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diff --git a/37938.txt b/37938.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cb178dd --- /dev/null +++ b/37938.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3845 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Chinese Poems, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Chinese Poems + +Author: Various + +Translator: Charles Budd + +Release Date: November 6, 2011 [EBook #37938] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHINESE POEMS *** + + + + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Matthew Wheaton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + CHINESE POEMS + + TRANSLATED BY + + CHARLES BUDD + + HENRY FROWDE + OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS + LONDON, NEW YORK, TORONTO AND MELBOURNE + 1912 + + OXFORD: HORACE HART + PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY + + + + +_PREFACE_ + + +_The initiative of this little book was accidental. One day in the early +part of last summer, feeling weary of translating commercial documents, +I opened a volume of Chinese poetry that was lying on my desk and +listlessly turned over the pages. As I was doing so my eye caught sight +of the phrase, 'Red rain of peach flowers fell.' That would be +refreshing, I said to myself, on such a day as this; and then I went on +with my work again. But in the evening I returned to the book of Chinese +poetry and made a free translation of the poem in which I had seen the +metaphor quoted above. The translation seemed to me and some friends +pleasantly readable; so in leisure hours I have translated some more +poems and ballads, and these I now venture to publish in this volume, +thinking that they may interest readers in other lands, and also call +forth criticism that will be useful in preparing a larger volume which +I, or some better qualified scholar, may publish hereafter; for it +can hardly be said that the field of Chinese poetry has been widely +explored by foreign students of the Chinese language._ + +_Many of the translations in this book are nearly literal, excepting +adaptations to meet the exigencies of rhyme and rhythm; but some are +expanded to enable readers to understand what is implied, as well as +actually written, in the original; for, after all, the chief aim of the +translator of poetry should be to create around the mind of the reader +the sensory atmosphere in which the mind of the poet moved when he wrote +the poem. Whether I have attained a measure of success in such a very +difficult task must be decided by the readers of these translations._ + +_It should be borne in mind by students more or less familiar with the +Chinese language that there are many versions of the stories and legends +related in these poems, and these versions, again, have been variously +interpreted by Chinese poets. A little reflection of this kind will +often save a critic from stumbling into difficulties from which it is +not easy to extricate himself._ + +_A few notes are given at the end of each poem to explain historical +names, &c., but not many other notes are required as the poems explain +themselves. Indeed, the truth of the saying, 'One touch of nature makes +the whole world kin,' has been impressed on my mind deeply by this +little excursion into the field of Chinese poetry, for the thoughts and +words of such poems as the 'Journey Back,' 'A Maiden's Reverie,' 'Only a +Fragrant Spray,' 'The Lady Lo-Fu, 'Conscripts leaving for the Frontier,' +'The River by Night in Spring,' 'Reflections on the Brevity of Life,' +'The Innkeeper's Wife,' 'A Soldier's Farewell to his Wife,' &c., show us +that human nature two or three thousand years ago differed not a whit +from human nature as it is to-day._ + + _CHARLES BUDD._ + + _Tung Wen Kwan Translation Office,_ + _Shanghai, March, 1912._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + A FEW REMARKS ON THE HISTORY AND CONSTRUCTION OF CHINESE POETRY + + THE TECHNIQUE OF CHINESE POETRY + + BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES OF A FEW OF THE MORE EMINENT CHINESE POETS + + _POEMS_ + + _Only a Fragrant Spray_ + _The River by Night in Spring_ + _The Beauty of Snow_ + _A Maiden's Reverie_ + _A Song of the Marches_ + _The Cowherd and the Spinning-Maid_ + _The Old Soldier's Return_ + _On the Lake near the Western Mountains_ + _The Happy Farmer_ + _An Old House Unroofed by an Autumn Gale_ + _The Lament of the Ladies of the Siang River_ + _The Waters of the Mei-Pei_ + _The Swallow's Song_ + _Farewell to a Comrade_ + _Beauty's Fatal Snare_ + _A Reverie in a Summer-house_ + _The Flower-Seller_ + _The Red-Flower Pear-Tree_ + _A Song of Princess Tze-Yuh_ + _Distaste for Official Life_ + _The Fragrant Tree_ + _A Song of the Snow_ + _The Old Temple among the Mountains_ + _A Soldier's Farewell to his Wife_ + _The Wanderer's Return_ + _The Pleasures of a Simple Life with Nature_ + _Listening to the Playing on a Lute in a Boat_ + _Reflections on the Past_ + _A Lowly Flower_ + _On returning to a Country Life_ + _The Brevity of Life_ + _Conscripts leaving for the Frontier_ + _Estimating the Value of a Wife_ + _The Lady Lo-Fu_ + _An Autumn Evening in the Garden_ + _Muh-Lan_ + _The Old Fisherman_ + _Midnight in the Garden_ + _Reflections on the Brevity of Life_ + _So-fei gathering Flowers_ + _A Farewell_ + _The Khwun-ming Lake_ + _Reflections_ + _Pride and Humility_ + _Dwellers in the Peach Stream Valley_ + _The Five Sons_ + _The Journey Back_ + _The Gallant Captain and the Innkeeper's Wife_ + _The Lady Chao-Chiuen_ + _Night on the Lake_ + _The Fisherman's Song_ + _The Students' Ramble_ + _The Priest of T'ien Mountain_ + _Maidens by the River-side_ + _The Poet-Beggar_ + + + + +A FEW REMARKS ON THE HISTORY AND CONSTRUCTION OF CHINESE POETRY + + +The earliest Chinese poems which have been preserved and handed down to +posterity are contained in the 'Shi-King', or Book of Poetry. +Translations of this book were first made by Roman Catholic +missionaries, and later by Dr. Legge whose translation, being in +English, is better known. + +The Shi-King contains three hundred odd poetical compositions, or odes, +as they might more correctly be described, most of them being set to +music and sung on official and public occasions. + +But many more odes than those in the Shi-King existed at the dawn of +Chinese literature. Some native scholars think that several thousand +odes were composed by princes, chiefs, and other men of the numerous +petty States which were included in Ancient China; and that criticism +and rejection by later literary compilers, especially Confucius, reduced +the number deemed worthy of approval to 305, which make up the Shi-King. +It is, however, quite impossible to say how many odes were composed in +that early period; many more than those preserved in the Shi-King +undoubtedly were made, and we can only regret that, when later scholars +began to collect and criticize these earliest poetical effusions of +their ancestors, political and other motives induced them to prune or +lop off whole branches of the nascent tree of poetry with such unsparing +hands. Fragments of a few early odes not contained in the Shi-King +remain, but such fragments are not numerous. + +As to the value of these early odes critics differ widely. By some +Western writers they have been compared favourably with the Psalms, the +Homeric poems, &c., while other writers think that they do not rise +above the most primitive simplicity. Some of the odes are undoubtedly of +considerable poetical value; and all critics must acknowledge that the +Shi-King contains a great deal of valuable information respecting the +States of Ancient China, and the people who inhabited them in the +earliest stages of their existence. + +It has been necessary to give this brief account of the Shi-King because +it has loomed so largely in the eyes of students of Chinese literature +as to exclude from their vision the vast field of Chinese poetry in +which hundreds of famous Chinese poets have, at different periods, +wandered, and mused, and sung, for two or three thousand years, and +their wanderings are described and their musings sung in thousands of +poems which are unknown to foreign students of Chinese literature. They +have heard of the Shi-King, a few even have read it; but of the great +poets of China, who have in a long succession appeared and done immortal +work and passed away during nearly three thousand years, they know but +little or nothing at all. My object in publishing this little book is to +correct this false perspective, not by assailing the Shi-King, but by +bringing into view a few of the poets and a few of their poems (which +can only be very inadequately set forth in translations by a writer who +is not a poet), and thus make a beginning in an undertaking that will +be, I hope, continued and perfected by men who have more leisure and +greater poetical skill and inspiration than I possess. + +After the compilation of the 300 odes by Confucius, there was a period +of about one hundred years during which but little attention was given +to the making of poetry. The earliest poetical compositions handed down +after those preserved in the Shi-King are the 'Li-Sao' by Kueh-Yuen, of +the Tsu State, 280 B.C., several poems by Su-Wu and Li-ling, and +nineteen poems by unknown writers. All these were composed during the +Han Dynasty or earlier, and they are regarded as poetical compositions +of great worth by native scholars, although they do not conform to the +rules which have guided Chinese poets in writing poetry since the T'ang +Dynasty. Indeed, one commentator has described their perfection as 'the +seamless robe of heaven', i.e. the dome of heaven--the sky. These early +poetical compositions are marked by greater simplicity of language, +deeper feeling, and more naturalness than the poetry of later dynasties, +which is often cramped by the highly elaborate technique introduced by +the poets of the T'ang Dynasty. + +'The Journey Back,' 'Only a Fragrant Spray,' 'The Swallow's Song,' 'The +Innkeeper's Wife,' 'A Song of Tze-Yuh,' 'A Maiden's Reverie,' 'Su Wu's +Farewell to his Wife,' 'Reflections on the Brevity of Life,' are +specimens of this period. + +During the later Han Dynasty, especially in the reign of Kien-An (A.D. +196), and in the reign of Hwang-T'su (A.D. 220) of the Wei Dynasty, +several poets of conspicuous ability arose, and their compositions +compare favourably with the three hundred odes and the ancient poems +following the odes. + +From the Wei Dynasty to the T'sin Dynasty, and on through the 'Luh-Chao' +(Six Dynasties--the Wu, Tsing, Sung, T'si, Liang, and Chen, covering the +period from A.D. 220 to 587), one poet after another gained an +ascendancy and each found many imitators; but the poetry of this period +is more elaborate and florid than deep and natural. + +From the Chen Dynasty (A.D. 557-587) to the end of the Sui Dynasty (A.D. +589-618) there was but little good poetry produced: it was, in fact, a +time of literary decadence which continued even into the beginning of +the T'ang Dynasty. Then a change took place, and great poets arose who +formed the T'ang School of Poetry, and the poetical technique of that +school has been more or less closely copied by all writers of poetry to +this day; and during the most flourishing years of the T'ang Dynasty the +production of poetry was so rich and abundant that that period is +regarded by the Chinese as the Golden Age of Poetry. + +One native commentator has likened the development of poetry to a tree: +'The three hundred odes of the Shi-King may be regarded as the root: the +poems of Su-Wu and Li-ling as the first sprout from the root, and those +of the Kien-An period as the increasing growth of the sprout into a +stem, while the poems of the Six Dynasties are the first branches and +leaves; then in the T'ang Dynasty the branches and leaves became more +and more abundant, and flowers and fruit appeared crowning the noble +tree of perfect poetry.' He then goes on to say: 'Students of poetry +should carefully study the matter, and form, and style of the poetry of +this period, as they show the source and development, the root and the +full-grown flourishing tree of poetry. The root must not be lost sight +of in the profusion of branches and leaves, that is, students must not +read the poems of the T'ang period and neglect those of ancient times; +both must be studied together in order to understand the poetry of the +later periods.' + +Another native critic writes: 'The poets of the T'ang Dynasty developed +a style of their own in poetry different from those that preceded it.' +The leading poets of the T'ang period had ability to seize all that was +best in ancient poetry and embody it in a style of their own which is a +natural development and not a slavish imitation. + +The most prominent among the men of genius who effected this great +change were Chen Tze-ang, Chang Kiu-ling, Li-Peh, Wei Ying-wuh, Liu +Tsong-Yuen, Tu-Fu, Han-Yue, Tsen-T'san, Wang-Wei, Wang-Han, Li-Kiao and +Chang-Shoh; and of these Li-Peh is regarded by all Chinese as a +heaven-born genius--'an Immortal banished to earth,' while Tu Fu is the +scholarly poet, deeply versed in all branches of Chinese literature, +which gives depth, and breadth, and style, and infinite variety to his +poetical compositions, which, however, though very numerous, form but a +part of his contributions to the literature of his country. + +The glory of the T'ang poetry dimmed somewhat towards the end of the +dynasty; but during the Song Dynasty (A.D. 960-1278), which followed the +brief epoch of the Five Dynasties (A.D. 907-960), Eo Yang Siu, +Wang-An-shih, Hwang Ting-kien, Ch'ao Pu-chi, Luh-Yu, and other poets +added fresh lustre to the glory of Chinese literature by producing many +poetical compositions which could not be omitted from a large anthology +containing all the best Chinese poems; but in this small book space for +two or three only can be found. + +It should be remembered that the great poets of the T'ang and later +dynasties did not always follow the new poetical technique of the T'ang +Dynasty. Many of their best poems are written in the ancient style; and +I have written 'ancient style' against a few of such poems among the +translations, but not against all of them. + +An introduction to Chinese poetry, reviewing extensively its rise and +progress, the style of each period, and the characteristics of the work +of each poet, would fill a large volume--several volumes indeed would +hardly suffice for an exhaustive review of such a vast field of work. +But the very brief review contained in the preceding pages will enable +readers to see that the three hundred odes are by no means the whole of +Chinese poetry; they are, indeed, only the beginning--the source of a +great river whose countless branches, some deep and pure, others +shallow and sparkling, have flowed down the ages, fertilizing and +beautifying every period of Chinese life and thought, and producing a +vast reservoir of poetry which has inspired many in every generation +with higher sentiments of nature, country, love, friendship, and +literature. + +As this book of translations is chiefly intended for readers who do not +understand the Chinese language, no attempt has been made to insert the +Chinese characters for the names, &c., printed in the Romanized form; +but, following the advice of friends who are well versed in Chinese +themselves, I hope, hereafter, to publish a small volume containing the +Chinese text of the translated poems only, with a few notes which may be +useful to beginners. To reprint the Chinese text and notes with the +English translations in one volume would add considerably to the cost of +the book, while only a comparatively small number of readers--students +of the Chinese language--would find the Chinese text and notes useful. + + + + +THE TECHNIQUE OF CHINESE POETRY + + +Form of 7-character Lueh poem beginning in the Ping tone: + + A. Ping ping tseh tseh tseh ping ping + Tseh tseh ping ping tseh tseh ping + Tseh tseh ping ping ping tseh tseh + Ping ping tseh tseh tseh ping ping + Ping ping tseh tseh ping ping tseh + Tseh tseh ping ping tseh tseh ping + Tseh tseh ping ping ping tseh tseh + Ping ping tseh tseh tseh ping ping. + +Form of 7-character Lueh poem beginning in the Tseh tone: + + B. Tseh tseh ping ping tseh tseh ping + Ping ping tseh tseh tseh ping ping + Ping ping tseh tseh ping ping tseh + Tseh tseh ping ping tseh tseh ping + Tseh tseh ping ping ping tseh tseh + Ping ping tseh tseh tseh ping ping + Ping ping tseh tseh ping ping tseh + Tseh tseh ping ping tseh tseh ping. + +Form of 5-character Lueh poem beginning in the Ping tone: + + C. Ping ping tseh tseh ping + Tseh tseh tseh ping ping + Tseh tseh ping ping tseh + Ping ping tseh tseh ping + Ping ping ping tseh tseh + Tseh tseh tseh ping ping + Tseh tseh ping ping tseh + Ping ping tseh tseh ping. + +Form of 5-character Lueh poem beginning in the Tseh tone: + + D. Tseh tseh tseh ping ping + Ping ping tseh tseh ping + Ping ping ping tseh tseh + Tseh tseh tseh ping ping + Tseh tseh ping ping tseh + Ping ping tseh tseh ping + Ping ping ping tseh tseh + Tseh tseh tseh ping ping. + +In order to understand this arrangement of characters, it should be +borne in mind that Chinese characters are distinguished not only by the +phonetic sounds, but also by tones resembling musical notes. + +Of these only four are generally recognized in poetical compositions: + +(1) The Ping-sheng, or low and even note. + +(2) The Shang-sheng, or sharp and ascending note. + +(3) The Khue-sheng, or clear and far-reaching note. + +(4) The Ruh-sheng, or straight and abruptly finished note. + +These tones help to distinguish words which have the same phonetic sound +but different meanings. For instance, the word-- + + 'li' (Ping-sheng) = black. + 'li' (Shang-sheng) = village. + 'li' (Khue-sheng) = sharp. + 'li' (Ruh-sheng) = strength. + +In written Chinese each of these words is distinguished by a different +character, and the tone is, therefore, of secondary importance; but +occasionally a character has two tones--a ping and a khue, for instance, +and then each tone indicates a difference of meaning, or distinguishes +the use of the word as a substantive from its use as a verb. + +But in poetry these tones are used to make rhythm as well as to express +meaning, and when used for this purpose they are divided into ping and +tseh, the ping representing the ping or low, even tone, and the tseh the +other three tones, Shang, Khue, and Ruh. This brief explanation will +enable the reader, I think, to perceive what is regarded by Chinese as +the rhythm of a poem. In the diagrams given above, the first line +consists of two ping tones, followed by three tseh tones, which are +followed by two ping tones; and the arrangement of the characters in +each line in terms of ping and tseh forms the rhythm of Chinese poetry. +When compared, it will be seen that there are lines or couplets which +are in contrast to, or harmonize with, other lines, &c. + +But it is not necessary that the tones of all the characters in each +couplet should agree, excepting the first and last lines which always +agree exactly--tone for tone. In the other lines, the tones of the +first, third, and fifth characters in a seven-character line, and the +first and third in a five-character line, may be varied--ping for tseh, +or tseh for ping; but the second, fourth, and sixth characters in +seven-character poems, and the second and fourth in five-character poems +must not be changed; when the ping tone should be used it must be used, +the tseh may not be substituted for it, and when the tseh should be used +it must be used, the ping may not be substituted for it. And when the +opening tone of the first line is a ping, the opening tone of the line +following must be tseh, and vice versa. + +The following two poems are perfect specimens of the 'Tsueeh', or poem of +four lines, which may be regarded as the unit of Chinese poetical +composition. The first specimen shows a 'tsueeh' beginning in the Ping +tone; and the second specimen a 'tsueeh' beginning in the Tseh tone: + + (1) _p._ _p._ _ts._ _ts._ _ts._ _ts._ _p._ + Ch'un fung tseh ye tao Yue Kwan + + _ts._ _ts._ _p._ _p._ _ts._ _ts._ _p._ + Ku kwoh yen hwa siang i tsan + + _ts._ _ts._ _p._ _p._ _p._ _ts._ _ts._ + Shao fu puh chi kwei wei teh + + _p._ _p._ _ts._ _ts._ _ts._ _p._ _p._ + Chao chao ying shang wang fu shan. + + (2) _ts._ _ts._ _p._ _p._ _ts._ _ts._ _p._ + Tze meh hong ch'en fuh mien lai + + _p._ _p._ _ts._ _ts._ _ts._ _p._ _p._ + Wu ren puh tao k'un hwa hwei + + _p._ _p._ _ts._ _ts._ _p._ _p._ _ts._ + Hsueen tu kwan li tao ts'ien shu + + _ts._ _ts._ _p._ _p._ _ts._ _ts._ _p._ + Tsin shi liu lang ku heo tsai + +As I have stated above the 'tsueeh' of four lines, whether the line is +composed of five or seven characters, may be regarded as the unit of +Chinese poetical composition. In order to make a 'lueh' poem four more +lines, composed exactly according to the ping-tseh arrangement of tones +in the tsueeh, are added to the tsueeh; while a 'p'ai-lueh' poem is made by +continuing this process beyond eight lines. + +Besides the ping and tseh arrangement of tones in each line to form the +metre or rhythm, the final characters of the first, second, and fourth +lines of the tsueeh may rhyme with each other; but these rhymes are also +controlled by the ping-tseh tones. For instance, in the specimen of a +perfect tsueeh given above, the final characters of the first, second, +and fourth lines are kwan, ts'an, and shan, and these sounds rhyme in +Chinese; but it will be observed that all three words belong to the ping +tone, and this is the rule generally followed in the technique of modern +poetry, that is, poetry made according to the new rules introduced by +the poets of the T'ang Dynasty; but in ancient poetry, words both in +ping and tseh tones were used for rhymes; and poets of all periods have +used both systems--ancient and modern--in their poetical compositions. +The tendency in recent dynasties, however, has been to follow the +elaborate technique of the modern school of poetry in which great skill +in the art of poetical composition is too often more highly prized than +true poetry, and consequently mere cleverness is mistaken for genius. + +These few remarks on the use of the ping-tseh tones in the rhythm and +rhyme of Chinese poetry must not be regarded by readers as an exhaustive +summary of the system, which is much more intricate than it seems, owing +to many qualifying rules and conditions as to its application in +relation to the other factors required to form a correct poetical +composition; they will, however, suffice to give a general conception of +the part played by the ping and tseh tones in the technique of Chinese +poetry, especially in modern poetical compositions. But although the +ping-tseh tones are indispensable to the rhythm of the modern poem, +there are, as I have remarked above, other factors required to form a +perfect 'tsueeh', or 'Lueh', or 'pai-lueh', and most elaborate instructions +as to the use of each character or line in relation to other characters +and lines in the same stanza must be mastered before a poem can be +constructed that would satisfy the eye and ear, and literary standard, +of the modern Chinese critic of poetry. But it must not be forgotten +that the scholarly Chinese poet is just as familiar as his Western +_confrere_ with the metaphor, simile, allegory, epigram, climax, and all +other figures of speech which are common in the prose and poetry of a +literary people; and the skilful use of these in harmony with the rigid +ping-tseh rules concerning rhythm and rhyme is a task of considerable +difficulty for the conscientious poet. Fortunately the ancient poets did +not adhere very rigidly to technique; and not a few modern poets have in +many of their compositions imitated the ancient style. Besides the +tsueeh and lueh there are many poetical compositions, such as the ko, +hsing, yin, tz'e, k'ueh, p'ien, yong, yao, t'an, ai, yuen, and pieh--many +of them of very ancient origin, which are all put under the generic term +'yoh-fu', implying that they are compositions which can be set to music +and sung, chanted, recited, &c. Some of the most charming poetical +compositions are found in Chinese anthologies under the above-mentioned +headings; but in this brief introduction it is only possible just to +call the attention of readers to them without attempting to describe the +form of each separately. For the same reason I cannot attempt any +description of the ancient terms fung, ya, song, &c., to which, however, +translators of the Shi-King have given some attention. + +It is doubtful, indeed, whether the information which I can crowd into a +few introductory pages will help readers to gain an insight into Chinese +poetry in the making, or utterly confuse them; but I am loath to send +forth the translations without an introduction, and I must, therefore, +remind readers again that this introduction gives only the barest +outline of the rise and progress of Chinese poetry, and of a few of the +factors which are required by modern technique in the construction of +poetical compositions since the revival of literature and poetry in the +T'ang Dynasty. + +It should be observed that no attempt has been made to reproduce the +technique outlined above in the English translations of Chinese poems in +this book, as it would be impossible to restrict the translations to +lines of five and seven words. In Chinese each character is a word of +one syllable only, therefore a five-character line of poetry contains +only five monosyllabic words, and a seven-character line seven +monosyllabic words; but as many articles, pronouns, prepositions, +auxiliary verbs, &c., which are understood in the Chinese, must be +inserted in the English translation in order to connect the meaning of +the five or seven monosyllabic words which form a line of Chinese +poetry, it is obvious that, in most cases, the length of the line in the +translation must be longer than that in the original Chinese. Some +Chinese poems might be rendered into English in lines of five or seven +syllables without doing much violence to the meaning of the original, +but in most cases, the five or seven monosyllabic line in Chinese is +translated into English far more correctly and accurately by a line of +eight, ten, or more syllables, because the Chinese reader mentally +inserts connecting parts of speech which must be written in English to +make the grammar correct and the meaning of a line complete. + + + + +BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES OF A FEW OF THE MORE EMINENT CHINESE POETS + + +LI PEH. + +Li Peh (Tai Peh; Tsing Lien) lived during the T'ang Dynasty, probably +from A.D. 699 to 762, and he is regarded as the most brilliant of all +Chinese poets. + +He was connected by descent in the ninth generation with the Imperial +family of the T'ang Dynasty, but was born in a remote part of the Empire +now included in the Szechwan Province. + +When but ten years old Li Peh was familiar with poetry and other +branches of literature, and, as he grew older, his ability and genius +attracted the attention and praise of the highest in the land. When +introduced to the Court at Chang-an, Ho Chi-chang, one of the courtiers, +exclaimed:--'He is one of the immortal genii banished to earth.' For a +short time, too, he was greatly favoured by the Emperor, Hsueen-Tsung, +but, having incurred the enmity of the Emperor's chief concubine, he had +to withdraw from the Court and relinquish all hopes of official +promotion. + +He then travelled widely, writing many poems on the beauties of nature, +and also in praise of wine and music, to the former of which he was too +strongly addicted. + +In the later part of his life, it seems, he became involved in political +intrigues, for which offence he was banished to a distant region. But in +his old age he was allowed to return, and he ended his days peacefully +at T'ang-t'u (a place near the modern Nankin), whose governor was a +kinsman named Li Yang-ping. + + +CHANG KIU-LING. + +Chang Kiu-ling (Tze Sheo) was the son of an official in the T'ang +Dynasty. At a very early age he displayed great ability, and while still +comparatively young, took a high literary degree (Tsintze), and then +held high office under the Emperor Hsueen-Tsung, with whom he sometimes +ventured to remonstrate for his licentious life. Once when all the +courtiers presented valuable gifts to the Emperor on his birthday, Chang +Kiu-ling presented him with a book written by himself and styled 'The +Thousand Year Mirror', showing the causes of success and failure in +former dynasties. His advice, however, was not seriously heeded at the +time, but after his death his faithfulness was appreciated and he was +ennobled and afterwards canonized by the Emperor. + +It is recorded by one writer that Chang Kiu-ling, when a youth, trained +pigeons to carry letters to his friends. + + +WEI YING-WUH. + +Wei Ying-wuh was a native of Honan during the T'ang Dynasty, and his +poetical skill ranks very high even in that famous period. During the +Cheng-Yuen reign (A.D. 785-804) he was appointed Prefect of Suchow, +where his beneficent rule and devotion to literature called forth the +gratitude and admiration of the people. + + +SU SHI. + +Su Shi (Tze-Chan; Tong-Po), A.D. 1036-1101, was a native of Mei-shan in +Szechwan. He won the highest literary degrees, and was advanced from one +official office to another until he became a Minister of State; but, +owing to political feuds and intrigues, he was degraded from his high +office in the capital and sent to fill inferior posts in distant parts +of the Empire, where he wrote poetry and diffused a love of literature +among the people he ruled. + + +TU FU (A.D. 712-770). + +Tu Fu (Tu Tze-Mei) was the son of Tu Fan-yen, a high official in the +T'ang Dynasty. In the estimation of his countrymen he ranks next to Li +Peh among the great poets of the Tang Dynasty, and a few critics would +give him a still higher place. + +When Tu Fu's literary ability and poetical genius were made known to the +Emperor, office and honours were bestowed on him. + +In the poetical composition known as the Seven-character Pai-lueh, Tu Fu +is the most famous of all the poets of the T'ang Dynasty, if not of all +Chinese poets. + + +EO YANG SIU (A.D. 1017-1072). + +Eo Yang Siu (Yong-Shuh) was a famous scholar of the Song Dynasty; and he +filled high official posts both in the capital and provinces, under the +Emperor Ren-Tsong. + +Being a man of integrity and independence he remonstrated with his +Imperial master on several occasions, and sometimes suffered temporarily +for his courage. His character, however, was appreciated by the Emperor, +and restoration to favour followed every temporary eclipse. After his +death he was canonized as Wen Chong Kong. His literary works are +numerous. + + +SU WU (200-100 B.C.). + +Su Wu (Tze K'ing) lived in the Han Dynasty. When sent on a mission to +the Khan of the Hsiung-nu he was seized by that ruler and ordered to +renounce his allegiance to the Han Emperor; and on refusing to do this +he was cast into prison. Afterwards he was banished for many years to +the desert region around Lake Balkash, where he was compelled to tend +the flocks of the Hsiung-nu; but he persisted in his loyalty to the Han +Dynasty. On his return to China, when a grey-headed old man, he was +greatly honoured by the Emperor, and his portrait was hung up in the +Khi-lin Koh (Council Chamber). + +He is held up as a pattern of loyalty by Chinese writers. His poetical +compositions are ancient but not numerous. + + +LI LING (First Century B.C.). + +Li Ling was a military commander in the Han Dynasty. Given command of an +army in the war against the Hsiung-nu he rashly advanced into the +enemy's country with only a few thousand soldiers, who were surrounded +and all but three or four hundred killed, and Li Ling was captured, and +spent the rest of his life in exile. His name is mentioned in the +Introduction to this book of translations. + + +CHU KWANG-HI. + +Chu Kwang-hi was a soldier of the T'ang Dynasty. He passed the highest +literary examinations, and was appointed a member of the Censorate by +the Emperor Hsueen Tsong. + + +CHEN TZE-ANG. + +A celebrated scholar of the T'ang Dynasty. He filled various official +offices, but is most famous for the work he did in advancing the +renaissance of literature during the T'ang Dynasty. Wang Shih, a learned +writer of the same period, said that Chen Tze-ang was the most famous +scholar in the Empire of that time. + + +T'AO YUEN-MING (A.D. 365-427). + +T'ao T'sien (T'ao Yuen-ming) was a scholar and poet of the Song Dynasty. +He was appointed Magistrate of a district, but after filling the office +only a short time he resigned it and retired into private life, spending +the remainder of his years in writing poetry and in musical pursuits. + + + + +CHINESE POEMS + + + + +_Only a Fragrant Spray_ + +NAME OF POET UNKNOWN (HAN DYNASTY OR EARLIER) + + + Ah me, the day you left me + Was full of weary hours; + But the tree 'neath which we parted + Was rich with leaves and flowers. + + And from its fragrant branches + I plucked a tiny spray, + And hid it in my bosom + In memory of that day. + + I know the endless distance + Must shut you from my view, + But the flower's gentle fragrance + Brings sweetest thoughts of you. + + And, though it's but a trifle, + Which none would prize for gain, + It oft renews our parting, + With all the love and pain. + + + + +_The River By Night in Spring_ + +BY CHANG POH-HSUe + + + In Spring the flooded river meets the tide + Which from the ocean surges to the land; + The moon across the rolling water shines + From wave to wave to reach the distant strand. + + And when the heaving sea and river meet, + The latter turns and floods the fragrant fields; + While in the moon's pale light as shimmering sleet + Alike seem sandy shores and wooded wealds. + + For sky and river in one colour blend, + Without a spot of dust to mar the scene; + While in the heavens above the full-orbed moon + In white and lustrous beauty hangs serene. + + And men and women, as the fleeting years, + Are born into this world and pass away; + And still the river flows, the moon shines fair, + And will their courses surely run for ay. + + But who was he who first stood here and gazed + Upon the river and the heavenly light? + And when did moon and river first behold + The solitary watcher in the night? + + The maples sigh upon the river's bank, + A white cloud drifts across the azure dome; + In yonder boat some traveller sails to-night + Beneath the moon which links his thoughts with home. + + Above the home it seems to hover long, + And peep through chinks within her chamber blind; + The moon-borne message she cannot escape, + Alas, the husband tarries far behind! + + She looks across the gulf but hears no voice, + Until her heart with longing leaps apace, + And fain would she the silvery moonbeams follow + Until they shine upon her loved one's face. + + 'Last night,' she murmured sadly to herself, + 'I dreamt of falling flowers by shady ponds; + My Spring, ah me! half through its course has sped, + But you return not to your wedded bonds.' + + For ever onward flows the mighty stream; + The Spring, half gone, is gliding to its rest; + While on the river and the silent pools + The moonbeams fall obliquely from the west. + + And now the moon descending to the verge + Has disappeared beneath the sea-borne dew; + While stretch the waters of the 'Siao and Siang',[1] + And rocks and cliffs, in never-ending view. + + How many wanderers by to-night's pale moon + Have met with those from whom so long apart:-- + As on the shore midst flowerless trees I stand + Thoughts old and new surge through my throbbing heart! + +[1] Two streams flowing into the Yangtze River. + + + + +_The Beauty of Snow_ + +BY PAO-CHAO + + + A thousand miles across the Dragon Mountains + The North Wind blows the whirling flakes of snow, + Until they gather on my terraced garden, + And drift before the gate in furrowed row. + + Unlike the coloured plum and fragrant peach trees, + Whose buds stretch forth to greet the warm Spring days, + At dawn the snow lies in unsullied whiteness, + But flees to shelter from the sun's bright rays. + + The peach flower and the plum flower have a beauty, + Which flourish in the warmth of sun and shower; + The snow's brief charm is purity and brightness, + It does not claim the sun tints of the flower. + + + + +_A Maiden's Reverie_ + +T'SIN DYNASTY, A.D. 265-419 + + + The plum-tree's flower awakens + Thoughts of my lover now, + And I would pluck some blossoms + And send to far Si-chow. + + But such a distant region + The flowers might never reach, + While if I go in person, + How great the joy to each! + + I'll brush my glossy tresses, + More dark than raven's plume; + I'll wear my plum silk mantle, + And banish tears and gloom. + + But where, alack, is Si-chow? + Far in the North, I know; + Oh, when I've crossed the river + I'll ask which way to go! + + Ah me, the sun is setting, + Si-chow is far away; + The birds are homeward turning, + I cannot start to-day. + + I'll keep an evening vigil + Beneath the cedar-tree + That stands outside the porch-way; + My love may come to me! + + The jewels my hair adorning + Are glistening with the dew; + But still my lover tarries;-- + What keeps him from my view? + + A gentle breeze is blowing, + The night is bright as day; + I'll go and gather lilies, + And meet him on the way. + + In the early Autumn season + The lotus lilies red + Are in the south pool growing, + And reach above my head. + + My thoughts on old times musing, + I stoop to pluck some seeds, + In their shimmering greenness + As water 'mongst the reeds. + + I put some in my bosom, + For the core is red as blood, + As the heart of a true lover, + When love is at the flood. + + Pressed to my bosom closely-- + No safer place, I wot, + For tokens of betrothal; + And yet my love comes not! + + Above my head in batches + The wild geese northward hie, + And they will pass o'er Si-chow! + Oh, would that I could fly! + + I'll mount the northern turret; + Perhaps from that lofty height + I'll see my lover coming, + The herald of the light. + + Although the tower is lofty, + I cannot see afar + To where my love is dwelling, + Beneath the Northern Star. + + From morn until the evening-- + How long the hours do seem!-- + I've paced around the turret, + As in a weary dream. + + Once more I'll raise the curtain, + And show my lamp's pale light; + My love may miss the pathway, + And wander in the night. + + How lofty are the heavens! + How vast the heaving sea! + Ah, life is sad and dreary + When love comes not to me! + + But though my heart is weary, + I trust my lover's vow; + The south wind knows my longings + And will bear them to Si-chow. + + And though the seas divide us + Our hearts are one for ay, + And in sweet dreams will mingle + Until the meeting day. + + + + +_A Song of the Marches_ + +BY LI TAI-PEH + +T'ANG DYNASTY + + + The Tien-shan peaks still glisten + In robes of spotless white; + To songs of Spring I listen, + But see no flowers around. + + The ground is bare and dreary, + No voice of Spring I hear, + Save the 'Willow Song',[2] so eerie, + I play upon my flute. + + At morn the fight will follow + The sound of bugle call; + Each man, in sleep, the hollow[3] + Across his saddle clasps. + + And by his side unrusted, + His sword is closely laid, + With which he long has trusted + The tyrant foe[4] to slay. + + On noble chargers riding, + And fleeter than the wind, + All fears and risks deriding, + They cross the river Wei. + + Their bows are tautened tightly, + Their quivers full of shafts, + They face the danger lightly, + And charge the haughty foe. + + As rocks by lightning riven + Their ranks are rent apart; + As clouds by tempest driven + They break and flee away. + + Then on the sand, blood-streaming, + The weary victors sleep, + Their swords with hoar-frost gleaming, + Their bows dark shadows cast. + + The Pass has been defended, + The foes are scattered far, + The soldiers' wives untended + May seek their homes again. + +[2] The name of a tune. + +[3] The Chinese saddle is curved upwards both in front and at the back, +leaving a deep hollow in the centre where the rider sits. + +[4] Tartar tribes beyond the frontiers. + + + + +_The Cowherd and the Spinning-Maid_[5] + +BY LUH-KI + + + Brightly shines the Starry River + Flowing down the Heavenly glade; + From the north-west comes the 'Herd-Boy', + From the south-east looks the 'Maid'. + + Quickly waves a white hand shapely, + Sadly smiles her beauteous face, + When she sees her faithful lover + Far across the glittering space. + + Arms stretched out towards each other-- + With impulsive feet they stand; + Eyes with sorrow's tears bedewed-- + On the Star-Stream's shining strand. + + But, alas, that bridgeless River + Is the cause of all their pain, + Dooming 'Spinning-Maid' and 'Herd-Boy' + Nevermore to meet again. + +[5] According to a Chinese legend the stars K'ien-Niu (Cowherd) and +Chih-Nue (Spinning-Maid) are two lovers, doomed by the gods to live on +opposite sides of the 'River of Stars' (Milky Way). As there is no +bridge over this river, the two lovers can only stand afar and gaze at +each other. (See note to 'The Swallow's Song'.) + + + + +_The Old Soldier's Return_ + +AN ANCIENT POEM: POET UNKNOWN + + + I was but fifteen when I left my friends + For distant climes to fight our Country's foe, + And now I'm eighty--back for the first time + To see the home I left so long ago. + + Where is the house? I should be near it now, + Yet possibly I may have gone astray; + Long years abroad have blurred the youthful brain, + I'll ask this countryman to point the way. + + 'The house is yonder--midst those grassy mounds, + Beneath the shade of fir and cypress trees, + And there lie buried all the kith and kin + Of former tillers of these fallow leas.' + + The veteran sighed and wandered to the house, + And found it overgrown and desolate; + A startled hare fled through the kennel's hole, + And pheasants flew from ceiling beams ornate. + + Exhausted by the journey and his grief, + The old man plucked some grain from patches wild, + And mallows from around the courtyard well, + As in the days when but a little child. + + But when the homely fare was cooked and spread, + And not a friend to cheer the lonely place, + He rose, and going out to eastward gazed, + While tears flowed down his worn and furrowed face. + + + + +_On the Lake near the Western Mountains_ + +BY CH'ANG KIEN. + +T'ANG DYNASTY (ANCIENT STYLE) + + + Here at the foot-hills of the Western Mountains + My boat rides idly on the current's trail, + And in the lengthening radiance of the sunset + It seems to chase its own reflected sail. + + While in the rarer light that heralds evening + The forms of all things clearer seem to grow; + The forests and the glades and mountain ranges + Catch added beauty from the afterglow. + + The graceful minarets in cloudland floating + From jadestone green take on a sombre hue, + But still flush rose tints in the darkness falling, + Although the sun has disappeared from view. + + The shadows of the islands and the islets + Stretch far across the surface of the lake; + The evening mists that float above the waters + Are bright as rain-clouds after showers break. + + In the distance Tsu's[6] abounding forests + Reveal their sombre outlines in the gloom; + While on the farther shore the gates of King-chow + Within the growing darkness faintly loom. + + The atmosphere with nightfall groweth clearer, + A north wind blows with shrill voice through the land; + While on the sandy stretches by the waters + The swan and stork in dreamy silence stand. + + The waters now have ceased from restless heaving, + My little boat is screened by rushes green; + The moon emerging from the lake's horizon + A soft light sheds upon the silent scene. + + Amid the silence and the ghostly beauty + I touch my lute to plaintive songs of old, + And soon the pleasant strains and long-drawn cadence + Have seized my senses in their subtle hold. + + Thus in such ecstasy the hours pass quickly, + And midnight comes with undetected speed; + But now the heavy dew upon me falling + Recalls my senses to the body's need. + + Ah me! my body's but a fragile vessel + Upon the ever-moving sea of life, + Where light and shade and fitful joys and sorrows + Control me in their everchanging strife. + +[6] The name of a large feudal State in the Cheu Dynasty; it included +Hupeh and Hunan and parts of Honan and Kiangsu. King-chow on the Yangtze +was the capital. + + + + +_The Happy Farmer_ + +BY CHU KWANG-HI + +T'ANG DYNASTY + + + I've a hundred mulberry trees + And thirty 'mow' of grain, + With sufficient food and clothes, + And friends my wine to drain. + + The fragrant grain of 'Ku-mi' seed + Provides our Summer fare; + Our Autumn brew of aster wine + Is rich beyond compare. + + My goodwife comes with smiling face + To welcome all our guests; + My children run with willing feet + To carry my behests. + + When work is done and evening come, + We saunter to the park, + And there, 'neath elm and willow trees + We're blithe as soaring lark. + + With wine and song the hours fly by + Till each in cloudland roams, + And then, content with all the world, + We wander to our homes. + + Through lattice-window steals a breeze, + As on my couch I lie, + While overhead the 'Silver Stream' + Flows through a splendid sky. + + And as I gaze it comes to mind-- + A dozen jars at least + Of the aster-scented wine remain + To grace to-morrow's feast. + + + + +_An Old House Unroofed by an Autumn Gale_ + +BY TU FU + +T'ANG DYNASTY + + + The roof of my house has been blown away + By the fiercest of Autumn winds to-day; + It was merely of grass and branches built-- + Yet my only shelter save a wadded quilt. + + Across the river it scurried and whirled, + In tangled tufts, by the hurricane hurled, + Ascending in gusts till caught by the trees, + Or falling in ponds and on furrowed leas. + + In great delight the village urchins shout, + And say I'm old and cannot run about; + And now before my face the rogues begin + To steal things, and then run away and grin. + + At last I drive them off and hobble back + To find my home is shelterless, alack! + My lips are parched, my tongue is stiff and dry; + My strength is gone, I can but rest and sigh. + + The wind has slackened but dark clouds affright, + And wintry is the fast approaching night; + My bed is worn and hard, my clothing spare, + I cannot sleep for pain and anxious care. + + The rain still drizzles through the rafters high, + 'Tween which I see the drifting stormy sky, + And everything is damp and comfortless: + What can be done to lighten such distress? + + Oh, would there were a mansion of delight, + A hundred million rooms both fair and bright, + To shelter all the poor beneath the skies, + And give the joy which lasting peace supplies. + + Could I but see this mansion rise sublime + Before my eyes at this, or any time; + My house and life to lose I'd be content, + Could such great blessing to the world be sent. + + + + +_The Lament of the Ladies of the Siang River_[7] + +BY YUEN I-SHAN + + + The rose and orchid deck the fragrant isles, + And white clouds fly towards the Northern strand; + But though a thousand autumns pass away, + Our 'Lord' will not return to mortal's land. + + The clouds are drifting to and fro in vain, + Across the river blows the autumn breeze, + And o'er the water floats a fine, white mist, + While moonlight falls on stream and wooded leas. + + Upon the lofty 'Kiu-e'[8] mountain range + Throughout the night the gibbons wail and call, + And from the voiceless boughs of tall bamboos + The tears so long retained in dewdrops fall. + +[7] According to a Chinese legend the Ladies of the Siang River are +Nue-Ying and Ngo-Hwang, the two wives of the Emperor Shun, and this poem +describes their lament for his death. + +[8] According to another legend the Emperor Shun was buried in the Kiu-i +Mountains. + + + + +_The Waters of the Mei-Pei_ + +BY TU FU + +T'ANG DYNASTY + + + Two friends whose love of wonders led them oft + To leave the haunts and scenes of every day, + Invited me to join them in a voyage + Across the waters of the dread Mei-Pei![9] + + Where nature in her changeful moods is seen, + In grandeur and in terror side by side; + Where mighty forces alter heaven and earth, + And puny human strength and life deride. + + Will countless billows of the wide expanse + In ceaseless motion mount and roll afar? + Through fluid piles of seeming crystal rocks + Will our boat sail beyond the sheltering bar? + + Delightful is the venture that we take, + And yet dire fears will gather in our throat, + The gavial huge may come in search of prey, + The monster whales may overturn our boat! + + Fierce winds may rise and billows roll and break! + But our brave friends unloose the flowing sail, + And through the scattering flocks of duck and tern + The boat glides on--the white foam in our trail. + + The pure and bracing air inflates our lungs-- + Afar from towns where dust with cleanness vies; + The boatmen chant gay ditties as they work, + While sounds of lutes rise to the azure skies. + + As fresh as dew on early morning flowers + The leaves of water-lilies float around, + Upon the surface of the water clear, + Through which we peer in vain to find the ground. + + Then yielding to the current, broad and strong, + Toward the central flood we quickly forge; + The waters pure as those of Puh and Hsiai,[10] + Yet darkly deep as in the Chong-Nan gorge.[11] + + The mountain heights whose base abuts the lake + Are mirrored clearly in the southern end; + The Great Peace Temple, which in cloudland hangs, + Reflects its image in the eastern bend. + + The moon has risen, and its silver beams + Across the Lan-Tien Pass[12] in beauty glow, + While we sit idly on the vessel's side + And watch the nodding peaks in depths below. + + And as we view the mirage of the heights + Which tower in mighty strength above our heads, + The swift Li-Long[13] in prodigal display + A shower of pearls upon the water spreads. + + The Ruler of the Rivers[14] beats his drum, + And dragons haste the summons to obey; + The Consorts[15] of the ancient king descend, + Led by the Maiden of the Star-lit Way.[16] + + To branched instruments of beaten gold, + Adorned with pendants of sapphire and jade, + They sing, and dance, midst lights of many hues, + Which flash in splendour, then in darkness fade. + + In ecstasy we watch the wondrous scene, + But awe and joy are mingled in our mind, + For now far off we hear the thunder peal, + And lowering clouds with lurid lights are lined. + + The waters heave with burdensome unrest, + The air is full of shadows of the dead; + The Spirits of the Universe are near, + And we cannot divine their portents dread. + + And such is life--an hour of changing scenes + Of fitful joy and quickly following grief; + An hour of buoyant youth in rapid flight, + And then old age to end life--sad and brief! + +[9] A vast body of water in some wild and remote part of the Empire, +probably in the north-west; but the exact locality is disputed. + +[10] The names of two rivers, or the two words combined may mean the +clear water of a deep cove or inlet. + +[11] A deep gorge in the Chong-nan Mountains in Shen-si. + +[12] A famous Pass near Si-ngan, the provincial capital of Shen-si. + +[13] A fabulous Dragon whose mythological ancestry and habitat I am +unable to trace. + +[14] Ping-i, name of the Chinese God of Waters. + +[15] Nue-Ying and Ngo-Hwang, daughters of the Emperor Yao, and wives of +the Emperor Shun (2288 B.C.?). + +[16] The Spinning-Maid. See legend of Cowherd and Spinning-Maid. + + + + +_The Swallow's Song_[17] + +BY EMPEROR WEN + +OF THE WEI DYNASTY (A.D. 220-264) + + + The autumn winds are blowing, + The air is cool and drear, + The forest leaves are falling, + The grass is scant and sear. + + The dew to hoar-frost changes, + And swallows southward fly; + While from the North in batches + The wild swan cloud the sky. + + And I such signs discerning + Think of you, husband dear, + And long for your home-coming + From marches long and drear. + + Why do you longer tarry + In such a distant place? + Think of my lonely vigils, + Sad thoughts and tear-stained face! + + The harp I often finger, + And try to sing a song; + But soon I sigh and falter, + And for your coming long. + + The Moon's pure light is shining + Upon my lonely bed; + The 'Star-Stream's'[18] westward flowing, + The night is not far sped. + + The Cowherd and the Spinning-Girl[19] + Lament the doom that bars + The meeting of true lovers, + Across the Stream of Stars. + + What folly did they ponder + To meet so dire a fate? + I wonder if we also + Are doomed to trial as great! + +[17] In this poem the thoughts of a woman, whose husband is engaged in +the wars beyond the frontier, are described by the poet. + +[18] The Milky Way. + +[19] K'ien-Niu (Cowherd) and Chih-Nue (Spinning-Girl) are the names of +two stars and, according to a Chinese legend, these two stars are lovers +doomed to gaze at each other across the wide 'River of Stars'; i.e. the +Milky Way, but never meet. According to one version of the legend, +however, the lovers are allowed to meet once a year, on the seventh +night of the Seventh Month, when birds form a bridge over the 'River of +Stars' to enable the Spinning-Girl to meet her lover. + + + + +_Farewell to a Comrade_ + +BY CHEN KIA-CHOW + +T'ANG DYNASTY + + + Cold gusts from Arctic regions sweep the ground, + And snowflakes countless fly through the wintry sky, + Covering with spotless robe the earth around, + While snow flowers frail on twigs and branches lie. + + As when a genial breeze in early Spring + Shakes open all the pear-trees' blossoms white, + And sombre-looking trees with leafless boughs + Are decked with radiance in a single night. + + Through crevices and slits in bamboo blinds, + Which shield the entrance to our hempen tent, + Snow-whirls and keen winds blow and chill the blood, + In spite of furs and wadded garments blent. + + Cold so intense is felt by all alike-- + The General cannot stretch his horn-tipped bow, + In coats of mail the Captains stiffly move, + While soldiers growl or mutter curses low. + + Far off the desert stretches as a sea, + In frozen ridges like to driven clouds, + Alas, the multitudes of warriors brave + The pathless waste of cruel sand enshrouds! + + But now our happy comrade homeward turns, + We'll drink his health to sound of viol and flute, + And see him safely on his journey start; + Another cup, and then the old salute! + + Falls thick the snow around the fortress walls, + The red flag frozen stirs not in the air, + As forth we ride from out the Eastern gate,-- + In jostling groups, or quietly pair by pair. + + Nearing the Tien-shan[20] road we draw in rein, + To bid our comrade there a last farewell, + And watch him upward climb the mountain path + To peaks that touch the clouds where genii dwell.[21] + + But soon the winding path conceals from view + The fading horsemen as they upward wend; + All we now see are footprints in the snow, + As 'ih-lu fuh-sing'[22] we towards them send. + +[20] The Tien Mountains; in many books of geography erroneously +described as Tien-Shan Mountains. + +[21] According to Chinese mythology, the top of the Tien Mountains touch +heaven and are the abode of the genii. + +[22] May the Star of Happiness accompany you to the end of the journey. + + + + +_Beauty's Fatal Snare_[23] + +BY LI HAN-LIN + +T'ANG DYNASTY + + + The ravens roost upon the towers of Su, + While revels reign within the Court of Wu; + The rustic Si-Shi with her peerless face, + Her slender form, her witching smile and grace. + + Inflamed by wine, she now begins to sing + The songs of Wu to please the fatuous king; + And in the dance of Tsu she subtly blends + All rhythmic movements to her sensuous ends. + + Si-Shi o'er Wu her spell has surely cast, + The King of Yueeh has snared his foe at last; + With wine, and song, and dance, the hours fly by: + The water-clock[24] has dripped till almost dry. + + Behind the hills appears the flush of dawn, + Beyond the river sinks the moon forlorn; + And now the sun climbs up the towers of Su; + What of the revellers in the Halls of Wu! + +[23] The Prince of Yueeh wishing to ruin his rival, the Prince of Wu, +presented to him a very beautiful girl, named Si-Shi, who had been +taught all feminine accomplishments. Fu-Ch'a, the Prince of Wu, fell +into the snare, and besotted by dissolute pleasures, became an easy +victim to the Prince of Yueeh who annexed the State of Wu to his own +dominions. After his defeat Fu-Ch'a committed suicide. + +[24] Time was measured by the clepsydra, and the expression indicates +that the night was far spent and dawn near. + + + + +_A Reverie in a Summer-house_ + +BY MENG HAO-RAN + +T'ANG DYNASTY (A.D. 618-905) + + + The daylight fades behind the Western Mountains, + And in the east is seen the rising moon, + Which faintly mirrored in the garden fountains + Foretells that night and dreams are coming soon. + + With window open--hair unloosed and flowing,[25] + I lie in restful ease upon my bed; + The evening breeze across the lilies blowing + With fragrant coolness falls upon my head. + + And in the solemn stillness--all-prevailing, + The fall of dewdrops from the tall bamboos-- + Which grow in graceful rows along the railing-- + Sounds through the silence soft as dove's faint coos. + + On such an eve as this I would be singing, + And playing plaintive tunes upon the lute, + And thus to mind old friends and pleasures bringing; + But none are here to join with harp and flute! + + So in a pleasant stillness I lie dreaming + Of bygone days and trusty friends of old, + Among whom Sin-tze's[26] happy face is beaming; + I would my thoughts could now to him be told. + +[25] In ancient times the hair was worn long and knotted on the top of +the head. + +[26] The name of a genial companion of earlier days. + + + + +_The Flower-Seller_[27] + +BY TSING-NIEN + +TSING DYNASTY + + + The sun is sinking in the sky, + It scarcely reaches a flagstaff high; + And now the pretty flower-girl dares + Come out to sell her fragile wares. + Her voice rings out a message sweet, + As on she trips with lightsome feet, + To buy her musk and jessamine, + Her violets and white eglantine. + And the fresh perfumes of her flowers, + After last night's refreshing showers, + Borne on the gentle breeze soon find + An entrance through my lattice blind. + The windows of the rich and great + Are opened wide, and heads, ornate + With glossy hair and jewels bright, + Are thrust forth in the evening light + Of the setting sun, whose shadow falls + On the straight lines of brick-built walls, + By which men marked the time of day[28] + Ere clocks and watches came their way. + And many flowers of beauteous hue, + Still sparkling with the morning dew, + Are bought by ladies rich and fair, + To deck their deep black lustrous hair. + +[27] A modern poem composed by a successful student at a Government +Examination. + +[28] Formerly the time of day was roughly ascertained by such means. + + + + +_The Red-Flower Pear-Tree_ + +BY EO YANG SIU + +SONG DYNASTY + + + Posted to a distant mountain region, + The old Lang-Kwan,[29] grown grey in honest work, + Oft wandered through the valleys rough and dreary + In search of treasures which might therein lurk. + + One day, growing in a sheltered corner, + He found a red-flowered pear-tree in full bloom, + And before it stood transfixed with wonder, + As when a dazzling brightness shines through gloom. + + Wondering how so fair a plant could flourish + Away from genial clime and native earth, + Circled by a thousand mist-clad mountains, + And far from fragrant trees of kindred birth. + + High its beauty-laden branches rising + Above the gaudy brambles trailing there, + Standing lonely in its perfect grandeur, + With none, alas! to view the picture rare. + + Save the vernal breeze which strips its blossoms + And blows them open, year by year, again; + Or the feathered tribes of mountain ranges + In search of shelter from the mist or rain. + + Showing it has braved the storms for ages, + Its roots are curved and knotted with the fight; + Yet the Lang-Kwan is the first of mankind + To look with pleasure on so fair a sight. + + Drinking in the wealth of dewy fragrance, + He walked around the tree for many hours, + But held by reverential love and wonder, + He durst not raise a hand to pluck the flowers. + + To himself the old man murmured gently, + I wish I could remove the tree from here + To grace the garden of the King's demesne, + And find a royal consort for its peer. + + Such a task, alas! would be much harder + Than the long and toilsome journey of Chang-K`an,[30] + When he brought the beautiful pomegranate + From Western regions to the Land of Han. + +[29] A District Magistrate in ancient times. + +[30] Chang-K`an, or Chang-K`ien, a Minister of the Emperor Wu of the Han +Dynasty. In this poem it is said that he brought the pomegranate to +China, but other writers say the grape-vine. + + + + +_A Song of Princess Tze-Yuh_[31] + +BY HAN-CHONG + +(ANCIENT) + + + As Southern birds avoid a Northern snare, + My kin avoid alliances with thine; + And though my love for thee would greatly dare, + I know our clans the marriage would decline. + + I would have followed thee, but evil talk + Besmirched our names and sent us far apart; + But why the world its love of slander balk? + 'Tis evil fate that has despoiled my heart! + + I wept for thee and mourned for three long years, + As mourns the phoenix when her consort's dead; + And then death came and ended grief and tears; + For after thee no other could I wed. + + And now you stand before my grave and grieve, + My wraith's permitted for a moment's space, + The confines of the Spirit land to leave + And visit earth to see thee face to face. + + And, oh believe, though quick we part once more, + And in the body cannot meet and love, + Our souls are one till life and time are o'er, + And we united in the realms above. + +[31] Tze-Yuh, daughter of Fu-Chai, Prince of the Wu State, and Han-Chong +loved each other and wished to marry, but political feuds prevented +their union. Thereupon Han-Chong travelled abroad, and Tze-Yuh, after +three years of fruitless mourning, died of grief. When Han-Chong +returned and visited Tze-Yuh's grave to mourn there, he had a vision of +her beautiful face, which inspired him to compose this song. + + + + +_Distaste for Official Life_ + +BY TAO TSIEN + +T'SIN DYNASTY + + + For thirty years I read, and mused, and wrote, + Or idly angled from my fishing-boat; + Or wandered through the woods, or climbed the hills, + Listening to songsters and to murmuring rills; + + Or sauntering in my garden talked with flowers, + As friend with friend, for many happy hours; + Or working in my fields ablaze with golden grain, + And herbs and fruits which keep life clean and sane. + + Far from the busy mart and huckstering crowd, + Striving for gold or place with brawlings loud,-- + From youth to middle age I've passed my days + Midst flowers and fields hearing what Nature says. + + And now, alas! I'm on this boat and bound + For far King-chow, with rank and office crowned; + To village home and friends I've bid farewell, + And of life's peace, I fear, I've tolled the knell. + + From off the shore a pleasant breeze now blows, + And on and on the placid river flows; + While the pale shining of the Queen of Night + Floods the great universe with silvery light. + + I cannot sleep, the future weights my mind, + The calls of office--cares of every kind + Oppress me with a sense of coming woes-- + A forlorn hope against unnumbered foes! + + I fain would tune my harp and ballads sing, + Some comfort to my sinking heart to bring; + But such poor solace even is denied-- + My hands are nerveless and my tongue is tied. + + How can I leave my former happy life + To mingle in ambition's worldly strife! + What care I for the spoils of rank and power, + The petty triumphs of the passing hour! + + My office I'll resign and homeward turn + To till my farm beside the rippling burn, + Where I in happy freedom may once more + The Muses and the Book of Nature pore. + + There in my rustic lodge in leisure time, + I'll cherish every thought and scene sublime, + And following still the teachers of my youth + A name I'll build upon eternal truth. + + + + +_The Fragrant Tree_ + +BY WEI YING-WUH + +T'ANG DYNASTY + + + In a far-off fragrant garden + Grows a tree of beauty rare, + Whose reflection on the brooklet + Makes a vision fair. + + But when now I see this vision, + Heart and mind are wrung with grief, + Mourning hours of blissful meeting-- + Every hour too brief. + + Rich as ever is the foliage, + Opal clouds the shimmering boughs, + And the dewy leaves still glisten + While the sun allows. + + But, alas, Her presence lacking, + What are all such things to me! + She will never more be plucking + Blossoms from this tree. + + Here beside the brook are traces + Of her light and gladsome feet; + But again we two shall never + In this garden meet. + + + + +_A Song of the Snow_ + +BY LUH FANG-WENG + + + Three days it snowed on Chang-an[32] plain, + With drifts the Pass[33] was stacked; + The iron cows[34] could not be moved, + The dew-pans[35] froze and cracked. + + A traveller of handsome mien, + And clad in white foxskin, + With curled moustache and strong of limb, + Came to the Pao-chan[36] inn. + + At night he supped and drank full well + Until he soundly slept; + But in the early dawn he woke + And on his strong horse leapt. + + Then riding through the drifts of snow + He reached the South Range bare, + And hunted for a tiger fierce + Which long had 'scaped the snare. + + And when the crafty beast was met, + An arrow from his bow + Transfixed its bounding body huge, + And reddened deep the snow. + + With dying strength it beat the air, + And uttered piercing yells, + Which shook the hills and forest trees, + And echoed through the dells. + + The carcase then he dragged back + Along a crowded course; + The bones a pillow frame supplied, + The skin adorned his horse. + + But when confusion fills the land, + And peace is under ban, + Why don't such men of might come forth + To help the King of Han! + +[32] Now Si-ngan, the provincial capital of Shen-si, but in the Han +Dynasty the capital of China. + +[33] A very important mountain pass near Si-ngan. + +[34] Vessels used in the conservancy of the Yellow River. + +[35] Pans to hold dew, which was collected to provide the Emperor Wu of +the Han Dynasty with bathing-and drinking-water and thus promote +longevity. + +[36] 'The Precious Hairpin,' merely the sign of the inn. + + + + +_The Old Temple among the Mountains_ + +BY CHANG WEN-CHANG + +T'ANG DYNASTY (618-905 B.C.) + + + The temple courts with grasses rank abound, + And birds throng in the forest trees around; + But pilgrims few, though tablets still remain, + Come to the shrine while revolutions reign. + + The mice climb through the curtains--full of holes, + And thick dust overspreads the broidered stoles; + The temple pool in gloomy blackness lies + To which the sleeping dragon[37] sometimes hies. + +[37] The meaning of this expression is not clear; it has a political +signification. + + + + +_A Soldier's Farewell to his Wife_ + +BY SU-WU[38] + +HAN DYNASTY, OR EARLIER + + + My dear wife, you and I have been as one, + No doubt has marred the faith, which love has won, + Our chief desire throughout the married state + Has been of love and joy to give and take. + + But now, alas! the joy of Spring departs, + And sorrow's shafts must enter both our hearts; + I cannot sleep; I must arise and see + The time; ah me, how quick the hours do flee! + + Awake, my dearest, for the stars have set, + The grief of parting must be bravely met; + And yet the dreary marches weight my mind,-- + As through defiles and desert plains they wind. + + And then, at last, the awful battle-field, + Where I must fight and naught to foemen yield; + But, oh! the bitter, paralysing pain-- + To think that we may never meet again! + + I must let fall the long restrained tears + As, clasping hands, you calm my anxious fears; + If not, my heart will break with sighs repressed + To hear your love so tenderly confessed. + + But courage, we will think of Young Love's day, + And all the pleasures which therein did stay; + And this shall cheer me on the toilsome road, + And help you here to bear your weary load. + + Then with what joy we shall renew our life, + When I return safe from the dreadful strife; + But if, alas! the Fates should death decree, + My spirit shall for ever live with thee. + +[38] Chinese commentators regard this poem as Su's farewell to his own +wife, written when he was sent on an expedition to the land of the +Hsiung-nu, where he was captured and kept in captivity for many years. + + + + +_The Wanderer's Return_ + +BY TU FU + +T'ANG DYNASTY + + + The setting sun beneath the red-lined clouds, + Which mass around the foot-hills in the west, + Still floods the valley with a rose-hued light, + And lures the chirping birds to seek their rest. + + The wayworn traveller pauses near the gate, + From which he sallied forth so long ago; + Unconscious then of what Fate held in store-- + The years of separation, loss, and woe. + + The neighbours press around the garden fence, + And gaze with mouth agape, or quietly sigh; + While wife and children awestruck, rigid stand, + And then tears flow and to his arms they fly. + + 'For years on revolution's waves I've tossed, + While wife and bairns mourned me in hopeless plight; + And now to-night, as in a dream, I sit + With all my loved ones 'neath the lamp's bright light.' + + + + +_The Pleasures of a Simple Life with Nature_ + +BY LI-SHANG-YIN + +T'ANG DYNASTY + + + On these pleasant hills residing, + Far from worldly din and strife, + Leisurely with nature living, + Here I pass a happy life. + + Gently wave the bamboo copses, + Fanned by evening breezes light; + While the flowers and moon-beams mingle + In the ghostly hours of night. + + Through ravines the waters gurgle, + Stemmed by scattered rock and stone; + Round the bends the footpath wanders-- + By the mosses overgrown. + + Here with friends and habits simple, + And a cup of generous wine, + Fingering lute and old songs singing-- + For no other heaven I pine. + + + + +_Listening to the Playing on a Lute in a Boat_ + +BY SU-SHIH + + + In my boat I sat alone, + And the hours were fast in flight, + When the sound of music broke + The stillness of the night. + + Sighing winds through fir-trees swept, + Falling cascades murmured low, + As the master touched his lute-- + So lovingly and slow. + + Clutching fast my lapelled coat, + Rapture swayed me without bounds, + As with every nerve intent, + I listened to the sounds. + + Yet again I longed to hear + Ancient chimes on jadestone bell, + Drawn forth by the Master's hand + From lute he loved so well. + + Since the days of Chen and Wei,[39] + When confusion filled the land, + Music rare of ancient style + Has found but scant demand. + + Times and instruments alike, + For a thousand years and more, + Silent and forgotten lay, + And few the loss deplore! + + One alone--the priceless lute-- + Change and storm and wreck survives, + Watching nations rise and wane, + As god of mortal lives. + + Music old is now decried, + Light songs and ditties sought, + Strains insipid, jerky turns, + Light and crispy wrought. + + Instruments of wood remain, + Void of human feelings sweet, + Which the soul of ancient song + Never more may greet. + + Peaceful is the river now, + Moon-beams play upon the scene, + From the ceaseless din of life + Night provides a pleasant screen. + + In the silence of this hour, + Will you, Master, yet once more, + Wen-wang's[40] melodies revive, + As in the days of yore? + +[39] The Wei and Ch'en Dynasties. + +[40] Duke Chang, the virtual founder of the Chow Dynasty; Wen Wang being +his posthumous title. His son, Prince Wu, was the first ruler of the +Chow Dynasty. + + + + +_Reflections on the Past_[41] + +THIS IS ONLY ONE SECTION OF A LONG POEM BY TAO TSIEN. + + + The sun went down and cloudless came the night, + A gentle zephyr breathed through moonlit skies; + And bevies of fair women thronged the Court, + The beauty of the starlight in their eyes. + + With wine and singing swiftly flew the hours + Until the herald of the dawn appeared; + But when the music and the rapture ceased, + Deep sighs were heard and weird forebodings feared. + + Such beauty even in the Halls of T'sin + As on this fateful night was seldom seen,-- + A lustrous moon in fleecy clouds it shines! + A splendid flower amidst the foliage green! + + How fair the groups of revellers--fair the scene! + But pleasures such as these must pass away! + How keen the raptures of those fleeting hours! + What of the burdens of the coming day? + +[41] This poem probably refers to the revelries of the Court at the end +of the T'sin Dynasty 300-200 B.C., before it was overthrown by the +founder of the Han Dynasty. + + + + +_A Lowly Flower_ + +BY BAY SIE T'IAO + +T'ANG DYNASTY + + + A flowering grass I rise + From the side of a far-spread lake, + Whose waters lave and fertilize, + And all my thirsty tissues slake. + + The dews of Spring with gentle power + Evolve my glossy emerald leaves; + The colours of my fragrant flower + The rime of early Autumn weaves. + + And yet in trembling fear I grow, + Lest root and stem should be uptorn + By sudden storm or rushing flow, + And leave me helpless and forlorn. + + So here contented will I lie, + Although a plant of humble birth; + Nor try to soar to realms on high + Above the confines of the earth. + + For never yet has living soul + By strength or wisdom changed his fate; + All things are under heaven's control, + Who allocates to each his state. + + + + +_On returning to a Country Life_ + +BY TAO TSIEN + + + My youth was spent amidst the simple charms + Of country scenes--secure from worldly din, + And then, alas! I fell into the net + Of public life, and struggled long therein. + + The captive bird laments its forest home; + The fish in tanks think of the sea's broad strands; + And I oft longed, amidst official cares, + To till a settler's plot in sunny lands. + + And now I have my plot of fifteen 'mow',[42] + With house thereon of rustic build and thatch; + The elm and willow cast a grateful shade, + While plum-and peach-trees fill the entrance patch. + + Away from busy towns and dusty marts, + The dog barks in the silent country lane; + While chickens cluck among the mulberry-trees, + And life is healthy and the mind is sane. + + Here in my house--with room for friend or two, + On my own farm--won from the barren plain, + Escaped from cares of office and routine, + I live a free and natural life again. + +[42] A Chinese acre, a measure of land equal to about one-fifth of an +English acre. + + + + +_The Brevity of Life_ + +POET UNKNOWN: HAN DYNASTY, OR EARLIER + + + Our years on earth are brief, + But few a hundred win; + A thousand years of grief + Are packed therein. + + The day quick takes its flight, + The dark is sad and long; + Then let us cheer the night + With feast and song. + + The niggard thinks it wise + To save and live by rule; + But sages may arise + To call him fool! + + + + +_Conscripts leaving for the Frontier_[43] + +BY TU-FU + +T'ANG DYNASTY + + + Chariots rumbling; horses neighing; + Soldiers shouting martial cries; + Drums are sounding; trumpets braying; + Seas of glittering spears arise. + + On each warrior's back are hanging + Deadly arrows, mighty bows; + Pipes are blowing, gongs are clanging, + On they march in serried rows. + + Age-bowed parents, sons and daughters + Crowd beside in motley bands; + Here one stumbles, there one falters + Through the clouds of blinding sands. + + Wives and mothers sometimes clinging + To their loved ones in the ranks, + Or in grief their bodies flinging + On the dusty crowded flanks. + + Mothers', wives', and children's weeping + Rises sad above the din,-- + Through the clouds to Heaven creeping-- + Justice begging for their kin. + + 'To what region are they going?' + Asks a stranger passing by; + 'To the Yellow River, flowing + Through the desert bare and dry! + + 'Forced conscription daily snapping + Ties which bind us to our clan; + Forced conscription slowly sapping + All the manhood of the Han.' + + And the old man went on speaking + To the stranger from afar: + ''Tis the Emperor, glory seeking, + Drives them 'neath his baleful star. + + 'Guarding river; guarding passes + On the frontier, wild and drear; + Fighting foes in savage masses-- + Scant of mercy, void of fear. + + 'Proclamations, without pity, + Rain upon us day by day, + Till from village, town, and city + All our men are called away. + + 'Called away to swell the flowing + Of the streams of human blood, + Where the bitter north wind blowing + Petrifies the ghastly flood. + + 'Guarding passes through the mountains, + Guarding rivers in the plain; + While in sleep, in youth's clear fountain, + Scenes of home come back again. + + 'But, alas! the dream is leaded + With the morn's recurring grief, + Only few return--grey-headed-- + To their homes, for days too brief. + + 'For the Emperor, still unheeding + Starving homes and lands untilled, + On his fatuous course proceeding, + Swears his camps shall be refilled. + + 'Hence new levies are demanded, + And the war goes on apace, + Emperor and foemen banded + In the slaughter of the race. + + 'All the region is denuded + Of its men and hardy boys, + Only women left, deluded + Of life's promise and its joys. + + 'Yet the prefects clamour loudly + That the taxes must be paid,-- + Ride about and hector proudly! + How can gold from stones be made? + + 'Levy after levy driven, + Treated more like dogs than men, + Over mountains, tempest riven, + Through the salty desert fen. + + 'There by Hun and Tartar harried-- + Ever fighting, night or day; + Wounded, left to die, or carried + Far from kith and kin away. + + 'Better bring forth daughters only + Than male children doomed to death, + Slaughtered in the desert lonely, + Frozen by the north wind's breath. + + 'Where their bodies, left unburied, + Strew the plain from west to east, + While above in legions serried + Vultures hasten to the feast. + + 'Brave men's bones on desert bleaching, + Far away from home and love, + Spirits of the dead beseeching + Justice from the heaven above.' + +[43] This poem is an attempt to describe the miseries of the people +under compulsory military service during the long wars carried on by the +Emperor Hsueen-Tsung of the Han Dynasty. + + + + +_Estimating the Value of a Wife_ + +UNKNOWN: ANCIENT + + + Once upon a time a husband, weary + Of the selfsame face before him day by day, + Determined to dismiss his goodwife promptly, + And take a new one--to her great dismay! + + Without delay the little deal was settled,-- + The husband on his purpose being bent,-- + The new wife through the front door entered grandly, + The old one from a side-door sadly went. + + One day the old wife to her home returning + From gathering wild flowers on the mountain side, + Met with her quondam master in the valley, + And, kneeling, asked him how the new one vied. + + 'The new wife', said the husband very slowly, + 'Has beauty that is equal to your own, + But still her hands are not so deft and useful, + Nor can she compass so much work alone. + + 'The new wife's hands are very skilled in weaving + Embroidered satins with her dainty touch; + The old wife's fingers, faster and unwearied, + Of useful fabrics weave five times as much. + + 'So when I reckon up the charms and uses + Of goodwives, number One and number Two, + There's little room within my mind for doubting, + I had the better bargain when I'd you.' + + + + +_The Lady Lo-Fu_ + +HAN DYNASTY, OR EARLIER + + + On a bright and sunny morning, + From her mother's house there came, + One who needed no adorning,-- + Lo-Fu was the lady's name. + + On her arm a basket swinging, + Made of silk her own hand weaves, + Forth she wanders blithely singing, + Bent on gathering mulberry leaves. + + From her head in graceful tresses + Falls the fine and lustrous hair, + While each shapely ear caresses + Just one pearl of beauty rare. + + Purple bodice, broidered quaintly, + Silken skirt with amber lace, + Gave the touch demure and saintly + To her sweetly winsome face. + + Travellers dropped the loads they carried, + And in wonder stroked their chin; + Young men, whether free or married, + Doffed their hats a glance to win. + + Farmers stay their hand in ploughing, + Peasants stand as in a dream, + Now and then the trees allowing + Of the girl a passing gleam. + + On this morn an Envoy passing, + From a mission to the sea, + Where much wealth he'd been amassing, + Saw Lo-Fu beneath a tree. + + For her silkworms food providing, + Work she did with greatest zest; + All her friends around residing + Owned her silk was of the best. + + Near the tree the Envoy stopping + With his escort in array, + Soldiers boughs of mulberries lopping + Helped to make a fine display. + + From his retinue emerging + Came the Envoy's trusty man, + Who his master's message urging, + Gently asked her name and clan. + + 'Lo-Fu,' came the answer proudly, + 'Of the ancient house of T'sin!' + Adding, too, a little loudly, + 'And my age is seventeen.' + + 'Will you join me?' asked the Envoy, + 'Sharing all my wealth and power, + All the treasures of this convoy + Would not far exceed your dower!' + + 'You have a wife,' she answered coldly, + 'And most foolish are, I fear; + I,' she added firm and boldly, + 'Also have a husband dear. + + 'And my husband is the leader + Of a thousand horsemen brave, + Midst whom not one base seceder + Would another captain crave! + + 'On his charger, white and fiery, + 'Mongst the troop he's first espied, + Soldier-like, erect and wiry, + With his keen sword by his side. + + 'When but fifteen he enlisted + Without patronage or fame, + And at twenty, unassisted, + Officer at Court became. + + 'Then at thirty, unexpected, + Captain in the Royal Clan; + Now at forty he's selected + Chief commandant of Ch'ang-an. + + 'Gallant, but of gentle bearing, + When the battle's fought and won, + For the praise of men less caring + Than the meed for duty done. + + 'Yes, a clear-eyed, clean-souled hero + Is the man I'm praising now, + And your value sinks to zero + When compared with his, I vow. + + 'True, a lowly work I'm doing, + And the silk we use I spin, + But remember you are wooing + Lo-Fu of the House of T'sin.'[44] + +[44] The ancient State of T'sin, which finally embraced the whole of +Shen-si and Kansuh. In 221 B.C. this State under Shi Hwang Ti subdued +all China, and thereafter the ruling sovereigns are known as the T'sin +Dynasty. + + + + +_An Autumn Evening in the Garden_ + +BY LI YI + + + The Summer's gone, but summer heat remains, + And sleepless nights still leave us all repining; + So to the garden I have moved my couch, + And on it I am peacefully reclining. + + The white clouds spread themselves across the sky, + And through the rifts the moon's soft light is falling + On dewy grass and flowers and trees around, + While from the towers night birds are faintly calling. + + The gentle rustling of the tall bamboos + In subtle symphony of tone is blending + With the waters of the fountain and the brook, + Which flow and murmur on their ways unending. + + While through the gauzy garments which I wear + The cooling evening breeze is gently blowing, + My feeling of contentment is more deep + Than when I'm where the ruby wine is flowing. + + + + +_Muh-Lan_[45] + + + Muh-Lan's swift fingers flying to and fro + Crossed warp with woof in deft and even row, + As by the side of spinning-wheel and loom + She sat at work without the women's room.[46] + But tho' her hand the shuttle swiftly plies + The whir cannot be heard for Muh-Lan's sighs; + When neighbours asked what ills such mood had wrought, + And why she worked in all-absorbing thought; + She answered not, for in her ears did ring + The summons of last evening from the King, + Calling to arms more warriors for the west, + The name of Muh-Lan's father heading all the rest. + But he was ill--no son to take his place, + Excuses meant suspicion and disgrace; + Her father's honour must not be in doubt; + Nor friend, nor foe, his stainless name shall flout; + She would herself his duty undertake + And fight the Northern foe for honour's sake. + Her purpose fixed, the plan was soon evolved, + But none should know it, this she was resolved; + Alone, unknown, she would the danger face, + Relying on the prowess of her race. + A charger here, a saddle there, she bought, + And next a bridle and a whip she sought; + With these equipped she donned the soldier's gear, + Arming herself with bow and glittering spear. + And then before the sun began his journey steep + She kissed her parents in their troubled sleep, + Caressing them with fingers soft and light, + She quietly passed from their unconscious sight; + And mounting horse she with her comrades rode + Into the night to meet what fate forbode; + And as her secret not a comrade knew, + Her fears soon vanished as the morning dew. + That day they galloped westward fast and far, + Nor paused until they saw the evening star; + Then by the Yellow River's rushing flood + They stopped to rest and cool their fevered blood. + The turbid stream swept on with swirl and foam + Dispelling Muh-Lan's dreams of friends and home; + Muh-Lan! Muh-Lan! she heard her mother cry-- + The waters roared and thundered in reply! + Muh-Lan! Muh-Lan! she heard her father sigh-- + The river surged in angry billows by! + The second night they reach the River Black, + And on the range which feeds it, bivouac; + Muh-Lan! Muh-Lan! she hears her father pray-- + While on the ridge the Tartars' horses neigh; + Muh-Lan! Muh-Lan! her mother's lips let fall! + The Tartars' camp sends forth a bugle call! + The morning dawns on men in armed array + Aware that death may meet them on that day; + The Winter sun sends forth a pallid light + Through frosty air on knights in armour bright; + While bows strung tight, and spears in glittering rows, + Forebode the struggle of contending foes. + And soon the trumpets blare--the fight's begun; + A deadly _melee_--and the Pass is won! + The war went on, and many a battle-field + Revealed Muh-Lan both bow and spear could wield; + Her skill and courage won her widespread fame, + And comrades praised, and leaders of great name. + Then after several years of march and strife, + Muh-Lan and others, who had 'scaped with life + From fields of victory drenched with patriots' blood, + Returned again to see the land they loved. + And when at last the Capital[47] was reached, + The warriors, who so many forts had breached, + Were summoned to the presence of the King, + And courtiers many did their praises sing; + Money and presents on them, too, were showered, + And some with rank and office were empowered; + While Muh-Lan, singled out from all the rest, + Was offered fief and guerdon of the best. + But gifts and honours she would gladly lose + If she might only be allowed to choose + Some courier camels, strong and fleet of pace, + To bear her swiftly to her native place. + + * * * * * + + And now, at last, the journey nears the end, + And father's, mother's voices quickly blend + In--'Muh-Lan, Muh-Lan! welcome, welcome, dear!' + And this time there was naught but joy to fear. + Her younger sisters decked the house with flowers, + And loving words fell sweet as summer showers; + Her little brother shouted Muh-Lan's praise, + For many proud and happy boastful days! + The greetings o'er, she slipped into her room-- + Radiant with country flowers in fragrant bloom-- + And changed her soldier's garb for woman's dress: + Her head adorned with simple maiden's tress-- + A single flower enriched her lustrous hair-- + And forth she came, fresh, maidenly, and fair! + Some comrades in the war had now come in, + Who durst not mingle in the happy din; + But there in awe and admiration stood, + As brave men do before true womanhood; + For not the boldest there had ever dreamed, + On toilsome march, or when swords flashed and gleamed + In marshalled battle, or on sudden raid, + That their brave comrade was a beauteous maid. + +[45] Muh-Lan was a famous heroine of the Liang Dynasty (A.D. 502-556) +who, when her father was summoned to serve as a soldier in the wars on +the north-western frontier, and was unable to obey the order on account +of sickness, put on a soldier's dress and took his place in the army for +several years. She fought in many battles, winning great praise for her +bravery, and ever since she has been regarded as the ideal of daughterly +devotion and feminine courage. + +[46] In the porch of the women's apartment. + +[47] The capital of China at that time was Chang-an, now Si-an-Fu the +provincial capital of Shen-si. + + + + +_The Old Fisherman_ + +BY LUH FANG-WEN + +T'ANG DYNASTY + + + While wandering up the river-side alone + To view the landscape of my new-found home, + Away from cities and the haunts of men + Where I midst nature's scenes can quietly roam, + + I came upon a fisher's lonely hut + Ensconced within a winding of the stream, + And in a boat the fisherman himself; + While on his sail the sunlight sent a gleam. + + Across the river stands a stately mountain + Which wandering artists oft have tried to paint, + But none could seize the subtle blend of colours-- + Of purple blues and rose-dawn flushes faint. + + Alas! the fisherman through summers many, + Has gazed upon the glory of this scene, + And yet his mind's unwakened to its beauty, + His hand unskilled to limn its tints and sheen. + + And my hand, too, alas! has lost its cunning + And cannot serve my brain as in my youth, + So men will lose another glorious picture + Of Nature with her beauty and her truth. + + + + +_Midnight in the Garden_ + +BY LIU TSONG-YUEN + +T'ANG DYNASTY (ANCIENT STYLE) + + + The midnight hours were passing + And sleep still past me flew; + My mind--so keenly working-- + Could hear the dropping dew. + + So from my bed arising + I open wide the door-- + The western park revealing, + And hills that heavenward soar. + + Across the Eastern ranges + The clear moon coldly shines + On bamboos, loosely scattered, + And trailing mountain vines. + + And so intense the stillness, + That from the distant hills + I hear the pigeons cooing, + And murmuring streams and rills. + + For hours I have been thinking, + As in a silent dream, + And now beyond the mountains + I see the dawn's first gleam. + + + + +_Reflections on the Brevity of Life_ + +POET'S NAME UNKNOWN: HAN DYNASTY OR EARLIER (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) + + + We sought the city by the Eastern gate, + Our chariot moving at a leisured rate, + Along the road on which the sunlight weaves + The trembling of the willow's rustling leaves. + + And far away are pine-trees towering high, + Beneath whose shade the graves of heroes lie; + In Hades now their last long sleep they take, + From which a mortal never more shall wake. + + How vast the gulf between the quick and dead! + Yet as the morning dew our life is sped; + The rocks and hills enduring strength retain, + But mortals pass in fast and endless train. + + Alas! the sages are inert to trace + Beyond the grave the future of our race; + Alchemic nostrums, too, are used in vain, + They cannot turn life's ills to endless gain. + + Then let us drain the goblet while we live, + And take the best the fleeting hour can give. + In life a little pleasure may be won, + To-morrow we must die and there'll be none. + + + + +_So-fei gathering Flowers_ + +BY WANG CHANG-LING + + + In a dress of gauzy fabric + Of the 'Lien' leaf's emerald hue + So-fei glides amongst the lilies + Sprinkled with the morning dew. + + Rose-hued are the lotus-blossoms, + Rose-hued, too, the maiden's cheeks; + Is it So-fei's form I follow, + Or the flowers she seeks? + + Now I hear a song arising + From the lotus bowers, + Which distinguishes the maiden + From her sister flowers. + + + + +_A Farewell_[48] + +BY LI TAI-PEH + + + Far up the Song-Yang's sacred mountain, + Unrestrained by lock or bridge, + Plows a pure and peaceful streamlet + 'Neath the 'Gem-Maid's' grassy ridge. + + There at eve midst pine-trees sombre + Looms the large and lustrous moon; + And within my ancient dwelling + You I hope to welcome soon. + + Yes, my friend, I'll come to see you + At the closing of the year, + In your home among the mountains, + Where you live without a fear. + + Deep in searching for the Chang-pu, + With its bloom-flushed purple flower, + Which endows the happy finder + With immortal life and power. + + Ere I come you may have found it, + And to realms where genii dwell + Winged your flight upon the dragon, + Bidding to our earth farewell. + +[48] Poems similar to this one are frequently written by literary men in +China when bidding farewell to a friend. + + + + +_The Khwun-ming Lake_ + +BY TU FU + + + In ancient times the flags of Wu[49] + Made gay the Khwun-ming Lake,[50] + On which his ships in mimic strife + The decks of foemen rake. + + But now deserted is the scene, + And in the moon's pale light, + The Spinning-Maid[51] upon the shore + Sits silent in the night. + + The Autumn breezes seem to move + The mammoth stony whales,[52] + And send a tremor through their frames + Vibrating all their scales. + + The Ku-mi[53] seeds float on the waste, + As clouds of sombre hue; + The lotus-flowers are crushed beneath + The weight of frozen dew. + + While from the cloud-capped Pass[54] above, + The eagle's eye aglow, + Sees but an aged fisherman + Midst lakes and streams below. + +[49] The Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne 140 B.C. + +[50] A lake probably situated to the south-west of Chang-an, the capital +of China in the Han Dynasty. This city is now the provincial capital of +Shen-si and better known as Si-an. + +[51] A stone image of the Spinning-Maid stood on one shore of the lake, +and another of the Cowherd on the opposite shore. + +[52] A stone image of an immense fish covered with finely carved scales +was also placed by the side of the lake. + +[53] A kind of rice. + +[54] Probably the celebrated 'Tung' Pass near Chang-an. + + The whole poem has a political signification implying that + revolution had turned the country into a wilderness, and + desolation taken the place of former prosperity and greatness. + + + + +_Reflections_ + +BY CHANG KIU-LING + + + The foliage of the lilies in the Spring + In glowing freshness shows its vernal birth; + While in the Autumn cassia-blossoms bright + Renew the beauty of the fading earth. + + In seasons such as these our hearts rejoice, + And deeper thoughts arise within the mind, + As Nature woos us in a tender mood, + And teaches lessons that are true and kind. + + Who would not be as grass and flowers and trees, + That denizen the forest and the hill, + And listening to the music of the winds, + With sympathy and mutual gladness thrill! + + For flowers have natures teaching them to live + In sweet content in glen, or glade, or field; + By plucking them fair women cannot add + Aught to the happiness their own lives yield. + + These four stanzas are but a section of a long poem. In this + allegory the poet reveals his own distaste for official life + and his love of Nature. Beautiful women cannot add to the + happiness of the flowers by plucking them, &c., implies that + the Emperor cannot increase the happiness of the poet by + appointing him to high official posts, and inviting him to the + Court. + + + + +_Pride and Humility_[55] + +BY CHANG-KIU-LING + +T'ANG DYNASTY (A.D. 618-905) + + + I'm but a sea-bird, wandering here alone, + And dare not call the ponds and lakes my own; + But what are those two lovely birds on high, + Shining resplendent 'gainst the morning sky? + + Upon the top bough of the San-Chu[56] tree, + Presumptuously they build that all may see; + Their feathers than the iris lovelier far, + What if a missile should their beauty mar! + + Such brilliant robes, which they with joy expose, + Might well excite the envy of their foes; + And even the gods may view with dire disdain + The high ambition of the proud and vain. + + Now I in quiet obscurity can roam + Far from my nest, flecked by the ocean's foam; + Yet, in a world where greed is always rife, + No one would raise a hand to take my life. + +[55] This translation is only a portion of a long poem. + +[56] A mythical tree of the genii; but in the poem it may mean a very +conspicuous tree. + + + + +_Dwellers in the Peach Stream Valley_[57] + +BY CHANG-HSUeEN + +T'SING DYNASTY + + + While the master was wrapped in slumber the fishing-boat slipped its + stake, + And drifted, and swirled, and drifted far over the broadening lake, + Till islets, and mainland, and forests came into view once more, + While the fisherman gazed and pondered the lay of the new-found + shore. + But erelong he espied an opening, shown by the broken wave, + And in venturous mood he steered his boat into a narrow cave, + Where an azure mist obscured the scenes through channels long and + low, + As the current bore him gently into a world of long ago. + In this old, flower-bestrewed land, at first no path the eye could + tell, + For on the streams and on the banks the red rain of peach flowers + fell; + Yet from the purple-shadowed mountains which screened this favoured + land + Flowed forth the Peach-Fount river along its bed of silver sand; + But, winding with the stream, the thickset peach-tree groves with + red-veined flowers + Hid the cooling waters flowing in and out the shady bowers. + And here and there along the banks, set in nooks of calm repose, + Were cottage homes of rustic work from which the wreathed blue smoke + arose; + Showing that in this happy valley beyond the world's dull roar, + Life went on as sweet and simple as in the golden days of yore, + And the people of this valley in their ancient garments clad + Were courteous in their manners and rejoiced in all they had; + While the dogs and fowls beside them harmonized with all at hand, + And the mulberry-tree and flax-plant hid the former barren land. + When the dwellers in this favoured region saw the stranger guest, + They set before him food and wine and kindly bade him rest; + And when true courtesy allowed they asked of the things and men + In the world of sin and sorrow far beyond their quiet life's ken. + And when the time to leave them came, and the stranger could not + stay, + They led him through the cavern's channels and saw him sail away. + In after life the fisherman often tried again, but failed + To find the opening to the Valley through which he once had sailed; + But when the sand of life through the glass its course had nearly + run, + He thought he saw the way lay to it beyond the westering sun. + +[57] There are many versions of this legend both in poetry and prose. +The introductory and closing lines of the translation are partly based +on other versions of the story than that in the poem translated. + +This poem and 'The Fishermen's Song', and 'The Students' Ramble', are +taken from 'A Selection of Poems' written by successful graduates at the +Government Examinations during the present dynasty. + +Many of these prize poems are cleverly and beautifully written, and they +reveal considerable poetic talent, but not the power and genius found in +the work of ancient Chinese poets. + + + + +_The Five Sons_ + +BY TAO TSIEN + +T'SIN DYNASTY (A.D. 265-419) + + + I am wrinkled and gray, + And old before my day; + For on five sons I look, + And not one loves a book. + + Ah-Shu is sixteen years, + The sight of work he fears; + He is the laziest lout + You'd find the world throughout. + + Ah-sueen has tried in vain + A little wit to gain; + He shirks the student's stool, + At grammar he's a fool! + + Yong-twan is thirteen now, + And yet I do avow + He can't discriminate + The figures six and eight![58] + + Tong-tze is only nine, + But clearly does opine + That life, with all its cares, + Consists of nuts and pears. + + Alas, that Fate so dour + On me her vials should pour! + What can I do but dine, + And drown my woes in wine! + +[58] Implies that he is a thorough dunce. + + + + +_The Journey Back_ + +BY A POET OF THE HAN DYNASTY + +NAME UNKNOWN[59] (206 B.C. TO A.D. 220) + + + The journey back has now begun, + The Chariot winds along the road-- + The road which seems for aye to run + To me with my sad load! + + How vast the wilderness around, + As o'er the endless track we pass; + The only moving thing and sound-- + The east wind through the grass! + + The things I see are not the old, + As mile on mile the way is won, + And quick as these things change are told + Our years--and age comes on. + + By nature's law each cycle brings + A time to flourish and decay, + And, with her perishable things, + We, too, must pass away. + + No power have we with time to brave, + As iron and stone, the grave's stern claim, + One treasure only can we save-- + An everlasting fame. + +[59] The poet's name is unknown, but he (or she?) lived during the Han +Dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 220), or earlier. + + + + +_The Gallant Captain and the Innkeeper's Wife_ + +BY SIN YEN-NIEN + +HAN DYNASTY (206 B.C. TO A.D. 220) + + + Among the near attendants of the famous General Ho,[60] + The Champion of the Emperor Wu and terror of his foe, + Was a gay and gilded youth of the name of Fung Tze-tu, + Who loved to slay the fair sex as the general did Hsiong-nu; + Presuming on his master's fame he bantered every girl, + And fancied he himself was great--he lived in such a whirl. + The landlord of the wine-shop was scarcely a man of means, + But had a young and pretty wife not yet out of her teens; + And with this charming lady Fung Tze-tu was wont to flirt; + But though so young and charming she was very much alert. + One day in Spring this hostess fair, in gracious serving mood, + Alone attended to the wants of guests for wine and food. + Attired in flowing skirt, and girdled loose with girlish wile, + Embroidered vest and wide-sleeved outer robe of ancient style; + Her slender head on either side with massive tresses graced, + And crowned with Lan-tien[61] jade, below with Ta-tsin[62] pearls + enlaced: + This young and dainty figure, said the gallants with a sigh, + Was a sight with which no other on this earth could ever vie; + And as they posed before her in their elegant attire, + She deftly filled their glasses, and allowed them to admire. + Just as this dainty hostess stood alone within the inn, + Preparing special vintages selected from the bin, + Up rode a gay young officer with canopy of rank, + Accompanied by attendants afoot on either flank; + His charger's handsome trappings richly bound at every joint, + And silver-mounted saddle burnished to the flashing point,-- + Alighting from his horse there stood the son of the Kin-Wu,[63] + The very gallant officer, the dashing Fung Tze-tu. + He called for wine in tasselled jug, and carp on golden plate, + And thought such lavish bravery the lady would elate; + Besides such show he offered her a mirror burnished bright, + Together with a red silk skirt of gauzy texture light; + All these, he thought, must surely daze the eyes of woman vain, + Who does not give her smiles for love, but for the greatest gain: + Alas! within the lady's mind quite other thoughts found vent, + More poignant when she spied within the red silk skirt a rent. + The rent within the skirt, she mused, no pang in you has wrought, + Nor would the loss of my good name cause you a serious thought; + For men soon tire of wives and seek their joys in faces new, + But wives are true to their first spouse and gallants do eschew; + Among the lowly born, as in the camp or royal abode, + Are women who are true to death to honour's stainless code: + I thank you for the favours shown, brave son of the Kin-Wu, + But this time you have loved in vain, my gallant Fung Tze-tu! + +[60] General Ho K'ue-ping, died 117 B.C., Commander of the Armies of Han +Wu Ti in several victorious campaigns against the Hsiung-nu. + +[61] Lan-tien, a district in Shen-si, famous for its jade. + +[62] Ta-tsin, the Roman Empire. + +[63] A military officer of the Han Dynasty, holding a rank similar to +that of Captain-General. + + + + +_The Lady Chao-Chiuen_[64] + +BY EO YANG SIU + +SONG DYNASTY (A.D. 960-1278) + + + The Court of Han which shone with beauty rare + Of high-born women dowered with faces fair, + Had one within it, yet unknown to fame, + Of lowly fortune but of gentle name. + + Now every flower had spared some hue or grace + To form Chao-Chiuen's divinely lovely face; + But courtier's greed had barred the Palace gate, + Which Chao-Chiuen's father would not try to sate. + + Nor could the maid herself her beauty flaunt, + And hold her fair name light for gold or taunt; + Her Royal Master, therefore, did but jibe + At portraits of her, painted for a bribe. + + And so this peerless girl was left alone, + Who might have shared Yueen's imperial throne. + But Yen-Show's greed at last itself betrayed, + And charges grave against him were arrayed; + + Then traitor-like, as harried fox, or doe, + He fled the Court to help the Northern foe; + And with true portraits of the lovely maid, + He fired the Tartar Chief his plans to aid. + + Abetted by this courtier, wise and arch, + The Tartar armies crossed the Emperor's march, + And devastated all the country near, + From which the people fled in piteous fear. + + The Han King, conscious of his waning power, + Now sought for terms of peace in danger's hour; + And these were granted, if, with parlance brief + The Lady Wang would wed the Tartar chief. + + But ere the peerless maiden left her home, + To brave the mountains and the desert roam, + The Emperor saw her, and his heart stood still, + Yet basely feared to thwart the Tartar's will. + + The silence passed, he raved in passion's whirl, + And slew the painter who had limned the girl; + But useless were such puny acts, and cruel, + Which to a burning throne were added fuel. + + For how could monarch, who perceived no more, + Of things which happened near his Palace door, + Expect to force the Hun to own his sway, + Encamped in strength a thousand miles away? + + And so Chao-Chiuen, beneath her weary load, + With royal guards began the endless road, + Watering with tears each lowly wayside flower, + The sport, alas! of beauty's fateful power. + +[64] Chao-Chiuen, or Wang Chao-Chiuen, was a very beautiful girl who was +precluded from entering the presence of the Emperor Yuan (Han Yuan Ti) +by an avaricious courtier, Mao Yen-sheo, who bribed the court painter +to present ugly portraits of Chao-Chiuen to the Emperor, because her +family would not pay the large sums of money he demanded. Afterwards Mao +Yen-sheo's wiles became known to the Emperor, and he fled to the Khan of +the Hsiung-nu to whom he showed a true portrait of Chao-Chiuen. Thereupon +the Khan invaded China with a great army, and demanded the Lady +Chao-Chiuen as the price of peace. Afraid to refuse, the Chinese Emperor +surrendered Chao-Chiuen to the Tartar chief who then retired beyond the +Wall. According to a popular but untrustworthy version of this story, +Chao-Chiuen, when she reached the Heh-long Kiang (Amur River), jumped +into the stream rather than cross the boundary which separated her from +her native land. + + + + +_Night on the Lake_ + +BY SU TONG-PO + +SONG DYNASTY (A.D. 960-1278) + + + The breeze is sighing through the water grass, + As up and down the narrow deck I pass; + And through the rarest mist of Autumn night + The rain-moon floods the lake with pallid light. + + The boatmen and the water-fowl sleep sound, + And in their dreams see other worlds around; + The big fish startled sneak in haste away, + As flurried fox flees from the dawning day. + + In depths of night it seems the human soul + Its sway o'er other things has lost control; + I and my shadow play upon the strand + That marks the boundary of the silent land. + + We watch the secret tides in noiseless work, + Forming new isles where earthworms safely lurk; + And on the moon--a monstrous pearl--we gaze, + Looming through willow-trees in silver haze. + + Amidst our life of changing grief and woe, + A glimpse of purer worlds will come and go, + As on this lake when nature's holy power + Speaks to us in the dark and silent hour. + + But hark, the cock crows; rings the temple bell! + And birds awake in mountain, plain, and dell; + The guardship beats its drum, the boats unmoor, + While din and shouting on the hearer pour. + + + + +_The Fishermen's Song_ + +PRIZE POEM, BY CHENG-CHENG + +T'SING DYNASTY + + + The sun is sinking in the west, + Bidding the fishermen think of rest. + 'To-day,' they cry, 'no need to search, + The people rush to buy our perch; + Of shell-fish, too, we are bereft, + We've scarcely half a basket left!' + And at the piles of silver bright + They laugh, and shout, 'Good wine to-night!' + 'We'll with the village wits combine + And drink our fill of "Luh-e"[65] wine; + Then if we feel inclined to roam, + The fisher-boys shall lead us home.' + So off they go to the evening meal, + And 'Luh-e' wine is drunk with zeal; + And after draining every glass, + They doff the fishers' coat of grass, + And with wild shouts a net they seize + And rush out in the evening breeze, + Intent on catching the mirrored moon, + Bright in the sea as the sun at noon. + Tricked by the moon to their hearts' content, + Shoreward they move on music bent; + The pipes of Pan, and flutes, come out, + Wine and music have a fine bout; + Voices and instruments combined + Soon leave no discord undefined! + After the shouting and the din + Even fishermen had to turn in; + So spreading their sails in a sandy cave, + And soothed by the sound of the lapping wave, + Tired and languorous the reveller yields + To sleep, and dreams of Elysian fields! + +[65] 'Luh-e,' the name of a famous wine. + + + + +_The Students' Ramble_[66] + +BY LU-TEH + +T'SING DYNASTY + + + No longer could the blue-robed students cling + To essay, or angle, or such like thing; + The white-fleeced sky in depths of sapphire blue, + The mother-earth, in Spring's bewitching hue, + Enticed them forth to ponder fresher lore, + And gather strength from nature's boundless store, + So leaving college desk, and book, and file, + They tramp the green-robed country--mile on mile; + But resting oft within some shady nook, + By side of mountain rill or babbling brook. + The voice of streams, the sweet air after showers + On new-mown grass, and earth, and fragrant flowers; + The depths of space, the everlasting hills; + The unseen power that moves, and guides, and stills + All animated nature's varied life + And law reveals where all seemed useless strife-- + Their sense enthralled, and coursing with their blood + Through every vein in strong impetuous flood-- + Divine and human, on this radiant day, + Seemed nearer kin than even when we pray + In marble temples to the unknown God, + Or wayside fanes, by common people trod. + But homeward now reluctantly they turn, + Yet incense still to nature would they burn; + So as they wind through woods of pine-trees tall, + By willow-bordered streams where catkins fall, + Their pent-up feelings, buried deep and long, + Find voice in classic chants from ancient song. + As chorus sweet, and solo clear and rare, + Are wafted softly on the evening air, + The water-fowl on village ponds and streams + Are gently wakened from their summer dreams; + While mingled with the scholars' choral lay + The songs of peasants speed the closing day; + And bird, or insect,--each its anthem sings, + And little gift of praise to Heaven brings: + Then as the sun is sinking in the west, + And lighting up the regions of the blest, + From nature's altar falls the sacred fire, + And higher aims each student's heart inspire. + +[66] This is a free translation, yet nearly every word is implied in the +original. A crudely literal translation would not reveal the thoughts +aroused in the mind of a Chinese reader of the poem. + + + + +_The Priest of T'ien Mountain_ + +BY LI TAI-PEH + +T'ANG DYNASTY (A.D. 618-913) + + + I hear the distant baying of the hound + Amid the waters murmuring around; + I see the peach-flowers bearing crystal rain, + The sportive deer around the forest fane. + + The waving tops of bamboo groves aspire + In fleeting change the summer clouds to tire, + While from the emerald peaks of many hills + The sparkling cascades fall in fairy rills. + + Beneath the pines within this shady dell, + I list in vain to hear the noontide bell;[67] + The temple's empty, and the priest has gone, + And I am left to mourn my grief alone. + +[67] The temple bell. + + + + +_Maidens By the River-side_ + +BY YUH YONG + +THE NORTHERN WEI DYNASTY (A.D. 386-532) + + + Maidens robed in gauzy dresses, + Heads adorned with lustrous tresses, + Nestling pearls in soft caresses, + Trip along the river-side. + + Where the violet sweet reposes, + And the wild flowers group in posies, + Fairer than the queenly roses, + Through the flowers they conquering glide. + + Where the cooling water gushes, + Fitful shades of willow bushes + Flee and hide among the rushes, + Lest the maidens should deride. + + Tripping sylph-like, as the Graces, + East wind blowing on their faces, + Which it holds in soft embraces, + And would ever there abide. + + + + +_The Poet-Beggar_ + +BY TAO TSIEN + +T'SIN DYNASTY (A.D. 265-419) + + + Impelled by hunger, forth I strode, + But whither causing little care, + While feeling life's oppressive load-- + Too great for me to bear. + + At last your village here I reached, + By tramping many weary miles, + And knocking at an unknown door, + You welcomed me with smiles. + + And when I roughly asked for food, + Gave meat and wine my need to sate, + And in a kind and friendly mood + You chatted while I ate. + + Now having shared your generous cheer, + And drained the oft refilled glass, + Revived and glad, unthanked I fear + To let such goodness pass. + + A linen-bleacher, poor and old, + Fed Han-Sin,[68] sprung of royal breed, + From out her hard-earned scanty store + In time of darkest need. + + Your kindly help to me this hour + Is fraught with equal love and grace, + Would I had Han-Sin's royal power, + Thy bounty to replace. + + Alas! the fullness of my heart + My tongue can only lamely tell, + So now in simple verse I write + Of kindness done so well. + + And though at last the muffled drum + Will beat the end of earthly days, + Throughout the cycles yet to come + My verse shall speak your praise. + +[68] Han-Sin was the grandson of a prince of Han, whose State was +annexed by the founder of the T'sin Dynasty. In early life Han-Sin +suffered great poverty, and for some time was befriended by a poor woman +who bleached flax. Afterwards he became the commander of the armies of +Liu-Pang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, and regained his ancestral +domain; he then sought out his friend, the flax-bleacher, and gave her +1,000 pieces of gold. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Chinese Poems, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHINESE POEMS *** + +***** This file should be named 37938.txt or 37938.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/9/3/37938/ + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Matthew Wheaton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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