Sino-platonic papers

SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS
Number 13 October, 1989
The Complete Ci-poems of Li Qingzhao:
A New English Translation
by
Jiaosheng Wang
Victor H. Mair, Editor
Sino-Platonic Papers
Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305 USA
vmair@sas.upenn.edu
www.sino-platonic.org
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Contents
Foreword, by Victor H. Mair
Acknowledgements
Introduction, by Wang Jiaosheng ......................................................................... .iv
Woodcut, by Dan Heitkamp ................................................................................. 1
The Complete Ci-poems of Li Qingzhao translated into English with the original texts in Chinese
calligraphy, by Jiaosheng Wang
1. Naivete, to the Tune "Rouged Lips" ............................................................. 2
55. Spring Ends, to the Tune "Spring at Wu Ling" ............................................. 116
Postscript by Jiaosheng Wang ............................................................................. 118
Biographical Note on the Translator ...................................................................... 122
Foreword
These are some of the most exquisite, feeling translations of Chinese poems I have ever
encountered. Yet it was only by mere chance that they came into my hands. Jiaosheng Wang's
renditions of Li Qingzhao's lyrics have impressed me so deeply that I felt compelled to share them
with a wider audience rather than keep them jealously to myself.
The beauty of Jiaosheng Wang's translations lies in his ability to use simple but exacting
language to convey the sentiments of the Chinese verse in English. He does not strive for
preciosity or brilliance, but only to catch the spirit of the original and to convey it to his reader in
the most unadorned terms possible. This attitude well suits the poetry of Li Qigzhao which often
relies on guileless understatement to achieve a powerful effect. It is also evident that Wang has a
lasting admiration for the material with which he is involved. Thus he does not work in haste, but
is willing to go back over his versions of Li Qigzhao's lyrics again and again, slowly perfecting
them until he is satisfied that he has them "just right". In this way, Wang's efforts as translator do
not clash with or overshadow the poetic voice of the author. Rather, he strives to meld his own
finely crafted lines with those of Li Qingzhao in an unusual esthetic harmony that merits repeated
savoring. So often when reading Wang's translations of Li's lyric oeuvre, I have the strange
sensation that the two have merged into one. Experiencing Li Qingzhao via the pen of Wang
Jiaosheng is as comfortably enchanting and absorbing as communing with Emily Dickinson on a
dark, quiet Sunday afternoon.
Parting is all we know of heaven,
And all we need of hell.
May this lovingly prepared volume stand as a testimony to undiscovered genius wherever it
may be. I shudder to think that I almost did not have the privilege of reading these wonderful
works of art. What is all the more remarkable about the accomplishment of Jiaosheng Wang is that
he has never left the soil of China.
I shall be happy to pass on the comments of readers to the aged and ailing translator who
lives in Shanghai.
Victor H. Mair
Professor of Oriental Studies
University of Pennsylvania
August 16,1989
In the preparation of t h i s volume, I have profited
immeasurably from the experience and wealth of knowledge of
many of my friends. To them I am most grateful for giving so
freely of t h e i r help whenever it is s o l i c i t e d . I a m especially
indebted to my nephew Stephen C. Chen, California, for sending
a considerable number of English c l a s s i c s published in the
United States for my perusal and enjoyment over the past
ten-odd years. From 1986 onwards he has further gone out of
his way to encourage me by procuring many a u t h o r i t a t i v e works
on the art of poetry translation for my reference, as well as
making many valuable suggestions, which have contributed i n
no s m a l l measure to my completing these translations of
L i Qingzhao's g-poems. My thanks are also due t o M r Zheng
Lianghuan, formerly a student at the Shanghai InstituCe f o r
Teachers' Advanced S$udies where I was lecturing i n the l a t e
1970s, who has since become one of my close friends, f o r doing
all the typing and collating of my manuscripts and fos
delightful conversations during the p a s t s i x months and more
at the expense of much of his valuable time.
Above all, I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Professor
Victor H. Mair, Pennsylvania, for his appreciation of my
work, and f o r a l l h i s encouragement and generous help, without
whiah it would have been out of the question for t h i s l i t t l e
book of mine, now honored with the Foreword he has so kindly
written, t o be issued i n Sino-Platonic. Papers.
W Js
Shanghai
mid-July, 1989
INTRODUCTION
I
L i Qingzhao (1084-c.1155), alias Y i An the Lay Buddhist, was
born into a family of scholars and o f f i c i a l s , i n Jinan, Shandong
Province. Her f a t h e r , Li Gefei, was a professor at the Imperial
Academy and a noted prose-writer; her mother had some reputation
as a writer of poetry. Brought up i n such a favorable environment
and devoted t o her s t u d i e s , she acquired a deep knowledge of
l i t e r a t u r e and the c l a s s i c s i n her teens. Even as a young g i r l
she took t o writing d e l i g h t f u l l i t t l e l y r i c s on her excursions
t o t h e suburbs and nearby beauty spots. =-poems such as 'A
Happy Recollection: To the tune In Dreamland1 r e v e a l h e r g i r l i s h
naivete, her l i v e l y untamed s p i r i t and love of nature.
A t eighteen she married Zhao Mingcheng, a student i n the
Imperial Academy. The union was an ideal one, for they shared
the same passion for poetry and the c l a s s i c s , ancient bronze and
stone inscriptions and objets d t a r t , painting and calligraphy.
Many were the hours they passed happily together composing poems
to rhyme with each o t h e r ' s , and delving into points of nicety i n
the classics. They enjoyed touring the c i t y and its environs
and even out-of-the-way places i n quest of favorite antiques
and rare editions of ancient books. As a r e s u l t , her poetic
s t y l e became more quiet and refined. The exquisite d-poems
she wrote during t h i s period expressed deep love for her husband
as well as her feeling of loneliness whenever he happened to be
away from home. But unfortunately t h i s married happiness proved
to be only temporary. In 1127 the Northern Song regime f e l l
to the Tartars i n the notorious Jing Kang Invasion when two
Song emperors were ignominiously taken prisoner by the J i n army.
The Zhaos suffered untold hardships f l e e i n g the invaders, and
were compelled to seek refuge south of the Yangtze. They l o s t
most of t h e i r manuscripts and a great number of valuable books
and antiques collected over several decades. Then i n 1129
came t h e g r e a t e s t catastrophe in Li Qingzhao's l i f e : her husband
died of typhoid en route t o an o f f i c i a l post. She w a s l e f t an
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
outcast to wander aimlessly for years from one place to another.
She f i n a l l y s e t t l e d in the Southern Song c a p i t a l Rangzhou, to
pass the r e s t of her days in loneliness and misery. Very l i t t l e
is recorded about the time of her death, but it is generally
believed that she lived to about the age of seventy-one. The
-ci-p oems she wrote i n h e r de c l ining year s , r e p l e t e wi th memories
of her deceased husband and of her beloved northern homeland, a r e
p a r t i c u l a r l y admired for t h e i r pathos. But most of these were
l o s t , l i k e her other writings, in her precarious wanderings
during those troubled years, which w a s an irreparable l o s s to
Chinese l i t e r a t u r e .
Before discussing L i Qingzhao's &-poetry, it may be not
out of place to make a brief mention of certain technical points
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of the &-form of c l a s s i c a l Chinese poetry. Ci
was o r i g i n a l l y a kind of melody tuned to folk music which l a t e r
developed into a new form'of written verse consisting of l i n e s
of d i f f e r e n t lengths. A &-poem is limited to a fixed number of
characters conforming to a s t r i c t meter and rhyme scheme. According
to Wan Shu's Tonal Patterns and Rhsme Schemes in Ci-poetry
more than 1100 types of are now extant. Each type has a
label of its own, usually symbolizing some circumstance or event
which occurred when the original tune came into being. For
example, t h e -c i l a b e l Bodhi sat tva' s Gold Headdress (Pusaman)
dates back to about 850, when the Tang court received as t r i b u t e
from the Man minority nationality a troupe of g i r l singers
dressed beautifully i n the costumes of f a i r i e s wearing golden
caps, To c e l e b r a t e t h e occasion the tune Pusaman was played i n
the palace under the emperor's orders. It is therefore evident
t h a t the l a b e l s of present-day g-poems mostly have nothing t o
do with t h e i r content. In some cases, however, &-poems may -
have t i t l e s under t h e i r l a b e l s giving some idea of the content
of the a. Such t i t l e s may have been written by the poets
themselves, or l a t e r added by commentators or anthologists f o r
the readert's edification. Needless to say, a ci-poem may have
no t i t l e at a11 without detriment to its i n t r i n s i c merit.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
The origin of dates back t o the Sui Dynasty (581-618).
However, since no &-poems belonging t o t h a t period now e x i s t ,
the great Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) is now credited
with having composed the first two e-poems i n Chinese l i t e r a t u r e :
'To the tune Bodhisattva's Gold Headdress' and 'To the tune
Fememb-ering the Maid of Qin', Ci gained i n popularity when i n
course of time other noted Tang poets, B a i Juyi, Wen Tingyun and
Wei Yingwu among them, began to write &-poems simultaneously
with u-poems. But it was not u n t i l the end of the Five
Dynasties (907-960) and the beginning of the Song Dynasty (960-
1279) t h a t C-i made r a p i d s t r i d e s , wi th a g r e a t number of renowned
poets turning to Ci as t h e i r f a v o r i t e medium of poetic expression.
Though C-i dominated t h e l i t e r a r y scene f o r only a l imi t e d per iod,
its popularity continued almost undiminished through the Yuan
(1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties to
the present century. And even today, new &-poems a r e printed
not infrequently i n the Chinese press s i d e by side with u-poems.
That a - p o e t r y still occupies an important place i n c l a s s i c a l
Chinese l i t e r a t u r e is f u r t h e r evidenced by the publication i n
a recent issue of the magazine Chinese Li-tferature of ten
-c i - l y r i c s unearthed i n t h e Dunhuang caves. Be a u t i f u l l y translated
into English by M r Simon Johnstone, these poems have excited
a great deal of i n t e r e s t among lovers of ~ i - p o e t r y both i n
China and overseas.
I11
Li Qingzhao lived at a time when Ci as a l i t e r a r y genre
had attained t o the acme of its perfection, with the emergence
of two schools of Ci widely d i f f e r e n t i n s t y l e and tone: the
bold romantic s t y l e and the elegant restrained s t y l e . There is
no doubt t h a t Li belonged to the l a t t e r . But when it comes to
the question of her s t a t u s among the e - p o e t s , c r i t i c s a r e prone
to ttvo extremes, While some laud her as t h e g r e a t e s t u r i t e r of
-ci - poet ry t h a t China ha s eve r produced, o t h e r s deny h e r even t h e
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
privilege of ranking among the major Song a - p o e t s . The consensus
today seems in favor of the Qing poet Wang Shizhen's view that
while Xin Q i j i was the foremost exponent of the bold romantic
s t y l e of g-poetry, Li Qingzhao was that of the elegant restrained
s t y l e . She inherited and creatively developed a l l the fine
q u a l i t i e s of her predecessors and f i n a l l y surpassed them. She
brought the elegant restrained s t y l e of d - p o e t r y to its highest
perfection by evolving a new s t y l e of her own-the Y i An s t y l e ,
which exerted a profound influence on many distinguished
contemporary and later poets. The great Xin Q i j i was one of her
admirers, and wrote a d-poem entitled'Goina through bshan
Mountain Pass1 i n the Y i An s t y l e , which appears i n Chinese
calligraphy on Page 56. This poem suggesta an atmosphere of
serenity very much l i k e t h a t of L i Qingzhao's "Admiring Lotusesn
on Page 12, with the white gull personified and i n much the same
mood as the egrets and gulls i n L i ' s poem. Wang Shizben composed
no fewer than seventeen &-lyrics rhyming with hers.
Particularly worthy of notice is Liu Chenweng, a p a t r i o t i c
poet who lived almost a century a f t e r L i Qingzhao i n the
declining days of the Song Dynasty. Like Li, he was greatly
troubled by thoughts of the l o s t Northern Song homeland, and
the sufferings of the people under the r u l e of the Tartar
invaders. He wrote a e-poem e n t i t l e d 'To the Uune Happiness
of Eternal Uniont to rhyme with one of L'i's, with a prefatory
note to the following e f f e c t :
It is now three years since I f i r s t read Yi-ants
'To the tune Haopiness of Eternal Union', and was
moved to t e a r s . I cannot help f e e l i n g touched
whenever I re-read it. So I have written one
of my own to rhyme with hers, which, though
much i n f e r i o r as regards diction and s t y l e , is
nevertheless even more permeailed with grief.
Liu's poem with h i s Preface appears i n Chinese calligraphy on
Page 84. This incident shows that besides t h e i r l i t e r a r y
excellence, L i Qingzhaols c&-poems, especially those written i n
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
her l a t e r years, possess a deep social significance in t h a t
they exerted a far-reaching imperceptible influence on the
thinking of the masses of t h a t age.
IV
Speaking of poetry-writing, the noted Song Dynasty scholar
and c r i t i c Wei T a i , i n h i s Random Notes on Poetry, made a remark
to the effect t h a t poetry should be exact about the thing described,
but r e f r a i n from d i r e c t l y expr.essing the feeling it is intended
to convey. In t h i s way the reader may be l e f t to imagine for
himself, and enter i n t o the poet's inmost thoughts. Li Qingzhao's
-ci-p oems pre-eminently pos ses s t h i s qua l i ty. Among t h e Song
-ci - poet s she was unique as a master of poet ic d i c t i o n and
l i t e r a r y devices. H e r g-poems abound i n nature images dram
mostly from material things such as wine, t:ea and incense;
window blinds and bed-cushions; flowers and plants l i k e plum,
c a s s i a , crabapple and chrysanthemum; grass and willows; wild
geese, egrets, gulls and other b i r d s ; as well as natural
phenomena: the sun, the moon, the s t a r s ; r a i n , wind, snow, dew,
f r o s t , clouds and m i s t s . These are sometimes followed by some
description of a human event or action that presumably o f f e r s
a s o r t of p a r a l l e l t o the nature images. But the poet r e f r a i n s
d e l i b e r a t e l y from t e l l i n g her own feeling, so that the reader is
l e f t t o imagine, as an a f t e r t a s t e , what is disturbing her mind.
For example:
No more incense smoke from the g i l t lion-burner;
Q u i l t s i n the bed-a r i o % of crimson waves. ....................
A jumble of parting thoughts,
Yet I h e s i t a t e on the verge of utterance
For fear of b i t t e r n e s s .
Of l a t e I ' v e been growing thin,
Not t h a t I overdrink myself,
Nor from lament for the autumn.
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Or: This year at the end of the Earth,
I find my h a i r greying a t the temples.
Now that the evening wind is growing i n force,
I s h a l l be hard put to it to come by plum blossoms.
Except in t h e long poem 'A Galaxy of Beauties' L i Qingzhao
seldom r e l i e d on c l a s s i c a l allusions to achieve effect. Instead.
she showed a marked preference for the metaphor and the simile.
In several instances, her comparisons have a freshness a l l t h e i r
own owing to her innovation of comparing inanimate objects,
animals and birds to human beings instead of comparing human
beings to these i n the conventional way, as witness the following:
Sunny breezes, warm drizzle
Take the c h i l l o f f t h e a i r
A s the thaw s e t s in.
Willow sprouts l i k e a g i r l ' s eyes,
Plum blossoms rosy-cheeked:
Already one feels the heart of spring s t i r r i n g .
In 'Spring at Wu Ling', one of her best-remembered &-poems,
by the ingenious use of colloquialisms, she has created the
metaphor 'grasshopper of a boat' to bring the smallness of the
boat into charming r e l i e f :
I hear 'Twin Brooks' is s t i l l sweet
With the breath of spring.
How I ' d , too, love to go f o r a s o w ,
On a tiny s k i f f .
But I fear at 'Twin Brooks'
My grasshopper of a boat
Wouldn't be able to bear
Such a load of g r i e f .
Li Qingzhao was a l s o a gifted user of Personification, as
shown i n the following passages from 'Admiring Lotuses' :
Beautiful beyond words
Aze these verdant h i l l s and sparkling streams
That endear themselves to me so warmly.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Dozing egrets and gulls on the sand
Do not so much as turn t h e i r heads,
A s i f they, too, resent my going away so early.
In her g-poems we often find simple phrases used i n
preference to ornate expressions such as are frequently found
i n the work of her contemporaries. She had a remarkable g i f t
for refining everyday colloquialisms and turning them into
plain expressions with a l i t e r a r y flavor t h a t sometimes even
have a deep meaning. Her poems are enriched by a wealth of
p a r a l l e l sentences and r e i t e r a t i v e words and phrases b e a u t i f u l l y
adapted from colloquialisms. Take one of her masterpieces
t ' A u t ~So rrow, t o a Long Melancholy Tune", which begins wi th
seven pairs of characters ingeniously repeated-a l i t e r a r y
f e a t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of L i ' s genius that is much admired but
hardly ever equalled by l a t e r writers. Such r e p e t i t i o n not
only lends a musical rhythm to the poem but serves as
powerful prelude to the nature images that follow: t a n t a l i z i n g
weather, flavorless wine, howling evening wind, vanishing
v i l d geese, faded chrysanthemums strewn neglected on the ground,
f i n e r a i n dripping lugubriously on t h e l e a v e s of parasol-trees,
and l a s t l y the author! s own wizened s e l f at the window i n the
deepening twilight. The melancholy picture called up by a l l
these, summed up i n the concluding sentence, cannot but
enter deeply into us, and make our minds respond with ecstasy.
V
In her celebrated Essay On Ci-poetry, Li Qingzhao l a i d
down hard and f a s t rules to define the difference between
and &, two forms of poetry different i n t h e i r a i m s . While
-s h i expres ses the w i l l , conveys t h e f e e l i n g s . C i i s
therefore a school all i t s own.
Li Qingzhao's &-poems, of which only f i f t e e n survive,
were mostly written to aatririze the Northern Song emperors'
c a p i t u l a t i o n i s t policy, as the following hranslation of her
well-known &i-poem Lines Written On A Summer's Dag indicates:
Sim-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
In life we should be heroes among the living;
After death, let us be heroes among the ghosts.
To this day we miss that ancient hero Xiang Yu,
Who would rather die than cross to the East of the River!
This satire reveals the poet's clearcut stand against the North
Song emperor who fled with his ministers to the South of the
Yangtze when pursued by the Jin invaders. It is evident that
-shi- poems such as this one, though important from a political
point of view as her favorite medium for expressing her political
ideas, were different in some respects from her a-poems.
When it comes to the question of style, there is no doubt
that Li's &-poems are far eclipsed by her a-poems, because
the former are mostly written in straightforward, matter-of-fact
language, and lack the refined elegance and charm of the latter.
It is therefore on her achievements as the leading exponent of
the elegant restrained style of a-poetry that her great fame
rests today. The renowned scholar Zheng Zhengduo rightly
comments: "As regards style and artistic concept, her fivecharacter
and seven-character &-poems are none too good.
But her d-lyrics, it may be said, are peerless among the
ancients, and likely t o be so in the generations to come.,.
And among poets of all time, she should not rank below either
Tao Qian, Li Bai and Du Fu, or Ouyang Xiu and Su Shi." And
Li Diaoyuan, in his Random Notes On Ci-poetry From A Rain-washed
Village, has this to say: "There is not one of Li Qingzhao'a &-poems
but is done with exquisite artistry. "
In reading Li Qingzhao's d-poems, we are conscious of a
kind of lingering charm rarely to be found in the works of her
contemporaries. llhis is because her verse with its rich imagery
suggests and hints rather than directly expresses the feeling,
It was perhaps this irresistible charm that the American poet
Amy Lowell referred to as the perfume of a poem which she
considered more important than its metrical form.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
V I
In her l i f e t i m e Li Qingzhao is said to have compiled
a book e n t i t l e d Shu Yu C i (Jade Rinsing C i ) in aeveral volumes
comprising most of her d-poems m i t t e n during the two periods
of her eventful l i f e ( i . e . before and a f t e r the f a l l of the
Northern Song i n 1127). But a l l we now have of her Q-poems
number only about seventy-eight, of which forty-three a r e
believed t o be from her pen, the remaining thirty-five, though
generally a t t r i b u t e d t o her, are s t i l l of doubtful authorship
despite scholarly debates in the many centuries since her death.
However, some consolation may be derived from the fact t h a t even
t h i s small number t h a t survive reveal her v e r s a t i l e genius at
its best.
This book of The Complete Ci-~oems of Li Qinnzhao: A New
English Translation with the Original Texts in Chinese C a l l i -
paphy, contains a t o t a l of f i f t y - f i v e &-poems. Besides all
the forty-three &-poems written by Li h e r s e l f , it includes
twelve* chosen from those a t t r i b u t e d to her, which have long
enjoyed popularity because of t h e i r being written i n the s t y l e
of Li Qingzhao and t h e i r own i n t r i n s i c value as poetry.
Although the nuances of Li Qingzhaols &-poems a r e too
subtle for the t r a n s l a t o r to t r a n s p l a n t e f f e c t i v e l y to another
language, it is hoped t h a t t h i s slender volume w i l l increase
t h e r e a d e r ' s understanding and enjoyment of these treasured
l y r i c s by one of China's greatest poets.
*i.e. poems on pp. 2-3, 26-27, 34-35, 38-39, 40-41, 42-43,
58-59, 96-97, 98-99, 100-1 01 , 104-1 05 , 1 12-1 1 3.
However, it must be pointed out t h a t i n a very few cases,
while i n one anthology a certain poem is listed as written
by L i h e r s e l f , i n another it may be placed i n the category
of poems a t t r i b u t e d to her. In such circumstances the
t r a n s l a t o r has no a l t e r n a t i v e but to follow the anthologist
he thinks most r e l i a b l e , eaking i n t o consideration as well
the i n t r i n s i c , merits of the poem i t s e l f .
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
'Ilune: "Rouged Lipsu
Naivete
Stepping down from the swing,
Languidly she smooths her s o f t slender hands,
Her flimsy dress w e t with l i g h t perspiration-
A s l i m flower trembling with heavy dew.
Spying a stranger, she walks h a s t i l y away i n shyness:
Her feet i n bare socks,
Her gold hairpin f a l l e n .
Then she stops t o lean against a gate,
And looking back,
Makes as i f s n i f f i n g a green plum.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "A Dream Song" 1
Spring Ends
Last night there was intermittent r a i n , a gusty uind.
Deep sleep did not r e l i e v e me of
The last effect8 of wine.
I ask the maid r o l l i n g up the blinds,
But she replies: "The crab-apple is lovely as before."
-Don't you knorl
"Oh, don't you know?
2
"The green ahould be plump and the red lean?" -
'A short poem noted for its swift turns of thought
expressed with the utmost economy of worda.
'A famous line in the Chinese text which almost
b a f f l e s t r a n s l a t o r s with its rich imagery.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 1 3 (October, 1989)
Time: nA Sprig of Plum Blossomw
Saorrow of Separation
The lotus has wilted, only a f a i n t perfume remains;
On the bamboo m a t t h e r e t o a touch of autumn c h i l l .
Softly I take off my s i l k drese
And step on board my orchid s k i f f alone.
Who is sending me the l e t t e r of brocade
From beyond the clouds?
When the wild geese1 return
The moon w i l l be flooding the West Chamber.
Flowers fall and drift away,
Water glides on,
After t h e i r n a t u ~ e .
Our yearning is the s o r t
Both ides f a r apart endure----
A melancholy f e e l i n g t h e e ' s no r e s i s t i n g .
As soon as it leaves the eyebrows
It surges up in the breast. 2
'Wild geese were thought to be bearers of l e t t e r s .
especially love messages, because of t h e i r
regular migrations from north to south and
vice veaa.
h he original is s famous couplet t h a t s e n e 8 as
a natural sequel t o the foregoing three l i n e s .
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: " L i t t l e Overlapping H i l l s "
Spring returns to my lonely chamber, 1
Once more spring grass is lush and green.
Some red plum blossoms are open,
Others have yet to bloom.
I grind tea bricks i n t o fine jade powder
In a pot carved with azure clouds, 2
S t i l l under the s p e l l of the morning's dream,
T i l l a l l of a sudden I am woken
By a jug of spring. 3
Flower shadows press at the double gate,
Pale moonlight s i l v e r s the translucent curtains.
A beautiful evening!
Three times i n two years 4
We've missed the spring.
Come back without f u r t h e r ado
And l e t ' s enjoy our f i l l of t h i s spring!
ItChang Men" (High Gate Palace) in the original poem
used to be where Empresa Chen of the Ban Dynasty (206
B.C. - A.D. 220) l i v e d i n loneliness when she was out of
favor with Emperor Yu. It is a metaphor for "lonely
chamber".
' ~ n allusion to the Song custom of grinding tea bricks
into fine powder i n a carred pot which is then put over the
f i r e to make tea.
'delicious spring tea.
4 1 1 ~ hBe eginning of Spr ing" (uc hun) , t h e first s o l a r term
i n the lunar calendar, sometimes occura twice a year.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Partridge Sky" 1
The migrant oriole on the bough-
Tears f i l l my eyes
A s I hear its reweet trills,
Fresh t e a r s t a i n s mingling with old.
A whole spring-and no word from you;
A thousand g beyond the mountain pass-
I search for you i n my dreams.
Wordless, facing the cup,
I resign myself to heart-rending sorrow till dusk.
No waiting for the lamp o i l to run out. 2
I shut the door t i g h t
La rain p e l t s the pear blossoms.
'The authorship of this poem has been the subject of
some debate. I a m i n favor of the view of Professor
J i n Jichang of Shanxi University that both the content
and the s t y l e of the poem ahow it to be from the pen of
L i Qingzhao r a t h e r than of Ouyang Xiu or Qin Shaoyu as
eome acholars believe.
2~ Buddhist saying with an intriguing exotic flavor
used to s i g n i f y t h e tedium of waiting.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sirw -Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: '*Complaint Against A Princen 1
Admiring Lotuses
Wind on the lake sends the waves
Drifting far and wide.
Autumn deepens. h few l o t u s blossoms remain
With a lingering fragrance.
Beautiful beyond words are these verdant h i l l s and
sparkling streams
That endear themselves to me so warmly.
Lotus pods ripen into seed
ha lotus leaves grow sere;
Duckweed and rushea fringe the bank
Freah-uashed by c r y s t a l dew.
Dozing egrets and g u l l s on the sand
Do not so much as turn t h e i r heads,
A s if they, too,reaent
My going away so early.
written probably before the poet' 8 marriage i n 11 01 .
This poem is noted f o r two c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s : it
describes the scenes of autumn i n a tone of cheerfulness
rather than melancholy; it is e n t i r e l y free from
feelings of sadness or nostalgia such as we find
in most of L i Qingzhao's &-poems.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qmgzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Sand of Silk-Washing Brook"
Late Spring
A small courtyard, an idle window:
The mellow t i n t s of spring.
Double blinds unfurled:
A room deep i n shadow.
Upstairs, s i l e n t l y ,
Someone plucking a jade z i t h e r .
Clouds emerging from far-off peaks
Haeten the fall of dusk.
A soft breeze blowing rain
Dallies with l i g h t shade.
Pear blossoms already past t h e i r bloom-
I 'm afraid one can't keep them from fading.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Drunk i n the Shade of Flowers"
Double Ninth Festival 1
Fine m i s t , thick clouds:
A day of sadness drags on.
The incense in the g i l t animal-burner is running out.
Once more the festive day of Double Ninth returns,
And my mesh-curtained bed and jewelled pillows
Are just drenched i n the c h i l l of midnight.
Beside the east hedge I drink a f t e r dusk;
A s u b t l e fragrance fills my sleeves.
Don't say one is not pining away!
When the west wind blows the blinds aside,
I am f r a i l e r than the chryeanthemums.
'Legend says that the Ninth Day of the Ninth Month i n the
lunar calendar was originaxly a day when people i n
ancient times went t o the h i l l s to escape natural
calamities, each wearing a bag f i l l e d with dogwood.
Later it became a f e s t i v a l for groups of friends or
members of a family t o go picnicking on the h i l l s
t o enjoy the brisk air and mellow t i n t s of autumna
custom immortalized i n one of the Tang poet Wang Wei'a
quatrains, i n whlch the famous l i n e "On festive occasions
one thinks doubly of absent dear ones" is often quoted to
t h i s day.
This poem was written not long a f t e r the poet married
Zhao Mingcheng, when the l a t t e r had to leave home at short
notice to take up a d i s t a n t o f f i c i a l post. Its vivid images
are pregnant with i m p l i c i t feelings which she leaves for the
reader to imagine. The concluding three l i n e s , famous f o r
t h e i r l y r i c charm, a r e frequently quoted. It is said t h a t
when her husband received the poem, he w a s overcome w i t h
admiration and took pains to compose f i f t y poems to the
same tune t o r i v a l and surpass hers, but without success.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Nostalgia for Fluting on the Phoenix Terrace"
Separation
No more incense smoke from the g i l t l i o n burner;
Q u i l t s in the bed: a r i o t of crimson waves.
A night of unrestful s l e e p ,
And I am i n no mood to comb my h a i r ,
Heedless that my jewelled t o i l e t - s e t is covered with dust,
And the morning sun peeping above the curtain-hooks.
A jumble of parting thoughts,
Yet I h e s i t a t e on the verge of utterance
For fear of bitterness.
O f l a t e I've been growing t h i n ,
Not that I over-drink myself,
Nor from lament for the autumn.
Finished! Finished!
1
Ten thousand Songs of Farewell f a i l e d t o detain
The loved one-now gone f a r away
To Vu Ling Peach Blossom Springs. 2
Here i n t h i s mist-locked chamber
I sit brooding t h e livelong day,
With only the limpid stream showing me sympathy
As it glides quietly past the terrace.
A fresh wave of regret floods my heart
Where I gaze.
' ~ na l l u s i o n t o a poem wr i t t e n by Wang Wei of the Tang Dynasty
(618-907) to aee off a friend, which i n l a t e r generations came
to be widely used as a song of farewell, with its last l i n e
"West of Yang Guan y o u ' l l have no more o l d f r i e n d s " sung as a
refrain. Yang Guan was an ancient pass i n present-day Gansu
Province.
2 ~ h epo et compares he r husband t o t h e f i sherman who sojourned
i n the Land of Peach Blossom Springs i n Tao Yuanming's
Utopian eseay.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Butterflies Lingering Over Flowersu
Separation
Sunny breezes, warm drizzle
Take the c h i l l off the air
As the thaw s e t s in.
Willow sprouts l i k e a girl's eyes,
Plum blossoms rosy-cheeked:
Already one f e e l s the heart of spring s t i r r i n g .
Oh the delights of wine and poetry-
Who w i l l now ahare them with me?
The gold-petalled hair-piece feels heavy,
And t e a r s m e l t my rouge.
I t r y on my lined dress sewn with gold thread,
Recline idly on a p i l e of pillows,
Crushing my phoenix hairpin.
No pleaeant dream comes to one
Alone i n deep sorrow.
A t dead of night I sit up,
Trimming the t e l l - t a l e wick
O f my bedside lamp. 1
h he wick of the candle burnt into a flowery shape was
thought to be a good omen, here presumably of the l o v e r ' s
return.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Zme: "Sand of Silk-Washing Brook"
Late Spring
Spring colors, mild and rippling,
Usher i n Cold Food Day. 1
Wisps of dying incense smoke
Wreathe the jade burner.
I wake from my dream t o find myself
S t i l l wearing the gold-petalled hair-piece,
Reclined on my pillows. 2
Swallowe have not come back from the sea, 3
People are already competing i n games of grass.
Riverside plums past t h e i r bloom,
Catkins appear on the willows.
Rain drizzles as twilight deepens,
Wetting the garden swing.
ca he Day of Cold Food customarily occurred two days before
Qingming (Pure Bright), the f i f t h s o l a r term i n the lunar
calendar. On t h i s day people in ancient times abstained from
cooking to lament the hermit J i e Zhitui, who l e t himself be
burnt to death rather than obey the summons of tb Duke of J i n
i n the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.), when the l a t t e r
s e t f i r e to the mountain forest where he was hiding.
*A l i n e capable of two i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s . The present transla tion
follows the one preferred by most a u t h o r i t i e s .
3~ stanza f u l l of emotional significance. Bach of the images
given r e f l e c t s some feeling that must be disturbing the poet's
mind.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qmgzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Sand of Silk-Weshing Bkook" 1
Late Spring
Languidly I leave my t r e s s e s uncombed,
Regretting that spring will soon be over.
Plum blossoms in the courtyard
Begin to f a l l in the evening breeze,
And moonbeams grm sparse
A s l i g h t clouds d r i f t to and fro.
The jade duck-censer idle
With the incense u n l i t .
Drooping t a s s e l s of many-colored feathers
A 1 1 but conceal the small cherry-tinted bed-curtain.
My rhinoceros h a i r p i n2 -
Is it still proof against the cold?
'Some c r i t i c s pay t r i b u t e t o t h i s poem as being i n
the s t y l e of High Tang lyricism-replete w i t h
f e e l i n g through sheer imagery.
'A kind af rhinoceros horn aaid to diffuae warmth was eent
as t r i b u t e t o t h e Tang court by Viet Nam. Here it
means "a rhinoceros cuahiontt or "a rhinoceros hairpinR,
both of which are relevant t o the context.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qmgzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Magnolia Flowers" (A shorter version)
From the flower vendor I bought
A sprig of spring just bursting into bloom-
Sprinkled a l l over with teardrops
S t i l l tinged with t r a c e a of
Rose* clouds and morning dew.
Lest my baeloved should think
I ' m not so fair as the flouer,
I pin it s l a n t i n g i n my cloud hair,
Bnd ask him to see
Yhich of us is the l o v e l i e r :
The flower or I.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "CompXaint Against B Prince"
Spring in the Boudoir
Late spring in the Imperial city,
A hall deeply secluded within double gates.
Once more the grass in front of the steps
Grore lush and green,
h d from my u p s t a i r s window
I gaze and gaze at the last wild geese
Tanishing from the ewening sky.
Barhere to find a messenger to convey
My teeming thoughts far auay.
I am in deep sorrou-
B sorrow that never abates.
The deeper your love, the more poignant
The f w l i n g of sadness there's no resisting.
It is again Cold Food Day.
The garden awinga lying i d l e ,
The lanes deserted.
ALL is quiet save t~ bright moon
That slanta do= to drench the pear blossoma.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qmgzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Sand of Silk-Washing Brook"
Solitude
F i l l no more t h i s cup of amber,
B feeling of intoxication comes over m e
Refire I am deep drunk.
Evening wind blows,
Echoing the intermittent chimes of b e l l s .
The h r n e o l a have gone out, my dream is interrupted.
My tresses f a l l loose,
The gold-bird 1 h a i r p i n i s s o smal l .
I wake up and brood idly
Ovm the glowing candle flame.
'An alluaion to a b i r d which s p i t gold presented as
t r i b u t e b.y Viet Emu to the King of Wei in the Period
of the Three Kingdoms (220-265)
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino -Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1 989)
Tune: "Rouged Lips"
Loneliness
Fine rain urges the f a l l i n g p e t a l s ,
And soon spring w i l l be fled
Love it as I may.
A twinge in my aching heart,
And I am overwhelmed by a thousand aad thoughts,
Secluded in my lonely chamber.
. '
Impossible to get out of t h i s mood of depression,
Moving from one end of the balustrade t o the other.
Where is he, the one dear t o my heart?
The road by which he may return I cannot glimpse,
Withered grass stretching t o t h e f a r t h e s t skies.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingrhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Complaint hgains t A Prince"
Late Spring
The clepsydra has stopped dripping;
My dream is broken.
Heavy drinking l a s t night
I n t e n s i f i e s my aorrov.
A c h i l l f a l l s on my jewelled pillow
A s the kingfisher screen
Faces a new dawn.
Who swept away the f a l l e n petals outside my door?
Mas it the wind that blew the whole night through?
Echoes of a jade f l u t e die away,
The player gone nobody knovs uhere. 1
Spring, too,will Boon be f l e d ,
Yet he has the heart not t o keep
H i s date t o return.
I ask the God of Spring
Through the d r i f t i n g clouds,
What I should do w i t h t h i s longing, t h i s r e g r e t ,
This moment of time.
'Legend has it that t h e daughter of Duke Mu of the
S t a t e of Qin ( c . 7th century B.C.) married Xiao Shi,
a g i f t e d f l u t e player. The couple lived happily i n a
jade tooem, and one day riding a phoenix they flew
away together to the Land of Immortals.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Celebrating the Clear Serene Dawnn
To the Late Peony
Usurper of the last days of spring,
Canopied by low palace curtains,
Protected by exquisite crimson r a i l i n g ;
Delicate, unadorned,
Nature's very image untrsmmelled by art!
L e t a11 other flowers hide sway!
To you alone the dewy breeze of morn does bring
A hundred charms a f t e r your e a r l y t o i l e t -
Envied by the wind and laughing at the moon,
Enough to make the God of Spring fall i n love with you,
Ever reluctant to depart.
Perfumed carriages j o s t l e one and a l l ,
Through the aouthern streets,
To where sunshine bathes Brookside b all'
East of the city u a l l .
Who can succeed you when you become fragrant dust,
The banqueting once over?
Let all the golden cups be drained,
A11 the candles g u t t e r out,
And yellow twilight fall unheeded i n t h e v e s t !
But m i s s not your boughs
Nestling beside the Palace of B r i l l i a n c e , 2
By the sun3 f i r s t s o f t l y caressed.
'Presumably a popular resort to which people of rank
and wealth flocked t o enjoy shows of r a r e flowers and
plants.
'A luxurious palace b u i l t in t h e reign of Enperor Yu of
the Han Dynasty, reputed for its walls i n l a i d with pearls
and its s t a i r c a s e s and doors shining with gold, the whole
palace being a blaze of l i g h t even on a dark night.
'A pun meaning both royalty and the sun.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Sand of Silk-Washing Brook"
' (a New version)
To the Cassia Flower
Your petals-twisted into ten thousand flecks of s o f t gold;
Your leaves-layer upon layer of carved emerald jade.
Graceful in -bearing,
Noble and bright i n s p i r i t ,
You me worthy to compare
With t h e ancient scholar Yan Pu. 1
Beside you how vulgar the plum,
For all its profusion of petals;
How coarse the l i l a c ,
With its innume~able knotty branches.
But your a l l too heady perfume,
Q you heartress flower!
Wakes my soz~owful drem
O f a thousand away.
'The s t y l e nmme of Yue Guang of the J i n Dynasty (265-420),
s scholar reno.med fs.r his erudition, wisdom and eloquence
as well as h i s upright character as an o f f i c i a l .
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: nPicking Mulberry Seeds"
A gust of evening wind and rain
Washes the heat of blazing sunlight away.
My piping done,
I l i g h t l y touch up my face before the mirror.
Smooth as snow, fragrant as crem,
My soft skin g l i s t e n s
In my flimsy sleeping-robe of purple s i l k .
I smile and say to my beloved:
"Tonight, our mat and pillows w i l l be cool
Inside the gauze bed-curtains. "
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "9and of Silk-Washing Brook" I
Longing i n the Boudoir
A smile of happy recollection l i g h t s up her face
A s she gently draws aside t h e curtain
Embroidered with blooming l o t u s ,
And leans against the jewelled duck censer,
H e r perfumed cheek on her hand, musing.
If she but r o l l s her eyes
She w i l l immediately give herself away.
That first sweet meeting f u l l of tenderest love!
She might as a e l l send half a page
With endearing reproaches unburdening a pensive h e a r t ,
And have him come again
When the moon is moving the flower shadows.
'This is one of the a-poems a t t r i b u t e d to L i Qingzhao
whose authenticity is questioned on the ground t h a t
the content is unworthy of a woman of her moral s t a t u s .
But it is included i n many anthologies because the poet
expresses her love boldly i n defiance of the feudal
shackles of her day and for some exquisite l i n e s which
bring out her inmost feelings in a l i f e l i k e way.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qmgzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Fisherman's Pride"
Early Plum Blossom
Glossy branches of jasper,
A sprinkling of early blossoms,
Touched up by snow bring
The f i r s t tidings of spring.
Soft and delicate in her new make-up,
Fragrant face half showing,
She emerges i n the middle of the courtyard-
A beauty i n the flower of youth fresh from her bath.
Nature must have regarded her with special favor,
To lavish on her such splendid moonbeams.
Come drain these golden cups of emerald
T i l l w e &re drunk.
O f a l l flowers t h i s is the one beyond compare.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "On the Trail of Sweet Incenseft
The Seventh Day of the Seventh Lunar Month 1
A deep gloom broods over Heaven and Earth.
I n t h e rank grass crickets are chirping,
And parasol-trees, s t a r t l e d , l e t fall t h e i r leaves.
Clouds for stairs, the moon for f l o o r ,
To Heaven the way is blocked by a thousand b a r r i e r s ,
And floating r a f t s 2 ply to and fro
To no avail.
On t h i s night magpies form a star bridge to span the Milky Way,
Where Cowboy and Weaving Maid keep t h e i r yearly t r y s t .
Endleas must be t h e i r murmurings of love and regret
After long separation!
But whence these sudden changes
O f sun and r a i n and wind
In the midst of t h e i r love-making?
Can it be that they are taking leave of each other
At t h i s vexy moment?
'A beautiful f o l k - t a l e dating back many centuries says t h a t
the Cowboy and the Weaving Maid (the two s t a r a A l t a i r and
Vega on o p ~ o s i t es i d e s of the Milky Way) loved each o t h e r
so much that they incurred the displeasure of the Emperor
of Heaven for neglect of duty and were permitted to meet
only once a year on the night of the Seventh Day of the
Seventh Month, crossing t h e Milky Way by a bridge formed
by magpies.
L According to the nBook of Natural Science (bowuehi)"
written by Zhang Hua of the Jin Dynasty, i n ancient
times the Milky Way was connected with the sea, and
~ e o p l es e t t i n g out from the sea on a huge wooden r a f t ,
would reach Heaven aft- s a i l i n g ten-odd days. There
they could catch sight of the Weaving Maid busy a t her
loom i n the palace and the Cowboy herding c a t t l e on
the bank of the Heavenly River.
47
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "A Dram Song"
A Reminiscence
It was a day at Brookside pavilion'
That I often fondly remember,
When, flushed with wine,
We could hardly t e a r ourselves away
From the beautiful view st sunset.
Returning l a t e by boat
When ue'd enjoyed our f i l l ,
We got l o s t and strayed
To where the clustered lotuses
Were at t h e i r t h i c k e s t .
Puahing and thrashing,
Pushing and thrashing as best we could,
We scared into f l i g h t
& shorefbl of dozing egrets and gulls.
' A beauty spot i n prasent-day Jinhua, Zhe j iang Province,
where the poet spent her girlhood years, and made delightf
u l excursions t o t h e ~ u b u r b ~w,h ich she ever a f t e r u a r d s
fondly remember&.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sim-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: nBodhisattuals Gold Headdress" 1
Nostalgia
The honks of departing wild geese die away;
Only scattered clouds a r e lingering i n an azure sky.
Outside the back-window snow f a l l s thick and blinding,
Smoke from the incense burner r i s e s s t r a i g h t and high.
My phoenix hairpin l u r i d under the candle's glow;
From the hairpin penda.nts of figurine and flower designs 2
Swing languidly to and f r o .
Btrgles hasten the break of day,
Bs dawn stars3 fade i n the Milky Way.
Futile my search for the f i r s t blooms of spring:
I wintry c h i l l to the west wind does cling.
1 Many authorities are of opinion t h a t t h i s poem expresses
nostalgic sentiments by the use of a s e r i e s of images,
and that the characters ming and ging i n the first
stanza= key words which imply a suggestion of melancholy.
In t h i s translation I have therefore used "lurid" and
"languidlyn instead of "brightw and * l i g h t l y v f o r these
two characters reapectirely. However, there is one
annotator who thinks t h a t the poem is a portrayal of
a young woman impatient for a n o u t i n g to enjoy the sights
of early spring.
'0mamenta made of gold f o i l and colored s i l k thread to
decorate the hair with.
'd-ou and &g i n t h e o r i g i n a l t e x t r e f e r presumably t o
the stars of Ursa Major.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: " B u t t e r f l i e s Lingering Over Flowers" 1
A Farewen LetHLer to My S i s t e r s
Written at an Inn i n Chang Luo
Tears s t a i n my s i l k robe with rouge and powder
A s the Song of Farewell is repeated
Thousands of times over.
I ' m Wold the going's hard
Over these endless ranges of mountains
That block the view.
In my lonely lodge I l i s t e n a l l night
To the p a t t e r of mizzling rain.
Regrets at p a r t i n g d r i v e my mind t o distraction:
I forget how full I f i l l e d your cups
' Bs I bade you adieu.
Be sure to send word
When the wild geese pass.
After a l l Dong Lai is not so far off
A s Peng Lai. 2
'written when the poet w a s en route to Dong Lai, i.e.
Laizhou i n present-day Shandong Province, where her
husband had just taken a new o f f i c i a l post. She must
then be around 38 years of age.
' ~ c c o r d i n ~t o legend, Peng La i w a s an i s l a n d i n t h e
Eastern Sea, where the Immortals dwelled.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Fisherman' s Pride" 1
B Dream
Billowing clouds surging across the heavens
Merge into dawn's hazy m i s t .
S a i l s in their thousands toss and dance
As the Milky Way recedes.
In a vision I find myself before the Heavenly Ruler,
Who asks solicitously
Where I wish to be off to.
"My journey is a long one," I reply.
"The sun is s e t t i n g a l l too soon.
And my b r i l l i a n t poetic attempts, alas!
Have come to no purpose."
Presently a whirlwind r i s e s , and lo!
The Mighty ROC* is winging to the Empyrean
On a f l i g h t of ninety-thousand g.
Blow, 0 Whirlwind! Blow on without cease.
Blow my tiny c r a f t to the three far-off i s l e s 3
Where the Immortals dwell.
' ~ r n o na~l l L i Qingahao's - p o e m s t h i s is one unique i n
e t y l e and content. Written probably a f t e r the f a l l of
the Northern Song Dynaaty vhen she found herself an exile
i n South China with a l l her hopes and a s p i r a t i o n s f r u s t r a t e d ,
it was a work of pure romance, conceived i n a tranue, worthy
of t h e g r e a t e s t masters of the romantic s t y l e of&-poetry.
It shows the v e r s a t i l i t y of her genius capable of produdng
a masterpiece i n a s t y l e other than the elegant restrained
e t y l e of & of which she uas generally recognized as the foremost
exponent. Among its moat enthusiastic admirers w a s
Liang Qichao, a great essyiat and c r i t i c i n the last years
of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
2~ fabulous bird first described i n the works of Zhuang Zi
i n the Werring States Period (475-221 B. C. ) . When
migrating to the South Seas it is said t o s t r i k e the
waters f a r 3000 before soaring to a height of 9000
-li on a whirlwind. Hence the popular s aying "Roc''s
Journey" frequently usedbythe Chinese to t h i s day
to congratulate someone embarking on a career of l o f t y
aspirations.
'i. e. the three legendary i s l e s "Penglai, Fangzhang
and Yingzhouw i n the Bohsi Sea.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qmgzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: llBiwl of Green Jade" 1
Nos t a l g i s
Spring' s glory-how far is it advanced?
Two-thirds already gone.
Lush foliage deep i n verdure,
Red blossoms a l l smiles:
Are barely passable.
A courtyard shadowy under weeping willows,
A room with curtains brushed by warm breeze:
Here's someone withering away!
A r i o t of flowers on s a l e for my choosing
I ride through the s t r e e t s of changanVZ vine my freight-
What are these beside the peach and plum of my native h i l l s ?
Blame not the east wind bringing t e a r s to a wanderer's eyes!
Nostalgic feelings a r e hard to exprees ;
Cherished dreams-a mere i l l u s i o n .
What can I do but return to my home town?
'In view of its s i m i l a r i t y i n content and s t y l e to quite
a few o t h e r -ci-p oema of Li Qingzhao t h i s poem must have
been written by L i a f t e r the removal of the Song c a p i t a l
t o Jian Kang south of the Yangtze, though i t is a t t r i b u t e d
t o Ouyang Xiu or an anonymous writer by some annotators.
hangan^ an^ it3 here uaed as a synonym for "the capital".
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Bodhisattva's Gold Headdress"
Nostalgia
A mild sun, a s o f t breeze,
The touch of a lined coat just put on:
Early springtime finds me
In a somewhat cheerful mood.
Theref's a bit of c h i l l , though, on getting up,
And the plum bloasom i n my hair
Has wilted.
My old home-where may it be?
There" no forgetting about that
Unless I am drunk.
No scent l e f t of the sandalwood incense
L i t overnight,
But the effect of vine
Is with me still.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: " B u t t e r f l i e s Lingering Over Flowem"
Giving a Party to My Relatives on %he Third
Day of the Third Lunar ~ o n t h '
A Dream
Low s p i r i t s , a long dreary night.
Idly I dreamed I uas on my way back
To our beloved old c a p i t a l -
The familiar road a blaze of
Beautiful flowers in the moonlight
A s home I went with news of
This yeart's glorious spring.
A few home-cooked dishes at the party, 2
But jmt to our t a s t e :
The plums sour, the wine delicioua.
In my cups how I ' d have loved to deck my h a i r
With a spray of bloom, 3
But for fear the flowers would chaff me.
But soon, oh how soon!
I woke to the s t a r k r e a l i t y :
We. were both of us aging,
The Spring and I.
'This refers to the ancient Chinese custom of holding
parties of friends or f a m i l i e s et the r i v e r ' s edge
on Ithe Third Bay of the Third Lunar Month t o ward off
e v i l s . It dates as Wr back as the Jin Dynasty, when
Wang Xizhi, China's g r e a t e s t c a l l i g r a p h i s t , wrote an
essay in h i s imperishable c a l l i g r a p h i c style celebrating
one such event.
h ha party described i n t h i s stanza may be considered as
e i t h e r a continuation of the &earn, or an event which
actually took place. The former idea s e e m s preferable.
31Ln allusion to Ouyang Xiut s essay "The Customs of Loyangn ,
which records t h a t i n spring the women of Loyang used to
take delight i n decorating t h e i r h a i r w i t h flowers.
63
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Airing I n m o s t Feelings"
I smell the fragrance of faded plum blossoms
by my pillow
Last night, dead drunk, I dawdled
While undoing my c o i f f u r e ,
And f e l l asleep with a s p r i g of
Faded plum blossom i n my h a i r .
The fumes of wine gone,
I was woken out of my s p r i n g s l e e p
By the pungent smel3 of the p e t a l s ,
And my sweet dream of far-off love
Was broken beyond r e c a l l .
Now a l l voices are hushed.
The moon lingers and s o f t l y spreads her beams
Over the unfurled kingfisher-green curtain.
S t i l l , I t w i s t the f a l l e n p e t a l s ,
I crumple them for t h e i r lingering fragrance,
I t r y t o recapture a delicious moment.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune : ltIrnmortal On The Riverbank"
Spring Returns
Prefatory Note. The Venerable S i r Ouyang, in h i s " B u t t e r f l i e s
Lingering Over Flowers", has the l i n e "Deep, how profoundly
deep the courtyard is!" I very much admire it, and have
composed a few rhymes beginning with the sane words, the
tune being the t r a d i t i o n a l "Immortal On the Riverbankw.
Deep, how profoundly deep the courtyard is!
Its rooms and casements
Perpetually locked in m i s t and cloud.
Willow sprouts and plum buds begin to show
A s spring brings a new lease of l i f e
20 the tseee of Mo Ling, 1
Where I a m fatted to l i v e out my l i t t l e sojourn.
How many times we chanted verses together
On moonlit evenings leaning against the spring breeze!
Who a r e s I am now withering with age,
Alone and with nothing accomplished?
No point i n pre-views of lanterns, 2
No mood t o go treading the snow. 3
'& Lina and Jian Kana were ancient names for today's c i t y
of Nanjing.
2 ~ h i sa l l u d e s t o t h e Song custom of v i s i t i n g shows of
f e s t i v e lanterns before the Lantern Festival ma celebrated
on the Fifteenth Day of the F i r s t Month in the lunar year.
he poet r e c a l l s h a p ~ y days in the paat when she vent with
her huaband f o r walks i n the snow composing verses impromptu.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
% #- 5 4
A M ?
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: ''The Charm of a Maiden Singert1
Spring Thoughts
Slanting wind, misty r a i n
Once more assail a courtyard bleak and desolate.
The double-gate needs must be shut.
Favorite flowers, darling willows:
Cold Food Day approaches,
With unsettling weather i n a l l i t s changing moods.
I f i n i s h a poem with d i f f i c u l t rhymes,
Sober up from the fumes of strong wine
With a queer sense of l i s t l e s s n e s s .
My multitude of thoughts-who w i l l convey them
Now the wild geese have all winged out of sight?
Spring c h i l l f i l l s the upper rooms,
For days on end the c u r t a i n s a r e drawn on all sides:
I am too languid to lean over the balustrade.
The incense burnt out, my q u i l t s f e e l cold
As I wake from a new dream.
No dawdling i n bed f o r one who comes t o g r i e f
When Spring is c a l l i n g with all i t s diversions:
Young parasol-trees sprout new leaves;
Clear dew t r i c k l e s i n the first f l u s h of dawn.
Now the sun is riding high, the fog withdraws.
S t i l l I ' d r a t h e r w a i t ,
To see whether the day w i l l r e a l l y be f i n e .
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingrhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Partridge Sky"
Solitude
The parasol-trees must hate
Lastt night's hoar f r o s t
A s t h e i r shadows fall on my patterned window
Where the bleak sun is dismally climbing.
B i t t e r b r i c k t e a w i l l just do for me a f t e r wine,
And the borneols smell good
Now my dream is interrupted.
AuCumn ends, but the day is still long.
I feel more dreary than
1
! h e homesick Zhong Xuan of bygone days.
Bet-Uer be content with my cup
A s is my wont,
And not m i s s the chrysanthemums
Blooming by the east hedge.
h he s t y l e name of Yang Can (c.177-217) ,one of the seven
masters of the Jian An s t y l e of & poetry. He wrote
a n o s h l g i c prose-poem t o vent h i s homesickness while
l i v i n g i n a remote bun after the f a l l of the Han
Dynasty .
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qmgzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "A Yeary Lovely Maidn
When the Plums in the &ck Garden Burst into Bloom
Body slim as thin jade,
Branches with crimson halo.
Petals like anowflakes scattering,
A perfume that intoxicates.
I regret I again missed seeing you
In the first flush of this spring.
Here at my riverside lodge,' I feel listless
As tthe strem that glides away
In the wake of leisurely clouds.
I spend the clear long day
Idly leaning against the balustrade
With the kingfisher-green curtain rolled low.
My guests arrive. We burst into song as we fill our cups-
A melody that flows on quietly as a rippling stream,
Halts now and then like scudding clouds.
Let the southern branches of blossom
Be cut diligently when good to deck the hair with.
Wait; not till the mournful nottes of a Tartar flute
Break out from the Yeet Tower. 2
'The original Chinese translated literally is "a riverside
tower in Chum, whi& means in effect a riverside lodge
far away from home that revives nostalgic thoughts.
allin^ in^ Plum Blo~soms*w~s s a plaintive song played on
a horizontal flute that reminded one of the transiency
of spring. The poet Li Bai alluded to it in his "Hearing
the Flute on Yellow Crane Towerw. The last line here
is a pun on the song and the jarring lfartar flute.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
t v+- *
7'I ,
%
53.
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "A Perfumed Garden" (a new version)
A Reminiscence
A pond fringed with sweet-smelling grass;
A eourQard canopied by green &adows.
Evening c h i l l seeps through
The window-curtains as the sun declines.
Suddenly t h e r e ' s a creak
In the jade curtain-hooks and golden door-locks;
It's my friends coming t o visit.
Our dinner-party is not without a queer sense of lonelineas,
My mind clouded by the @ought
O f Oheir leaving all too soon for lands far away.
W i l l the pear-blossoms help make them atay
Nor the raspberries are all fadecl?
I r e d 1 happy days i n the p a s t
When fine carriages i n str-e
And horses l i k e writhing dragons
Thronged the gate and guests in perfumed robes
Sipped tea brewed over a l i v i n g f i r e .
Unafraid of sudden storms,
We had our f i l l of toasting
While we admired falling blossoms.
Now our moods are changed,
W i l l they ever return-
The good old day&?
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune : "Pure Serene ~ u s i'cI'
Year a f t e r year i n the snow I used to get drunk
While picking plum blossoms to put i n my h a i r .
Now twisting a l l the f a l l e n petals t o no good purpose,
I only drench my clothes with pure t e a r s .
This year at the end of the earth,
My hair a t the temples is streaked with grey.
Now that the evening wind is growing i n force,
I s h a l l be hard put t o it to enjoy plum blossoms.
'A poem f u l l of pathos written probably a f t e r the f a l l of
the Northern Song. In the concluding l i n e the poet seems
t o a n t i c i p a t e f u r t h e r t r o u b l e f o r herself and the nation.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Spring in the Jade Pavilion"
Red Plum Elossom
Soft red petals ready to unfold,
Luscious jade-green buds begin to break.
Tell me, are her southern branches a l l i n fill bloom?
I know not how much perfume she. has in s t o r e ,
I am only aware that her heart is throbbing
with boundless love.
The Taoist recluse' at the spring window, how she pines!
No lesning against the balustrade, her mood eo depressed.
Come have a drink, if you w i l l , with no more ado.
Who knows but that tomorrow the wind may blow the
blossoms away?
' Being v i r t u r l l y an exile i n her l a t e r yesre, the poet
may have considered herself a Taoist in her loneliness,
though not actually s believer in 'Ifaoism.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao''
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune : "Perfumed Garden"
Fading Plum Blossom
My small boudoir hides a sprig of spring
Behind locked windoxs where no daylight f i l t e r s .
The painted h a l l adjoining-a r e t r e a t of profound seclusion.
The coiled incense burnt out,
Shadows of the sp lengthen below the curtain-hooks.
Lonely as He Sun i n Yangzhou,
With no one coming t o v i s i t ,
Need I go roaming distant streams and towers
In quest of wild blossom
Now that the plum I planted
Is blooming luxuriantly?
Unsurpassed i n charm,
My Flower c a ~ o st t and being trampled on by wind and r a i n .
And whose is t h a t horizontal f l u t e
That wakes such painful memories?
Grieve not when her subtle perfume dissolves
And snow-white petals f a l l .
Even though no vestige of her remains,
Her tender love w i l l endure!
And on calm evenings,her lacy shadows
Cast by a pale moon
W i l l be beautiful beyond words. 2
'A gifted poet in the Liang Dynasty (502-557) whose poem8
were much appreciated for their subtlety by the great Tang
Poet Du Fu. When he uas an o f f i c i a l at Yangzhou, he very
much loved a plum t r e e i n the courtyard of h i s o f f i c e . He
missed it so much when he m e transferred to Loyang, that
his superiors granted his request to return to Yangzhou out
of sympathy. Thenceforth the tree completely engrossed
his a t t e n t i o n so that he could hardly t e a r himeelf away from
it. He loved to sit facing the tree and write poetry
whenever he waa free from o f f i c i a l duty, Li Qingzhao
evidently a t t r i b u t e d h i s doting on t h i s t r e e to a sense of
loneliness he must have f e l t when he considered t h a t to be
an o f f i c i a l was devoid of meaning.
2~ description derived partly from "Ode to the Plum Blossomw
by the poet Lin Heqing of the Song Dynasty, generally
considered the f i n e s t eulogy of plum blossoms i n c l a s s i c a l
Chinese l i t e r a t u r e .
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "A Galaxy of Beauti-"
White Chrysanthemum8
Autumn c h i l l s t e a l s into my small chamber,
Curtains hung low as the long night drags on.
It grieves me to see your creamy flesh
Damaged overnight by r e l e n t l e s s wind and rain.
You arc not l i k e Yang ~ u i f e i ' flushed with wine,
Sun Shou 2 wi th k n i t t e d eyebrows,
J i a Wu 3 who s t o l e r o y a l incense f o r Han Shou,
O r Lady xu4 who powdered half her face to please a one-eyed
emperor.
It would be inappropriate t o compare you to these.
On maturer thoughts, your charm may f i t l y be likened
To t h a t of Qu Yuan and Tao Qi an5 .
Your subtle fragrance, wafted by a soft breeze
Has a l l the aweetnesa of blooming raspberries.
Pure as snow, s l i m aE jade, at autumn's decline,
You lean towards people with i n f i n i t e tenderness
And with as much pathos as the two f a i r y maidens
Who made a present of t h e i r b e l t pearls
To Zheng J i aofu a t Han GSO 6 ,
And Lady Pan 7 wr i t i n g a mournful poem on a s i l k fan.
Bright moon, serene breeze may be followed
By thick mists, dark showers.
It is Heaven's rill t h a t you shall wither
As your scentted breath fades away.
There's no ttelling how long
Your beauty w i l l yet remain, love you as I may.
But with me as your devoted admirer,
N e d you envy the orchids gathered on the riverbank by Qu Yuan,
O r the chrysanthemums picked by Tao Qian beside the cast hedge?
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
1 Yang Guifei, favorite concubine of Emperor Ming Huang of the
Tang Dynasty (61 8-907), one of the most famous beauties in
Chinese history.
2 ~ u nS hou, r i f e of Liang Qii n the East Han (25-220), notor ious
f o r her coquetry.
3 ~ i aW u, daughter of a mini s t e r i n t h e dhi rd century, who s t o l e
incense from the Imperial Palace to make love to Han Shou, then
a minor o f f i c i a l under the minisuer.
4 ~ a d yX u, s concubine of t h e one-eyed Emperor of t h e Liang
DynasUy i n the s i x t h century, said to be so coquettish that
she powdered h a l f h e r face to win his favor.
5 ~ Yuu an, a l i a s Qu Ping, g r e a t philosopher and poet of the
Kingdom of Chu i n the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C. ) .
Slandered by his p o l i t i c a l adversaries, he was out of favor
with the king, and h i s l o y a l e f f o r t s t o serve the s t a t e were
ignored. He ~ras exiled, and f i n a l l y drowned himself in the
r i v e r Milo, on whose banks he used to wander l i s t l e s s l y
before tsking h i s own l i f e . H i s "Elegies of Chun, i n
which he vented h i s p o l i t i c a l grievances, w a s an immortal
contribution to c l a s s i c a l Chinese l i t e r a t u r e .
Tao Qian, a l i a s Tao Yuanming ( c .365-427) , one of China' s
greatest writers of pastoral poetry. Abandoning the post of
a petty o f f i c i a l he enjoyed the l i f e of a recluse in the
quiet of his native f i e l d s , and wrote in praise of the
simple way of l i v i n g .
6 ~ c c o r d i n gt o legend, Zheng J i a o f u was presented wi th b e l t
pearls by two f a i r y maidens while passing Han G8o i n presentday
Hubei Province.
7
Lady Pan was a concubine of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty
(206-24 B.C.) . Out of favor with the emperor, she aired her
feelings in a poem inscribed on a s i l k fan. This a t t r a c t e d
the emperor's a t t e n t i o n , and she mas f i n a l l y restored to
h i s favor.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Partridge Skyn
To the Cassia Flower
Fair Flower !
Dark, pale, l i g h t yellow i n color,
Soft and gentle by nature.
Aloof and remote,
A subtle fragrance trails behind you.
What need for l i g h t green or deep crimson,
Y m choicest of flowers!
Let plum blossoms be envious,
Chryaanthmums be ashamed.!
You are crowned Queen of Mid-autumn
A t the Grand Exhibition of Flowers.
How unfeeling of the poet Qu Yuan
To be so cold towards you
A s to deny you a place
In h i s masterpiece. 1
' ~ na l l u s i o n t o -Li -Sao (Encounter ing Sor row) , a chapt e r i n
Qu Yuan's UThe Elegies of Chu", i n which he l i s t e d many
precious flowers and plants %IS symbolic of men of high
v i r t u e , but omitted to mention the cassia flower, presumably
out of b i a ~ .
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Picking Mulberry seeds"'
(an enlarged vmsion)
Who planted the banana t r e e s i n front of my casement,
F i l l i n g the courtyard with shadows,
With shadows?
Each leaf a heart brimming over with love
As it closes or unfolds.
PstUer of midnight rain on the leaves
Haunting the pillov-
Dripping ceas eleasly ,
Dripping c e a s e l ~ e l y .
Dismal sounds, painful memories:
An outcast from the North i n the throes of sorrow
Cansot bear to sit up and l i s t e n .
'Since banana trees grow i n South China, t h i s poem must
have been written when the poet had f l e d t o the South
at the time of the Tartar invasion.
liaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sirw-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Remembering the Maid of Qin"
Jumbled mountains, r o l l i n g plains:
The view from t h i s high tower
Blurred i n thin gleaming m i s t ,
Thin gleaming m i s t .
Across the sunset sky
Flash crows coming home t o roost;
A t f a l l of dusk
Calls a distant bugle.
Fading incense, remnants of wine:
A heart f u l l of remorse.
Parasol-leaves f a l l i n g ,
Paras 01-leaves falling-
Urged by the west wind.
Haunting me always,
Autumn's somber colors.
Never leaves me alone,
The pain of loneliness.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Sand of Silk-Washing Brook"
(a new veraion)
On Recovering from a Long Ill'ness
Beside the window, convalescent I l i e reclined,
My sparse hair greying at the %emples,
My mind serene as I watch a waning moon
Climb the gauze curtains.
A drink of cardamom1 l e a f t i p s boiled over a l i v i n g f i r e
W i l l do for me instead of tea.
An idler's boon:
Reading l e i s u r e l y propped on pillows;
Lovelier a f t e r rain:
The view outside my door.
Sweet-scented cassia blossoms,
Delicate and loving,
Leaning towards me a l l day long.
'A medicinal herb s t i l l needful to the poet i n her convaleseenee
because of its e f f e c t s of dispelling stomach ache, a l l e v i a t i n g
vomiting, e t c . , which can, however, be counteracted by a
drink of tea.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Happiness Approaches"
Solitude
The wind has subsided,
Outside the curtains thick lie fallen petals:
A profusion of white and red.
The crab-apple blooms and fades:
A timely reminder
To lament the spring.
Drinking and singing done,
Cups of jasper empty.
The blue oil lamp flares and dims.
I fall into a trance.
Melancholy memories are unbearable-
Unbearable even without the call of a solitary cuckoo.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qmgzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Dark Clouds of Chu" 1
Complaint. Against A Long
Absent One
Year a f t e r year I have wearied of
Doing my h a i r in he plum-petal palace-style,
Facing the mirror stand of jade.
It's one more year h e ' s not come back,
And I dread to get news from South of the River.
Drinking-scarcely i n the mood now h e ' s away;
Tears-cried dry i n %he depth of sorrow.
I keep daydreaming of him
Lost deep in the dark clouds of Chu,
Farther away from me than the ends of the earth.
h he authorship of t h i s poem remains a matter of doubt,
but it is generally believed to have been written by
L i Qingzhao when she was i n the Northern Song capital.
Her husband was apparently away from home i n %u,-a
region cooeying present-day Hunan and Hubei then considered
ramo t e .
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: IfBowl of Green Jadeff
A Fortuitous Meeting
Haste not back so soon!
No glimpse yet of Handan Road 1
For a l l our peregrinations.
Autumn wind so dreary,
How are we to while our days away?
A drink under a c l e a r window,
An i d l e chat beside a dim lamp,
Would be the i d e a l way to relax.
Each laments her declining years as we meet,
Chanting many a new verse with t h r i l l i n g rhymes-
Poetic t a l e n t a family t r a d i t i o n people much p r i z e . 2
Now f r a i l and decrepit,
Nothing remains to me but profuse t e a r s
Falling l i k e r a i n i n the season of yellowing plums.
' ~ e ~ e nhda s i t t h a t a s c h o l a r named Lu, whi l e t r a v e l l i n g on
Handan Road, met a Taoist p r i e s t who gave him a magic
pillow. When he went to .sleep, he dreamed t h a t he passed
several decades l i v i n g i n wealth and p r o s p e r i t y . But on
waking he found t h a t the pot of m i l l e t he had l e f t boiling
on the stove was not yet done.
20ne day Xie An the Imperial Tutor (c. t h i r d century) w a s at
home with h i s nephew Xie Lang and niece Xie Taoyun when it
suddenly began to snow. He asked each of them good-humoredly
what the snowflakes looked l i k e . Xie Lang thought
they might be likened to grains of salt dropped from the
air. But Taoyun said t h e s i m i l e wasn't so good as 'willow
catkins whirling i n the wind'. Thenceforth 'salt and
willow c a t k i n f came t o be regarded as a family t r a d i t i o n
of l i t e r a r y t a l e n t .
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 1 3 (October, 1989)
Tune: wImmortal On The Riverbank"
To the Plum Elossom
Deep, how profoundly deep the courtyard is!
Spring comes l a t e to these casements and terraces
Buried in m i s t s and clouds.
For whom do you pine away, 0 Flower!
And lose your lovely looks quite
When but l a s t night I dreamed-
How sweet and vivid t h a t drean-
Your southern branches were bursting into bloom?
That you should be f r a i l as jade
And your boughs lose much of t h e i r crimson sweetness
AS though weighed down with i n f i n i t e sorrow!
Away with that Tartar f l u t e i n the South Tower
Blowing away your rich perfume
Nobody knows whither,
And l e t the days lengthen
When balmy breezes blow.
But do stay till the apricot blossoms round out!
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "The Lone Wild Goosew
Plum Blossoms
Prefatory Note. People tend to be vulgar as soon as they start
writing a ci-poem about the plum. O f t h i s I w a s unauare t i l l I
had made an attempt myself.
Paper bed-curtains,
A couch of r a t t a n .
No pleasant thoughts ease a troubled mind
When my morning sleep ends.
Sandalwood incense burning f i t f u l l y ,
The jade censer f a l l e n cold-
Companion to my f e e l i n g s t h i n as water.
A f l u t e playing "Fa l l i n g Plum B?Loss~mst'~h r e e times over
Startles the plum-trees into sudden bloom,
And the air is f i l l e d with all the sweetness of spring.
Fine r a i n , gusty wind:
Lugubrious sounds once more' urge
A thousand l i n e s of tears.
Gone is the flute-player,
Deaerted the jade tower
Nobody now shares with one broken-hearted.
I pluck a spray of bloom,
&t who can I send it t o ,
The two of us now so far apart-
In Heaven and on Earth?
103
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "On the Trail of Sweet Incense"
Golden chrysanthemums just i n bloom
Tell of the approach of the Double Ninth Festival.
A bounteous gift from Heaven these autumnal t i n t s ,
Which however bring sadness in t h e i r t r a i n
A s circumstances change.
I try on my thin dress, t a s t e new-brewed wine,
A w a r e that I am i n for
A s p e l l of wind,
A s p e l l of rain,
A s p e l l of cold.
Yellowing twilight fills my rooms
With gloom and anxiety.
Memories of heart-rending sorrow
Overwhelm me as I sober up from wine.
An unending night,
A full moon flooding an empty bed.
In my ears the dull thud
Of mallets on the washing-blocks,
The feeble chirp of c r i c k e t s ,
The monotonous dripping of the clepsydra.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 1 3 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Joy of Eternal Union" 1
Lantern Festival
The s e t t i n g sun-a pool of molten gold;
Evening clouds-discs of emerald jade.
Where is he-the one i n my thoughts?
Spring willows robed i n hazy mist;
"Falling Plum Blossoms" vafted by a p l a i n t i v e f l u t e :
Lovely springtime-how far is it advanced?
Warm sunshiny weather at the Lantern Festival-
Who knows but it may be
1P prelude to wind and rain?
My old wine and poetry companions send
Perfumed coaches, fine horses to take me f o r a ride,
But I decline a l l t h e i r i n v i t a t i o n s .
Sweet are memories of our old c a p i t a l i n its heyday!
Young ladies with time to spare
Made the Lantern Festival a apecial occasion f o r joy.
In kingfisher-feather caps and
Gold-thread j ewelled hair ornaments,
They vied with one another f o r loveliness.
Now worn with care,
My hair wind-blown and temples f r o s t y ,
I dread going out on f e s t i v e evenings.
I ' d much prefer to stay behind the screen
And l i s t e n to youthful t a l k and laughter
A s people pass by.
'The advent of the Lantern Festival revived memoriea of the
poet's happy days in the Northern Song c a p i t a l , the l o s e of
which to the Tartars va13 always i n her thoughts. Nearly a
century afterwards, the p a t r i o t i c poet Liu Chenaeng was
deeply moved on re-reading t h i s poem, and composed one of his
own to rhyme with hers, the Chinese t e x t of which with h i s
brief preface appears on Page 84 . A rough t r a n s l a t i o n of
the preface may also be found i n the Introduction.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
A Long Melancholy Tune (Autumn Sorrow) 1
Despair
Searching, seeking. 2
Seeking, searching:
What comes of it but
Coldness and desolation,
A world of dreariness and misery
And stabbing pain!
A s soon a3 one f e e l s a b i t of warmth
A sense of c h i l l returns:
A time so hard to have a quiet r e s t .
What a v a i l two o r three cups of t a s t e l e s s wine
Against a violent evening3 wind?
Wild geese wing past at t h i s of all hours,
And it suddenly dawns on me
That I've met them before.
Golden chrysanthemums i n d r i f t s -
How I ' d have loved t o pick them,
But now, f o r whom? On the ground they l i e strewn,
Faded, neglected. 4
to
There's nothing f o r it but,stay at the window,
Motionless, alone.
How the day drags before dusk descends!
Fine r a i n f a l l i n g on the leaves of parasol-trees-
Drip, d r i p , drop, drop, i n the deepening t w i l i g h t .
To convey all the melancholy f e e l i n g s
Born of these scene8
Can the one word " S O ~ ~ O W " suffice? 5
. .
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
The character m-an in the label means "a long tunef1,n ot l'slowfl.
In this poem Li Qingzhao expresses her sentiments with
rapidity and abandon but none of the characteristics of
the elegant restrained style in which most of her &-poems
are written. The poem is in fact rather like a prose-poem
(a)whi ch makes us recall Ouyang Xiuts famous prose-poem
"Autumn Sounds".
his masterpiece of Li Qingzhao's is admired among other
things for the three groups of re-iterated characters at the
beginning of the poem. The three groups are ingeniously
inter-related, the second group being the result of the
first, and the third the result of the second. This
heightens the pathos.
3 ~ h ewo rd "evening" is used in most anthologies, but the
eminent poet and prose-writer Yu Pingbo is in favor of
using "dawn" instead of "evening".
4~ome commentators interpret the above lines as follows :
"Golden chrysanthemums in full bloom,
Their fallen petals in drift^-
Who would pick them
Now I'm withered and worn?
On the ground they lie streun, neglected."
5 ~ Qiin gzhao shows great creativity in saying that the word
"sorrow" is inadequate to convey a multitude of melancholy
feelings, instead of using hyperboles in the conventional
way.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Sand W~shed by Waves"
In Memoriam
Outside the curtains the howling fifth-watch wind
Blows away the l a s t vestige of my melancholy dream.
Who will be my companion
When I go up the painted tower again?
I rememba how he loved to chaff me
Poking the f i r e sideways with my jade hairpin-
A memory now vanished l i k e the auspicious omen
In the seal-character incense.
Recollections flood my mind
O f happy days gone by
When the two o f us climbed Purple Gold peak' hand i n hand
Gazing at the hazy view below:
A r i v e r of spring waves wrapped in r a i n and m i s t ,
Gliding away as i f half-sober and half-tipsy.
I keep on my garment
Tears ahed the day before--
To shoot to the wild geese
A s they wing past.
Presumably an alluaion to the Purple Gold H i l l (Zhi Jinp. ~ h a n )
i n today's city of Nanjing.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "A Southern Song"
In Memoriam
In Heaven the Milky Way turns,
On Earth all curtains hang low.
A chill steals on to my pillow-mat
Damp with tears.
I sit up to unloosen my silk robe,
And idly ask myself:
"What hour of night is it?"
The kingfisher-embroidered lotus-pods seem small,
The gold-stitched lotus leaves are sparse.
The same weather, the aame clothes,
As of old.
Only my feelings are quite other
Than those of old times.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
Tune: "Spring a t Wu Ling" 1
Spring Ends
The wind has subsided,
Faded a l l the flowers:
In the muddy earth
A lingering fragrance of petals.
Dusk f a l l s . I'm i n no mood to comb my hair.
Things remain, but a l l is l o s t
Nor he's no more.
Tears choke my words.
I hear "Twin ~rooks'" is still sweet
With the breath of spring.
How I'd, too, love to go for a row,
On a light s k i f f .
I only fear at "Twin Brooks" my grasshopper of a boat
Wouldn't be able to bear
Such a load of g r i e f . 3
'Written in 1135, s i x years a f t e r her husband's death, when
Li Qingzhao was l i v i n g at Jinhua in today's Zhejiang Province
as a temporary refuge from the J i n invasion.
*A stream i n the southeast of Jinhua often v i s i t e d by poets
i n Tang and Song times as a scenic resort.
3~ l i n e famed for the beauty and freahness of its imagery.
POSTSCRIPT
I
In the discussion of Li Qingzhaots &-poem "Autumn Sorrow,
To B Long Melancholy Tune' in the Introduction, I missed an
interesting piece of information which has since come to my
notice. In Huang Mogu's Commentary On Li Qinazhao's Works
(published comparatively recently) I came across a remark made
by the noted critic Chen Tingzhuo (supported by two other critics)
in his Random Notes On Ci-aoetrs to the effect that the seven
pairs of reiterated characters at the beginning of the poem
are merely a show of verbal dexterity that has little to do with
the beauty and pathos of the poem as a whole. By comparison,
he goes on to say, images in the second stanza such as chrysanthemums
strewn neglected on the ground and the patter of fine
rain on the leaves of parasol-trees in the deepening twilight
seem far more touching. Nevertheless, these characters have
been rhapsodized over by many other critics, among them
Zhang Duanyi who praises them enthusiastically by comparing
them to a magic sword dance performed by the famous ballerina
Lady Gong Sun of the Tang Dynasty. Since opinions in favor of
these characters are in the overwfielming majority, it seems
that the consensus cannot be altered.
The frequent use of the characters shou and chou (meaning
'thint and 'sorrow') also bores some readers. However, it must
be remembered that Li's &-poems were closely bound up with
the ups and downs of her life. It was her forte that she
never hesitated to lay bare her grief, though implicitly, as
she actually felt it. For instance, she probably wrote the line
"When the west wind blows the blinds aside, I'm frailer than the
chrysanthemums" (pp. 16-1 7) to substantiate the preceding line
"Don't say one is not pining away!", with the additional
implication that morally she is as pure as the chrysanthemums.
Here the character shou is a key word indicative not only of a
physical feature but of her longing for her absent husband. As
to the character chou, its use seems to be fully justified in
poems like 'Autumn Sorrow' written when she was actually overwhelmed
with poignant grief or loneUne88.
Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989)
In short, c r i t i c i s m s such as these t e l l us t h a t c r i t i c s are
l i k e l y to d i f f e r s o widely i n t h e i r views that the bewildered
reader has either t o depend on his own judgement or to take
the consensus as h i s c r i t e r i o n . On the other hand, we should in
fairness make reasonable allowance for certain idiosyncracies
from which Li Qingzhao, l i k e o t h e r g r e a t w r i t e r s , was not
entirely free, but which by no means detract from the i n t r i n s i c
merit of her g-poems.
I1
Mention must be made of an incident i n Li Qingzhao's l a t e r
years that I omitted i n the Introduction. Aa we have seen, her
married l i f e was l i t t l e short of i d y l l i c before the f a l l of the
NorBhern Song i n 1127. But a f t e r the death of her husband Zhao
Mingcheng i n 1129, she had to wander from one place to another
i n face of the J i n invasion, u n t i l f i n a l l y she s e t t l e d i n
Hangzhou, the c a p i t a l of the Southern Song, where she lived i n
u t t e r misery and lonelineaa as an outcast. It was during t h i s
period, presumably about the year 1132 when she w a s forty-nine
years of age, that the most controversial event i n her l i f e
occurred: she is said t o have committed the f o l l y of marrying
Zhang Ruzhou, an unscrupulous petty o f f i c i a l with the u l t e r i o r
motive of seizing her property who maltreated her cruelly not
long a f t e r t h e i r marriage. Luckily she succeeded i n getting a
divorce by appealing t o the court about three months afterwards.
Scholars i n the Ming and Qing Dynasties wrote volumes t o refute
t h i s sordid story of her re-marriage as a sheer fabrication
deliberately invented by her adversaries to ruin her reputation.
Since Li was uncompromising i n her p o l i t i c a l opinions, and
prone to harshness i n her c r i t i c i s m s of many contemporary
writexs, these well-intentioned scholars naturally thought
that she had many enemies i n a dispute i n which she was involved.
However, as no r e l i a b l e records are available, the matter w i l l
in a l l probability remain one of controversy for many years to
come.
Jiaosheng Wang, "Complete Ci-Poems of Li Qingzhao"
A s we leaf through the pages of L i Qingzhao's &-poetry,
it is p a r t i c u l a r l y refreshing to browse among its famous l i n e s ,
t o some of which I have already referred in the Notes to the
poems i n which they appear. These famous l i n e s enchant us with
t h e i r vivid imagery, and a rhythmic charm produced by arranging
the words i n the most appropriate order. They seem to come so
e f f o r t l e s s l y f r o m t h e a u t h o r ' s pen that the reader is enthralled
without being aware of the pains she must have taken to write
with such naturalness in s p i t e of a l l the exacting demands of
-ci- prosody. Below a r e quoted some more famous l i n e s which me r i t
a t t e n t i o n because they a r e admired by most a u t h o r i t i e s on Qpoetry.
1 . huang hun shu yu s h i qiu qian Translation:
Rain drizzles as Uvilight deepens,
Vetting the garden swing.
From 'Late Spring, t o the tune Sand of Silk-Washing Brook1
( PP. 22-23)
The images i n t h i s l i n e suggest that t h e w r i t e r , troubled
by the feelings implicit i n the preceding l i n e s , is i n a
s o r t of reverie and at a loss what to do.
2. chona l i u jiao hua han s h i jin Translation:
Favorite flowers, darling willows,
Cold Food Day approaches,
From 'Spring l!houghts,to the tune Charm of a Maiden Sinaer'
(PP. 68-69)
A l i n e admired c h i e f l y for the beauty of the phrase chong
l i u jiao hua intended t o convey the poet's anxiety f o r
the willows and flowers in the approaching unsettling
weather.
3, gin^ lu chen l i u , xin tong chu s i n Translation:
Young parasol-trees sprout new leaves;
Clear dew t r i c k l e s i n the firs% flush of dawn,
Sino-Platonic Papers, 1 3 (October, 1989)
From 'Spring Thoughts, to the tune $harm of a Maiden Singer'
( pp. 68-69)
A beautiful couplet with vivid imagery descriptive of the
tempting calls of spring mentioned in the preceding line.
4. h o n ~ou xiang can yu tan qiu Translation:
The lotus has wilted, only a faint perfume remains;
On the bamboo mat there's a touch of autumn chill.
From 'Sorrow of Separation, to the tune B S~rino f PI=
Blossom' (pp. 6-7)
A line unanimously praised for the rhythmic effect created
by its utmost economy of words. In seven characters it
paints a lucid picture of four judicioudy selected images
depicting scenes both inside and outside the room: the
bamboo mat and autumn chill; the wilted lotus and its
faint perfume. These combine to suggest the poet's feeling
of loneliness when her husband is away. She probably
achieved this remarkable succinctness by learning from the
great Du Fu of the Tang Dynasty, who is reputed to have
explored language to its utmost limits in the parallelisms
of his poems.
Biographical Note
Jiaosheng WANG, a native of Zhejiang Province, was born in Shanghai in January, 1905.
His only formal schooling was a four-years' English course at a missionary school, where he
graduated in 1925. Because of his aptitude for the English language, the school principal intended
to send him to study abroad, and this inspired his early aspiration to be a writer. But circumstances
drove him instead to work at a bank from 1926 until he became a teacher of English at a middle
school in 1956. His great passion for English literature impelled him to devote his leisure hours
exclusively to the study of English classics and practice in writing English. He profited by
corresponding with the school principal, some university professors, and other learned friends.
The early 1940s saw his first attempts at literary work when he published a series of sketches of
life under the title "A Chinese Diary" in the North China Daily News and a few other articles in The
China Journal of Science and Art, all on topics of literary and artistic interest. This was followed
by the publication in Chambers's Journal, Edinburgh, of the frrst article he sent abroad. His
retirement in 1972 afforded him the opportunity of lecturing on English grammar and usage at an
institute for teachers and other institutions. He toured scenic places and wrote more than two dozen
articles for China Daily, some of which were later included in his book Travel Notes published in
1986. Other publications of his during this period included translations of Zhu Ziqing's
"Moonlight on the Lotus Pond" and Yu Dafu's "Autumn in the Old Capital" in The World of
English, which won him the wann appreciation of its Editor.
Jiaosheng Wangfs ill-health in recent years has not diminished his lifelong interest in literary
work, which is now focussed on the translation of classical Chinese poetry in hopes of promoting
cultural understanding between the people of China and of other countries. He has translated a
number of Tang and Song lyrics for periodicals in Shanghai and Hong Kong. In his long
apprenticeship to writing and translation, he is mainly self-taught. He takes a keen interest in
Chinese calligraphy as a hobby.

Previous Issues
Number Date Author Title Pages
1 Nov.
1986
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
The Need for an Alphabetically
Arranged General Usage
Dictionary of Mandarin Chinese: A
Review Article of Some Recent
Dictionaries and Current
Lexicographical Projects
31
2 Dec.
1986
Andrew Jones
Hiroshima
The Poetics of Uncertainty in Early
Chinese Literature
45
3 March
1987
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
A Partial Bibliography for the
Study of Indian Influence on
Chinese Popular Literature
iv, 214
4 Nov.
1987
Robert M. Sanders
University of Hawaii
The Four Languages of
“Mandarin”
14
5 Dec.
1987
Eric A. Havelock
Vassar College
Chinese Characters and the Greek
Alphabet
4
6 Jan.
1988
J. Marshall Unger
University of Hawaii
Computers and Japanese Literacy:
Nihonzin no Yomikaki Nôryoku to
Konpyuta
13
7 Jan.
1988
Chang Tsung-tung
Goethe-Universität
Indo-European Vocabulary in Old
Chinese
i, 56
8 Feb.
1988
various Reviews (I) ii, 39
9 Dec.
1988
Soho Machida
Daitoku-ji, Kyoto
Life and Light, the Infinite: A
Historical and Philological
Analysis of the Amida Cult
46
10 June
1989
Pratoom Angurarohita
Chulalongkorn University
Bangkok
Buddhist Influence on the
Neo-Confucian Concept of the
Sage
31
11 July
1989
Edward Shaughnessy
University of Chicago
Western Cultural Innovations in
China, 1200 BC
8
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
12 Aug.
1989
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
The Contributions of T’ang and
Five Dynasties Transformation
Texts (pien-wen) to Later Chinese
Popular Literature
71
13 Oct.
1989
Jiaosheng Wang
Shanghai
The Complete Ci-Poems of Li
Qingzhao: A New English
Translation
xii,
122
14 Dec.
1989
various Reviews (II) 69
15 Jan.
1990
George Cardona
University of Pennsylvania
On Attitudes Toward Language in
Ancient India
19
16 March
1990
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
Three Brief Essays Concerning
Chinese Tocharistan
16
17 April
1990
Heather Peters
University Museum of
Philadelphia
Tattooed Faces and Stilt Houses:
Who Were the Ancient Yue?
28
18 May
1990
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
Two Non-Tetragraphic Northern
Sinitic Languages
a. Implications of the
Soviet Dungan Script for
Chinese Language
Reform
b. Who Were the Gyámi?
28
19 June
1990
Bosat Man
Nalanda
Backhill/Peking/Beijing 6
20 Oct.
1990
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
Introduction and Notes for a
Translation of the Ma-wang-tui
MSS of the Lao Tzu
68
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
21 Dec.
1990
Philippa Jane Benson
Carnegie Mellon
University
Two Cross-Cultural Studies on
Reading Theory
9, 13
22 March
1991
David Moser
University of Michigan
Slips of the Tongue and Pen in
Chinese
45
23 April
1991
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
Tracks of the Tao, Semantics of
Zen
10
24 Aug.
1991
David A. Utz
University of Pennsylvania
Language, Writing, and Tradition
in Iran
24
25 Aug.
1991
Jean DeBernardi
University of Alberta
Linguistic Nationalism: The Case
of Southern Min
22 + 3
figs.
26 Sept.
1991
JAO Tsung-i
Chinese University of
Hong Kong
Questions on the Origins of Writing
Raised by the Silk Road
10
27 Aug.
1991
Victor H. Mair, ed.
University of Pennsylvania
Schriftfestschrift: Essays in Honor
of John DeFrancis on His Eightieth
Birthday
ix, 245
28 Sept.
1991
ZHOU Youguang
State Language
Commission, Peking
The Family of Chinese
Character-Type Scripts (Twenty
Members and Four Stages of
Development)
11
29 Sept.
1991
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
What Is a Chinese
“Dialect/Topolect”? Reflections on
Some Key Sino-English Linguistic
Terms
31
30 Oct.
1991
M. V. Sofronov
Institute of Far Eastern
Studies, Academy of
Sciences, Moscow
Chinese Philology and the Scripts
of Central Asia
10
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
31 Oct.
1991
various Reviews (III) 68
32 Aug.
1992
David McCraw
University of Hawaii
How the Chinawoman Lost Her
Voice
27
33 Sept.
1992
FENG Lide and Kevin
Stuart
Chuankou No. 1 Middle
School and Qinghai
Education College
Interethnic Contact on the Inner
Asian Frontier: The Gangou People
of Minhe County, Qinghai
34
34 Oct.
1992
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
Two Papers on Sinolinguistics
1. A Hypothesis
Concerning the Origin
of the Term fanqie
(“Countertomy”)
2. East Asian Round-Trip
Words
13
35 Nov.
1992
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
with an added note by
Edwin G. Pulleyblank
Reviews (IV) 37
36 Feb.
1993
XU Wenkan
Hanyu Da Cidian editorial
offices, Shanghai
Hanyu Wailaici de Yuyuan
Kaozheng he Cidian Bianzuan
(Philological Research on the
Etymology of Loanwords in Sinitic
and Dictionary Compilation)
13
37 March
1993
Tanya Storch
University of New Mexico
Chinese Buddhist Historiography
and Orality
16
38 April
1993
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
The Linguistic and Textual
Antecedents of The Sutra of the
Wise and the Foolish
95
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
39 Aug.
1993
Jordan Paper
York University
A Material Case for a Late Bering
Strait Crossing Coincident with
Pre-Columbian Trans-Pacific
Crossings
17
40 Sept.
1993
Michael Carr
Center for Language
Studies, Otaru University
of Commerce
Tiao-Fish through Chinese
Dictionaries
68
41 Oct.
1993
Paul Goldin
Harvard University
Miching Mallecho: The Zhanguo
ce and Classical Rhetoric
27
42 Nov.
1993
Renchin-Jashe Yulshul
Tibetan Autonomous
Prefecture, Kokonor
(Qinghai)
and Kevin Stuart
Institute of Foreign
Languages, Ulaanbaatar,
Mongolia
Kham Tibetan Language Materials 39
43 Dec.
1993
MA Quanlin, MA
Wanxiang, and MA
Zhicheng
Xining
Edited by Kevin Stuart
Kokonor
Salar Language Materials 72
44 Jan.
1994
Dolkun Kamberi
Columbia University
The Three Thousand Year Old
Charchan Man Preserved at
Zaghunluq
15
45 May
1994
Mark Hansell
Carleton College
The Sino-Alphabet: The
Assimilation of Roman Letters into
the Chinese Writing System
28
46 July
1994
various Reviews (V) 2, 155
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
47 Aug.
1994
Robert S. Bauer
Mahidol University Salaya
Nakornpathom, Thailand
Sino-Tibetan *kolo “Wheel” 11
48 Sept.
1994
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
Introduction and Notes for a
Complete Translation of the
Chuang Tzu
xxxiv,
110
49 Oct.
1994
Ludo Rocher
University of Pennsylvania
Orality and Textuality in the Indian
Context
28
50 Nov.
1994
YIN Binyong
State Language
Commission and Institute
for Applied Linguistics
(Chinese Academy of
Social Sciences)
Diyi ge Lading Zimu de Hanyu
Pinyin Fang’an Shi Zenyang
Chansheng de? [How Was the First
Romanized Spelling System for
Sinitic Produced?]
7
51 Nov.
1994
HAN Kangxin
Institute of Archeology
Chinese Academy of
Social Sciences
The Study of Ancient Human
Skeletons from Xinjiang, China
9 + 4
figs.
52 Nov.
1994
Warren A. Shibles
University of Wisconsin
Whitewater
Chinese Romanization Systems:
IPA Transliteration
20
53 Nov.
1994
XU Wenkan
Editorial Offices of the
Hanyu Da Cidian
Shanghai
Guanyu Tuhuoluoren de Qiyuan he
Qianxi Wenti [On the Problem of
the Origins and Migrations of the
Tocharians]
11
54 Nov.
1994
Üjiyediin Chuluu
(Chaolu Wu)
University of Toronto
Introduction, Grammar, and
Sample Sentences for Jegün Yogur
34
55 Nov.
1994
Üjiyediin Chuluu
(Chaolu Wu)
University of Toronto
Introduction, Grammar, and
Sample Sentences for Dongxiang
34
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
56 Nov.
1994
Üjiyediin Chuluu
(Chaolu Wu)
University of Toronto
Introduction, Grammar, and
Sample Sentences for Dagur
36
57 Nov.
1994
Üjiyediin Chuluu
(Chaolu Wu)
University of Toronto
Introduction, Grammar, and
Sample Sentences for Monguor
31
58 Nov.
1994
Üjiyediin Chuluu
(Chaolu Wu)
University of Toronto
Introduction, Grammar, and
Sample Sentences for Baoan
28
59 Dec.
1994
Kevin Stuart
Qinghai Junior Teachers
College;
Limusishiden
Qinghai Medical College
Attached Hospital, Xining,
Kokonor (Qinghai)
China’s Monguor Minority:
Ethnography and Folktales
i, I,
193
60 Dec.
1994
Kevin Stuart, Li
Xuewei, and Shelear
Qinghai Junior Teachers
College, Xining, Kokonor
(Qinghai)
China’s Dagur Minority: Society,
Shamanism, and Folklore
vii,
167
61 Dec.
1994
Kevin Stuart and Li
Xuewei
Qinghai Junior Teachers
College, Xining, Kokonor
(Qinghai)
Tales from China’s Forest Hunters:
Oroqen Folktales
iv, 59
62 Dec.
1994
William C. Hannas
Georgetown University
Reflections on the “Unity” of
Spoken and Written Chinese and
Academic Learning in China
5
63 Dec.
1994
Sarah M. Nelson
University of Denver
The Development of Complexity in
Prehistoric North China
17
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
64 Jan.
1995
Arne Østmoe
Bangkok, Thailand, and
Drøbak, Norway
A Germanic-Tai Linguistic Puzzle 81, 6
65 Feb.
1995
Penglin Wang
Chinese University of
Hong Kong
Indo-European Loanwords in
Altaic
28
66 March
1995
ZHU Qingzhi
Sichuan University and
Peking University
Some Linguistic Evidence for
Early Cultural Exchange Between
China and India
7
67 April
1995
David McCraw
University of Hawaii
Pursuing Zhuangzi as a
Rhymemaster: A Snark-Hunt in
Eight Fits
38
68 May
1995
Ke Peng, Yanshi Zhu
University of Chicago and
Tokyo, Japan
New Research on the Origin of
Cowries Used in Ancient China
i, 26
69 Jan.
1996
Dpal-ldan-bkra-shis,
Keith Slater, et al.
Qinghai, Santa Barbara,
etc.
Language Materials of China’s
Monguor Minority: Huzhu
Mongghul and Minhe Mangghuer
xi, 266
70 Feb.
1996
David Utz, Xinru Liu,
Taylor Carman, Bryan Van
Norden, and the Editor
Philadelphia, Vassar, etc.
Reviews VI 93
71 March
1996
Erik Zürcher
Leiden University
Seishi Karashima
Soka University
Huanming Qin
Tang Studies Hotline
Vernacularisms in Medieval
Chinese Texts
31 +
11 + 8
72 May
1996
E. Bruce Brooks
University of
Massachusetts
The Life and Mentorship of
Confucius
44
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
73 June
1996
ZHANG Juan, et al.,
and Kevin Stuart
Qinghai, Inner Mongolia,
Shanxi, Henan, Liaoning
Blue Cloth and Pearl Deer; Yogur
Folklore
iii, 76
74 Jan.
1997
David Moser
University of Michigan &
Beijing Foreign Studies
University
Covert Sexism in Mandarin
Chinese
23
75 Feb.
1997
Haun Saussy
Stanford University
The Prestige of Writing: Wen2,
Letter, Picture, Image, Ideography
40
76 Feb.
1997
Patricia Eichenbaum
Karetzky
Bard College
The Evolution of the Symbolism of
the Paradise of the Buddha of
Infinite Life and Its Western
Origins
28
77 Jan.
1998
Daniel Hsieh
Purdue University
The Origin and Nature of the
“Nineteen Old Poems”
49
78 Feb.
1998
Narsu
Inner Mongolia College of
Agriculture & Animal
Husbandry
Kevin Stuart
Qinghai Junior Teachers’
College
Practical Mongolian Sentences
(With English Translation)
iii +
49 + ii
+ 66
79 March
1998
Dennis Grafflin
Bates College
A Southeast Asian Voice in the
Daodejing?
8
80 July
1998
Taishan Yu
Chinese Academy of
Social Sciences
A Study of Saka History ii +
225
81 Sept.
1998
Hera S. Walker
Ursinus College
(Philadelphia)
Indigenous or Foreign?: A Look at
the Origins of the Monkey Hero
Sun Wukong
iv +
110
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
82 Sept.
1998
I. S. Gurevich
Russian Academy of
Sciences
A Fragment of a pien-wen(?)
Related to the Cycle “On Buddha’s
Life”
15
83 Oct.
1998
Minglang Zhou
University of Colorado at
Boulder
Tense/Aspect markers in Mandarin
and Xiang dialects, and their
contact
20
84 Oct.
1998
Ulf Jäger
Gronau/Westfalen,
Germany
The New Old Mummies from
Eastern Central Asia: Ancestors of
the Tocharian Knights Depicted on
the Buddhist Wallpaintings of
Kucha and Turfan? Some
Circumstantial Evidence
9
85 Oct.
1998
Mariko Namba Walter
University of New
England
Tokharian Buddhism in Kucha:
Buddhism of Indo-European
Centum Speakers in Chinese
Turkestan before the 10th Century
C.E.
30
86 Oct.
1998
Jidong Yang
University of Pennsylvania
Siba: Bronze Age Culture of the
Gansu Corridor
18
87 Nov.
1998
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
Canine Conundrums: Eurasian Dog
Ancestor Myths in Historical and
Ethnic Perspective
74
88 Dec.
1998
Saroj Kumar Chaudhuri
Aichi Gakusen University
Siddham in China and Japan 9, 124
89 Jan.
1999
Alvin Lin
Yale University
Writing Taiwanese: The
Development of Modern Written
Taiwanese
4 + 41
+ 4
90 Jan.
1999
Victor H. Mair et al Reviews VII [including review of
The Original Analects]
2, 38
91 Jan.
1999
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
Phonosymbolism or Etymology:
The Case of the Verb “Cop”
28
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
92 Jan.
1999
Christine Louise Lin
Dartmouth College
The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan
and the Advocacy of Local
Autonomy
xiii +
136
93 Jan.
1999
David S. Nivison
Stanford University
The Key to the Chronology of the
Three Dynasties: The “Modern
Text” Bamboo Annals
iv + 68
94 March
1999
Julie Lee Wei
Hoover Institute
Correspondence Between the
Chinese Calendar Signs and the
Phoenician Alphabet
65 + 6
95 May
1999
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
A Medieval, Central Asian
Buddhist Theme in a Late Ming
Taoist Tale by Feng Meng-lung
27
96 June
1999
E. Bruce Brooks
University of
Massachusetts
Alexandrian Motifs in Chinese
Texts
14
97 Dec.
1999
LI Shuicheng
Peking University
Sino-Western Contact in the
Second Millennium BC
iv, 29
98 Jan.
2000
Peter Daniels, Daniel
Boucher, and other
authors
Reviews VIII 108
99 Feb.
2000
Anthony Barbieri-Low
Princeton University
Wheeled Vehicles in the Chinese
Bronze Age (c. 2000-741 BC)
v, 98 +
5 color
plates
100 Feb.
2000
Wayne Alt
Community College of
Baltimore County (Essex)
Zhuangzi, Mysticism, and the
Rejection of Distinctions
29
101 March
2000
C. Michele Thompson
South Connecticut State
University
The Viêt Peoples and the Origins of
Nom
71, 1
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
102 March
2000
Theresa Jen
Bryn Mawr College
Ping Xu
Baruch College
Penless Chinese Character
Reproduction
15
103 June
2000
Carrie E. Reid
Middlebury College
Early Chinese Tattoo 52
104 July
2000
David W. Pankenier
Lehigh University
Popular Astrology and Border
Affairs in Early China
19 + 1
color
plate
105 Aug.
2000
Anne Birrell
Cambridge University
Postmodernist Theory in Recent
Studies of Chinese Literature
31
106 Sept.
2000
Yu Taishan
Chinese Academy of
Social Sciences
A Hypothesis about the Sources of
the Sai Tribes
i, 3,
200
107 Sept.
2000
Jacques deLisle,
Adelheid E. Krohne,
and the editor
Reviews IX 148 +
map
108 Sept.
2000
Ruth H. Chang
University of Pennsylvania
Understanding Di and Tian: Deity
and Heaven From Shang to Tang
vii, 54
109 Oct.
2000
Conán Dean Carey
Stanford University
In Hell the One without Sin is Lord ii, 60
110 Oct.
2000
Toh Hoong Teik
Harvard University
Shaykh 'Alam: The Emperor of
Early Sixteenth-Century China
20
111 Nov.
2000
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
The Need for a New Era 10
112 July
2001
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
Notes on the Anau Inscription xi, 93
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
113 Aug.
2001
Ray Collins
Chepachet, RI
David Kerr
Melbourne, FL
Etymology of the Word
“Macrobiotic:s” and Its Use in
Modern Chinese Scholarship
18
114 March
2002
Ramnath Subbaraman
University of Chicago
Beyond the Question of the
Monkey Imposter: Indian Influence
on the Chinese Novel, The Journey
to the West
35
115 April
2002
ZHOU Jixu
Sichuan Normal
University
Correspondences of Basic Words
Between Old Chinese and
Proto-Indo-European
8
116 May
2002
LIU Yongquan
Institute of Linguistics,
Chinese Academy of
Social Sciences
On the Problem of Chinese
Lettered Words
13
117 May
2002
SHANG Wei
Columbia University
Baihua, Guanhua, Fangyan and the
May Fourth Reading of Rulin
Waishi
10
118 June
2002
Justine T. Snow
Port Townsend, WA
Evidence for the Indo-European
Origin of Two Ancient Chinese
Deities
ii, 75,
1
color,
1 b-w
print
119 July
2002
WU Zhen
Xinjiang Museum,
Ürümchi
“Hu” Non-Chinese as They Appear
in the Materials from the Astana
Graveyard at Turfan
21, 5
figs.
120 July
2002
Anne Birrell
University of Cambridge,
Clare Hall
Female-Gendered Myth in the
Classic of Mountains and Seas
47
121 July
2002
Mark Edward Lewis
Stanford University
Dicing and Divination in Early
China
22, 7
figs.
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
122 July
2002
Julie Wilensky
Yale Univesity
The Magical Kunlun and “Devil
Slaves”: Chinese Perceptions of
Dark-skinned People and Africa
before 1500
51, 3
figs.
123 Aug.
2002
Paul R. Goldin and the
editor
Reviews X 30
124 August
2002
Fredrik T. Hiebert
University of Pennsylvania
John Colarusso
McMaster University
The Context of the Anau Seal
Remarks on the Anau and Niyä
Seals
1-34
35-47
125 July
2003
ZHOU Jixu
Sichuan Normal
University
Shanghai Normal
University
Correspondences of Cultural Words
between Old Chinese and
Proto-Indo-European
19
126 Aug.
2003
Tim Miller
University of Washington
A Southern Min Word in the
Tsu-t’ang chi
14
127 Oct.
2003
Sundeep S. Jhutti
Petaluma, California
The Getes 125, 8
color
plates
128 Nov.
2003
Yinpo Tschang
New York City
On Proto-Shang 18
129 Dec.
2003
Michael Witzel
Harvard University
Linguistic Evidence for Cultural
Exchange in Prehistoric Western
Central Asia
70
130 Feb.
2004
Bede Fahey
Fort St. John, British
Columbia
Mayan: A Sino-Tibetan Language?
A Comparative Study
61
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
131 March
2004
Taishan Yu
Chinese Academy of
Social Sciences
A History of the Relationship
between the Western and Eastern
Han, Wei, Jin, Northern and
Southern Dynasties and the
Western Regions
1, 3,
352
132 April
2004
Kim Hayes
Sydney
On the Presence of Non-Chinese at
Anyang
11
133 April
2004
John L. Sorenson
Brigham Young University
Carl L. Johannessen
University of Oregon
Scientific Evidence for
Pre-Columbian Transoceanic
Voyages CD-ROM
48,
166,
19, 15
plates
134 May
2004
Xieyan Hincha
Neumädewitz, Germany
Two Steps Toward Digraphia in
China
i, 22
135 May
2004
John J. Emerson
Portland, Oregon
The Secret History of the Mongols
and Western Literature
21
136 May
2004
Serge Papillon
Mouvaux, France and
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Influences tokhariennes sur la
mythologie chinoise
47
137 June
2004
Hoong Teik Toh
Harvard University
Some Classical Malay Materials
for the Study of the Chinese Novel
Journey to the West
64
138 June
2004
Julie Lee Wei
San Jose and London
Dogs and Cats: Lessons from
Learning Chinese
17
139 June
2004
Taishan Yu
Chinese Academy of
Social Sciences
A Hypothesis on the Origin of the
Yu State
20
140 June
2004
Yinpo Tschang
New York City
Shih and Zong: Social Organization
in Bronze Age China
28
141 July
2004
Yinpo Tschang
New York City
Chaos in Heaven: On the Calendars
of Preclassical China
30
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
142 July
2004
Katheryn Linduff, ed.
University of Pittsburgh
Silk Road Exchange in China 64
143 July
2004
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
Sleep in Dream: Soporific
Responses to Depression in Story
of the Stone
99
144 July
2004
RONG Xinjiang
Peking University
Land Route or Sea Route?
Commentary on the Study of the
Paths of Transmission and Areas in
which Buddhism Was
Disseminated during the Han
Period
32
145 Aug.
2004
the editor
Reviews XI 2, 41
146 Feb.
2005
Hoong Teik Toh
Academia Sinica
The -yu Ending in Xiongnu,
Xianbei, and Gaoju Onomastica
24
147 March
2005
Hoong Teik Toh
Academia Sinica
Ch. Qiong ~ Tib. Khyung; Taoism
~ Bonpo -- Some Questions
Related to Early Ethno-Religious
History in Sichuan
18
148 April
2005
Lucas Christopoulos
Beijing Sports University
Le gréco-bouddhisme et l’art du
poing en Chine
52
149 May
2005
Kimberly S. Te Winkle
University College,
London
A Sacred Trinity: God, Mountain,
and Bird: Cultic Practices of the
Bronze Age Chengdu Plain
ii, 103
(41 in
color)
150 May
2005
Dolkun Kamberi
Washington, DC
Uyghurs and Uyghur Identity 44
151 June
2005
Jane Jia SI
University of Pennsylvania
The Genealogy of Dictionaries:
Producers, Literary Audience, and
the Circulation of English Texts in
the Treaty Port of Shanghai
44, 4
tables
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
152 June
2005
Denis Mair
Seattle
The Dance of Qian and Kun in the
Zhouyi
13, 2
figs.
153 July
2005
Alan Piper
London (UK)
The Mysterious Origins of the
Word “Marihuana”
17
154 July
2005
Serge Papillon
Belfort, France
Mythologie sino-européenne 174, 1
plate
155 July
2005
Denis Mair
Seattle
Janus-Like Concepts in the Li and
Kun Trigrams
8
156 July
2005
Abolqasem Esmailpour
Shahid Beheshti
University, Tehran
Manichean Gnosis and Creation 157
157 Aug.
2005
Ralph D. Sawyer
Independent Scholar
Paradoxical Coexistence of
Prognostication and Warfare
13
158 Aug.
2005
Mark Edward Lewis
Stanford University
Writings on Warfare Found in
Ancient Chinese Tombs
15
159 Aug.
2005
Jens Østergaard
Petersen
University of Copenhagen
The Zuozhuan Account of the
Death of King Zhao of Chu and Its
Sources
47
160 Sept.
2005
Matteo Compareti
Venice
Literary Evidence for the
Identification of Some Common
Scenes in Han Funerary Art
14
161 Sept.
2005
Julie Lee Wei
London
The Names of the Yi Jing Trigrams:
An Inquiry into Their Linguistic
Origins
18
162 Sept.
2005
Julie Lee Wei
London
Counting and Knotting:
Correspondences between Old
Chinese and Indo-European
71,
map
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
163 Oct.
2005
Julie Lee Wei
London
Huangdi and Huntun (the Yellow
Emperor and Wonton): A New
Hypothesis on Some Figures in
Chinese Mythology
44
164 Oct.
2005
Julie Lee Wei
London
Shang and Zhou: An Inquiry into
the Linguistic Origins of Two
Dynastic Names
62
165 Oct.
2005
Julie Lee Wei
London
DAO and DE: An Inquiry into the
Linguistic Origins of Some Terms
in Chinese Philosophy and
Morality
51
166 Nov.
2005
Julie Lee Wei
London
Hodong Kim
Seoul National University
and David Selvia and
the Editor
both of the University of
Pennsylvania
Reviews XII i, 63
167 Dec.
2005
ZHOU Jixu
Sichuan Normal
University
Old Chinese '帝*tees' and
Proto-Indo-European “*deus”:
Similarity in Religious Ideas and a
Common Source in Linguistics
17
168 Dec.
2005
Judith A. Lerner
New York City
Aspects of Assimilation: the
Funerary Practices and Furnishings
of Central Asians in China
51, v,
9
plates
169 Jan.
2006
Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania
Conversion Tables for the
Three-Volume Edition of the
Hanyu Da Cidian
i, 284
170 Feb.
2006
Amber R. Woodward
University of Pennsylvania
Learning English, Losing Face, and
Taking Over: The Method (or
Madness) of Li Yang and His Crazy
English
18
Previous Issues, cont.
Number Date Author Title Pages
Beginning with issue no. 171, Sino-Platonic Papers will be published electronically on the Web.
Issues from no. 1 to no. 170, however, will continue to be sold as paper copies until our stock runs out,
after which they too will be made available on the Web. For prices of paper copies, see the catalog at
www.sino-platonic.org
171 June
2006
John DeFrancis
University of Hawaii
The Prospects for Chinese Writing
Reform
26, 3
figs.
172 Aug.
2006
Deborah Beaser The Outlook for Taiwanese
Language Preservation
18
173 Oct.
2006
Taishan Yu
Chinese Academy of
Social Sciences
A Study of the History of the
Relationship Between the Western
and Eastern Han, Wei, Jin,
Northern and Southern Dynasties
and the Western Regions
167
174 Nov.
2006
Mariko Namba Walter Sogdians and Buddhism 65
175 Dec.
2006
Zhou Jixu
Center for East Asian
Studies, University of
Pennsylvania; Chinese
Department, Sichuan
Normal University
The Rise of Agricultural
Civilization in China: The
Disparity between Archeological
Discovery and the Documentary
Record and Its Explanation
38