Translation
Liu Changqin (709-785) | 劉長卿 |
A Farewell Dinner for Wang the Eleventh, on his Southern Trip | 餞別王十一 南遊 |
I gaze at the gentleman in the mists of the wide river, | 望君 煙水闊 |
Waving my hand as tears moisten a handkerchief. | 揮手 淚霑巾 |
A flying bird disappears | 飛鳥 沒何處 |
To green hills that face a man of leisure. | 青山 空向人 |
On the long river, a lone boat is in the distance, | 長江 一帆遠 |
Heading for Five Lakes to see the setting sun in spring. | 落日 五湖春 |
Who sees the islet in the river? | 誰見 汀洲上 |
We reminisce with the duckweed white. | 相思 愁白蘋 |
Commentary
This is a farewell poem to a good friend. The images represent his feelings—gazing at his friend as his boat sails off to the distance, wiping of his tears with his handkerchief, a flying bird that disappears. “Green hills” has the connotation of good life. His friend is going to “Five Lakes,” another name for Lake Tai. A “setting sun” is symbolic of retirement. A river islet with white duckweed is symbolic of missing somebody (see Literal Notes).
Original Chinese
Traditional | Simplified | Pronunciation |
劉長卿 | 刘长卿 | Liú cháng qīng |
餞別王十一南遊 | 饯别王十一南游 | Jiàn bié wáng shí yī nán yóu |
望君煙水闊， | 望君烟水阔， | Wàng jūn yān shuǐ kuò， |
揮手淚霑巾。 | 挥手泪沾巾。 | Huī shǒu lèi zhān jīn。 |
飛鳥沒何處， | 飞鸟没何处， | Fēi niǎo méi hé chù， |
青山空向人。 | 青山空向人。 | Qīng shān kōng xiàng rén。 |
長江一帆遠， | 长江一帆远， | Cháng jiāng yī fān yuǎn， |
落日五湖春。 | 落日五湖春。 | Luò rì wǔ hú chūn。 |
誰見汀洲上， | 谁见汀洲上， | Shuí jiàn tīng zhōu shàng， |
相思愁白蘋？ | 相思愁白蘋。 | Xiāng sī chóu bái píng。 |
Literal Notes
劉長卿 | Kill Forever High-ranking-person [= Liu Changqin (709-785)] |
餞別王十一南遊 | Farewell-party separate Wang/King Ten One southward travel/wander [Farewell-party separate = give a farewell dinner], [Wang Ten One = Wang Eleventh, Liu Changqing’s friend. His first name is Wang, and he ranks 11th in his family, so Liu calls him Wang Eleventh] |
望君煙水闊， | Look-at gentleman mist river broad/wide |
揮手淚霑巾。 | Wave hand tears moisten handkerchief |
飛鳥沒何處， | Flying bird no/disappeared where place [Flying bird = besides flying bird, it may be a metaphor for his friend too. ] |
青山空向人。 | Green mountain/hill empty/deserted/leisure facing person |
Long river one sail/boat distant/far/remote [Long river = Yangtze River] | |
落日五湖春。 | Fall/drop sun Five Lakes spring [Five Lakes = Tai Lake. Tai Lake is a large lake in the Yangtze Delta plain, on the border of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. This line means that Wang will see the beautiful spring scenery of Tai Lake under the setting sun when he arrives.] |
誰見汀洲上， | Who/anyone sees sandbar/beach/bank island/islet above [汀洲=small islet in a river] |
相思愁白蘋？ | Mutual feel anxiety/worry-about white/pure duckweed [white duckweed = a kind of water plant with white flowers, (some annotators think it is duckweed, others think it is frogbit). In classic Chinese literature, an islet covered with frogbit is symbolic of a place where people bid farewell. For example, Wen Tingyun (Tang Dynasty) wrote such this verse, “Thousands of sails pass me by, but not the one I’m waiting for. The slanting sun sheds a sympathetic ray, the carefree river carries it away. My heart breaks at the sight of an islet in duckweed white.” Thus, “white duckweed” has the implied meaning of missing somebody.] Liu paraphrased the last four lines of the poem from "Song of the River South," by Liu Yun of the Liang Dynasty: Islet in a stream, gathering the duckweed white, A spring sun sets above the southern river. The Dongting River has a returning guest, The Xiaoxiang River comes across an old friend. Old friend, why not return? Spring flowers abound to answer the night. There is no new path to happiness But words and actions on a distant road. |
Year:
2012
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