Category Archives: Song Dynasty Poetry

BOOK: “Golden Treasury of Quatrains and Octaves” [i.e. 千家诗] Trans. by Xu Yuanchong and Xu Ming

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Golden Treasury of Quatrains & OctavesGolden Treasury of Quatrains & Octaves by Xu. Yuanchong (translator)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site — China Translation Corp

This is the bilingual (Chinese-English) edition of an anthology of Tang and Song Dynasty poems commonly known in Chinese as 千家诗 (it has a much longer formal title,) which was jointly translated by Xu Yuanchong and Xu Ming (no relation.) The book is organized into four parts by the form of poem: 7-character line quatrains, 7-character line octaves, 5-character line quatrains, and 5-character line octaves. The anthology includes poems by Li Bai, Du Fu, Wang Wei, Meng Haoran, Jia Dao, Ouyang Xiu, Yang Wanli, Su Shi, and many other important Tang and Song poets — from Emperors to Hermits. That said, while the aforementioned Chinese title suggests there are works of a thousand poets involved, that’s an exaggeration. (And that’s probably all the better. While this was the golden age of Chinese poetry, going that wide into surviving poetry might involve hitting the dregs.)

Each entry has a title, byline, the poem in Simplified Chinese script and pinyin (Romanized phonetic script,) an English language translation, notes in Chinese, and a line or two of commentary in English. All but the seven-character line octaves take up just one page per poem. (Seven-character line octaves take two pages per poem.)

This is a great anthology. There’s an introduction to give insight into what approach the translators took. They stuck to rhyming verse to emulate the originals in form, but more can be learned from the introduction.

I’d highly recommend this anthology for poetry readers.

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“Inspired by Late Spring” by Ye Cai [w/ Audio]

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Sparrows cast on my desk their shadows in pair,
   And willow down falls in my inkstone here and there.
 Sitting by the window, I read the Book of Change,
   Not knowing when has Spring gone, I only feel strange.

Note: This is the joint translation of Xu Yuanchong and Xu Ming found in the Golden Treasury of Quatrains and Octaves (a Bilingual edition of 千家诗 “Thousands of Poems”) on which they collaborated (i.e. China Publishing Group: Beijing (2008) p. 40)

BOOK: “The Poetry of Zen” Ed. / Trans. Sam Hamill & J.P. Seaton

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The Poetry of ZenThe Poetry of Zen by Sam Hamill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Shambhala

This poetry anthology consists of translations of Chinese and Japanese poetry that play in the Zen aesthetic. They are not Zen Buddhist poetry in the sense of being sutras or sutra-like expositions on Buddhist philosophy or theology (at least, not mostly.) And while there are many monks and Buddhist layperson poets represented, not all of those included were Buddhists. (In fact, there is even some verse from the Daodejing included, though Taoism is certainly philosophically related to Zen.)

About half the book is Chinese poetry, including pieces from Han Shan, Li Bai, Bai Juyi, Wang Wei, Du Fu, and many other greats of Chinese poetry. (Note: my spellings of author names varies from those used in the book because Hamill and Seaton use Wade-Giles spellings.) The other half of the book consists of works by Japanese poets, including: Saigyo, Dogen, Basho, Ryokan, Buson, Issa, and others. The Japanese part includes a few haibun (prose poems interspersed with haiku,) adaptations of Chinese-style poems, as well as the various Japanese fixed form styles (i.e.. haiku, tanka, etc.)

The two translators, Sam Hamill and J.P. Seaton, initial the poems that each translated (some were dually translated and others singularly.) I enjoyed the translations and felt they were fine reading in their own right. With haiku and tanka, the translators stuck fairly close to the traditional form (in as much as the aesthetic could be maintained doing so,) but with Chinese lyric styles they often took a freer approach to form.

If you’re interested in poetry that conveys Zen sentiment, this book is worth investigating.

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“Autumn Moon” [秋月] by Cheng Hao [程颢] [w/ Audio]

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A clear stream passes by the
   mountain clad in green;
 The clear sky and clear water
   melt in autumn hue.
 Far far away from the tumultuous
   world unclean,
 Long long will white clouds and
    red leaves be friend to you.

Note: This is the joint translation of Xu Yuanchong and Xu Ming found in the edition of Golden Treasury of Quatrains and Octaves on which they collaborated (i.e. China Publishing Group: Beijing (2008) p. 64.)

“Little Echoed Hills” [小重山] by Yue Fei [岳飞] [w/ Audio]

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Last night chirps resounded in the cold,
   Through witching hour no sleep occurred.
 I rose and slowly walked, alone.
   Moonlight window glow, but no one stirred.

I've grayed in service and search of fame.
   On hills, back home, the pines have grown old.
 That's the story I'd let my lute tell,
   If a string weren't broken & 
      there was someone to be told.

“Impromptu Lines Written on a Spring Day” [春日偶成] by Cheng Hao [程颢]

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Towards noon fleecy clouds waft in the gentle breeze;
   I cross the stream amid flowers and willow trees.
 What do the worldlings know about my hearty pleasure?
   They'd only take me for a truant fond of leisure.

Note: This is the joint translation of Xu Yuanchong and Xu Ming found in the edition of Golden Treasury of Quatrains and Octaves on which they collaborated (i.e. China Publishing Group: Beijing (2008.))

“Drinking at Night in Dongpo” by Su Shi [w/ Audio]

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Drunk at night in Dongpo.
   I sober, then drink once more;
 I return at three A.M.
   To hear boy's thunderous snores.
 I knock but there's no answer --
   Lean on my staff and listen
   To water, and feel my regrets
   As ripples in river glisten.
 I could vanish in this boat,
   And see out my life afloat.

Note: The Song Dynasty poet Su Shi [苏轼] was also known as Dongpo [東坡] or Zizhan [子瞻.]

“Rain on Lotus” by Yang Wanli [w/ Audio]

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Asleep on a leaf beneath lotus blooms,
 Their fragrance floats across the misty lake.
 Sudden rain - taps upon the canopy;
 Its sound snaps me from sleep to wide awake!

The lotus is beaded with rain droplets --
 Like pearls, drops roll together and apart;
 The clear blobs coalesce like mercury,
 Dripping to the river... back to their start.

“The great road has no gate” by Tiāntóng Rújìng [w/ Audio]

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The great road has no gate.
 It leaps out from the heads of all of you.
 The sky has no road.
 It enters into my nostrils.
 In this way we meet as Gautama's bandits,
   or Linji's troublemakers. Ha!
 Great houses tumble down and spring wind swirls.
 Astonished, apricot blossoms fly and scatter -- red.

Translated by Mel Weitsman and Kazuaki Tanahashi; printed in: Essential Zen. 1994. HarperSanFrancisco, p. 136.

Note: While Rujing was Chinese he was teacher to the prominent Japanese Zen Teacher, Dōgen Zenji, the latter published this and other poems, hence the dual categorization of it as Chinese and Japanese Literature.

“Wine Spring” by Pan Lang [w/ Audio]

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I remember viewing the West Lake
 While leaning on a pagoda rail.
 The boats all clustered in threes or twos.
 The islets under deep Autumn blues.

Flute song arose from among the cattails.
 And a line of white birds - overhead - sailed.
 I planned to fix my old fishing pole,
 but clouds on water had my mind & soul.