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Hi, friends, have you had any experience to write any essay or poem to remember a family, a lover or a friend? Today, I would like to introduce a famous Chinese classical poem by Tang Dynasty (618-907) poet Yuan Zhen(779 - 831) Li Si (4 )-- Missing Her After Separation (No. 4) -- a poem to remember his wife, one verson says his girlfriend who had gone.

Yuan Zhen was a Mid-Tang Dynasty poet and statesman. He had a same reputation as Bai Juyi in the literature field and be called "Yuan and Bai". Both of them led the New Yue Fu Movement which advocated literature should be structural freedom, seriousness of intent and simplicity of language. Yuan Zhen was also the author of the story "Yingying Zhuan" --The Story of Yingying which later evolved into the Yuan-Dynasty drama Xixiang Ji -- The West Chamber story.

This poem expresses a deeply missing feeling to his wife or girlfriend.   

The first two lines of this poem : "Zengjing canghai nan wei shui, chu que wu shan bu shi yun -- I have crossed the deep and blue sea, I can not be attracted by the other water. I have experienced the pretty of the Wu mountain's clouds and rains, I can not be moved by the other clouds again." The meaning behind of these words is that I had had a true love that was deep as the sea, beautiful as the Wu Mountain's clouds and rains, so, I am not interested in any other or new love again.

During the process of the 1100 years' coming down, people have given it more meanings, for example, the more to experience great things, the less care for common   things... "Zeng jing cang hai" has become an idiom to express a loyal love; Also people uses it to express the meaning that to a sophisticated person there is nothing new under the sun.

I did think this poem is the one that worths me to create a piece of music for it, but, I had no time until tonight and it spent me for about 4 hours to write, to play, to sing and to record it and hope you enjoy it. :-)

MAIN MEANING OF THE POEM LISTEN TO SHIRLEY PLAY & SING THE POEM :

I have crossed the deep and blue sea,
I can not be attracted
by the other water.
I have experienced the beauty
of the Wu Mountain's clouds and rains,
I can not be moved
by the other clouds again.
I am random walking among the beauties as flowers,
I am not interested to review anyone,
A half reason is that I am studying something   
in a religious filed,
the other reason is that I am deeply missing you...


NEW WORDS:

Please hit any Chinese character that you need helped, to see its Chinese pinyin, pronunciation, meaning and follow me to read it.

CHINESE CHARACTERS AND PRONUNCIATION:

离思 ( 四)

元稹

曾经沧海难为水，
除却巫山不是云。
取次花丛懒回顾，
半缘修道半缘君。


LISTEN TO SHIRLEY PLAY & SING THE POEM

If you have any questions, comments and suggestions, please write to shirley@ebridge.cn , or shirleyz004@yahoo.com, You are welcomed to publish your opinions in Forum For Friends as well. :-)   

--Shirley
Written, Translated and Recorded On Sun, March 26, 2006