Xi Sai Shan
January 6th 2010 01:40
Xi Sai Shan
West Fort Mountain
An Early Tang Ci
Zhang Zhi He 730 - 820 AD
West Fort Mountain
An Early Tang Ci
Zhang Zhi He 730 - 820 AD
The New Year is here and over the Xmas Break I was translating this poem.
Xi Sai Shan Qian Bai Lu Fei
Tao Hua Liu Shui Gui Yu Fei
Qing Ruu Li
Lu Suo Yi
Xie Feng Xi Yu Bu Xu Gui
In front of West Fort Mountain the White Egrets fly
Peach Flowers float on waters and the perch are fat
with a blue bamboo hat
and green rush over cape
(despite) the wind and rain I dont need to go home!
The original ci had lines of 7 7 3 3 7 and a loose rhyme of i
I have changed this to 12 12 6 6 12 in English. Fly and fat rhyme in Chinese but not English.
A pleasing simple and well known classic but why?
The Irony perhaps?
Being able to see west fort mountain means judging from the google earth map that the poet was down on the lake shores either north or south of the mountain.
Local tradition claims he was a cave facing north but unless he meant he was standing at the front of the mountain looking down at the lake how could he see egrets?
Egrets like shores and wetlands.
Xisai Shan which is near Huangshi in Hubei on the Yangtze river runs north east to south west from the yangtze inland with the narrow end inland. From space on Google Earth it looks like a flint microlith. Its a strategic point where you can observe and blockade movement on the river and easily restrict movement on any roads along the shore since there are lakes ponds and streams on all sides and the river to the east.
So here's the poet writing about peaceful fishing in an area noted for various famous battles between the ancient states of Chu and Qin!
Peach blossom is almost a cliche due to the famous story about the hidden village with the entrance concealed by a forest of peach trees. More irony?
But tao hua liu shui suggest he's writing about a ordinary stream on which fallen peach blossoms are floating and a stream deep enough for Chinese perch also called mandarin fish to be swimming in!
Another clue he's not on the mountain and a factual description also prosaic yet ironic cos of the significance of the Peach Blossom Spring story.
The poet is usually described as a retired official and a Taoist recluse.
He's no vegetarian though! Fei is fat with a connotation of being plump rich and edible.
Blue green bamboo hat Green rush cape.
He's dressed like a peasant to go fishing or walking.
Why ? Slanting wind Thin Rain.
I wonder why so few translators use the word drizzle?
Cos that's what he is talking about!
A day of wind and rain tearing flowers off trees and disturbing the egrets.
Has a storm just passed over or is it rising?
Mystery and simplicity in one line.
Line Four Our fisherman is really being rather cheeky saying to us
"I'm alright I have my wet weather geat. There's no way I'm returning!
Where to ? Working as a government official or just back home?
Was his wife rebuking him?
"Aiiii you're going out in the rain fishing! Again!"
The line is literally slanting wind (blowing downslope off the mountain perhaps?) light rain fine like silk threads but / no need return.
Some of the images in this poem became cliches in after Chinese literature but the original is a simple song of gentle defiance?
P.s. I will try to type up all the chinese characters and upload them onto google docs along with these notes since this server doenst like Unicode.
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