Qing Wen - So (adjective) that...T
In English we have this pattern, "so (adjective) that...." For example, "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse." How do you express this extent with adjectives in Chinese? It's actually easier than you might think, accomplished with a little...
Tang Dynasty Poetry in Translation: 'Grass' by Bai Juyi
Natives on the island of Taiwan 'stepping onto the grass,' that is, hunting. The grass grew lush in spring. An unknown artist painted the piece, commissioned by Qing dynasty envoy Liu Shiqi for his 1746 report Images of Barbarian Customs. (Public domain image) Editor's note: This is the second piece in a series of translations of Chinese poetry from the Tang Dynasty being published on The Epoch Times website. Each piece will be accompanied by its Chinese original, an interpretive English translation, and a small essay of introduction, contextualization, and appraisal.This week’s translation is of a poem written by Bai Juyi in the year 788.
Recognized as a prodigy when he wrote this poem at the age of 16, Bai went on to become one of the most prolific and popular poets of the middle Tang period.
Tang poems were often composed for a specific purpose or occasion – an anniversary dinner, at a prince’s request or, as in the case of this poem, a friend’s departure. But here the occasion of departure is combined with the poet’s keen observation of his natural surroundings to create an extended metaphor that serves to describe friendship as well. Not too shabby for a sixteen year old in the year 788.
Lan Hua is the pen name for a New York-based writer and translator. The name means Blue Flower, both in tribute to Red Pine (who towers above him as the greatest living translator of the Poems of the Masters) and the broader lyric tradition in which he tries to participate.
Tang poems were often composed for a specific purpose or occasion – an anniversary dinner, at a prince’s request or, as in the case of this poem, a friend’s departure. But here the occasion of departure is combined with the poet’s keen observation of his natural surroundings to create an extended metaphor that serves to describe friendship as well. Not too shabby for a sixteen year old in the year 788.
Lan Hua is the pen name for a New York-based writer and translator. The name means Blue Flower, both in tribute to Red Pine (who towers above him as the greatest living translator of the Poems of the Masters) and the broader lyric tradition in which he tries to participate.
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