Author's Note: Several months ago, I had a very strange dream that saw me and my love in ancient China at the Mid-Autumn Festival. The strangest thing was that in my dream, we were conversing completely in Classical Chinese poetry, a language in which I am not very familiar at all (hell, a language in which most contemporary Chinese people would find challenging to understand). While I do not remember the words we said or the amazing poetry, I preserve the manner I know they were said, and perhaps even subconsciously introduced the messages of the poems. I've included a commentary at the end to act as a footnote for parts of the poem I felt needed extra explanation.
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A Dream of Jade Pavilions
Poet I see the face of her who plays Her zither, and I dare not think Of that face framed by the moon Or hair as dark as fragrant ink. Am I in the Jade Pavilion Which rests upon the starry brink? But level, we are not with stars That glassy shine upon my drink.
Maiden (To the Tune of Deep Longing) One more note, One more trill, Disappears with eastern wind, Occident tremors. Hands running, Sound like cloth, Agitated sheets of rain From my fingertips.
Poet Eyes had I, but Taishan's peak I missed! The mountaintops and bamboo, streams and mist Compare not to the silken clothes you wear, Nor thoughts of silken skin that clenched my fist.
Maiden (To the Tune of the Fisherman's Song) The final pluck, fingers lift, Golden nailpicks now silv'ry. I turn to bow to Chang'e. He is there, The impoverished scholar. Mistress of the moon, I pray, Grant me the strength of Mulan. I am as a struggling fish, Thrashing waves Slowly yield into my heart.
Poet The needle spins and points directions four Of east and south, and west and north. Water, metal, fire, wood, and ore: The elements are five in harmony. But in this balance you preserve the core, The softened center in the petals' midst.
Maiden (To the Tune of Painting a Spring Scene at the Temple) Ah! Foolhardy young scholar! Do you not know your doom? The elixir of Chang'e-- Its fragrant scent!-- Was consumed discipline, Bitter and astringent. I am but brittle incense, Fragile ashes.
Poet My cup is drained now of its wine, But two full cups gleam in your eyes. And shall I ride the wind again Until I reach your frozen realm? And reside, lonely, with the moon In temples carved from sacred jade? But I know where my true home lies, And I shall stay to watch the moon.
Maiden (To the Tune of Shadows of the Drunken Flowers) Leaning on the red railing, Gazing at the moon. I join you, watching, Remembering, I am silent now. Celestial guards, hear me, I release you now. Wistful moons no more, But a new peak. I clasp your hand now.
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Commentary - The poet's lines are in the style of the Tang shi, which was of consistently fixed meter and a consistent rhyme scheme. However, these rhyme schemes are not the Western schemes that you may be accustomed to. I have used Western metrical styles instead of Eastern syllabic styles in terms of meter, but I believe that this allows better flexibility. - The maiden's responses are in the style of the Song ci, which were poems set to music. On the surface they seem very freeform, and indeed they have no consistent rhyme scheme. However, the fact that the poems must match the music meant that each line has a specific number of syllables, basically making it your average haiku/tanka on steroids. - The zither is known as a guzheng in Chinese. If you've never heard it, please look it up. I know it was featured in the movie Hero as well as in the opening ceremony to the Bejing Olympics. It is one of the most hauntingly beautiful instruments you will ever hear. - Chang'e is the goddess of the moon. Her husband, the archer Hou Yi, fell out of favor with the Jade Emperor, and Chang'e and her husband were forced to live on Earth as mortals. Desperate to regain her immortality, she obtained an elixir of immortality, and instead of taking only half to regain her immortality as she was directed to, she took the whole elixir, which caused her to float up and up to the moon. There she stayed, separate from her husband for eternity on the moon. - "Eyes had I, but Taishan's peak I missed!" A literal transliteration of a Chinese idiom. - "Consumed discipline." From the Chinese chi jiaoxun, which literally means, "to eat discipline."
I compare to Pride and Prejudice in the sense of complex family politics that the average sixth grader wouldn't comprehend, as well as being generally uninteresting to everyone but young girls and romantics. However, Dream of the Red Chamber does have some really awesome poetry in it; whereas P&P was generally dry until the second half. I'll stick to the zombie version.
Parsat, you need to learn calligraphy like now.
LOL...I fail at calligraphy. Maybe I'll see if I can take a class and get some more formal learning on that. :P My grampa was a competent calligrapher, but he passed away before he could pass on the family secrets. That, and the family secrets of ping pong.
And isn't Chinese difficult?
The difficulty of language is relative based on whatever language you learned first. So don't you ever ask a question about how hard a language is. I think Chinese and English are both not very difficult languages to grasp because I learned both at a young age. However, based on the ESL and Chinese learners I see around me, I have a unique advantage. So it's relative.
