#ancient chinese poetry

[beehunni62]

The Advisors Alliance Translation Post 2: “Husband, don’t cross the river. Husband, nonetheless, crossed the river.”

The Advisors Alliance 大军师司马懿之军师联盟 is a 2017 two-part Chinese TV series depicting the life of Sima Yi, a government official and military strategist who lived during the late Eastern Han Dynasty 东汉 (25 CE - 220 CE) and the Three Kingdoms Period 三国時代 (220 CE - 280 CE). [Wikipedia of the show’s first season]

The second part is titled Growling Tiger Hidden Dragon 虎啸龙吟 and keeps following Sima Yi’s life as he matures and becomes wiser [Link to the show’s second season’s MyDramaList page].

The Weibo account [Link] of the show made a series of posts in the style of small encyclopedias explaining different historical and cultural facts that where included in the series. The user @moononmyfloor compiled the 50 posts and asked me to translate them. This will be an ongoing series where I will do just that.

The posts are not in order of the episodes but I will provide the episode and season number to avoid confusion. If there are any mistakes in translation, do let me know in the comments or privately message me and I will do my best to fix them. Although I tried to stay as close as possible to the original text, I had to take some liberties in some posts to get the meaning across better. On the side, I have included extra information from personal research that explains certain things better.

If it is difficult to read the letters, tap or click on the image to expand it. Without more preamble, here you go.

Extra information:

Yuefu (乐府), literally Music Bureau, are a genre of ancient Chinese folk songs that, either imitate the style of, or are from the Imperial Music Bureau. The latter was an institution in charge of collecting and writing lyrics to folk songs. Yuefu are known for having strict syllabic rules that change from dynasty to dynasty.

《公无渡河》 is also known as Kong Hou Yin (箜篌引). Konghou is an ancient Chinese stringed instrument similar to a harp. A Yin (引), in this context, is another type of ancient music poetry that has a freer syllabic structure and is characterized by long syllables that go well with the melody of the konghou. Below is a picture of the instrument:

Vertical konghou 箜篌 in exhibit at the Gansu Provincial Museum, Lanzhou, China. Taken on May 10, 2013 by Gary Todd [image source].

Allow me to clarify something. The folk song 《公无渡河》 was recorded by Cui Bao in "Notes on Ancient and Modern Times" to be of Gojoseon origin. As such, Koreans consider it to be their oldest surviving folk song.

The Chinese consider it a Chinese Han Dynasty song on account of the tale being set and song created in the Lelang Commandery [108 B.C.E. - 313 C.E.] which is one of the four regions Gojoseon was split into while under Han rule. Koreans consider the residents of Lelang, and the other commandaries, to be Gojosen Koreans who retained a separate culture to the Han Chinese. If you wish to conduct further research into the song, don’t get surprised if you read different names for the characters that appear in the story.

Koreans call the song "Gongmudohaga (공무도하가)” and the ferryman Gwaklijago (곽리자고). The Korean folk tale differs from the Chinese retelling in that the Korean name of Gwaklijago wife, who is credited with creating the actual song, according to certain Chinese and Korean retellings, is Yeo-ok (여옥) rather than Li Yu (丽玉). In Cao Yong and Cui Bao’s retellings, the wife of the drowned drunk man created the song while, in the Korean version, it was the wife of the ferryman who, upon learning about what had transpired from her husband once he came home, created the song on her harp, called in Korean gonghu (공후).

Many Chinese poets have retold the story in their own ways and added, omitted, or reinterpreted content. Some of said poets are Li Bai and Chen Shou of Shu Han. On top is Li Bai's version which lacks strict syllabic structure, a signature of his style and, on the bottom, Chen Shou's more structured one:

This expression 《公无渡河, 公竟渡河》 is often used as an allegory to satirize someone who is heading into clear danger but is too stubborn or obsessed to listen. If this person doesn't listen, then they are sure to run into trouble.

Catalogue (find the rest of the posts):

#chinese culture #chinese history #the advisors alliance #sima yi #history #three kingdoms #eastern han dynasty #korean folklore #li bai #chinese poetry #ancient chinese poetry #ancient china #gojoseon #korea

[midnightfestivalmagic]

Dipping Water from the River and Simmering Tea by Su Tung-p'o

"Living fire needs living water to boil; lean over Fishing Rock, dip the clear deep current; store the spring moon in a big gourd, return it to the jar; divide the night stream with a little dipper, drain it in the kettle. Frothy water, simmering, whirls bits of tea; pour it and hear the sound of wind in pines. Hard to refuse three cups to a dried-up belly; I sit and listen-from the old town, the striking of the hour."

#poetry #poem #Chinese poetry #ancient Chinese poetry #su tung po

[soupspoonerisms]

From Wikipedia:

"Li Ye (simplified Chinese: 李冶; traditional Chinese: 李治; Wade–Giles: Li Yeh; died 784), also known by her courtesy name Li Jilan (Chinese: 李季蘭), was a Tang dynasty Chinese courtesan, musician, nun, and poet. She was known for her poetic talent as well as her beauty. In the tumultuous years of the late Tang, she was accused of treason for poems denigrating the imperial house of Tang that the rebel leader Zhu Ci forced her to write. She was condemned to death and executed in 784."

#soupspoonerisms #chinese poetry #li ye #poetry #translated poem #ancient chinese poetry #tang dynasty #chinese literature

[lyselkatzfandomluvs]

Xû Kâi 許凱

Harper's Bazaar China x ZhenGûoLì 真果粒 - September 2023.

#xu kai #snow eagle lord #falling into your smile #ancient love poetry #dance of the sky empire #arsenal military academy #story of yanxi palace #cdrama #chinese actors #harper's bazaar china #i haven't watched anything with him yet #so I'm feeling totally indifferent #but it's part of the photoshoot serie so here it is

[paganimagevault]

Statue of Yang Guifei at Huaqing Pool 20th-21st C. CE

"The waters of the [Huaqing pool] hot springs were smooth, and washed over her pale white skin.

The palace maids helped her to leave the pool, because she was too delicate and lacked strength.

She had dark black hair, and the face of a flower, with golden jewelry dangling from her hair.

The sound of the war drums from Yuyang began to shake the earth,

And broke the spell of the Song of rainbow skirts and feather robes.

Smoke and dust descended upon the nine layered watchtowers of the imperial palace,

Traveling more than one hundred li from the western gate of the capital.

The six armies of the emperor refused to advance any further, so the emperor was left without a choice,

The writhing fair maiden, whose long and slender eyebrows resembled the feathery feelers of a moth, died in front of the horses.

Her ornate headdress fell to the ground, and nobody picked it up;

Then her kingfisher hair ornament, her gold sparrow hairpin and her jade hair clasp.

His Majesty covered his face, for he could not save her.

Looking back, he saw a stream of blood and tears mixing together."

-Composed by Bai Juyi in the year 806, The Song of Everlasting Regret (or Sorrow) details the events surrounding the death of the lady Yang Guifei during the Anshi [An-Lushan] Rebellion in 755.

#chinese art #chinese history #tang dynasty #ancient history #ancient china #history #literature #poems and poetry #art #antiquities #sculpture #statue #ancient literature

[tytangfei]

"I find that when someone shoulders more responsibility, he's less likely to live the life he wants." "Then live your own life easily and freely. You have your sect. And me. Just be yourself. Be yourself. And be happy."

The last Immortal (2023) - Episode 6

#the last immortal #shen yin #zhao lusi #wang anyu #a yin #feng yin #gu jin #yuan qi #ancient love poetry #cdramaedit #chinese drama #xianxia #jina makes gifs #jinashenyingifs

[bones-ivy-breath]

You Took Ship from The Shambhala Anthology of Chinese Poetry, tr. J.P. Seaton

#you took ship #quote #typography #literature #poetry #j.p. seaton #the shambhala anthology of chinese poetry #aesthetic #dark academia #light academia #romantic academia #love #original post #asian poetry #asian literature #ancient china

[diamantdog]

genuine question that i already asked on twt but i will do it again here because i’m nosy lol:

how come the cgi and some of the costumes in “the last immortal” look worse than “ancient love poetry” that came out 2 years ago?

#the last immortal #one of these days i will accidentally call it “my immortal” lol #cdrama #chinese drama #ancient love poetry

[beyourselfchulanmaria]

 © skondal ꧁ 霜花 ꧂ 🤍 Thank you ~*

😃 Frost on flowers, they're very pretty by your nice shooting and In our ancient Chinese poems, almost all descriptions of "frost flowers" in autumn and winter are poignant and romantic.  so I want to share a poetry with friends :

a

b 、 c

《少年遊》    by 晏殊

霜花滿樹，

蘭凋蕙慘，

秋艷入芙蓉。

胭脂嫩臉，

金黃輕蕊，

猶自怨西風。

前歡往事，

當歌對酒，

無限到心中。

更憑朱檻憶芳容。

腸斷一枝紅。

#skondal #霜花 #frost flowers #《少年遊》 by 晏殊 #chinese ancient poetry

[jemsbitch]

Tessa second most fluent language (right behind English) is Mandarin. Sometimes her and Will will converse in Mandarin just to feel closer to Jem. Her third most fluent is Welsh.

#you cant tell me tessa and will won’t be fluent in mandarin u cant tell me that #will has an accent when he speaks mandarin but Tessa doesn’t and almost sound like a native #sometimes Tessa read Chinese literature #jem will teach her ancient Chinese so that she can understand all those poetry and ancient Chinese texts #Tessa is an expect in Chinese and welsh culture #and their history too obviously #she will learn a few more other langauge but none will be as good as Chinese and Welsh #maybe she will learn Cantonese and Shanghainese but not as fluent as mandarin still #anyways this is canon now I don’t take criticism #shadowhunters #the shadowhunters chronicles #tsc incorrect quotes #tsc #incorrect tsc quotes #will herondale #the infernal devices #incorrect tid quotes #jem carstairs #tessa gray #tid #tid incorrect quotes #william herondale #james carstairs #herongraystairs #jem x will #ke jian ming #brother zachariah #tid gang #heronstairs #tessa x jem

[midnightfestivalmagic]

Prelude to Water Music by Su Tung-p'o

"Bright moon, when did you appear? Lifting my wine, I question the blue sky. Tonight in the palaces and halls of heaven what year is it, I wonder?"

#poetry #poem #su tung po #Chinese poetry #ancient Chinese poetry

[rubberbandballqueen]

it is becoming Increasingly Clear to me that i can no longer be taken out into public because i will start doing to fonts what jirt would do to the rocks and plants whilst on little walks

#the worm speaks #i'm noticing that a lot of signage these days don't have small caps which is a bit sad but i suppose they are somewhat antiquated #most of them have just straight up all-caps and i'm like 'mmmm. would a small caps version be better here?' #the other day i was like 'what if i left everything behind to get a job at a type foundry in taiwan. what then.' #what would i bring to the table there? why a sense of western aestheticism for the latin glyphs in their fonts #combined with a lesser but probably still noteworthy knowledge of chinese calligraphy to help ensure there is a sense of unity #btwn the latin and chinese glyphs #and also kerning i would bring kerning to the table for the latin glyphs. like if we Must be monospace abt things we can do that #but on god. the number of times i download a cn script font and go 'ah.' bc the english is the Ugliest monospace serif you'll ever see #fortunately while it is a bit of work it's at least easier to match english fonts to cn ones bc there are So Many more free ones lol #the other day i was looking through a chinese font website n i was reading their ~story~ behind this one particular series #that they based off the calligraphy in these five or six Ancient Rare Books in the national palace museum #and they were like 'yes the poetry was beautiful and moving. but to a type designer the writing itself is even more attractive' #and i felt so called out. i have just the most incurable font disease on the planet lmao #the other thing i think that might be neat to bring to cn font design Would be the concept of italics #like i know that's just not a standard thing and that Makes sense bc to oblique the letters is just #like. why would you do that. it's hard to read. but the spirit of italics is to change the font style entirely whilst keeping in harmony #with the rest of the regular typeface which i think would be Neat to bring in esp since italics usually have a bit more flourish to them #the other day i also found out that fangsong is used in government documents n i was like #>:0 no wonder it has every character and variant known to man......

[polyglot-thought]

[Classical Mandarin->English]

Lao Zi (Lao Tzu/老子) Quote from Chapter 64 of the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching/道德经/道德經) - Color Coded Translation

—

千里之行，始於足下

千里之行，始于足下

qiān lǐ zhī xíng，shǐ yú zú xià

The journey of 1000 (chinese) miles starts under your feet.

—

Please correct me if I made a mistake.

#color coded translation #chinese langblr #learn chinese #mandarin langblr #chinese lesson #chinese vocab #chinese to english #classical chinese #classical mandarin #tao te ching #dao de jing #daoism #taoism #taoist #daoist #lao tzu #lao zi #ancient Chinese #chinese proverb #chinese poetry #chinese poem

[crishel2]

Xu Kai 18/10/23

Versão chinesa SoFigaro outubro 2023 Xu Kai

Atualização Weibo Versão chinesa SoFigaro do vídeo #coverstory# Muitas pessoas elogiam @Xukai soso por ser "uma pessoa divertida", o que significa que ele tem uma personalidade real e fala e faz coisas sem nenhuma bagagem. Para Xu Kai, ouvir, ver e sentir verdadeiramente não são apenas cursos obrigatórios de atuação, mas também o maior tesouro da vida. Versão chinesa SoFigaro do vídeo do Weibo. Instagram @sosoalive7

https://weibo.com/5738363424/Noptnn33P

#SoFigaro #xu kai #soso #cover story #coverstory #modelo chinês #chinese actor #chinese model #cantor chinês #ator chinês #Falling Into Your Smile #Ancient Love Poetry #snow eagle lord #she and her perfect husband

[asteriasgarden]

from chanellemwrites

“women poets of china”

#poetry #old poetry #poetry compilation #poetry collection #poetry therapy #chinese poetry #chinese poets #women poets #women poets of china #ling chung #kenneth rexroth #women writers #women artists #ancient china #chinese writing #writers and poets #poetscommunity #poems #poetess #poemsworld #poems on tumblr #poemsoftheday #sad poems #love poems #poets corner #poetsandwriters #aesthetic #poets aesthetic #poetry aesthetic #light acadamia aesthetic

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Ancient Love Poetry (2021)

Gifs of Intro of cdrama “Ancient Love Poetry”

ENG SUB 【千古玦尘 Ancient Love Poetry】 首发预告！周冬雨许凯相恋万载，不负深情

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUPZWrGkgvU

#Ancient Love Poetry #千古玦尘 #The Legend of Gu and Jue #Gu Jue Zhuan #Shang Gu #2021 #cdrama #chinese drama #Tencent #youtube #episode 1 #Kevin Xu #Xu Kai #Zhou Dong Yu #Jenny Zhang #Zhang Jia Ni #Liu Xue Yi #Li Ze Feng #Wendy Luo #Luo Qiu Yun #Leon Lai #Lai Yi