Poetry of Spring #4 Spring is the best!

(Title)
zǎo chūn
早 春

       (Author) hán yù
                 ----韩 愈

tiān jiē xiǎo yǔ rùn rú sū ，cǎo sè yáo kàn jìn què wú 。
天 街 小 雨 润 如 酥，草 色 遥 看 近 却 无。

zuì shì yī nián chūn hǎo chù ，jué shèng yān liǔ mǎn huáng dōu 。
最 是 一 年 春 好 处，绝 胜 烟 柳 满 皇 都。

(Translation)

早: early

春: spring

天街: streets in the capital city

小雨: light rain

润如酥: meaning that the rain is so light that it's like animal's oil

草色: the color of the grass

遥看: look at from far away

近: stay close

却: however

无: nothing, here it means sparse

最是: right now

一年: a year

好处: the best time

绝胜: much better

烟柳: willows

满: full

皇都: capital city, Chang An

(Appreciation)

I was standing in the street in Chang An, the capital city. It was raining slightly. The rain was so light that it felt like animal's oil. When I looked far away, the grass was so green that it filled the whole city. However when I moved close, the grass was actually pretty sparse. Right now was the best time in spring. It's much better than when the city was full of green willows.

Tips for appreciating ancient Chinese poetry #1

Ancient Chinese poems are much harder to understand than modern Chinese poems! There are a lot of reasons behind it. I will list them in a separate posts#save the space for the link#. I've been learning ancient Chinese poems since more than 10 years ago. Below are some tips that you can use if you are interested in learning some ancient Chinese poems but find them too hard to understand!

1) Start with some easier poems

Ancient Chinese poems can be separated by how difficult they are to understand. There are some poems that even professionals would find hard to understand, but there are some poems that we've been learning since very young.

As a beginner, it might be hard to tell which poems would be hard and which would be easy. The same poet could write something really easy and really hard, like Li Bai. His JingYeSi is very popular and easy to understand, but his XingLuNan is much harder!

However, there are still some tips that you can use to find some easy poems to start with:

• Try short poems! Short poems have fewer words, so the chance to encounter special word will be lower! The format of the easiest poem is like:

                                                           A short title

                                                     XXXXX, XXXXX.

                                                               XXXXX, XXXXX.

Four sentences with 5 characters in each sentence!

• Try famous poets! Famous poets could write something really hard to understand, but they usually wrote some easy and famous poems! Below are some poets that you can try first:

                                                   Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi

• Try poets living in peaceful times! Poets usually have much more emotions to write about when they were living through the wars, or they've been experiencing something unfair. Therefore, it will be safe to try the poems written during peaceful times. The periods I recommend are:

                     Early Tang Dynasty, Middle Tang Dynasty, Early Song Dynasty

• Try easy themes! There are a lot of themes that ancient poets like to write about! Some themes are always related to harder poems, for example, war, homesick or dying of a dynasty. Some themes are more often seen in easy poems:

• Nature: flowers, trees, rivers, moonlight, grass
• Seasons: spring, summer, autumn, winter

During the first two to three years of me learning ancient Chinese poetry, I was only reading easy poems with as few characters as possible. In this way, I learned a lot of special words and expressions without too much efforts! Hope this method will work for you as well!

I will make a page separating the easy poems from the hard ones that I've shared! #save the space for the link# 

Feel free to let me know in the comment if you find these tips useful!

Poetry of Spring #3 Spring is colorful!

(Title)

chūn rì

春 日

(Author) zhū xī

          ----朱 熹

shèng rì xún fāng sì shuǐ bīn，wú biān guāng jǐng yī shí xīn。
胜日寻芳泗水滨，无边光景一时新。

děng xián shí dé dōng fēng miàn，wàn zǐ qiān hóng zǒng shì chūn。
等闲识得东风面，万紫千红总是春。

(Translation)

春日: spring time

胜日: sunny days

寻芳: go onto a field trip, it's common for ancient Chinese poets to go out and enjoy the spring in the wild

泗水: Si River, a river in Shandong Province

滨: edge of the river

无边: meaning that the field was so big that you cannot see the limit/edge

光景: scenery

一时新: take on a completely new look

等闲: easy

识得: can recognize

东风: wind blowing from the east, referring to the wind of spring

面: appearance

万/千: meaning a lot

紫/红: purple/red, referring to colorful flowers

总是: always

(Appreciation)

On a sunny day in spring, I went out onto a field trip next to the Si River. The field was so big that I could not see the edge of it. Since spring time, the scenery had completely changed and now it looked so refreshing! It's easy to recognize the change that the spring wind had brought to this field. So many colorful flowers were blooming, suggesting that spring was here!

Poetry of Spring #2 Spring is coming! It's getting so green!

(Title)

yǒng liǔ

咏 柳

       (Author) hè zhī zhāng

                 ----贺 知 章

bì yù zhuāng chéng yī shù gāo， 

碧玉妆成一树高， 

wàn tiáo chuí xià lǜ sī tāo。 

万条垂下绿丝绦。 

bù zhī xì yè shuí cái chū，
不知细叶谁裁出，

èr yuè chūn fēng sì jiǎn dāo。

二月春风似剪刀。

(Translation)

柳: willow

碧玉: green jade, referring to the green leaves in the poem

妆: decorate

数: trees

高: tall

万条: a lot of branches

垂下: droop

丝绦: silk, referring to the willow branches

不知: do not know

细叶: thin leaves

裁: cut

二月: February

春风: wind in the spring

似: is like

剪刀: scissors

(Appreciation)

The willows are covered by green leaves already. A lot of green branches are drooping. I don't know who's so skilled to cut these leaves into this shape. However, the spring wind in the February is like a pair of scissors. The poem described that spring is coming so quickly and all the willows just turned green without noticing.

Poetry of Spring #1 When can I go home?

(Title)
bó chuán guā zhōu
泊 船 瓜 洲

                 (Author) wáng ān shí
                            ----王安石

jīng kǒu guā zhōu yī shuǐ jiān，
京 口 瓜 洲 一 水 间，

zhōng shān zhǐ gé shù chóng shān。
钟 山 只 隔 数 重 山。

chūn fēng yòu lǜ jiāng nán àn，
春 风 又 绿 江 南 岸，

míng yuè hé shí zhào wǒ huán。
明 月 何 时 照 我 还。

(Translation)

泊船: anchoring the boat
瓜洲: Guazhou, a town in the Song Dynasty, now it's in Yangzhou City
京口: Jingkou, a city in the Song Dynasty, now it's in Zhenjiang City
一水: a river
钟山: a mountain, now it's Zijin Mountain in Nanjing City
隔: behind
数重山: a few mountains
春风: wind in the spring
绿: make it green

江南: an area, referring to the South of the country
明月: the moon
何时: when
还: go back home


(Appreciation)
There's only one river seperate Jingkou and Guazhou. My hometown is behind a few mountains. The spring wind is blowing again, making the field look so green! When can I go back home in this moonlight?

Poetry of the moon #1 When can I see this moon again?

(Title)
zhōng qiū yuè
中 秋 月

                (Author) sū shì
                         ----苏 轼

mù yún shōu jìn yì qīng hán，yín hàn wú shēng zhuǎn yù pán。
暮 云 收 尽 溢 清 寒，银 汉 无 声 转 玉 盘。

cǐ shēng cǐ yè bù cháng hǎo，míng yuè míng nián hé chù kàn。
此 生 此 夜 不 长 好，明 月 明 年 何 处 看。

(Translations)

暮: night time

云: clouds

收尽: disappear completely

清寒: slight coldness

银汉: Milky Way

无声: silent

玉盘: the moon

此生: this life

此夜: tonight

不长: not often

明月: the bright moon

明年: next year

何处: where

看: appreciate

(Appreciation)

At night time, the clouds disappeared completely and it turned slightly cold. The milky way was silent with the moon moving on it. It would not be often to see such beautiful moon like tonight in this life. Next year, where could I go to see a moon like this?

Poetry of relationship #2 When would I get a letter from you?

(Title)
yī jiǎn méi
一 剪 梅

           (Author) lǐ qīng zhào
                    ----李 清 照

hóng ǒu xiāng cán yù diàn qiū， qīng jiě luó cháng， dú shàng lán zhōu。
红 藕 香 残 玉 簟 秋，轻 解 罗 裳，独 上 兰 舟。

yún zhōng shuí jì jǐn shū laí，yàn zì huí shí，yuè mǎn xī lóu。
云 中 谁 寄 锦 书 来？雁 字 回 时，月 满 西 楼。

huā zì piāo líng shuǐ zì liú， yī zhǒng xiāng sī， liǎng chù xián chóu。
花 自 飘 零 水 自 流，一 种 相 思，两 处 闲 愁。

cǐ qíng wú jì kě xiāo chú， cái xià méi tóu， qùe shàng xīn tóu。
此 情 无 计 可 消 除，才 下 眉 头，却 上 心 头。

(Translation)

Please feel free to let me know in the comments if there's any other words you don't understand!

红藕: red lotus

香残: wither

玉簟秋: beautiful bamboo mat is cold, meaning autumn is coming

罗裳: clothes

兰舟: boats made of a special kind of wood

云: clouds

锦书: letters

雁: wild goose

回: heading back

月: the moon

飘零: fading and falling

水: stream

相思: missing someone

无计: have no method

消除: eliminate

眉头: brows

心头: heart 

(Appreciation)

The red locus was withering away. The cold bamboo mat reminded me that autumn was coming. I took off my clothes and boarded the boat by myself. I looked at the clouds in the sky and was wondering who would send me a letter. It's the season that wild goose would travel back to the south. The moonlight was so bright and was shining onto the buildings.

Flowers were fading and falling. I was missing my husband a lot! I cannot stop missing him! Even if I managed to forgot about it for a little bit, the feeling would come back to me immediately.

Poetry of alcohol #2 Drink more so you won't feel lonely on the way!

(Title)

sòng yuán èr shǐ ān xī

送 元 二 使 安 西

                  (Author) wáng wéi

                             ----王维

wèi chéng zhāo yǔ yì qīng chén，kè shè qīng qīng liǔ sè xīn。
渭 城 朝 雨 浥 轻 尘， 客 舍 青 青 柳 色 新。

quàn jūn gèng jìn yī bēi jiǔ，xī chū yáng guān wú gù rén。
劝 君 更 尽 一 杯 酒， 西 出 阳 关 无 故 人。

(Translation)

元二: the name of the author's friend                               
使: go somewhere with a mission

安西: a place in Tang Dynasty, now it's in Xinjiang          
渭城: a city next to XiAn, the capital

朝雨: the rain in the morning                                            
浥: soak

客舍: hotel                                                                        
青青: green

柳: willow                                                                          
新: new

劝: persuade                                                                     
君: the author's friend

一杯酒: a cup of white wine                                              
西: west

阳关: YangGuan, a very important city on the way to the west, now it's in Gansu

无: there is no                                                                   
故人: old friends

(Appreciation)

It's raining in the morning in the city! The willow looked fresh and green because of the rain. I was drinking with my friend because he's going to the far west. I asked him to drink more because after he past YangGuan on his way, there would not be any old friend who could drink with him anymore!

Poetry of life #6 Homesickness during the war!

(Title)
chūn wànɡ
春 望

          (Author) dù fǔ
                   ----杜 甫

ɡuó pò shān hé zài，chénɡ chūn cǎo mù shēn。
国 破 山 河 在， 城 春 草 木 深。

ɡǎn shí huā jiàn lèi，hèn bié niǎo jīnɡ xīn。
感 时 花 溅 泪， 恨 别 鸟 惊 心。

fēnɡ huǒ lián sān yuè，jiā shū dǐ wàn jīn。
烽 火 连 三 月， 家 书 抵 万 金。

bái tóu sāo ɡènɡ duǎn，hún yù bù shènɡ zān。
白 头 搔 更 短， 浑 欲 不 胜 簪。

(Translation)

国/城: capital of Tang Dynasty, XiAn                          
破: get invaded

山河: mountains and rivers                                        
在: still exist

草木深: grass and trees are everywhere, meaning the citied is abandoned

感时: being sad about the situation                           
花: flowers

溅泪: crying                                                                
恨别: have to leave

鸟: birds                                                                     
烽火: fire indicating the war

三月: three months, January, February, March          
家书: letters for home

万金: a lot of gold                                                       
白头: white hair

短: short                                                                     
不胜: cannot handle it

簪: hairpin

(Appreciation)

The capital got invaded by the enemies. The country did not exist anymore even though the mountains and rivers were still there! As I was walking in the capital, all I could see were grass and trees. I was so sad about the situation that even the flowers next to me were crying. Even the birds could feel that I didn't want to leave the country. The war had been going on for three months since January. I wanted to send a letter home, but it's so expensive! I scratched my head too hard that I started to loose my white hair. The hair got too short for me to use the hairpin.

Poetry of life #5 Miss you, take care!

(Title)
wú tí
无 题

    (Author) lǐ shāng yǐn

             ----李 商 隐

xiāng jiàn shí nán bié yì nán，dōng fēng wú lì bǎi huā cán。
相 见 时 难 别 亦 难， 东 风 无 力百 花 残。

chūn cán dào sǐ sī fāng jìn，là jù chéng huī lèi shǐ gān。
春 蚕 到 死 丝 方 尽，蜡炬 成 灰 泪 始 干。


xiǎo jìng dàn chóu yún bìn gǎi，yè yín yīng jué yuè guāng hán。
晓 镜 但 愁 云 鬓 改，夜 吟 应 觉 月 光 寒。

péng shān cǐ qù wú duō lù，qīng niǎo yīn qín wèi tàn kàn
蓬 山 此 去 无 多 路， 青 鸟 殷 勤 为 探 看。

(Translation)

无题: no specific title                                                  
相见: meet up

难: hard                                                                      
别: leave

东风: wind blown from the east, also wind in the spring

残: wither                                                                    
春蚕: spring silkworms

死: die                                                                         
丝: silk

尽: use up                                                                   
蜡炬: candles

灰: ash                                                                        
泪: tears of the candles

干: dry up                                                                    
晓: morning

镜: mirrors                                                                   
愁: worry about

云鬓: woman's hair                                                     
改: change

夜吟: read poems at night                                          
月光: moonlight

寒: cold                                                                         

蓬山: mysterious mountain on the sea, referring to author's lover's house here

路: road                                                                      

青鸟: legendary birds who pass messages between two lovers

殷勤: strong relationship                                            
探看: visit

(Appreciation)

Line by line because the first two lines of this poem have special meanings!!!!

It's hard to find you, but it's even harder to leave you! The spring wind which brought the warmth to the land was not very strong this year, so the flowers started to wither away! (## Special meaning! The author used wind to compare to himself, meaning that the author had no choice but to leave, so his lover was very sad! ##)

Spring silkworms would not stop making silk until they died! The tears of the candles would not dry up until the candles burned up! (##Special meaning! The author actually used silkworms and candles to compare to himself, meaning that his love for his lover would not end until he died ##)

I could image you looking into the mirror and worry about getting old. I could also imagine myself reading poem on cold nights under the moonlight!

From now on, it will be impossible for me to come visit you! Hope the legendary birds could visit you from time to time and deliver my love for you!

Poetry of alcohol #1 Drink before fighting!

(Title)
liánɡ zhōu cí
凉 州 词

         (Author) wánɡ hàn
                     ----王 翰

pú táo měi jiǔ yè ɡuānɡ bēi，yù yǐn pí pá mǎ shànɡ cuī。
葡 萄 美 酒 夜 光 杯， 欲 饮 琵 琶 马 上 催。

zuì wò shā chǎng jūn mò xiào，gǔ lái zhēng zhàn jǐ rén huí。
醉 卧 沙 场 君 莫 笑， 古 来 征 战 几 人 回。

(Translation)

葡萄: grapes                                                          

美酒: tasty white wine

夜光杯: cups made of jade shining under light, referring to expensive cups

欲: going to                                                           

饮: drink

琵琶: an ancient Chinese instrument, referring to the sound of war here

催: urge                                                                 

醉: drunk

卧: laying down                                                    

沙场: battle field

莫: do not                                                              

笑: laugh

古来: from before                                                 

征战: go into a war

回: make it back

(Appreciation)

Next to the grapes, there were expensive cups with tasty white wine. I was about to drink the wine, but the sound was telling me it's time to get onto the battlefield. If I drank too much and could not stand up on the field, please do not laugh at me! How many people have made it back alive from the war?

Poetry of snow #3 Farewell in the snow!

(Title)
bié dǒng dà
别 董 大

         (Author) gāo shì
                   ----高 适

qiān lǐ huáng yún bái rì xūn，běi fēng chuī yàn xuě fēn fēn。
千 里 黄 云 白 日 曛， 北 风 吹 雁 雪 纷 纷。

mò chóu qián lù wú zhī jǐ，tiān xià shuí rén bù shí jūn。

莫 愁 前 路 无 知 己，天 下 谁 人 不 识 君。

(Translation)

董大: name of the author's friend                                    
千里: thousands of kilometers

黄云: yellow clouds                                                          
白日: sunshine

北风: wind blown from the north                                      
雁: wild goose

雪纷纷: snowing                                                              
莫愁: don't worry

前路: the road ahead                                                       
知己: people who understand you

天下: in this world                                                            
识君: know you

(Appreciation)

The yellow clouds covered most of the sky and the sunshine was not very bright. In the sky, some gooses flew by with the wind blowing from the north. It was a snowy day and I had to say goodbye to my friend. Don't worry that people would not understand you along the way, because nobody in the word never heard of you!

Poetry of life #4 Homesick!

(Title) _ (Subtitle)
tiān jìng shā _ qiū sī
天 净 沙 _ 秋 思

                  (Author) mǎ zhì yuǎn
                            ----马 致 远

kū téng lǎo shù hūn yā，
枯 藤 老 树 昏 鸦，

xiǎo qiáo liú shuǐ rén jiā，
小 桥 流 水 人 家，

gǔ dào xī fēng shòu mǎ，
古 道 西 风 瘦 马。

xī yáng xī xià，duàn cháng rén zài tiān yá。
夕 阳 西下， 断 肠 人 在 天 涯。

(Translation)

枯藤: dried up branches                                                       

老树: old trees

昏鸦: crows at night                                                             

小桥: small bridges

流水: stream                                                                          

人家: houses

古道: ancient roads                                                               

西风: wind blown from the west

瘦马: thin horses                                                                   

夕阳: sunset

断肠: broken intestines, meaning missing someone/something too much

天涯: the end of the earth

(Appreciation)
There were a lot of dried branches on the old trees and some crows were standing on these branches. There was a stream under this little bridge. At the other side of the bridge, there were a few houses. The wind blew along the ancient roads where I was riding a tired horse. It's already sunset, but my home was so far away! I missed my home!

Poetry of relationship #1 I miss you!

(Title)
xiāng sī
相 思

      (Author) wáng wéi
                 ----王 维

hónɡ dòu shēnɡ nán ɡuó，chūn lái fā jǐ zhī。
红 豆 生 南 国， 春 来 发几枝。

yuàn jūn duō cǎi xié，cǐ wù zuì xiāng sī。
愿 君 多 采 撷，此 物 最 相 思 。

(Translation)

相思: I miss you 

红豆: a kind of red bean, the symbol of missing someone

南国: south part of the country 

春: spring

愿: hope 

采撷: pick up

此物: this thing, referring to the red beans 

最: most

(Appreciation)

Red beans grew in the south part of the country. How many of them would sprout in the spring time? Hope you pick up some red beans, because they are the symbol of missing someone!