Translation
Li Yi (746-829) | 李益 |
Delighted to See My Cousin, Only To Say “Goodbye” Again | 喜見外 弟又言別 |
Ten years, the chaos left behind, | 十年 離亂後 |
Growing throughout, we come across each other. | 長大 一相逢 |
Inquiring on our family names, surprised, we begin to see; | 問姓 驚初見 |
We state our given names and reflect upon our past appearances. | 稱名 憶舊容 |
Coming and going— seas to mulberries, mulberries to seas, | 別來 滄海事 |
Our words cease by the evening bell. | 語罷 暮天鐘 |
Tomorrow, the path to Baling, | 明日 巴陵道 |
The autumn mountains, and once again apart. | 秋山 又幾重 |
Commentary
The An Lushan Rebellion, which threw China into chaos, began when Li Yi was eight years old. Many families were displaced and separated. In this poem, Li Yi encounters a cousin after ten years of separation, surprised and suspecting that they might be related after exchanging family names and knowing for sure after exchanging given names. They reflect upon the past and how things have changed. “Seas to mulberries, mulberries to seas” is an idiom about how greatly things can change over time and alludes to a story in Legends of the Gods. The two cousins talk until nightfall and then must part the next day, separated once again by autumn mountains.
Original Chinese
Traditional | Simplified | Pronunciation |
李益 | 李益 | Lǐ Yì |
喜見外弟又言別 | 喜见外弟又言别 | Xǐ jiàn wài dì yòu yán bié |
十年離亂後， | 十年离乱后， | Shí nián lí luàn hòu ， |
長大一相逢。 | 长大一相逢。 | Cháng dà yī xiāng féng 。 |
問姓驚初見， | 问姓惊初见， | Wèn xìng jīng chū jiàn ， |
稱名憶舊容。 | 称名忆旧容。 | Chēng míng yì jiù róng 。 |
別來滄海事， | 别来沧海事， | Bié lái cāng hǎi shì ， |
語罷暮天鐘。 | 语罢暮天钟。 | Yǔ bà mù tiān zhōng 。 |
明日巴陵道， | 明日巴陵道， | Míng rì bā líng dào， |
秋山又幾重。 | 秋山又几重。 | Qiū shān yòu jī zhòng 。 |
Translation Notes
李益 | Plum Profit [=Li Yi (746-829)] |
喜見外弟又言別 | Enjoy/pleased/delighted see outside younger-brother and/again say depart [outside younger-brother = cousin] [Note: the title means “I am delighted to meet my cousin, but we have to say ‘goodbye’ again”] |
十年離亂後， | Ten years leave chaos/revolt/upheaval behind [“leave chaos” refers to the An Lushan Rebellion.] |
長大一相逢。 | Long great throughout each-other come-up/happen-to-meet [Long great = grow up. Li Yi was only eight years old when the An- Shi Rebellion broke out. So when he met his cousin after ten years turbulence, he had already grown up.], [“throughout” is used as a modal particle to intensify the mood.] |
問姓驚初見， | Ask-about family-name startle/surprise beginning see [Note: this line means when they asked about family name, the author suspected that they were relatives.] |
稱名憶舊容。 | Say/state first-name remember/reflect-upon past/former appearance [Note: this line means mentioning first name let them recall the old features] |
別來滄海事， | Separated/parted return/come blue sea matter [“blue sea” = the sea = an allusion to Legend of the Gods (神仙传). Magu is an immortal goddess; once she says to Wang Yuan, another god, “since we met last time, it has been three times that the seas have changed into mulberry fields and mulberry fields into the seas” (original Chinese: 麻姑自說云，接待以來，已見東海三為桑田). Afterwards, “blue seas, mulberry fields” (滄海桑田) became an idiom to standing for “blue seas turn into mulberry fields,” figuratively meaning that time brings great change to the world.] |
Words/speech cease/finish evening/dusk sky clock/bell | |
明日巴陵道， | Bright day Greatly-desired Hill path [Bright day = tomorrow], [Greatly-desired Hill = Baling county in Tang Dynasty. It is now Yueyang city in Hunan province.] |
Autumn mountain and/again how-many?/how-much? heavy/serious [Note: the last two lines mean: tomorrow I (or you) will leave for Baling and we will be separated by so many autumn mountain.] |
Year:
2012
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