55: For a Jinling Tavern Farewell
The wind blows the shop full of willow blossoms as
Mme. Wu shouts and pushes her wine on all to taste.
Sons and brothers of Jinling have come to see each other off;
Wishing to go, or not to go, each drains his cup.
I ask of you, please, which is greater: the loss of separation or
the water that flows down from the east?
Chang'an is a slice of moon,
Countless houses pounding clothes.
The autumn wind blows without end,
always with the passions of the Jade Pass.
What day will see the Northern Savages pacified,
and good men quit their long campaign?
Very sorry for the delay! Completely my fault, and so in recompense I'll offer another *bonus* translation tonight.
Midnight Four Season Song: Summer
On 300 li of Mirror Lake
young lotuses reveal flowers.
In the fifth month Xi Shi plucks,
others fill the shore watching.
Then, back to the boat without attending the moon,
returning to the House of the King of Yue.
Midnight Four Season Songs: Spring
In Qin the young girl Luofu
gathering mulberry at grassy water's edge.
White hands on dark green stalks,
Red ornaments flashing in the bright day.
The silkworms hunger, the lady yearning to go.
Of five horses departing, none will leave a trace.
子夜四時歌：春歌，李白
秦地羅敷女，採桑綠水邊。
素手青條上，紅妝白日鮮。
蠶飢妾欲去，五馬莫留連。
Qín dì luófū nǚ，cǎisāng lǜshuǐ biān.
Sùshǒu qīng tiáo shàng，hóngzhuāng báirì xiān
Cán jī qiè yù qù，wǔ mǎ mò liúlián.
In the middle of his life, the poet Li Bai, also known in the West as Li Po or Li Bo (both inexact reproductions of an 'old style' Mandarin) and to sinologists as Lǐ Bhæk (a reconstruction of the actual contemporary pronunciation of his name), met the famous elder poet He Zhizhang in the Daoist Temple of the Violet Pole, in modern-day Shandong. Learning that such a literary eminence was present, Li Bai introduced himself and presented several of his latest poems. He Zhizhang read at first slowly, then eyes sliding down the paper, then looked up in wonderment. “Can you be the Jin Star Taibai(1), descended from Heaven?" Thus did Li Bai become known as "the banished immortal" (谪仙), and later, the "Poet Transcendent" (诗仙).
Likely born in modern-day Kyrgyzstan, in a town then known as Suiye and within the sphere of influence of the Tang Empire, Li Bai grew up in the Sichuan town of Qinglian and read widely as a child, including many Daoist and astrological texts of a mystical bent. His association with the hermetic intellectual tradition, in particular its Daoist elements, prompted him to choose for his own "pseudonym" the name "Retired Scholar of Qinglian" (青莲居士), after the town where he grew up. As a boy and young man, he is said to have practiced martial arts, and bragged of his skill with a sword. In later years, after traveling the length and breadth of the empire, his wandering and youthful combats earned him the name "the Poet Knight-errant" (诗侠).
In casual description of Tang poetry, or of Chinese poetry generally, Li Bai and Du Fu are known as the greatest Chinese poets of any era, most commonly called the Poets Transcendent and Sage, respectively (诗仙 and 诗圣). Though the trajectories of their careers were quite different, they met twice and thought highly of each other, the younger Du Fu especially thinking enormously of Li Bai. In one poem, Du Fu placed Li Bai among other great poets of the age as one of the "Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup" (饮中八仙).
During the Tang, as for much of Chinese history, an educated man possessed many names beyond his surname. He was born with a "milk name" (乳名) given by his parents, acquired nicknames from his friends, was given a "courtesy name" (字) upon maturity, chose for himself a "pseudonym" (号) and possibly also a pen name, and if he had particular status, may have been given one or more additional nicknames and or posthumous names. Li Bai had more names than even the average Tang gentleman, but as he has faded into history they have only grown in number.
(1) The Jin Star (金星), also called Taibai (太白), refers to Venus. He Zhizhang's comment makes even more sense given that Li Bai's courtesy name was Taibai, chosen presumably for its connection with the same star.
Terribly sorry for the delay! Here then, we have one of the most famous poems in the whole Chinese canon, or at least the first verse. Like many poems in the 300 Poems of the Tang (including Zhang Jiuling's Poems of Encountering) it was anthologized only in part, and I imagine there are many who never come across the other verses. This verse, however, stands alone quite well -- enjoy!
月下独酌
花间一壶酒,独酌无相亲。
举杯邀明月,对影成三人。
月既不解饮,影徒随我身。
暂伴月将影,行乐须及春。
我歌月徘徊,我舞影零乱。
醒时同交欢,醉后各分散。
永结无情游,相期邈云汉。
under moon alone drink
flower middle one pot wine, alone drink no mutual dear-friend
raise glass invite bright moon, face shadow become three people
moon since not understanding to-drink, shadow follows follows my body
temporary companion moon and shadow, make merry must up-to spring
I sing moon wavers/moves-back-and-forth, I dance shadow disordered chaotic
sober time with share joy, drunk after each separate scatter
forever bound-together not-limited sentiment wander, together meet far-away Milky Way
_____
Drinking Alone Under the Moon
Among the flowers my jug of wine,
I drink alone without companion
I raise my glass to the bright moon,
facing my shadow we are three
Moon knows not of drink, and
Shadow merely follows my body.
These temporary fellows, Moon and Shadow,
this happiness is made to end like the spring
I sing and Moon wanders
I dance and Shadow shakes
Still sober we are merry together,
though after we have drunk we will separate
Would that I were with you forever, no pain of parting,
together among the faraway stars
