han Yu 韩愈, a scholar, statesman, and promoter of the Guwen Movement. With Han Yu's patronage, people began to read Meng's poems and helped him to gain some fame in the latter half of his life.

He had sat for the imperial examination (see Tang Poems - Volume 1) several times, until late in life at the age of 46 (some say 45), he finally passed and obtained a jinshi degree title. This typically should have led to a well-paid bureaucratic career, yet this was not to be. While at his first post, he spent most of his time composing poems, rather than performing daily duties, which resulted in his being punished with a reduction of his salary by half. This contributed to a life in which even necessities were hard to come by.

In 804, he quit his post and landed another position with better pay, which reduced his destitution to some degree. By 814, he was again unemployed and on his way to accept a job offer by Zhen Yuqing 郑余庆 (then a Military-Governor). However, he died en route. With no savings of his own, his friends Han Yu and Zhen Yuqing helped pay all the burial expenses and made some donations to Meng's surviving wife.

Due to the poverty that dogged his entire life, his poems are harsh and full of bitterness, similar to those of Jia Dao 贾岛. The famous Song Dynasty poet, Su Shi 苏轼, named them "Bitter Jiao and Thin Dao" 郊寒岛瘦. Consequently, people came to consider these two as the quintessential representatives of the "Bitter Lyrics Poet" 苦吟诗人 group.

Around 500 of his poems survived, many touching upon the themes of poverty and bitterness. His "Chant of the Itinerant Son/A Wanderer's Song" is one of his most popular ones.

#40 Chant of the Itinerant Son 游子吟

Traditional Chinese

遊子吟孟郊

慈母手中線，遊子身上衣。
臨行密密縫，意恐遲遲歸。
誰言寸草心，報得三春暉。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

游子吟孟郊
yóu zǐ yín Mèng Jiāo

慈母手中线，遊子身上衣。
cí mǔ shǒu zhōng xiàn, yóu zǐ shēn shang yī.

临行密密缝，意恐迟迟归。
lín xíng mì mi féng, yì kǒng chí chí guī.

谁言寸草心，报得三春晖。
Shuí yán cùn cǎo xīn, bào de sān chūn huī.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Chant of the Itinerant Son Meng Jiao

A loving mother with thread in hand,
Clothing draped over her traveling son,
Densely stitching till the very end,
With worries of a late and far off return.
How can the tender grass ever repay
The nurturing warmth of the spring sun?

* * *

This poem dealing with maternal love enjoys as much popularity as Meng's grandfather's famous "Spring Dawn". Due to its tender and graceful rhythm, almost all Chinese school children can recite it by heart. It is the only Tang poem dealing with the theme of maternal love that is collected in the anthology "Three Hundred Tang Poems."

* * *

游子: person living or traveling far from home 吟: to hum, to moan;

慈: loving, compassionate, gentle, merciful, kind, humane 母: mother, female 手: hand, (formal) to hold 手中: in hand 线: thread, string, wire, line

身: body, life, oneself 身上: (something) on the body 衣: cloth, to dress, to wear, to put on (clothes)

临行: on leaving, on the point of departure 密密: dense, thick, close 缝: to sew, to stitch

意: to anticipate, idea, meaning, thought, to think, wish, desire, intention, to expect 恐: afraid, frightened, to fear 迟迟: late (with a task, etc.), delayed, slow 归: to return, to go back to, to give back to

谁: who 言: to say, to talk, words, speech 寸: inch, a unit of length 草: grass, straw 心: heart, mind, intention

报: to repay, to announce, to inform 得: to obtain, to get, to gain 報得: repay, in return 三: three, 3 春: spring 三春: the whole spring season (spring being divided into three sections) - mengchun, zhongchun, and jichun 孟春、仲春、季春 in China calendar 晖： sunshine, to shine upon 春晖： spring sunshine - reference to parental (often maternal) love

View the following images related to the poem:

Chinese calligraphy 游子吟书法: view thru Google or Baidu.

Tang poems English Translation,
by Marie Sun and Alex Sun - published by Amazon.com mariesun.com,
Meng Jiao 孟郊 - 游子吟慈母手中线游子身上衣临行密密缝意恐迟迟归誰言寸草心，報得三春暉。
英译唐诗, 中英对照双语版, 唐代の詩英語翻訳

Jia Dao 贾岛

Jia Dao (779 - 843; lived in Mid and Late Tang periods) was born into a poor family near present-day Beijing 北京. Only one of his poems "A Vain Visit to the Recluse" 寻隐者不遇 is included in the anthology "Three Hundred Tang Poems." He also authored another equally famous poem "Swordsman" 剑客.

Being so poor, it was said that in order to survive, he sought refuge in a temple and became a Buddhist monk. In 810 at age thirty-one, he traveled to Chang'an and later became one of Han Yu's 韩愈 disciples. Han Yu, seeing Jia's earnest nature and persistence at poetry, encouraged him to take the imperial examination (see Tang Poems - Volume 1). Under the then existing rules, monks, priests, or any other religious workers were disqualified from obtaining a jinshi degree title (but were eligible to test for a special classified degree title for religious work), so he left the temple and converted back to lay living. He took the imperial exam several times and in 822, at age 43, finally passed. Yet he experienced a very frustrating career path. For all his efforts, he never rose any higher than the rank of a very low official.

Due to their similar philosophical outlook, personalities, and backgrounds (coming from poor families, being trapped in downtrodden circumstances, and nurturing a discontent for their career paths), he and poet Meng Jiao 孟郊 (author of poem #40 "Chant of the Itinerant Son") became good friends, even though there was a huge age gap between the two.

Just like Meng Jiao, most of Jia's poems are filled with feelings of bitterness, desolation, and confinement. But their poems were nonetheless appreciated by others. Jia's "A Vain Visit to the Recluse" and "Swordsman" truly stand out.

#41 A Visit in Vain to the Recluse 寻隐者不遇

Traditional Chinese

尋隱者不遇賈島

松下問童子，言師採藥去。
只在此山中，雲深不知處。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

寻隐者不遇贾岛
xún yǐn zhě bù yù jiǎ dǎo

松下问童子，言师采药去。
sōng xià wèn tóng zǐ, yán shī cǎi yào qù.

只在此山中，云深不知处。
Zhǐ zài cǐ shān zhōng, yún shēn bù zhī chù.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

A Vain Visit to the Recluse Jia Dao

Under the pine tree I ask a child,
"My master is gone searching for herbs," he says,
"Right in this Mountain.
Deep in the cloud,
Don't know where he is."

* * *

For ages, Chinese literati have referred to the evergreen pine, which does not wither even in the frigid winter, as a symbol of a noble person's unbending sense of integrity; likewise, clouds were considered a symbol of the pure and faithful mind, or alternatively, a leisurely life. In the poem, they appear to serve as references to the admired recluse.

Herbal practitioners usually like to pick their herbs in the early morning due to their freshness. There are other reasons for doing so, too, though. There is less "traffic" in the mountain, so there is less chance that the precise location of one's prized herbs will be revealed to others. The time of day when Jia Dao meets the young boy is most likely in the refreshing late morning, with the errant, misty cloud still clinging to the mountains, making for a beautiful panorama.

The Chinese have been using herbs to treat various diseases for thousands of years. The "Tang Bencao" 唐本草, published by the Tang court, covers about 800 different kinds of herbs then in use. Most of the herbs were preserved by undergoing a drying process and then sold at traditional Chinese medicine stores. Nowadays, in order to acquire medicine for treatment of any medical condition, a prescription from a doctor is generally needed in western medicine, but none is needed to acquire herbs for general folk treatments.

This graceful poem, evoking a picturesque yet panoramic scene, has spurred a great many artists to begin painting since ancient times. And the poem is still very popular among all literate Chinese.

* * *

寻: seek, search, look for 隐者: hermit, recluse 不遇: not meet, not come across, not encounter

松: pine, pine tree 下: under, underneath, below, down, inferior, bring down 问: ask about, inquire after 童子: servant boy, boy, child

言: say, speak, words 师: master, teacher, specialist 采: collect, gather, pick, pluck 药: herbs, medicine 去: go away, leave, depart

只: only, just, simply 在: be at, in, on, consist in 此: this, these, in this case, then 山中: in the mountain, in the hill

云: clouds 深: deep, depth, far, very, extreme 不: no, not, un-, negative prefix 知: know, perceive, comprehend 处: place, locale, department

View the following images related to the poem:

1. Pine trees, mountains, and clouds at Huangshan/Huang Mountain (some could resemble the mountain view that Jia Dao had encountered) View thru Google, Baidu or Bing.

2. Chinese herbs (traditional Chinese medicines): View thru Google, Baidu, or Yahoo JP.

3. Chinese calligraphy 寻隐者不遇书法: View thru Google or Yahoo.

Tang poet Jia Dau 贾岛寻隐者不遇松下问童子言师采药去只在此山中云深不知处
translated at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

#42 Swordsman 剑客

Traditional Chinese

劍客賈島

十年磨一劍，霜刃未曾試。
今日把示君，誰有不平事？

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

剑客贾岛
Jiàn kè jiǎ dǎo

十年磨一剑，霜刃未曾试。
shí nián mó yī jiàn, shuāng rèn wèi céng shì.

今日把示君，谁有不平事？
Jīn rì bǎ shì jūn, shuí yǒu bù píng shì?

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Swordsman Jia Dao

Ten years sharpening a sword,
Its frost cold edge untested yet.
Now I am holding and presenting it to you, my lord;
Is there anyone suffering injustice?

* * *

Jia Dao, once a monk, would not have even killed an ant - the Buddhism doctrine of abstention from killing (the first and foremost of the Five Precepts 五戒). For justice, Jia turned out a poem that implicitly anticipates bloody action!

Its presence, heroic spirit, and chivalry captured through concise words truly make it an outstanding poem.

* * *

剑:sword, dagger, saber 客: traveler guest, customer 剑客: swordsman

十: ten, tenth, complete, perfect 年: year, new-years, person's age 磨: sharpen, grind, polish, rub, wear out, a millstone 一: one, a, an, alone

霜: frost, white and powdery-like hoarfrost, crystallized, white, coldness, indifference 刃: knife edge, edged tool, cutlery 未: not yet 曾: at some time in the past, before, already, once, surname, great-grand (parents) 试: test, try, experiment

今: now, today, modern era 日: day, daytime, sun 把: hold, take, guard, regard as 示: show, manifest, demonstrate 君: you (a respective way to address a male), lord, ruler, king, prince, sovereign, monarch, chief

谁: who, whom, whose, anyone 有: have, has, own, possess; exist 不: not, no, un-, negative prefix 平: flat, level, even, peaceful 事: matter, affair, business, to serve, accident 不平事: injustice

View the following images related to the poem:

1. Chinese swords 中国剑: View thru Google or Yahoo.

2. Chinese calligraphy 十年磨一剑书法: view thru Google or Yahoo.

Tang poet Jia Dau 贾岛剑客十年磨一剑霜刃未曾试今日把示君谁有不平事
translated at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

Li Yi 李益

Li Yi (746/748 - 827/829; lived in the Mid Tang period) was born into a noble family in Gansu Province 甘肃省. Three of his poems are included in the popular anthology "Three Hundred Tang Poems."

In 769, at age 23, he passed the imperial examination (see Tang Poems - Volume 1) obtaining a jinshi degree title. He was a well-known poet at a young age. Whenever he finished composing a poem, people from the entertainment world or imperial court music department would come to bid for it. The court music department would then compose music to accompany the poem and play it in front of the emperor. Li did not enjoy a smooth career path, though. Due to his discontent about his assignments and lack of promotion, he quit his job and spent most of his time traveling around frontier areas.

In 797 he traveled to Ningxia Province 宁夏省 and the Youzhou 幽州 area (an area covering present-day northern Hebei 河北 and parts of Liaoning 辽宁 and Shaanxi 陝西 Provinces, including Beijing 北京 and Tianjing 天津, with the Great Wall running along its northern and eastern borders), settling down there for three years and later working for the frontier military in that area.

After observing the lives of soldiers and common people in the borderlands for years, he consequently penned a great many poems pertaining to the frontier that were infused with sentimentality, melancholy, and despondency, as opposed to the heroic, bold, and optimistic moods reflected in the poems of the High Tang period. His most popular is the "Hearing a Flute at Night up on Shou'xiang Beacon Tower."

Due to the fame he garnered for his frontier poetry, he was called in by Emperor Li Chun 李淳 to work for the court again. After experiencing some more bumps, he was finally promoted to the position of Minister of Board of Rites 礼部尚书 (the third level). He lived into his 80's.

He was considered by critics as the quintessential representative of frontier fortress poems of the Mid Tang period.

#43 Hearing a Flute at Night 夜上受降城闻笛

Traditional Chinese

夜上受降城聞笛李益

回樂烽前沙似雪，受降城外月如霜。
不知何處吹蘆管，一夜征人盡望鄉。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

夜上受降城闻笛李益
Yè shàng shòu xiáng chéng wén dí li yì

回乐烽前沙似雪，
Huí lè fēng qián shā shì xuě,

受降城外月如霜。
Shòu xiáng chéng wài yuè rú shuāng.

不知何处吹芦管，
Bù zhī hé chù chuī lú guǎn,

一夜征人尽望乡。
yī yè zhēng rén jìn wàng xiāng.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Hearing a Flute at Night up on Shouxiang Tower Li Yi

The sand below the Huile Beacon Tower is as white as snow;
The moonbeams over Shouxiang Tower glow like frost.
A flute is being played from somewhere unknown,
Evoking homesickness in all soldiers all night long.

* * *

The Shouxiang Tower 受降城, literally "accept-surrender tower/castle," was a fortified stronghold for accepting the enemy's surrender or its return to allegiance. In the Tang Dynasty, there were three accept-surrender towers built along the Great Wall girdling present-day Inner Mongolia, called East Tower, West Tower, and Middle Tower. The distance from Middle Tower to either East Tower or West Tower was about 400 mi/644 km, with thousands of other beacon towers interspersed on the mountain ridge along the Great Wall. After more than 1,000 years of weather erosion and war, the three towers no longer exist.

Huilefeng/Huile Beacon Tower/回乐烽 was erected on the Great Wall around the southwest corner of present-day Lingwu County, Ningxia Province 灵武县, 宁夏省. Its exact location has long been lost to history.

The location of Lingwu County (near the end of Hexi Corridor, to the northeast of Lingtao).

In 646, the capable and prestigious Emperor Li Shimin 李世民 (the second emperor of the Tang) led his heroic troops to the Huile Tower to majestically accept the surrender of the Turkic 突厥 tribes (with a major presence in Mongolia). About 100 years later, his great-great-grandson - the Crown Prince Li Heng 李亨 (the soon-to-be Tang emperor) - led his exhausted and dejected troops embarrassingly here to seek refuge and escape from An Lushan's 安禄山 attacks and face the fall of a once mighty and glorious country. An Lushan was of mixed Sogdian (a tribe with Iranian roots ) and Turkic 突厥 tribes origins. The transformation of state strength and destiny can be rather quick and ironic.

When Li Yi traveled to this area 30 some years after Li Heng took refuge here, the Early and High Tang's effervescence and heroic aspirations had long faded away, and the national power had dramatically declined. The poem is filled with desolation, loneliness, and intense homesickness, which very naturally resonated with the feelings of the masses and hence became a very popular poem set to song at that time. It is indeed a piece of superb artwork.

* * *

夜: night, dark, in night, by night 上: go up, top, superior, highest, send up 受: accept, receive, get, bear, stand 降: surrender, descend, fall, drop, lower, down 城: tower, castle, city, town, municipality 闻: hear, smell, make known, news 笛: flute

回乐： a county located to the southwest of Lingwu County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region 在今宁夏回族自治区灵武县西南。
回: return, turn around, a time

Two ways to pronounce 乐:
(1). lè - glad, enjoyable, happy 快乐 [kuài lè]
(2). yuè - music 音乐 [yīn yuè]

烽: a tall structure on a wall where a signal fire was set to alert of enemy invasion or presence of bandits
前: in front, forward, preceding 沙: sand, gravel, pebbles, granulated 似: resemble, similar to, as if, seem 雪: snow, wipe away shame, avenge

外: outside, out, external, foreign 月: moon, month 如: as if, like, as, if, supposing 霜: frost, crystallized, white and powdery-like hoarfrost, white, coldness, indifference

不知: don't know 何处: where 吹: blow, puff, brag, boast 芦管: Chinese musical instrument resembling a western flute, made of bamboo or copper, introduced into China from the western Xiyu 西域 area during the East Jin Dynasty (265 - 402), becoming very popular, especially in the Tang Dynasty. It is the perfect instrument for playing sad and touching music.

一: one, a, an, alone 夜: night, dark, in night, by night 征: invade, attack, conquer 征人: soldier who participants in an expedition 尽: to the utmost, to use up, to exhaust, to end, to finish, exhausted, finished, to the limit (of something) 望: to look at, look forward, to hope, expect 乡: home country, country, rural, village 望乡: homesickness, derived from the saying 眺望故乡: looking at the hometown from far away

View the following images related to the poem:

1. Beacon towers along the Great Wall: View thru Google or Yahoo.

2. The relics around southwest Lingwu County, Ningxia Province 灵武县，宁夏省, where the Huile Beacon Tower once stood: View thru Baidu, or Google.

3. Video about the Great Wall:
The wall was built along the ridge lines and stretched for thousands of miles. As of today, the total length, including all branches, is about 13,000 mi/21,000 km, almost half the length of the Earth's circumference! View it through www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpEWKBB6lYw (5 mins:34 seconds). It is a stunning view. When imagining the vast labor required to create it, the multitudes of soldiers dispatched to guard it, and the countless souls who perished for it, the eyes of the sons and daughters of China fill with tears.

4. The Great Wall 万里长城:
Construction of the Great Wall started as early as the 7th century B.C., with on and off building activity stretching over hundreds of years. Qin Shi Huang 秦始皇 (the first emperor of a unified China) connected the various fragments and extended the wall around the 3rd century B.C. It was used as a barricade against the raids and invasions of the various nomadic tribes inhabiting frontier areas skirting the empire - from its northeast all the way to its northwest. The signal towers on top of the mountain ranges served as perfect and quick relays for passing emergency military messages to Chang'an. The majority of the existing wall was built or rebuilt, however, during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644 A.D.)
View the images thru Google, Yahoo or Baidu.

5. The location of Ningxia Province (renamed Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in 1958) View map thru Wikipedia.

6. The flute mentioned in the poem: View thru Baidu, or Yahoo Japan.

7. Chinese calligraphy 夜上受降城聞笛书法: view thru Google or Baidu.

Tang poet Li Yi 李益夜上受降城闻笛
回乐烽前沙似雪受降城外月如霜不知何处吹芦管一夜征人尽望乡
translated at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

Tang poet Li Yi 李益夜上受降城闻笛
回乐烽前沙似雪受降城外月如霜不知何处吹芦管一夜征人尽望乡
Tang Poems English translation at mariesun.com, published by Amazon.com. Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗篆字

#44 A Song of the Southern River 江南曲

Traditional Chinese

江南曲李益

嫁得瞿塘賈，朝朝誤妾期。
早知潮有信，嫁與弄潮兒。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

江南曲李益
Jiāng nán qǔ lǐ yì

嫁得瞿塘贾，朝朝误妾期。
jià de qú táng jiǎ, cháo cháo wù qiè qī.

早知潮有信，嫁与弄潮儿。
zǎo zhī cháo yǒu xìn, jià yǔ nòng cháo ér.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

A Song of the Southern River Li Yi

I married a Qutang merchant,
Time and time again he fails to return home.
Had I known the reliability of the tides,
I'd have rather wed a tidal bore surfer.

* * *

The Qiantang Jiang/Qiantang River 钱塘江 tidal bore is located in the Jiangnan 江南 region. The first run of the tidal bore occurs between the first to the third day of every month on the Chinese lunar calendar, and the second run between the 15th to the 18th day, pushing along a tidal wave from 5 to 15 feet/1.5 to 4.5 meters high. If conditions are right, the tidal bore can reach as high as 30 feet/9 meters and travel at up to 25 miles/40 km an hour. This usually occurs around August 18th. In ancient times, tidal-wave-goers or surfers would earn a living by either jumping into the wave or surfing on it for the pleasure of local audiences and tourists.

The An Lushan Rebellion did not rampage through the Jiangnan region, therefore, the economy in this area was not adversely impacted. On the contrary, the massive flow of refugees from the other warring areas actually grew the economy in Jiangnan, making it even more prosperous. The business opportunities caused by the dislocation led to more businessmen on trips away from home and consequently created a great many unhappy stay-at-home-alone wives.

Here, Li Yi captures the feelings of the lonely, unhappy merchant's wife, who is filled anguish, resentment, and regret.

* * *

曲: song

嫁得: being married to 瞿塘: the Qutang Gorge, one of the most spectacular of China's Three Gorges along the Yangtze River. 贾: merchant, businessman

朝朝: always, often, day after day 误: miss, make mistake 妾: in old China, it's a polite term used by a woman to refer to herself when speaking to her husband, concubine 期: date, expectation, period of time, time limit

早知: if know (something) early 潮: tide, moist, wet, damp, flow 有信: has the credibility

嫁与: marry to 弄潮儿: tidal-wave-goers or surfers

View the following images related to the poem:

1. Qutang Gorge 瞿塘峡 One of the three famous Yangtze River Gorges, about 5 mi/8 km long, starting from the western limits of the ancient city of Baidicheng 白帝城 (Li Bai passed through here on his way to exile in Yelang in 759, and Du Fu drifted here in 767) and proceeding eastwards: View thru Google or Yahoo.

2. View tidal bore on Qiantang River 钱塘江江潮:
View images thru Google or Baidu.

videos : Select any of the videos from YouTube , Bing or Baidu.

3. As of today, the best location to watch tidal bore at Qiantang River is at Hailing Tide Watching Tower (the red drop). The trumpet shape of the water entrance forming a perfect condition creates spectacular tidal bore.

(source: Google map - click here to expand.)

4. Local Hangzhou cuisine in the tidal bore area: View thru Google or Baidu.

5. Chinese calligraphy 李益江南曲书法: view thru Google or Baidu.

Tang Poet Li Yi 李益江南曲嫁得瞿塘贾朝朝误妾期早知潮有信嫁与弄潮儿
at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

Jin Changxu 金昌绪

Jin Changxu (date of birth and death unknown) was born in Ling'an 临安, present-day Hangzhou city, Zhejiang Province 杭州市, 浙江省. Only one of his poems "A Spring Sigh" is included in the popular anthology "Three Hundred Tang Poems." No other information can be found about him.

#45 A Spring Sign 春怨

Traditional Chinese

春怨金昌緒

打起黃鶯兒, 莫教枝上啼。
啼時驚妾夢, 不得到遼西。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

春怨金昌绪
chūn yuàn jīn chāng xù

打起黄莺儿，莫教枝上啼。
dǎ qǐ huáng yīng er, mò jiào zhī shàng tí ,

啼时惊妾梦，不得到辽西。
Tí shí jīng qiè mèng, bù dé dào liáo xi.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

A Spring Sigh Jin Changxu

I want to chase these orioles away,
To stop the twittering in the tree.
Their chatter interrupts my sweet dream,
And keeps me from my goal Liaoxi.

* * *

During the Tang Dynasty, the court constantly dispatched heavy military forces to the frontier along the Great Wall to defend the border against "barbarian" invaders. And one of theses areas was the western bank of the Liao River 辽河 (location), also called Liaoxi 辽西, where, in the poem, a young wife's husband is deployed.

The wife's only chance to meet her dear husband is in an occasional dream, yet the chirping of the naughty, little birds keep preventing her from doing so. The irritated, young woman chasing the little spring birds away from under the tree forms a vivid and amusing scene. Mother nature, it seems, does not discriminate in arousing both little birds and young wives through the wave of her seasonal wand.

* * *

春: spring 怨: resentment, hatred, enmity, complain

打起: chase away, drive away, left up, hold up 黄莺儿: oriole

莫: do not, is not, can not, negative 教: let, make, teach, cause, tell 莫教: won't let, don't let 枝上: on the branches 啼: twitter, weep, whimper, howl

惊: frighten, surprise, startle 妾: in old China, it's a polite term used by a woman to refer to herself when speaking to her husband, concubine 梦: dream

不得到: cannot get to 辽西: The west side of Liao River 辽河.

View the following images related to the poem:

1. The garrisons along the west side of Liao River where the young lady's husband was stationed: View thru Google or Baidu.

2. Orioles 黄莺儿: View thru Google or Yahoo.

3. Chinese calligraphy 春怨书法: View thru Google or Yahoo.

Tang poet Jin Changxu 金昌绪春怨打起黄莺儿莫教枝上啼啼时惊妾梦
不得到辽西 translated at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

Du Qiuniang 杜秋娘

Du Qiuniang (date of birth and death unknown; lived in Mid and Late Tang periods) was born in Jinling 金陵, present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu Province 南京, 江苏省. Only one of her poems "Golden Brocade Dresses" is among those collected in the popular anthology "Three Hundred Tang Poems."

When she was 15 years old, she became a concubine of Li Qi 李锜. In 807, Li Qi rose in rebellion and was later defeated by Tang troops. Du Qiuniang was captured and presented to the Tang Emperor, Li Chun 李淳. Due to her intelligence and literary capacity for poetry and prose, she was assigned to the "Literature Sector" as a female official by Emperor Li Chun, to manage literary works for the imperial back court.

In 820 Emperor Li Chun died at age 42. In the ensuing court power struggle, she was demoted and assigned as a nanny to care for Prince Li Cou 李湊, the sixth son of the new Emperor, Li You 李宥. Li You was on throne for only four years when he died in 824 at age 29. As a young man, Li Cou was eventually entrapped in a plot of courtly intrigue, manipulated behind the scenes by the powerful eunuch Wang Shoucheng 王守澄. He was imprisoned and on the verge of having his entire household executed when Ma Cunliang 马存亮, another powerful opposition intervened at the last minute; therefore, Li Cou and his household were spared. The power struggle, however, continued, and in the end, Li Cou was demoted to Duke and banished by Emperor Li Ang 李昂 (Li Cou's half-brother). Du Qiuniang was sent back to her hometown of Jinling. A couple of years thereafter, Li Cou died at around age 24.

Years later, the poet Du Mu met Du Qiuniang in Jinling 金陵/南京, who by then was poor and old. After hearing her life story, Du Mu was inspired to write a poem "Du Qiuniang Poetry" 杜秋娘诗 (a total of 112 verses, 560 characters) briefly depicting the upheavals of her torrid experiences.

In the Tang Dynasty, composing and chanting poems were very popular not only in the male world, but in the female world, as well. There were many female poets such as Yu Xunji 鱼玄机, Li Ye 李冶, Xue Tao 薛涛, etc., who produced excellent poems too, but Du Qiouniang's "Golden Brocade Dresses" is the only poem penned by a woman that was collected by Sun Zhu in his "300 Tang Poems." Such is the nature of patriarchal societies. None of her other writings are extant.

#46 Golden Brocade Dresses 金缕衣

Traditional Chinese

金縷衣杜秋娘

勸君莫惜金縷衣，
勸君惜取少年時。
花開堪折直須折，
莫待無花空折枝。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

金缕衣杜秋娘
Jīn lǚ yī Dù qiū niang

劝君莫惜金缕衣，
quàn jūn mò xī jīn lǚ yī,

劝君惜取少年时。
quàn jūn xī qǔ shào nián shí.

花开堪折直须折，
huā kāi kān zhé zhí xū zhé

莫待无花空折枝。
mò dài wú huā kōng zhé zhī.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Golden Brocade Dresses Du Qiuniang

Cherish not gold embroidered clothes,
But treasure your youthful here and now.
Pluck the blooms when they should be plucked,
Not when the branches are bare boughs.

* * *

This poem was accompanied by melody and often played and sung at Li Qi's banquets for the entertainment of his guests, and later at Emperor Li Chun's court parties.

Du Qiuniang was more than likely trying to encourage the pursuit of meaningful goals in life in terms of grabbing opportunities while still young, rather than waiting until one is too old. But under the circumstances of the times - a declining state with a decadent and hedonistic society - the last two verses might have well been interpreted by her frivolous guests as "enjoy the present, live in the moment!"

* * *

金: gold, metals in general, money 缕: thread, detailed, precise, strands, locks (of hair) 衣: dress, apparel, garments, attire, clothes, cover, skin, peel of fruits

劝: advise, recommend, urge 君: you ( a respective way to address a male), sovereign, monarch, ruler, chief, prince 莫: do not, is not, can not, negative 惜: treasure, pity, regret, rue

取: take, receive, obtain, select 惜取: to treasure and make good use of 少: few, less, inadequate 年: year, new-years, person's age 少年: a juvenile, a youth, a boy 时: time, season, era, age, period

花: flower, blossom 开: open, initiate, begin, start 堪: adequately capable of, worthy of 折: break off, snap, bend 直: straight, erect, vertical 须: must, have to, necessary

莫: do not, is not, can not, negative 待: wait, treat, entertain, receive 无: no, not, negative 空: empty, hollow, bare, deserted 枝: branches, limbs, branch off

View the following images related to the poem:

Chinese calligraphy 金缕衣书法: view thru Google or Yahoo.

Tang poet Du Qiuniang 杜秋娘劝君莫惜金缕衣劝君惜取少年时花开堪折直须折莫待无花空折枝
translated at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

Du Mu 杜牧

Du Mu (803 – 852; lived in Mid and Late Tang periods) was a leading Chinese poet of the late Tang Dynasty. Ten of his poems are included in the popular anthology "Three Hundred Tang Poems."

His name is often mentioned together with that of another renowned late Tang poet - Li Shangyin 李商隐 (813 - 858). Together, Li Shangyin and Du Mu are known as "Li-Du the Lesser " 小李杜, in contrast to "Li-Du the Greater " 大李杜 - Li Bai and Du Fu.

Du Mu was born in Chang'an, present-day Xi'an in Shanxi Province 西安, 陕西省 into an elite family, with his grandfather - Du You 杜佑 - being a renowned scholar, historian (author of Tongdian 通典 - a Chinese institutional history and encyclopedia text), and able prime minister in the Mid Tang period. During his early upbringing, his grandfather had a great influence on Du. When he was 9 years old, however, his grandfather passed away, and then the next year, his father too. As a result, he would often mention experiencing a tough early life due to the tight financial constraints brought upon by their deaths.

Du Mu's and Du Fu's family lines can be traced back to the same root. They were both descended from Du Yu 杜预 (222 - 285) of the Western Jin 西晋 Dynasty, a famous statesman, scholar, and military strategy expert who helped the emperor of the Western Jin, Sima Yan 司马炎, unite his kingdom.

In 827, at age 24, Du took the imperial examination (see Tang Poems - Volume 1) obtaining a jinshi degree title. Since his grandfather was once a renowned prime minister, he was given support by some twenty high ranking officials. As it turned out, he passed the examination with the fifth highest score. The next year, he passed another special prestigious imperial examination presided over by the emperor himself, so that he was able to start out his civil service career right way in the capital, Chang'an. He worked in various locales throughout his lifetime, but never quite achieved what he had expected of himself in the political world.

When Du Mu was young, he was full of ambition with a strong will and devotion to his country. After years of involvement in the long and dragged-out political conflicts of the 38-year-long Niu-Li Factional Struggles 牛李党争 (808 - 846), Du finally had a change of heart. A third party - the eunuchs (see Tang Poems - Volume 1) - ended up supplanting both the factions, concentrating both imperial military and political power in their own hands, and started to eliminate capable officials. Du sadly came to the conclusion that there was no future for him; thereafter, he gradually fell into a decadent, sensual, and indulgent lifestyle.

Du Mu was a great admirer of Han Yu 韩愈 and Liu Zongyuan 柳宗元, and highly praised their achievements in promoting the Classical Prose/Guwen Movement 古文运动.

During the middle and late Tang Dynasty, poets started to write short poems to be set to then existing folk tunes. Du, though, was the first to write long and mid-length narrative poems to be set to folk melodies.

His most popular and famous poem is "Qingming Festival" 清明. He is also renowned for his prose work "Ode to Epang Palace" 阿房宫赋, which is a cautionary commentary on the Qin 秦 dynasty's destiny. It narrates the corrupt and hedonistic excesses of the Qin royal family and describes the heavy taxes and ruthless corvee labor requirements imposed upon the people, which all taken together, contributed to the fall of the Qin Dynasty.

Du was also a commentator of Sun Zi's (Sun Tzu's) "The Art of War" "孙子兵法". View images of present-day imitations of bamboo slips carved with "The Art of War" thru Google or Baidu (links to "The Art of War ").

Du Mu was known as a calligrapher as well. However, only one of his hand writings has survived - a poem penned for a popular official kabuki 官方歌舞伎 called Chang Hao Hao 张好好. View thru Google or Baidu. (Whenever a work of art - painting or calligraphy - becomes part of an emperor's collection, it will have the emperor's special seal(s) pressed upon it, as well as be accompanied by notes praising or providing narration about it. This calligraphy by Du Mu has Emperor Song Huizhong's seals and notes. 有宋徽宗赵佶书签“唐杜牧张好好诗”，並盖有宋徽宗的诸玺印)

#47 Qing Ming 清明

Traditional Chinese

清明杜牧

清明時節雨紛紛，
路上行人欲斷魂。
借問酒家何處有，
牧童遙指杏花村。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

清明杜牧
qīng míng dù mù

清明时节雨纷纷，
qīng míng shí jié yǔ fēn fēn,

路上行人欲断魂。
lù shàng xíng rén yù duàn hún.

借問酒家何处有，
Jiè wèn jiǔ jiā hé chù yǒu,

牧童遙指杏花村。
mù tóng yáo zhǐ xìng huā cūn.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Qingming Du Mu

On Tomb Sweeping Day
A ceaseless drizzling rain,
Travelers on their way
Feel their spirits wane;
Where, I ask a cowherd boy,
Can a tavern be found?
He points to apricot blossom village
Far down the lane.

* * *

Qingming, a shorthand form of Qingming Festival, is also known as the the Clear Bright Festival or Tomb Sweeping Day. It falls generally on April 4, 5, or 6 on the Western calendar, depending on calculations based on the Chinese lunar calendar. During this season there is often drizzle in the southern and eastern regions of the Yangtze River. It's a traditional day for people to tend the grave sites of departed ancestors and also serves as a family outing day to enjoy the greenery of springtime, if weather permits.

Du Mu wrote this poem while he was an official stationed in Chizhou, Anhui Province 池州, 安徽省. Chizhou is located on the south bank of the Yangtze River, near Apricot Blossom Village 杏花村, famous for its fine wines and apricot blossoms. Although there is another Apricot Blossom Village that has become much more famous in more modern times for its wine called Fenjiu 汾酒, the village is located in the environs of Fenyang city, Shanxi Province 汾阳市, 山西省. But according to history records, Du Mu, a wine lover, never traveled to Fenyang in his lifetime.

Du Mu depicts a scene of quiet, melancholic beauty in his poem. On a misty, drizzling day, travelers are on their way to visit their deceased elders' cemeteries. A sadness tinged nostalgia hangs in the air, intertwined with the rain. On the roadside, a cowherd boy points to a distant village with apricot flowers in full bloom. There lies a warm, cozy, little tavern with fine libations waiting to warm and lighten up the heavy hearts of the travelers. This is a very popular poem that is on every Chinese lip during the Qingming festival.

* * *

时节: season, time 雨: rain, to rain 纷纷: continuously, in profusion, one after another, in succession, one by one, diverse, one after another, numerous and confused

路上: on the road, on a journey, road surface 行人: traveler on foot, passengers, passer-by, pedestrian 欲: desire, appetite, passion, lust, greed, to wish for, to desire 断: to break, to snap, to cut off, to give up or abstain from something 魂: soul, spirit, immortal soul, i.e. that can be detached from the body. 断魂: overpowered by grief, to be entranced

借问: Please tell me..., ask 酒家: tavern, wineshop, wine-house 何处: where, whence 有: to exist, to have, there is, there are, to be

牧童: cowherd boy, shepherd boy 遥: distant, remote, far, far away 指: to point at or to, finger 杏花: apricot blossoms 村: village

View the following images related to the poem:

1. Apricot blossoms 杏花: View thru Google or Yahoo.

2. Apricot Blossom Village at Chizhou 池州杏花村: Baidu View thru Google, or Yahoo.

3. Chinese calligraphy 清明时节雨纷纷书法: view thru Google or Baidu.

Tang poet Du Mu 杜牧清明清明时节雨纷纷路上行人欲断魂借问酒家何处有牧童遥指杏花村
translated at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

#48 Mooring on the Qinhuai River 泊秦淮

Traditional Chinese

泊秦淮杜牧

煙籠寒水月籠沙，
夜泊秦淮近酒家。
商女不知亡國恨，
隔江猶唱後庭花。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

泊秦淮杜牧
Pō qín huái dù mù

烟笼寒水月笼沙，
Yān lóng hán shuǐ yuè lóng shā,

夜泊秦淮近酒家。
yè pō qín huái jìn jiǔ jiā.

商女不知亡国恨，
Shāng nǚ bù zhī wáng guó hèn,

隔江犹唱后庭花。
gé jiāng yóu chàng hòu tíng huā.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Mooring on the Qinhuai River Du Mu

Mist shrouds the icy water;
Moonlight shrouds the sand,
On Chinhuai I anchor at night,
A wine-house close at hand.
Courtesans oblivious to a defeated country's sorrow,
Across the river,
Still sing "Courtyard Flowers".

* * *

The Qinhuai River 秦淮河 was a major river running through Jinling 金陵, present-day Nanjing 南京, which has served as the capital of six dynasties since the 3rd century A.D. The Qinhuai River, a branch of the mighty Yangtze River, nursed a rich civilization in its reaches.

During the Tang Dynasty, a multitude of restaurants, taverns, wine-houses, brothels, and other entertainment venues stood along the banks of the Qinhuai in Jinling.

In the wine-houses, female performers entertained their clients by dancing, singing, and composing poems (yes, some did, and did it well. The famous courtesan Yu Xuanji 鱼玄机 was one of them) Some, of course, also offered more titillating services. It was a congenial place for the men of the era to visit and attracted the literati, including poets and writers, who would gather together for a good time.

Needless to say, the wine-house was a place that Du Mu frequented. This poem was inspired by one of the wine-houses along the Qinhuai River facing the palace of the previously fallen Chen 陈 Dynasty (557 - 589; overthrown by the Sui 隋 Dynasty)

The song "Courtyard Flower" 后庭花, also known as "Jade Tree Courtyard Flower" 玉树后庭花, was a popular melody before the fall of the Chen. It was composed by the dissolute Emperor Chen Houzhu 陈后主 (on the throne from age 29 to 36) for his favorite consort, Zhang Lihua 张丽华.

In 589, Sui Emperor Yang Jian carried out a campaign against the Chen Dynasty. Prince Yang Guang 杨广 was one of the three generals of the campaign. Before Sui soldiers broke into the Palace in Nanjing, Emperor Chen Houzhu was still indulging in a small gathering with his consorts, who were playing this song. In their hurry to escape, Emperor Chen and his two consorts, Zhang Lihua and Kong Guibin, squeezed into a dry well in the court yard. It was said that after being discovered, Prince Yang Guang 杨广 wanted to spare Zhang Lihua for her enchanting beauty, but General Gao Jiong 高熲 - the military chief commander responsible for the campaign under Emperor Yang Jian's order - blamed the concubine for the Chen's degenerate collapse, and insisted on her beheading. Zhang Lihua was thus executed at age thirty.

The well was later named the "Disgraced Well" or "Rouge Well", the latter implying that the rouge from the two consorts rubbed off and contaminated the well as they attempted to squeeze in and out of their hiding place. Thereafter, the Courtyard Flower was considered a song of national subjugation.

In 604 Prince Yang Guang 杨广 bypassed Crown Prince Yang Young 杨勇 to succeed his father Yang Jian 杨坚 to the throne. Three years later, for reasons other than the execution of Zhang, he beheaded General Gao Jiong. Yang Guang was on the throne for 14 years, from age 35 to 49. His expansionist policies imposed heavy corvee labor duties and taxes on the people, which caused a massive civilian rebellion; as a consequence, the Sui general, Li Yuan 李渊, took the opportunity to end the 37 years of Sui rule and establish the Tang.

Through his poem, Du Mu chides the girl entertainers at the wineshop for not being able to sense the shame and pain of the nation's decline under the Tang, but who still blithely and cheerfully yet sing the song of national disgrace and subjugation. Less than 70 years after Du Mu wrote this poem, the decadent Tang empire collapsed.

* * *

泊: to anchor, anchorage, mooring (of a ship, boat)
烟: mist, smoke, soot, opium, tobacco, cigarettes 笼: encompass, include, cage, cage-like basket 寒: cold, wintry, chilly 水: water, liquid, lotion, juice 月: moon, month 沙: sand， gravel, pebbles

夜: night, dark, in night, by night 泊: to anchor, anchorage, mooring (of a ship, boat) 近: close, near, approach, intimate 酒家: wine-house (in China, the setting of a wine-house was like a cross between a dinner-theater and a bar, providing fine cuisine, wine, liquor, and female entertainers. Some, of course, also offered more titillating services. )

商: commerce, business, trade 女: girl, woman, daughter, feminine 商女: courtesans, showgirl 不: no, not, un-, negative prefix 知: know, perceive, comprehend 亡: destroyed, perish, lose, death 国: nation, country, nation-state 亡国: conquered country, subjugated nation, fail of a nation, national doom 恨: hatred, dislike, resent, hate

隔: at a distance from, to stand or lie between, after or at an interval of, separate, partition 江: large river 犹: still, yet, even, like, similar to, just like, as 唱: sing, chant, ditty, song

View the following images related to the poem:

1. The entertainment district along the Qinghui River as of today: View thru Google, Yahoo or Bing.

2. View the cuisine of this area thru Google or Baidu.

3. Chinese calligraphy 泊秦淮书法: View thru Google or Yahoo.

Tang poet Du Mu 杜牧泊秦淮煙籠寒水月籠沙，夜泊秦淮近酒家。商女不知亡国恨
隔江犹唱后庭花 translated at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

Li Shangyin 李商隐

Li Shangyin (813 - 858; lived in the Late Tang period) was born in Xingyang 荥阳, present-day Zhenzhou, Henan Province 郑州，河南省 into a poor but noble family. His ancestors can be traced back to a common lineage with the first Tang emperor (thus, they were distant cousins). Around the age of 10, his father, a county commander, passed away, so he had a tough early life and had to start working at age sixteen to support his family. Twenty-two of his poems are included in the anthology "Three Hundred Tang Poem."

In 837 at age 24, he passed the imperial examination and obtained a jinshi degree title. Yet Li had a rough going in the imperial civil service, and he never obtained a high position during his career. One major factor was his marriage - his wife's family was strongly associated with the Li-party, while his background was tied to the Niu-party. He was thus caught in the cross-hairs of the Niu-Li Factional Struggles 牛李党争.

His image rich poems were much admired and "rediscovered" in the 20th century. Li's works are sensuous, full of metaphors and allusions. The latter quality makes translation extremely difficult. "Jin Se" "錦瑟" is his most famous poem that weaves a string of allusive imagery. However, he wrote in many different styles - satirical, sentimental, and even humorous.

Some 594 of his works have survived and been passed down. Critics often rate him number four in importance, next only to Li Bai, Du Fu and Wang Wei. Some, in fact, think he ranks first out of all of them.

#49 Jinse 锦瑟

Traditional Chinese

錦瑟李商隱

錦瑟無端五十弦，
一弦一柱思華年。
莊生曉夢迷蝴蝶，
望帝春心托杜鵑。
滄海月明珠有淚，
藍田日暖玉生煙。
此情可待成追憶，
只是當時已惘然。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

锦瑟李商隐
Jǐn sè li shāng yǐn

锦瑟无端五十弦，
Jǐn sè wú duān wǔ shí xián,

一弦一柱思华年。
Yī xián yī zhù sī huá nián.

庄生晓梦迷蝴蝶，
Zhuāng shēng xiǎo mèng mí hú dié,

望帝春心托杜鹃。
Wàng dì chūn xīn tuō dù juān.

沧海月明珠有泪，
Cāng hǎi yuè míng zhū yǒu lèi,

蓝田日暖玉生烟。
Lán tián rì nuǎn yù shēng yān.

此情可待成追忆，
Cǐ qíng kě dài chéng zhuī yì,

只是当时已惘然。
Zhǐshì dāngshí yǐ wǎngrán.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Jinse Li Shangyin

A Jinse for no reason with 50 strings,
The pluck of each chord,
A glory year memory brings.
Master Zhuangzi awoke,
Puzzled by a butterfly.
Emperor Wàng's passionate heart
Reposed to the cuckoo's cry.
Azure is the sea,
Bright is the moon,
Teardrops turn to pearls;
The sun warms the Blue Fields,
The jade emits smoke curls.
Such feelings could be in memories fused,
Have come and gone before I sensed them.

* * *

"Jin se" is a masterpiece by Li Shangyi. The title is taken from the first two characters of the poem, since the poem is one of Li's many "untitled" poems. It has attracted the attention of a great many poetry critics and commentators through the ages due to its fantastical and ambiguous imagery.

The poem can appear bewildering at first glance, as it uses layers of flashbacks to refer to metaphysical and fanciful images drawn from other historical works, thus obscuring the poem's mood and meaning with veiled implications. Due to its richness in connotations and metaphors, the subjective reader may arrive at various differing artistic conceptions and interpretations.

The poet employs a list of figurative classic verses to capture the melancholic nature of his fate. The verses and descriptions are allegorical of events in his real life, representing memories of the glory days of his youth, the grieving over his beloved, deceased wife (they were together for 13 years when she died while he was 38; he never remarried), and the lamenting over his bleak and desolate condition in later years. The poetry evokes a deep sadness, a trance-like vagueness of mood, all without direct reference to such. It is a spectacular symphony of sentimentality; hence some poetry critics praise him as the best of them all.

While the poem seems to reflect the thoughts of someone post-middle-age, the poet actually only lived 45 years - consistent with the often seen pattern of artistic genius and tragic, premature death.

* * *

锦: brocade, tapestry, embroidered 瑟: a Chinese music instrument with 5 to 50 strings built on it. 锦瑟: also called Zither or Guzheng 古箏 [gǔ zhēng], a Chinese music instrument. 无端: for no reason 五十: 50 弦: string

一弦: one string 柱: peg, cylinder, pillar, post, support 思: think, ponder, consider 华: beautiful, brilliant, flowery 年: year, person's age

庄生: Zhuang Sheng, also known as Zhuang Zhou 庄周, or more commonly as Zhuangzi 庄子 (or Master Zhuang), was an influential Chinese philosopher, thinker, and writer who lived around the 4th century B.C. during the apex of Chinese philosophical development and the Chinese Warring States Period. He was a follower of Laozi/Lao-Tze 老子 and a representative figure of the Taoist/Daoist school 道学. He is credited with writing the "Zhuangzi."

望: watch, view, hope, expect 帝 : emperor, supreme ruler, god 望帝: Emperor Wàng 春: spring 心: heart, mind, intelligence; soul 春心: romantic thoughts; the mood triggered by "spring fever" 托: rely on, to support; to hold up with the palm 杜鹃: cuckoo, also called buguniao 布谷鸟 [bùgǔ niǎo], literally "sow the seeds bird" for its twittering sounds that resemble "sow the seeds" in Chinese, a bird of the family cuculidae, azaleas 沧: blue, dark green, cold 海: sea, ocean, maritime 月: moon, month 明: bright, light, brilliant, clear 珠: pearl, precious stone, gem, jewel 有: has, have, own, process 泪: tear, weep, cry

蓝: blue, indigo 田: field, arable land, cultivate 日: sun, day, daytime 暖:warm, genial 玉: jade, precious stone, gem 生: grow, produce, life, living, lifetime, birth 烟: mist, smoke, soot, opium, tobacco, cigarettes

The quotes from various classics referred to in the poem:

"Zhuangzi awoke, puzzled by a butterfly. " "庄生晓梦迷蝴蝶":
This verse is a reference to the famous passage in the second chapter of the Zhuangzi "On Arranging Things" 《莊子·齊物論》. The passage, which is well known in the West, is as follows: "In the past, Zhuangzi dreamed he was a butterfly, flitting about, conscious only of his being a butterfly, with no knowledge of Zhuangzi. Suddenly the butterfly awoke, quickly regaining consciousness as Zhuangzi. Zhuangzi did not know if he dreamed he was a butterfly, or if the butterfly was dreaming that it was Zhuangzi." "昔者庄周梦为蝴蝶 ,栩栩然蝴蝶也。自喻适志与,不知周也。俄而觉,遽遽然周也。不知周之梦为蝴蝶与，蝴蝶之梦为周与？"

"Emperor Wàng's passionate heart entrusted to the cuckoo's cry." "望帝春心托杜鹃":
This verse appears to refer to a story retold in several classic works: The Chronicles of Huayang, Chapter 3 《华阳国志》卷三, The Zhaoming Wenxuan, Chapter 4 《昭明文选》卷四, and the Record of the Thirteen States, Jin Han Yin 晋·阚骃《十三州志》. There are several versions of the story - here is one of them:
According to legend, Emperor Wàng abdicated the throne in favor of his capable son and lived like a hermit in the mountains. But he was still concerned about his people. After he died, he was re-incarnated into a cuckoo bird (bugu bird/sow the seeds bird). When spring came, the cuckoo would continually twitter about to the point of bleeding, in order to remind his people to start sowing and planting. This suggests a deep caring or longing that does not stop even after death. 「蜀王杜宇，號望帝，后因禪位，隐归山林. 自亡去，化為子規(杜鵑)。....夜啼达旦，血渍草木。故蜀人闻鸣曰：『我望帝也。』」

"Azure is the sea, bright is the moon, from pearls come tears." "沧海月明珠有泪":
This verse seems inspired by a description in a fantastical journal "Bo Wu Ji" 《博物记》 written by Chang Hua 张华 during the Jin 晋 Dynasty. In the journal, he recorded that "beyond the Southern Sea there existed a Jiao people who lived in the ocean like fish, but wove fabrics unceasingly, and instead of tears of water, they cried pearls." "南海外有鲛人，水居如鱼，不废绩织，其眼泣则能出珠。" The verse is also suggestive of the Chinese idiom "a pearl being left in the sea" "滄海遗珠". In other words, "undiscovered talent". The whole verse, thus, could imply the undiscovered talent of the poet himself.

"The sun warms the Blue Fields, the jade mist unfurls." "蓝田日暖玉生烟": The verse is based on volume 18 of the Kunxuejiwen (Kùn xué jì wén) by the scholar, Wang Yinglin (1223 - 1296), of the Song Dynasty 《困学纪闻》卷十八, 宋, 王应麟. In it, he analyzed a certain poet's couplet "the sun warms the Blue Fields, the jade mist unfurls", as a description of something that can only be seen from a distance and disappears when approached, 谓诗家之景，如 "蓝田日暖，良玉生烟" ，可望而不可置于眉睫之前也。The "Blue Field Mountain", located in Lantian 蓝田 County, Shanxi 陕西 Province, is famous for being studded with jade. Supposedly, the jade emits a smoky mist from the ground when warmed by the sun. But one can only look at the mist from afar; there is no way to approach it. The verse suggests that sweet and tender memories are like a foggy mist, drifting and floating, and then always clearing within a few feet in front of anyone trying to approach it - something that one can never quite get a firm grasp of.

View the following images related to the poem:

1. Jin se/jinse/zither/guzheng (a Chinese music instrument) 锦瑟/古筝: View thru Google or Yahoo.

2. Music played through Jinse and other Chinese music instruments:
"A Lady's Tender Love" played through jinse alone,
"Moonlighted Flowery Spring River" played through jinse and other instruments, or
"Two Springs Reflect the Moon" played through jinse and other instruments.

3. Chinese calligraphy 锦瑟无端五十弦书法: view thru Google or Yahoo.

Tang poet Li Shangyin 李商隐锦瑟錦瑟無端五十弦，一弦一柱思華年。
莊生曉夢迷蝴蝶，望帝春心托杜鵑。沧海月明珠有泪蓝田日暖玉生烟此情可待成追忆只是当时已惘然 at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese
Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

#50 Ascending the Field of Le'you Yuan 登乐游原

Traditional Chinese

登樂遊原李商隱

向晚意不適，驅車登古原。
夕陽無限好，只是近黃昏。

Simplified Chinese with pinyin

登乐游原李商隐
Dēng lè yóu yuán li shāng yǐn

向晚意不适，驱车登古原。
xiàng wǎn yì bù shì, qū chē dēng gǔ yuán.

夕阳无限好，只是近黄昏。
xī yáng wú xiàn hǎo, zhǐ shì jìn huáng hūn.

Recitation 1 Recitation 2

Ascending the Field of Le'you Yuan Li Shangyin

An unsettled mood enshrouds me as evening falls,
While my carriage ascends the plateau height.
Though boundlessly breathtaking is the setting sun,
It is but a herald of the coming twilight.

* * *

Le'you Yuan was an "amusement park" (the literal translation of "Le'you Yuan") located on a raised, scenic plain somewhere to the southeast of Chang'an/Xi'an 长安/西安. It was built by Emperor Han Xuan Di 汉宣帝 in the Western Han 西汉 dynasty around the first century A.D., initially as the grounds for a grand temple. It was the highest point of the capital at the time, so it could provide broad, beautiful views from different angles during the different seasons. The place attracted Li Bai, Du Fu, Du Mu and others to it at various times, with each leaving a beautiful and moving poem. Li Shangyin wrote this poem in the Late Tang period. The exact location of the park has long been lost to history.

The last two verses "Though boundlessly breathtaking is the setting sun, it is but a herald of the coming twilight " 夕阳无限好，只是近黄昏 might imply the poet's tumultuous life finally coming into a moment of peaceful, brilliant happiness, as all cares fall aside while one prepares for and awaits the final departure from this earth. Such a glorious sensation, but yet so short-lived and signifying the end. These two verses have long become Chinese classics.

* * *

登: mount, climb, rise, board
乐: happy, glad, enjoyable, music

Two ways to pronounce 乐:
(1). lè - happy 快乐 [kuài lè]
(2). yuè - music 音乐 [yīn yuè]

游: wander, roam, swim, float, drift 原: plain, source, origin, beginning

向: toward, direction, trend 晚: evening, night, late 不: no, not, un-, negative prefix 适: suitable, comfortable, appropriate, go, reach 意: feeling, thought, idea, opinion, think

驱: spur a horse on, expel, drive away 车: cart, vehicle, carry in cart 登: mount, climb, rise, board 古: ancient, old, classic 古原: An ancient plain. In the poem, it means the Leyou Yuan - amusement park.

夕阳: the setting sun 无限: unlimited, boundless 好: good, excellent, fine, well

只: only, just, simply 是: to be, indeed, yes, right 近: near, close; approach, intimate 黄昏: dusk

View the following images related to the poem:

Chinese calligraphy 李商隐登乐游原书法: view thru Goggle or view thru Yahoo.

Tang poet Li Shangyin 李商隐登乐游原向晚意不适驱车登古原夕阳无限好只是近黄昏 translated
at mariesun.com, ebook - The Beauty of Tang Poems and Chinese Calligraphy 唐诗与中国篆字书法之美

2. The End of the Tang 唐之殒落

After the An Lushan Rebellion, the violent confrontations among the Military-Governors and the invasions along the border areas continued. As time went on, in addition to the machinations of the eunuch groups, the nearly 40 year long Niu-Li factional strife dragged the state even deeper into the mire. Then a series of severe droughts and floods hit the country which caused a dreadful famine. With the state continuing yet to levy heavy taxes and demand corvee labor services, civilian revolts broke out everywhere. In 875, Huang Chao 黄巢 emerged as the unifying leader of those revolts, so they became to be known as the Huang Chao Rebellion 黄巢之乱 (875 - 884).

After years of rampage, Zhu Wen 朱温, a powerful military figure within the Huang Chao rebel army, led his troops to surrender to the Tang and eventually helped to put down the rebellion, which had occupied Chang'an twice and ravaged the country for nearly 10 years, including the prosperous Jiangnan region, severely damaging the country's economic system. In 903, Zhu Wen, who had already risen to be a powerful Military-Governor by then, answered a call to rescue Emperor Li Ye 李晔 from the hands of a eunuch faction. He took the opportunity to march into Chang'an and eliminate all the opponents, killing thousands of eunuchs and taking Emperor Li Ye under his control. The next year, he forced the Emperor and all high officials to move to Luoyang, soon ordering the complete destruction and abandonment of Chang'an. In the chaos and violence that followed, there were waves of emigration from the former capital. Three years later, Zhu Wen usurped the throne from the new emperor - 12 year old Li Zhu 李柷 - ending the Tang in 907. The whole country was soon divided into 16 states and fell into a lengthy era of war.

* * *

View Tang territory, which varied in size and extent during the course of the dynasty.

1. The territory under founder Emperor Li Yuan's reign around 627:

2. The territory at its peak under the third Tang Emperor Li Zhi (Wu Zetian's second emperor husband) around 660 - the Early Tang period:

3. The territory during Wu Zetian (690 - 705) and Tang Ming Huang's reign (712 - 756) - the High Tang period:

4. The territory during the time of the Niu–Li factional strife (808 - 846) - the Late Tang period:

5. After the fall of the Tang, the whole country was divided into 16 warring states:

(Source of the above maps: zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:%E5%94%90%E7%96%86%E5%8F%98%E8%BF%81.gif author: 玖巧仔).

Over the following 1,100 some years, as new dynasties rose and fell, none of them ever again considered choosing and rebuilding Chang'an as their capital, a city which had served as such for 11 dynasties for a total length of 1,200 years in China's history. With the passage of time, the once splendid palaces were abandoned and destroyed and left to be swallowed up by earth and wilderness.

In ancient China, palaces or grand buildings were mostly constructed of wood - marble and granite being rare - so the structures were susceptible to being burned down, with the foundations being lost to nature over time.

Chang'an 长安, which literally means "long peace", was once the most populated and prosperous cosmopolitan capital in the world. Yet it seemed to vanish in the twinkle of an eye, its magnificent and dazzling palaces lost forever. But luckily, Tang poetry, which reflected the zeitgeist and historical events of the time, preserved the essence of that unique era, and has been continually appreciated and recited for over 1,000 years and will, indeed, continue to be cherished for generations to come.

After 1,000 years, the palaces had been thoroughly lost. That is, until the 1950's, when a group of archeologists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Institute of Archaeology discovered and excavated a few ruins, leading to then another series of discoveries that fully jump-started the recovery of ancient Chang'an.

In 1957, the ruins of the largest palace of the Tang era - Daming Palace 大明宫 - were discovered and a series of reconstructions ensued in the following decades. View Daming Palace partially rebuilt thru China Daily or details on Wikipedia. View more reconstructed historic Tang palaces and structures thru Baidu or Google.

3. Empress Wu Zetian 武则天 - Promoter of Tang Poetry

Wu Zetian 武则天, the only female emperor in Chinese history and grandmother of Tang Ming Huang, was another Tang poetry promoter, second only to her grandson, Tang Ming Huang.

During her reign (690 - 705), She opened the door for more commoners to take the imperial exam which was a stepping stone for entry into the civil service. Poetry was included on the jingshi degree title exam (this was initialized by the second Tang Emperor, Li Shimin, to whom Wu Zetian served as one of his many consorts) which incentivized people to appreciate the value of poems. While on throne, she often held poem appreciation contest parties to entertain her officials. By the time Tang Ming Huang landed on throne in 712, chanting and composing poems had already come into fashion in Tang society, for which Wu Zetian is to be credited. Li Bai's poem "Presentation to Wang Lun" "赠汪伦" describes this popular trend of chanting poems.

* * *

Wu Zetian was born into a well-to-do family in Chang'an. Her father, Wu Shiyue 武士彠, was a successful businessman in the lumber business and her mother, Yangshi 杨氏, was a royal family member from the previous Sui Dynasty of * Xianbei 鲜卑 ethnic lineage. Wu Shiyue, with sharp insight, financially aided Li Yuan 李淵, a general of the Sui 隋 dynasty, who then overthrew Sui in 618 and became the first emperor of the Tang. Consequently, Wu Shiyue was rewarded with a succession of senior ministerial posts, including governor of Yangzhou 扬州 (the most prosperous city at the time in the Jiangnan region) and other cities.

In 626, Li Yuan abdicated the throne in favor of his second son - Li Shimin 李世民. Eleven years later, Li Shimin, at age 39, called in Wu Zetian, then 13 years of age, attractive and bright, to be one of his consorts and conferred upon her the title of Cairen 才人, which was rank five in the consort system, with rank one being the highest and eight (or nine at various times) the lowest. To be inducted as a consort of the powerful Tang emperor was a point of great pride to any family, let alone being inducted immediately at rank five. Even so, it might not yet have been a young girl's dear mother's wish. Her mother, Yangshi, worried deeply on the day of her little daughter's departure for the imperial court - a strictly guarded "forbidden palace." Zetian comforted her mother attentively, said goodbye to her siblings (two elder half-brothers and an elder sister; her father had died two years earlier), and with a positive attitude she stepped into her uncertain future still, essentially, a child. During the Tang, by law (Tang Code/Tang Lu 唐律 - Wikipedia) males and females were allowed to get married at age 15 and 13 respectively. The main reason was that the average human life expectancy was short in ancient times. It was also thought to guarantee a more secure and stable old age, if one "started early."

When Wu Zetian was a little girl, she was home schooled by her long-since sinicized mother. Home schooling for girls in noble and literati families had always been common in China, and not just a trend in the Sui and Tang dynasties. And the task was usually handled by the mother. After she entered into the imperial back court (royal court harem), Zetian read extensively, due to the interest in books fostered by her mother.

Not much was recorded of her time as consort to Emperor Li Shimin - one of the more capable emperors of the Tang Dynasty. Twelve years after she entered the palace, Emperor Li Shimin died at age 51. According to court rules, consorts who had not produced any children were to be permanently confined to a royal convent after an emperor's death. Wu, who was 25 and had borne no child, was consigned to Ganye Temple 感業寺 - a Taoist convent run by the royal family in Chang'an, with the expectation that she would spend the rest of her life there living as a Taoist nun.

While attending the first year anniversary ceremony at the convent marking the passing of the former emperor, the new 22 year old Emperor Li Zhi 李治 (the 9th son of Li Shimin) met Wu again at the temple. Observing that there was affection between the two, Empress Wang suggested her husband bring Wu back to court to be his consort. The empress hoped that Wu would replace consort Xiao Shufei 萧淑妃, Wang's rival.

After remaining in the convent for two years and completing the ritual services for the deceased Emperor Li Shiming, she returned to the the imperial court, already pregnant with the new emperor's child. After arriving at the palace, she began to pursue with a single-minded determination, the grabbing and amassing of power and the taking of control of her own destiny by her own hands.

Wu - attractive, wise, and exceptionally gifted - soon became the apple of the emperor's eye and his favorite among all the consorts. As for the two love rivals - Empress Wang and Consort Xiao - both fell out of favor and were later stripped of their titles. Wu also collaborated with Emperor Li Zhi to eliminate all of empress Wang's clan - the aristocratic Guanlong Group 关陇集团 - which had held a great deal of military and political power for decades and had always been thorn in the side of the emperor. Four years later, in 655, Emperor Li Zhi conferred upon Wu the title of Empress.

With a precise political vision and the trust of Emperor Li Zhi, Wu started to insert herself into Li Zhi's political matters. Due to chronic headaches and severe loss of vision as her husband aged, Wu Zetian gradually ended up grabbing all power from behind the scenes. In 683, Emperor Li Zhi died at age 55, and passed the throne to their third son Li Xian 李显. Less than two months later, Li Xian was deposed by his biological mother, Wu Zetian, and replaced by Wu's fourth and youngest (and submissive) son, Li Dan 李旦. Emperor Li Zhi had only eight sons, four of whom were born to Wu Zetian (one of the major reasons was that Li Zhi had a much smaller harem compared to his predecessors or descendants; most of the time he was down to only four consorts).

In the ensuing power struggle, the merciless means by which Wu executed her strategy were no less than any of the ambitious male emperors in China's history. In 690, at age 66, she successfully removed all obstacles in her path and usurped the Tang and her own puppet emperor son, changing the state name to Zhou 周 (Chinese historians called it "Wu Zhou" to distinguish it from the early Zhou that existed from 1046 B.C. to 256 B.C.) and moving the capital from Chang'an to Luoyang 洛阳, becoming the first and only female emperor in Chinese history. She ruled for 15 years (if adding the previous six years of Li Dan's reign, it was a total of 21 years in full power, not even counting the years working alongside her emperor husband, Li Zhi)

During her reign, she flung the doors of the imperial examination system wide open to previously disqualified social classes and leveled the playing field for entering the imperial civil service. Wu also initiated a policy of attending the jinshi degree title imperial exam in person and interviewing the jingshi degree title-holders after the exam, personally in court. At the same time she increased the head count of jinshi degree title holder positions and hired and promoted capable jingshis and scholars to high positions regardless of birth background. These policies motivated commoners to pursue education in almost all levels of society and helped to reduce the power of the aristocracy. She thus gained the allegiance of her countrymen and consolidated her power.

On the military side, she founded the military imperial examination, known as the Wuju 武举, to identify capable military officials through a list of military skills tests ( "The Art of War" 孙子兵法 became one of the required test subjects in the later Song 宋 Dynasty). About two decades later Guo Ziyi 郭子仪 emerged from the Wuju system and later became the famous Tang general.

Wu has also been credited with spurring improvements in other fields such as agriculture, irrigation, transportation, taxes, etc.

During her rule, including during the latter portion of her husband's reign, she dedicated herself to improving the position of women by issuing decrees to protect women's rights, such as a woman's right to marry, re-marry, divorce, contest a divorce, etc. She even modified the right of inheritance to some degree to provide more protection for women. During her reign, women enjoyed a higher social status than at any other point in pre-modern Chinese history. Wu Zetian could be considered the first women's movement activist.

Cultural background and integration played an important role in this issue. In contrast to the Han females being bound by rigid Confucian ethics and restrictions, Wu Zetian, with her *Xianbei background, was more aggressive, bold, and creative. These qualities greatly helped Wu break out from under a male dominated world to emerge as the first (and extremely powerful) female emperor in Chinese history.

That is, until 705, when she was forced to abdicate the throne back to her third son Li Xian, ending the Zhou Dynasty. Wu died 10 months later at age 81. Five years later, Li Longji launched a bloody imperial military coup, overthrowing his uncle Emperor Li Xian, and grabbed the throne back for Li Dan - Li Longji's father. Two years later, Emperor Li Dan abdicated in favor of Li Longji, who then become Emperor Tang Ming Huang at age 28 - an emerging new star in the Tang political constellation.

Wu Zetian was very much interested in poems. A total of forty-six of her poems were collected in the anthology of the Quan Tangshi/Complete Tang Poems 全唐诗 (Wikipedia).

*Note: Xianbei ethnicity -

In the early fourth century, China was divided into many kingdoms, several of whom were founded by five ethnic (modern day) minority groups. The Han considered them "barbarians" or "Hu" so the era was referred to as the "Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms" 五胡十六国, which lasted from 304 to 439. The five major minorities were the Xiongnu/Huns 匈奴, the Jie 羯, the Xianbei 鲜卑, the Qiang 羌 and the Di 氐, who were collectively called the Five Hu 五胡. This warring period triggered various ethnic and cultural conflicts, while at the same time also facilitated moments of integration and synthesis. Some Hu rulers with foresight started to hire people of Han ethnic background and education, as well as adopt Han policies and customs. These rulers ended up conquering their neighboring nomadic Hu rivals in an effective and convincing manner. Gradually, most of the Hu rulers started to promote Han sinicization.

By the beginning of the Tang dynasty, ethnic and cultural integration had already been going on for 200 years, and the trend continued unabated. During the Tang and preceding Sui dynasties, mixed-marriages became popular and prevailed especially in the the Tang royal family. For example, the first Sui emperor, Yang Jian 楊堅 - a Han descendant - married Empress Dugu Gialuo 独孤伽罗皇后, from a sinicized Xianbei royal family. The first Tang emperor, Li Yuan 李渊, had both a mother and a wife from sinicized Xianbei royal families. His successor, Li Shiming 李世民, married Empress Changsun 長孙皇后 also from a sinicized Xianbei royal family. And there were many more such cases of mixed-marriages among the aristocracy and even among commoners.

After integrating into the political jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty, the Xianbei 鲜卑 still adhered to many aspects of their traditional lifestyle and kept most of their traditional customs relating to women, many of which were in contra position to Han norms, such as females dressing in low cut garments, discussing politics with males openly, and enjoying more freedom with respect to social activities. The Xianbei were also more lenient toward divorced or remarried women. Due to their recent ancestors being nomads, they were less constrained in their gender relationships. That could help go to explain how the "immoral" affair between Emperor Li Zhi and Wu Zetian or later the affair between Tang Ming Huang and Yang Guifei could have happened and have been openly accepted - the Xianbei's "hot blood and lax customs" triumphing over conservative "moral" Han tradition!

4. A Summary of Attempts at Anthologizing Tang Poetry

Being the golden age of poetry in Chinese history, there were several attempts at compiling collections about the poems of the Tang era, though no single anthology was found satisfactory to the general public. In 1705, Emperor Kangxi 康熙皇帝 of the Qing (Manchu) Dynasty 清朝 issued an edict to compile all Tang poems into a "Quan Tangshi" 全唐诗. In the end, it amassed about 49,000 Tang poems by more than 2,200 poets, although some were still missing and a few were mis-collections.

Around 1763 during the Qing Dynasty, the scholar, Sun Zhu 孙洙 (1722 - 1778), selected 317 poems by 77 poets from out of the Quan Tangshi to compile the so called "Three Hundred Tang Poems" 唐诗三百首 (in actuality, anywhere between 300 to 317 poems can be included in published versions, based upon differing interpretations of Sun's editing choices). It has since become the most popular compilation or anthology of Tang poems in China and can be found in a great many Chinese households. Sun selected the poems based on their popularity and educational value. They have been used for examination purposes and even today are included in textbooks for elementary schools, high schools, and universities throughout the the Chinese speaking world.

The 77 poets of the "Three Hundred Tang Poems" span all walks of life, from commoner to emperor. They include: Du Qiouniang 杜秋娘 - a female (the only female, in fact); Jia Dao 贾岛 - a one time monk from a very poor family; Wang Wei 王维 and Du Mu 杜牧 - descendants of prestigious, noble families; Zhang Jiouling 张九龄 - a prominent prime minister; Tang Ming Huang 唐明皇 - the only emperor with one poem in the collection; two anonymous poets; and of course, Li Bai 李白 and Du Fu 杜甫- the most famous romantic poet and eminent epic poet, respectively.

The Forms of Tang Poems

There are seven forms of Tang poetry based on the number of verses, characters, and restrictions:
Five-character-ancient-verse 五言古诗, no limits on verses.

Five-character-regular-verse 五言律诗, limited to 8 verses.

Five-character-jueju 五言绝句, limited to 4 verses.

Seven-character-ancient-verse 七言古诗, no limits on verses.

Seven-character-regular-verse 七言律诗, limited to 8 verses.

Seven-character-jueju 七言绝句, limited to 4 verses.

Folk-song-style-verse also called Yuefu 乐府, no limits on characters or verses.

* * *

Yuefu, Five-character-ancient-verse and Seven-character-ancient-verse are also called Gutishi 古体诗 or Gushi 古诗. They are characterized as being more relaxed with respect to rhyme and have no restrictions on tonal patterns 平仄 or parallelism 对偶. Yuefu are usually written to be set to folk songs or popular music.

The regular verse and jueju are called Jintishi 今体诗/近体诗. They are more restrictive in terms of parallelism, tonal patterns, and rhyme - especially with respect to regular verses; therefore, they sound more musical and euphonious than Gutishi (as the Cantonese dialect is closer to ancient and middle Chinese than Mandarin, poems read in the former better preserve the rhyme and tone patterns than the latter; thus in Mandarin, on occasion one will encounter such phenomena as "God is great God is good, let us thank him for our food"). Yet they are hard to compose and very time consuming in terms of identifying and selecting the right words that will comply with the strict rules and framework set down 1300 years ago; consequently, modern Chinese poetry, as with most of modern poetry, generally eschews the rigid forms of the past, be it five-character-jueju or iambic pentameter. (reference - Tang Poem Regulations, Tonal Patterns, Rhymes etc.)

* * *

Due to the fact that they do not provide any actual practical benefit for improving society or the state, poetry was removed as a requirement from the imperial examination in the Song (Sung) 宋 Dynasty. Yet the poetic yuefu and rhythmic tonal patterns of the Tang soon evolved into the so called Song Ci 宋词, or Song lyric poetry, another Chinese gift to the literary world.

5. A Summary of Chinese Characters and Styles

Most Chinese characters evolved from pictographic shapes that were carved on tortoise shells or animal bones. Between 1928 and 1937 official archaeological excavations uncovered 20,000 pieces of such "oracle bone writings" 甲骨文 in Anyang, Henan Province 安阳, 河南省, the last capital of the Shang 商 Dynasty (1,300 B.C. to 1,046 B.C.). They were not only pictographic symbols but logographic and phonetic symbols as well. ( View oracle bone writings thru Google or Baidu)

Later the symbols developed into different shapes in different kingdoms and states. In 220 B.C., Qin Shi Huang 秦始皇 unified all the states into one country - Qin 秦 (wherefrom comes the name "China"), and subsequently ordered the standardization of the writing scripts by consolidating and simplifying all the different forms of zhuanshu characters and styles into "small seal script" or xiaozhuan 小篆 ( View thru Baidu or Google). This not only standardized the characters but also served almost as an artistically flourished "font", that was mainly used in classical books or etched into metal or stone for purposes of inscribing monuments or seals.

Qin Shi Huang also ordered the implementation of another unified writing style called "clerical script" or lishu 隶书 ( view thru Google or Baidu) which is much easier to write than xiaozhuan. Lishu was mainly used in official decrees and daily letters.

There are three other common writing styles or "fonts" that all devolved from lishu:
(1). "Regular script" or kaishu 楷书 ( view thru Google or Baidu).
(2). "Semi-cursive script" or xinshu 行书 ( View thru Google or Baidu).
(3). "Cursive script" or caoshu 草书 ( View thru Google or Baidu).

Unifying and standardizing the Chinese writing script was a pivotal contribution that Qin Shi Huang made towards the future evolution of Chinese literature and culture.

View examples of precious stone seals carved with old style characters thru Baidu, Google, Yahoo or Bing.

As of today, Chinese characters have been further simplified for the convenience of learning, writing, and printing (they can be printed smaller than traditional characters and still be recognized without smudging). This is simply another step in the evolution of the writing system towards simpler forms, though, ironically, it has led to the refracturing of the Chinese written script. This is due to the fact that both China and Japan (which utilizes Chinese characters, see below) adopted different simplification schemes. Though there is overlap, not all characters were simplified in the same manner between the two countries, with the Chinese having been much more extensive in their simplification efforts. Furthermore, neither simplified system has been adopted in Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Macau, which still teach and adhere to the original traditional or complicated characters. Regardless of which modern writing system is used, however, all societies that use Chinese script still revere and appreciate the beauty of traditional and ancient Chinese writing as a cherished art form.

* * *

Chinese characters 汊字 also greatly influenced neighboring countries, such as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Throughout most of the last millennia and more, written Chinese served the same function in East Asia as did Latin in medieval Europe. The modern Japanese writing system is directly descended from Chinese, and still utilizes some 2,000 or so Chinese characters. Though the Chinese writing system has been supplanted by a native writing system (Hangul) and the Roman alphabet in Korea and Vietnam, respectively, both utilized Chinese characters or derivatives thereof for centuries. Even today, in South Korea, Chinese characters are still taught in school, and often used in references to official entities, journals, or names. More conservative newspapers will also occasionally pepper their headlines or stories with Chinese characters. Only in Vietnam, have Chinese characters disappeared completely from view, though the "Chu Nom" writing system based on Chinese characters is preserved in historical documents.

kanji 汊字 In Japan (Wikipedia)
Hanja 汊字 in Korean (Wikipedia)
Han tu 汊字 in Vietnam (Wikipedia)

6. The Beauty of Chinese Calligraphy

Calligraphy was given great weight in the imperial exam, which helped promote the development of excellent calligraphers. Here listed are some of the most famous ones in order of year of birth. As always, not all images from the linked web sites are related to the subject title.

(1). Famous Calligraphers of the Tang Dynasty:

(a). Ouyang Xun 欧阳询 (557 - 641) View thru Google or Baidu.

(b). Chu Suiliang 褚遂良 (596 - 658) View thru Google or Baidu.

(c). Yan Zhenqing 颜真卿 (709 - 785) - who established the "Yan" style View thru Google or Baidu.

(d). Li Yangbing 李阳冰 (721 - 785) - renowned for his zhuanshu/zhuanzi 篆书/篆字 calligraphy. View thru Baidu or Google.

(e). Liu Gongquan 柳公权 (778 - 865) who established the "Liu" style View thru Google or Baidu.

(2). Famous Calligraphers in China's History:

(a). Li Si 李斯 (280 - 208 B.C.) excelled at Zhuanshu/Zhuanzi 篆书/篆字 calligraphy. View thru Baidu or Google.

(b). Wang Xizhi 王羲之 (303 - 361) who lived about 250 years before the Tang Dynasty, mastered all forms of Chinese calligraphy, especially the running script, and is considered the number one calligraphist in Chinese history. However, very few of his written scripts were passed down.

In 353 on a sunny, breezy spring day, Wang and a group of some 40 poets held a festival outing by a scenic, babbling creek near present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province 绍兴，浙江省. Wang spontaneously wrote a preface "Lanting Xu/Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion" "兰亭序 " (Wikipedia) for the special occasion. Due to his beautiful xinshu 行书 writing style, his "Lanting Xu" has become one of the most highly prized calligraphy works of all time.

Its elegant and graceful style, accompanied by powerful strokes, was considered to be a classic, masterpiece example of xinshu 行书 (semi-cursive script) which had just developed from the lishu 隶书 (clerical script) of that era.

The second Tang emperor, Li Shimin, treasured "Lanting Xu" 兰亭序 dearly. He ordered several replicas made and bestowed them upon the Crown Prince and several of his favorite officials. It was said the original became a sacrificial object after his death by his edict.

It is now considered the foremost example of xinshu 行书 Chinese calligraphy.

(source: Joanhappy3000 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48501394)
This version stored in the Forbidden Palace Museum in Beijing is considered to be the best of all subsequent copies.

(c). Su Shi 苏轼 (1037 - 1101) a famous poet, scholar, and calligrapher. The beautiful Su Causeway or Suti in Hangzhou, Xihu, Zhejiang Province 杭州，西湖，浙江省 was named such in honor of his achievements. View calligraphy thru Google or Baidu. His famous Hanshi Letter 寒食帖, was written when he was banished to Huangzhou 黄州, present-day Huanggang city, Hubei Province 黄冈市, 湖北省 due to a literary inquisition. Some consider it as the third most important example of xinshu 行书 Chinese calligraphy.

(d). Huang Tingjian 黄庭坚 (1045 - 1105) View thru Google or Baidu.

(e). Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty/Zhao Ji 宋徽宗/赵佶 (1082 - 1135) View thru Google or Baidu.

(f). Zhao Mengfu 赵孟頫 (1254 - 1322) View thru Google or Baidu.

(g). Wen Zhengming 文征明 (1470 -1559) View thru Google or Baidu.

(h). Dong Qichang 董其昌 (1555 - 1636) View thru Google or Baidu.

(3). Four Treasures of the Study 文房四宝

The Chinese brush pen, the inkstick, the inkstone, and xuan paper, are collectively called the "Four Treasures of the Study" 文房四宝. They are used in writing traditional Chinese calligraphy. View the four treasures thru Google or Baidu.

The beauty of Chinese characters is not entirely dependent on the four treasures, though. Even script from a modern pen can equally call forth the innate art embedded in Chinese characters, if wielded by a skilled hand.

(4). In memory of Mr. Luo Tie-ching and Ms. Ma Wu (United by Marriage and Love), Parents and Grandparents of the Authors.

记念罗铁青先生及马勿女士

Calligraphy by Mr. Luo Tie-ching 罗铁青先生书法:

礼运大同篇:

Chinese calligraphy 羅鐵青先生書法罗铁青先生书法禮運大同篇，大道之行也天下為公

Chinese calligraphy 羅鐵青先生書法罗铁青先生书法 - 孟子曰: 吾善养吾浩然之气。

岳飞 - 满江红:

Chinese Teiqing calligraphy 羅鐵青先生書法罗铁青先生书法岳飛，滿江紅，
怒髪衝冠，憑欄處，瀟瀟雨歇。擡望眼，仰天長嘯, 八千里路雲和月。莫等閑，白了少年頭，空悲切。

苏轼 - 念奴娇·赤壁怀古:

Chinese calligraphy 羅鐵青先生書法罗铁青先生书法蘇軾，念奴娇·赤壁怀古 - 大江東去浪淘盡千古風流人物。

海纳百川有容乃大; 壁立千仞无欲则刚.

截錄自 - 文天祥正气歌 :

Chinese calligraphy 羅罗铁青先生书法 - 天地有正氣, 雜然賦流行 - 文天祥,正氣歌
罗铁青先生书法

截錄自 - 范仲淹岳阳楼记:

Chinese calligraphy 罗铁青先生书法 - 范仲淹岳陽樓記。居堂廟之髙，則憂其民，處江湖之遠，則憂其君。先天下之憂而憂，後天下之樂而樂。

文天祥 - 正气歌:
羅鐵青先生書法罗铁青先生书法文天祥，正気歌
天地有正氣, 雜然賦流行...

Calligraphy by Ms. Ma Wu:

Chinese calligraph. 马勿女士书法 - 王勃滕王阁序 - 物華天寶人傑地靈雄州霧列俊采星馳。

Chinese calligraph. 马勿女士书法 - 智者樂水，仁者樂山。智者動，仁者靜。智者樂，仁者壽。

Chinese calligraph. 马勿女士书法 - 今日裡別故鄉，橫渡這太平陽, ...

7. A Brief Summary of -

(1). Ruism/Confucianism 儒家

Confucianism or "Ruism" is a philosophy, not a religion. It is a system of ethics established by Confucius around the 5th century B.C. The Analects 论语, which is a compilation of speeches and discussions by Confucius and his disciples, contains the core philosophy of Ruism. Confucius himself never directly wrote down any of doctrines associated with him.

Ruism has long been the core philosophy that has molded the mindset and conduct of the Chinese people. It is the basis of Chinese social standards and has been the dominant cultural and intellectual force in Chinese history. It is a set of principles not concerned with God or gods or the supernatural, but oriented towards promoting moral values and standards such as filial piety, fraternal love, justice, trustworthiness, and the like, for purposes of maintaining order and stability in the earthly realm.

Although Ruism claims to be based on humanism and benevolence, in reality, there are certain aspects of it that have been used to justify unequal treatment and subjugation of other humans (a characteristic of which it does have in common with many religions). However, it has evolved a bit, if ever slowly, through time.

Initially, it stood for the rigid, traditional pattern of hierarchical social behavior that was prevalent in Confucius' time (551–479 B.C.). It strongly emphasized the unyielding nature of social hierarchical orders and obligations - "The monarch should have a monarch's morals and carry out his duties. Ministers should have ministers' morals and carry out their duties. Fathers should have fathers' morals and carry out a father's duties. Sons should have sons' morals and carry out a son's duties" "君君，臣臣，父父，子子".

Since the system was based on patriarchy, the concept that "men are superior, women are inferior" "男尊女卑/重男轻女" was firmly rooted in Chinese society until the 20 century, when the countervailing concept of women's equal rights began to rear its head again for the first time since Empress Wu Zetian.

Ruism emphasizes education, so the dogma of "respect the teacher and his teaching" "尊师重道" has been honored and practiced since ancient times. Though originally education was meant only for males, the notion did evolve slowly through time into "education for everyone, irrespective of background and sex" "有教无类".

As for sex, Menfucius 孟子, Confucius' follower, once said it well: "food, drink, and sex are the natural and inevitable wants of mankind" "饮食男女，人之大欲存焉". In order to properly harness human desires, Confucius once instructed "see nothing improper, hear nothing improper, say nothing improper, do nothing improper" 孔子言 "非礼勿视，非礼勿听，非礼勿言，非礼勿动". So sex is not to be viewed as sinful, per se, or to be suppressed in Ruism, but must be conducted in a reasonable manner. Later the proverb - "Lewdness is the worst of all sins" "万恶淫为首" became the social norm.

Ruism also does not rule out pursuing wealth and honor, but states that these must be obtained and exercised in accordance with ethical and moral guidelines. "富与贵，是人之所欲也; 不以真道得之不处也"。Through the course of time this Confucian attitude was reworked into a famous proverb - "A gentleman by nature is avaricious to own wealth, but must acquire it lawfully, spend it moderately, and enjoy it reasonably." "君子爱财, 取之有道, 用之有度, 享之有量".

Although Confucius did go through the motions of some of the traditional forms of worship at the time, in reality, he did not believe in any God, gods, or religion. However, neither did he oppose religious beliefs nor the various ways of worship. With an open-minded view toward all spiritual things, he once said: "Be respectful to any kind of spirits, God or gods, but keep a far distance" 孔子言 "敬鬼神而远之". Throughout his lifetime, "Confucius did not discuss the bizarre, the unseen power, the chaotic, or deities" "孔子不语怪、力、乱、神".

Thus, religion was not seen as contradictory or threatening to Ruism, but, in fact, complementary (despite the admonition to keep one's distance). As a result, dynastical leaders through the centuries also adopted religious orthodoxies in conjunction with Ruism to help maintain the administration and rule of the state - Ruism for earthly matters, and *Buddhism 佛教, Zen Buddhism and other religious for spiritual ones (an exception was the Qin 秦 dynasty which outright rejected Confucianism in favor of Legalism).

By the 20th century, however, Ruism, or aspects of it, came under attack as one of the root causes of Chinese inability to respond and adapt to the challenges presented by Western advances in technology, socio-economic structures, and imperialistic intentions. During the "May Fourth Movement" "五四运动" (1915 - 1921), Ruism was challenged and denounced and came under even more severe attack during the "Cultural Revolution" "文化大革命" (1966 - 1976).

Throughout the various eras, however, Ruism has proven resilient, with the Chinese people picking, choosing, and modifying its less benign edges. Undoubtedly, they will continue to do so. One of Confucius' most popular sayings - "Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you" "己所不欲，勿施于人" - will likely stand the test of time, just like its similar New Testament counterpart.

(2). Taoism/Daoism 道家

The fundamental core of Taoism/Daoism was established by Laozi 老子, a philosopher, thinker, and scholar who lived in either the 6th, 5th, or 4th century B.C., depending upon which record one trusts, and was regarded as the compiler of Tao Te Ching/Dao De Jing 道德经.

In general, the main idea behind Daoism is to be respectful of the natural balance. One is to live a life of balanced simplicity, with humility and compassion towards all creatures under the sky. To this end, traditional Daoism promotes the notion of Anarchism 无政府主义, in its philosophical sense, i.e., being government free, as opposed to its more prosaic meaning of chaos.

In the Dao De Jing, the most popular verse is - "The Way that can be described is not the eternal Way. The Name that can be named is not the eternal Name." "道可道, 非常道; 名可名, 非常名". It implies that everything humanly defined or created is subject to change and is ephemeral.

Centuries after his death, near the end of the Han Dynasty, the deification of Laozi began, which was in complete disregard of his stated will teachings. A further few centuries, thereafter in the Tang Dynasty, Laozi was claimed by the imperial royal family as the ancestor of their lineage, based upon their sharing the same "Li" surname. Therefore they granted him several honorary titles, and almost all the Tang emperors worshipped him as a god. Being in its nature an unorganized religion, Daoism further splintered into different offshoots and branches, some devolving into or integrating such concepts as numerology, talismans, alchemy, etc. These were completely outside the realm of Laozi's original concepts and expectations, however.

(3). Zen Buddhism/Chan Buddhism 禅宗佛家

Zen Buddhism is completely different from Buddhism 佛教. According to historically ambiguous sources, during the Tang Dynasty, the monk, Hui Neng 慧能 (638 - 713) played a pivotal role in modifying Mahayana Buddhism 大乘佛教 in China by infusing it with the spirit of the Daoist teachings of Laozi 老子 ( Wikipedia) and Zhuanzi 莊子 ( Wikipedia), resulting in the birth of Zen Buddhism.

The essential purpose of "Zen" is to elevate the human spirit and enlighten oneself through direct inner insight, leading to a balanced and tranquil spiritual life. Meditation is one of its practices. Zen Buddhism encourages people to live, work, and experience life in order to reach enlightenment, and not to withdraw as a mendicant from all secular and practical work.

Zen Buddhists favor direct understanding from within that is coaxed out through interaction with competent masters and accomplished teachers rather than through the methodical study of documents or scriptures, which they believe often lead to confusion and misunderstandings. Therefore, there was no Zen Buddhist scripts of any kind until the early 13th century, when Zen Master Wumen Huikai 无门慧开 (1183 - 1260) published the first Zen Buddhist study document - The Gateless Gate/The Gateless Barrier 无门关 - which included 48 public cases 公案 (pinyin: gōng'àn) of proper zen study practices. Through the ages, Zen Buddhism has spun off into many branches.

Zen Buddhism prevailed among the educated and literary classes during the Tang dynasty. It later spread to Japan, Vietnam, and Korea. Around the early 20th century, the concepts of Zen Buddhism began to percolate into the West through the Japanese Zen Buddhist scholar - Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki 鈴木大拙/貞太郎 (1870 - 1966). Among some of Suzuki's quotes about Zen include -

"Zen in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom."

"The truth of Zen is the truth of life, and life means to live, to move, to act, not merely to reflect."

"Zen teaches nothing; it merely enables us to wake up and become aware. It does not teach, it points."

* * *

* Note: Buddhism 佛教

Original Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism is a religion that differs in many respects from the Zen Buddhism/Chan Buddhism. Buddhism started to appear in China from about 206 B.C. Traditionally, it was considered "officially" introduced into China by two Indian Buddhist monks carrying Buddhist sutras on a white horse to the capital, Luoyang, in 67 A.D. In response, the Emperor Han Ming Di 汉明帝 constructed the first imperial Buddhist temple named the White Horse Temple 白马寺 (view thru Google or Baidu) in Luoyang for the Indian monks to stay at and transfer and store the Buddhist sutras. In the succeeding centuries, different Buddhist sects and branches continued to spread into China from India or Central Asia.

Throughout Chinese history, Buddhism had been the most influential religious tradition among the common people. The religion, with its numerous Bodhisattvas, had a huge impact on Chinese culture. Wikipedia for Chinese-Buddhism.

8. References with Links

(1). Learning Pinyin for Mandarin Chinese:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLGa5mitTq4

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yav6Gs_lFA

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-rK2e58QuY

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubZS7i34GIY (learning Mandarin Chinese)

Pinyin and Zhuyin Codes Chart 漢語拼音與注音符號对照表 (in Chinese)

(2). The Stroke Order for Writing a Chinese Character:

(source: http://www.zdic.net/z/16/js/5510.htm - A multipurpose Chinese-English dictionary)

Enter a Chinese character such as "唐" into the box, click "搜索", and the translation will show.

Click www.zdic.net to try it out.

(3). Tang Poem Regulations, Tonal Patterns, Rhymes, etc.:
(In Chinese, except for first two links)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulated_verse

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jueju

baike.baidu.com/view/490471.htm

baike.baidu.com/view/743248.htm

baike.baidu.com

www.shigeku.org

www.gushiwen.org

* * *

(4). The Art of War 孙子兵法:

Extract of verses:

"All warfare is based on deception."
兵者，詭道也.

“'Calculate to make sure a quick move can win the battle' - never become mired in a deadlocked war of attrition for there is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare."
故兵贵胜，不贵久." - 所以，用兵作战以胜任裕如，举兵必克为贵，反对力不从心之僵持消耗战。

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, a hundred battles, a hundred victories. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will suffer one defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
知彼知己，百战不殆；不知彼而知己，一胜一负；不知彼，不知己，每战必殆.

“Yet to fight and conquer in all battles is not the supreme virtue; the supreme virtue of the art of war is to subdue the enemy requiring no battle”
百战百胜，非善之善者也；不战而屈人之兵，善之善者也.

en.wikipedia.org

classics.mit.edu

www.sonshi.com

www.goodreads.com

Providing both Chinese and English explanations:

ctext.org

www.cnculture.net
www.yellowbridge.com

(5). The Analects 论语 - A Collection of Sayings and Ideas Attributed to the Philosopher Confucius:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analects

www.acmuller.net

www.en8848.com

9. About the Authors

Marie Sun and Alex Sun (mother and son)

Marie Sun/孙罗玛琍:

Marie was born in mainland China and moved to Taiwan with her family in 1949. She grew up in Taiwan and graduated from National Taiwan University in 1965, majoring in economics.

She immigrated to the U.S. in 1968 and worked in the computer programming field for various companies, including IBM, retiring in 1992. In addition to computers, she has always had a passion for Chinese poetry, calligraphy, and painting.

Alexander Sun/孙国強:

Alex was born in the U.S.. At age 12, he was invited by his dear grandparents, Mr. Teiqing Luo and Ms. Wu Ma, in Taipei, Taiwan to study Chinese and experience Chinese culture for a year.

He went on to attend Georgetown University in the U.S., graduating from the Law School in 1992 and becoming a lawyer. While at Georgetown University, he also spent a year studying political science at Beijing University in Beijing, China from 1990 to 1991, and revisited and traveled around the country in later years.

Alex's natural interest in learning different languages, cultures and exploring his roots proved an immeasurable help in producing this book.

10. Share with Media

Thank you for reading.
We invite you to share your thoughts with your friends -

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Tang Poems

Nine of the poems are presented with zhuanshu/zhuanzi calligraphy (see above) and the rest xingshu calligraphy.

Preview Table of Contents

Preface

Chapters:

1. Poets and Poems

Wang Wei 王 维

#26 Deep Yearning 相思

View the following images related to the poet or poem:

#27 Homesick for My Shandong Brothers on 9/9 九月九日忆山东兄弟

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#28 Deer Enclosure 鹿柴

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#29 Send Off 送別

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#30 Song of Weicheng 渭城曲

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Xi Biren 西鄙人

#31 Geshu Song 哥舒歌

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Lu Lun 盧倫

#32 Borderland Song (#2 of 4) 塞下曲 (四首之二)

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#33 Borderland Song (#3 of 4) 塞下曲 (四首之三)

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Bai Juyi 白居易

#34 Jiang Nan Nostalgia(1) 忆江南 (一)

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#35 Grass 草 (赋得古原草送别)

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Liu Yuxi 刘禹锡

#36 Black Clothes Alley 乌衣巷

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Liu Zongyuan 柳宗元

#37 River Snow 江雪

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Li Shen 李绅

#38 Sympathy for Farmers (1) 悯农 (一)

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#39 Sympathy for Farmers (2) 悯农 (二)

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Meng Jiao 孟郊

#40 Chant of the Itinerant Son 游子吟

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Jia Dao 贾岛

#41 A Visit in Vain to the Recluse 寻隐者不遇

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#42 Swordsman 剑客

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Li Yi 李益

#43 Hearing a Flute at Night 夜上受降城闻笛

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#44 A Song of the Southern River 江南曲

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Jin Changxu 金昌绪

#45 A Spring Sign 春怨

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Du Qiuniang 杜秋娘

#46 Golden Brocade Dresses 金缕衣

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Du Mu 杜牧

#47 Qing Ming 清明

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#48 Mooring on the Qinhuai River 泊秦淮

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Li Shangyin 李商隐

#49 Jinse 锦瑟

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#50 Ascending the Field of Le'you Yuan 登乐游原

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2. The End of the Tang 唐之殒落

3. Empress Wu Zetian 武则天 - Promoter of Tang Poetry

4. A Summary of Attempts at Anthologizing Tang Poetry

The Forms of Tang Poems

5. A Summary of Chinese Characters and Styles

6. The Beauty of Chinese Calligraphy

(1). Famous Calligraphers of the Tang Dynasty:

(2). Famous Calligraphers in China's History:

(3). Four Treasures of the Study 文房四宝

(4). In memory of Mr. Luo Tie-ching and Ms. Ma Wu (United by Marriage and Love), Parents and Grandparents of the Authors.

Wang Wei 王维