We're excited to announce that Mathilda Ren (任回驳) has just published "An Old Song About Sorrow", a new Advanced level Mandarin Chinese lesson, on Language Mentor!
Lesson Script
Notes:
1. Shū is usually translated as "book" but in this case it means "write". Bóshāndàozhōng means "Bo Mountain path", and bì means "wall of mountain".2. Old Chinese poems are very succinct and very beautiful. A mere ten words can tell an entire story. This format leaves much space for the imagination. As such, there's no way to provide a single "correct" translation. Here we offer one possible interpretation. For another interpretive approach, plus interesting details about the poet and his times, see
this Wikipedia article.
3. This poem is often referred to by the generic name "Tune Name". This is a common practice for poems of this type, and refers to the style of the poem. In ancient China poems were often originally written as new lyrics for existing tunes. Over time the melody was forgotten but the metre and rhythm of the song were retained in a poetic style. Poems' styles were referred to with the phrase "to the tune of [tune name]".
4. The word translations below are from ancient Chinese. In Chinese, as in all languages, many words can carry many different meanings. The translations that we provide here are those that are best suited to understanding the poet's meaning, and in many cases are specific to the author's time period - the twelfth century AD.
Script:
An Old Poem About Sorrow by Xin Qiji
Yìshǒu Guānyú Yōuchóu de Gǔshī — Xīn Qìjí
一首关于忧愁的古诗——辛弃疾
Writing
Shū
书
Wall
Bì
壁
Middle or Among or In
Zhōng
中
Path
Dào
道
Writing on Bo Mountain Path Wall
Shū bóshān dào zhōng bì
书博山道中壁
To know or to recognize
Shí
识
To not know
Bùshí
不识
Worry or Sorrow
Chóu
愁
Flavor
Zīwèi
滋味
The taste of sorrow
Chóuzīwèi
愁滋味
Young people don't know the taste of sorrow.
Shàonián bùshí chóu zīwèi, ...
少年不识愁滋味,……
Note: Literally... young person/people ~ not know ~ taste of sorrow ("worry/sad/grief flavor")
Love climb towers.
Ài shàng cénglóu.
爱上层楼。
Note: This line can suggest many things. For example, to one person it might suggest "when I was young I liked to climb towers and travel." For another person it might suggest "standing in a high place and watching what is below."
Love climb towers.
Ài shàng cénglóu.
爱上层楼。
For
Wèi
为
To write a poem
Fù
赋
Classical poem
Cí
词
When writing poems I pretended I had really suffered.
Wèi fù xīn cí qiáng shuō chóu.
为赋新词强说愁。
Note: Literally... for ~ write ~ new ~ cí (ancient poem form) ~ forced/insincere ~ say ~ sorrow (worry/sad/grief)
Now
Érjīn
而今
Know to the limit
Shíjìn
识尽
Now - know enough - the taste of sorrow, ...
Érjīn shíjìn chóu zīwèi, ...
而今识尽愁滋味,……
Want to
Yù
欲
Yet
Huán
还
Stop
Xiū
休
want to speak, yet stop.
Yù shuō huán xiū.
欲说还休。
want to speak, yet stop.
Yù shuō huán xiū.
欲说还休。
But
Què
却
Speak
Dào
道
Weather
Tiān
天
Cool
Liáng
凉
Instead - say "cool weather, what a nice Autumn."
Què dào tiān liáng hǎo gè qiū.
却道天凉好个秋。
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