Chinese Poems Part 2

SU WU (200-100 B.C.).

Su Wu (Tze K'ing) lived in the Han Dynasty. When sent on a mission to the Khan of the Hsiung-nu he was seized by that ruler and ordered to renounce his allegiance to the Han Emperor; and on refusing to do this he was cast into prison. Afterwards he was banished for many years to the desert region around Lake Balkash, where he was compelled to tend the flocks of the Hsiung-nu; but he persisted in his loyalty to the Han Dynasty. On his return to China, when a grey-headed old man, he was greatly honoured by the Emperor, and his portrait was hung up in the Khi-lin Koh (Council Chamber).

He is held up as a pattern of loyalty by Chinese writers. His poetical compositions are ancient but not numerous.

LI LING (First Century B.C.).

Li Ling was a military commander in the Han Dynasty. Given command of an army in the war against the Hsiung-nu he rashly advanced into the enemy's country with only a few thousand soldiers, who were surrounded and all but three or four hundred killed, and Li Ling was captured, and spent the rest of his life in exile. His name is mentioned in the Introduction to this book of translations.

CHU Kw.a.n.g-HI.

Chu Kw.a.n.g-hi was a soldier of the T'ang Dynasty. He pa.s.sed the highest literary examinations, and was appointed a member of the Censorate by the Emperor Hsuen Tsong.

CHEN TZE-ANG.

A celebrated scholar of the T'ang Dynasty. He filled various official offices, but is most famous for the work he did in advancing the renaissance of literature during the T'ang Dynasty. w.a.n.g s.h.i.+h, a learned writer of the same period, said that Chen Tze-ang was the most famous scholar in the Empire of that time.

T'AO YUEN-MING (A.D. 365-427).

T'ao T'sien (T'ao Yuen-ming) was a scholar and poet of the Song Dynasty.

He was appointed Magistrate of a district, but after filling the office only a short time he resigned it and retired into private life, spending the remainder of his years in writing poetry and in musical pursuits.

CHINESE POEMS

_Only a Fragrant Spray_

NAME OF POET UNKNOWN (HAN DYNASTY OR EARLIER)

Ah me, the day you left me Was full of weary hours; But the tree 'neath which we parted Was rich with leaves and flowers.

And from its fragrant branches I plucked a tiny spray, And hid it in my bosom In memory of that day.

I know the endless distance Must shut you from my view, But the flower's gentle fragrance Brings sweetest thoughts of you.

And, though it's but a trifle, Which none would prize for gain, It oft renews our parting, With all the love and pain.

_The River By Night in Spring_

BY CHANG POH-HSu

In Spring the flooded river meets the tide Which from the ocean surges to the land; The moon across the rolling water s.h.i.+nes From wave to wave to reach the distant strand.

And when the heaving sea and river meet, The latter turns and floods the fragrant fields; While in the moon's pale light as s.h.i.+mmering sleet Alike seem sandy sh.o.r.es and wooded wealds.

For sky and river in one colour blend, Without a spot of dust to mar the scene; While in the heavens above the full-orbed moon In white and l.u.s.trous beauty hangs serene.

And men and women, as the fleeting years, Are born into this world and pa.s.s away; And still the river flows, the moon s.h.i.+nes fair, And will their courses surely run for ay.

But who was he who first stood here and gazed Upon the river and the heavenly light?

And when did moon and river first behold The solitary watcher in the night?

The maples sigh upon the river's bank, A white cloud drifts across the azure dome; In yonder boat some traveller sails to-night Beneath the moon which links his thoughts with home.

Above the home it seems to hover long, And peep through c.h.i.n.ks within her chamber blind; The moon-borne message she cannot escape, Alas, the husband tarries far behind!

She looks across the gulf but hears no voice, Until her heart with longing leaps apace, And fain would she the silvery moonbeams follow Until they s.h.i.+ne upon her loved one's face.

'Last night,' she murmured sadly to herself, 'I dreamt of falling flowers by shady ponds; My Spring, ah me! half through its course has sped, But you return not to your wedded bonds.'

For ever onward flows the mighty stream; The Spring, half gone, is gliding to its rest; While on the river and the silent pools The moonbeams fall obliquely from the west.

And now the moon descending to the verge Has disappeared beneath the sea-borne dew; While stretch the waters of the 'Siao and Siang',[1]

And rocks and cliffs, in never-ending view.

How many wanderers by to-night's pale moon Have met with those from whom so long apart:-- As on the sh.o.r.e midst flowerless trees I stand Thoughts old and new surge through my throbbing heart!

[1] Two streams flowing into the Yangtze River.

_The Beauty of Snow_

BY PAO-CHAO

A thousand miles across the Dragon Mountains The North Wind blows the whirling flakes of snow, Until they gather on my terraced garden, And drift before the gate in furrowed row.

Unlike the coloured plum and fragrant peach trees, Whose buds stretch forth to greet the warm Spring days, At dawn the snow lies in unsullied whiteness, But flees to shelter from the sun's bright rays.

The peach flower and the plum flower have a beauty, Which flourish in the warmth of sun and shower; The snow's brief charm is purity and brightness, It does not claim the sun tints of the flower.