Tang Poetry --002: Jue2 Ju4

LISTEN:

Hi! This is Shirley, today, I would like to show you another Chinese Tang poetry.

Text: Jue2 Ju4

Liang2 ge huang2 li4 ming2 cui4 liu3,
Yi1 hang2 bai2 lu4 shang4 qing1 tian1,
Chuang1 han2 xi1 ling3 qiang1 qiu1 xue3,
Men2 bo2 Dong1 Wu2 wang4 li3 chuan2.


缁濆彞

鏉滅敨

涓や釜榛勯箓楦ｇ繝鏌筹紝
涓�琛岀櫧楣�涓婇潚澶┿��

绐楀惈瑗垮箔鍗冪�嬮洩锛�
闂ㄦ硦涓滃惔涓囬噷鑸广��

New Words:

liang3::two
ge:unit
liang3 ge4: two units, here means two birds
huang2 li4: yellow bird
ming2: sing
cui4 liu: green willow; "cui4" means green and "liu 3" means willow.

yi1: one
hang2: line
bai2 lu4:egret
shang4: go up; here means "fly up to the sky"
qing1 tian1: blue sky; "qing1" means blue and "tian1" means sky.

chuang1:window
chuang1 hai2: through the window ? to imagine the window is just like a frame of a painting.
xi1: west
ling3: mountain, mountain range
qiang1 qiu1: thousand years; here "qiang" means thousand, "qiu" means "fall", "autumn" and "year"
xue3: snow

men2: gate, door
bo2: berth
dong1: east
wu2: Wu (A.D 222鈥�280) -- the name of a country in the ancient China
Dong Wu: Wu was in the east of China, so, people called it Dong Wu as well.

The main meaning of the poem:

Two yellow birds are singing on the green willow,
a line of egrets is flying up to the blue sky.
Looking out the window,
the snow lies on the western mountains for a thousand year,
Looking through the gate,
there are the ships from the eastern land of Wu.

Now, follow me to read it in Chinese:

Jue2 Ju4

Liang2 ge huang2 li4 ming2 cui4 liu3,
Yi1 hang2 bai2 lu4 shang4 qing1 tian1,
Chuang1 han2 xi1 ling3 qiang1 qiu1 xue3,
Men2 bo2 Dong1 Wu2 wang4 li3 chuan2.

Background and Jue2 Ju4:

This poem was written by a famous poet Dufu. It is a Jue2 Ju4. Ju2 Ju4 is a poem of four lines, each contains five or seven characters, with a strict tonal pattern and rhyme and scheme.

The poet was describing the landscape out of his small room in Chendu, Sichuan province.

Thanks for reading and listening. Any questions, comments and suggestions are welcomed.

--Shirley

Written on 20th.,May, 2005
Edited on 21st.,May, 2005
Recorded on 22nd.,May,2005