Tag Archives: Chinese 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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“To a Taoist Hermit on Mt. Quanjiao” [寄全椒山中道士] by Wei Yingwu [韦应物]

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Today, my office is chilly.
   At once, I miss my mountain chum, 
 Who bound firewood in the valley,
 Bringing it back to boil white stones.
 I wish I could ladle some wine
   To comfort on this stormy night.
 But fallen leaves fill mountain hollows,
 How could I find a track to follow?

This is poem #29 from the 300 Tang Poems [唐诗三百首], entitled 寄全椒山中道士. The original poem in Simplified Chinese is:

今朝郡斋冷， 忽念山中客； 
涧底束荆薪， 归来煮白石。
 欲持一瓢酒， 远慰风雨夕。
 落叶满空山， 何处寻行迹？

Wen Fu 12 [文赋十二] “Idiosyncrasy” by Lu Ji [陆机] [w/ Audio]

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Thoughts conveyed by way of short verse
  May degrade in eccentricity.
 With bowed head, lonely and friendless.
  Face up, vast sky where all is free.
 Like one string stretched to perfect pitch,
  But lacking all resonancy.

NOTES: Earlier I posted a translation by Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping, entitled A One-String Harp that was contained in The Art of Writing (Boston: Shambhala; p. 15) This, however, is my own translation. The original poem in Simplified Chinese is:

或讬言于短韵，对穷迹而孤兴。
俯寂寞而无友，仰寥廓而莫承。
譬偏弦之独张，含清唱而靡应。

“Parting” [送别] by Wang Wei [王维] [w/ Audio]

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I dismount to share some booze, 
   And ask the wayfarer where he goes.
 Begrudgingly, and with discontent,
   He says, "I'll rest up near South Mount."
 He asks me to just leave him be.
 White clouds cross vast skies - endlessly.

This is poem 13 in the 300 Tang Poems [唐诗三百首.] The original poem in Simplified Chinese is:

下马饮君酒， 问君何所之？
君言不得意， 归卧南山陲。
但去莫复问，白云无尽时。

“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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Wen Fu 11 “Banal & Sublime” [文赋十一] by Lu Ji [陆机] [w/ Audio]

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Some shoots and stalks stand out --
   Taller than the masses.
  Their form eludes pursuit,
   Sound slips through, like gases.
  Great lines are always disjunct:
   Don't weave with mid'ling lyrics.
 They're pent up and peerless:
   Chop them? A win that's pyrrhic.
 Jade flecks make mountains shimmer,
  Pearly waters enchant.
 The thicket mustn't be clipped
  If Kingfisher's glory, grant.
 Stitched words end under snow,
 Work the weft, steady and slow.

The original in Simplified Chinese is:

或苕发颖竖，离众绝致。
形不可逐，响难为系。
块孤立而特峙，非常音之所纬。
心牢落而无偶，意徘徊而不能揥。
石韫玉而山辉，水怀珠而川媚。
彼榛楛之勿翦，亦蒙荣于集翠。
缀下里于白雪，吾亦济夫所伟。

“Bad Government” by Guan Xiu [贯休] [w/ Audio]

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“Venerable Ingatha” by Guan Xiu [One of his 16 Arahat paintings]
Sleet and rain, as if the pot were boiling.
 Winds whack like the crack of an axe.
   An old man, an old man,
   At sunset, crept into my hut.
 He sighed. He sighed as if to himself,
 "These rulers, so cruel. Why, tell me
 Why they must steal till we starve,
 Then slice the skin from our bones?

 For a song from some beauty,
 They'll go back on sworn words;
 For a song from some tart,
 They'll tear down our huts;
 For a sweet song or two,
 They'll slaughter ten thousand like me,
   Like you. Weep as you will,
   Let your hair turn white,
   Let your whole clan go hungry...
  No good wind will blow,
  No gentle breeze
   Begin again.

 Lord Locust Plague and Baron Bandit Bug,
  One east, one west, one north, one south.
  We're surrounded.

NOTE: This the J.P. Seaton translation found in The Poetry of Zen (2004); Shambhala Publications: Boston, MA, pp. 67-68. For the author’s name, Seaton uses “Kuan Hsiu,” the Wade-Giles romanization of the name.

“Weichuan Farmers” [渭川田家] by Wang Wei [王维] [w/ Audio]

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Low, warm light lands on the village.
 Cattle and sheep trapsing farmward.
 Farmer mulls a missing shepherd,
 Leaning on his staff, still on guard.
 Pheasants cluck, wheat heads are heavy,
 Silkworms dormant, mulberry leaves few.
 Farmers stand, hoes on their shoulders,
 Telling old tales, as if they were new.
  How I envy the idle time --
  To chat about mankind's decline.

This is poem #16 of the 300 Tang Poems [唐诗三百首.] The original poem in Simplified Chinese is: 

斜光照墟落， 穷巷牛羊归。 
野老念牧童， 倚杖候荆扉。
雉雊麦苗秀， 蚕眠桑叶稀。
田夫荷锄立， 相见语依依。
即此羡闲逸， 怅然吟式微。

“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.)