Translations
2021.8.3 Issue 468
Water tune song head bright moon when there is
Su Shi
Mid-Autumn Festival, drinking and getting drunk, writing this article, and conceiving a son.
When is the moon? Ask the wine to qingtian.
I don't know what year it is in the heavenly palace.
I want to go home by the wind, and I am afraid of Qionglou Yuyu,
It's cold in the heights.
Dancing to find out the shadow, how it seems to be in the human world.
Turn zhu ge, low Qi household, no sleep.
There should be no hatred, why should it be long to go to the other time?
People have sorrows and joys, and the moon has clouds and sunshine,
It's hard to complete.
May people be long-lasting, and thousands of miles will be cherished together.
Organized by the Ministry of Education and edited by Wen Rumin, the ninth grade book of "Compulsory Education Textbook Language", The 13th lesson of unit 3. Beijing: People's Education Press, 2018
Su Shi (1037–1101), courtesy name Zizhan and Hezhong, was a Tieguan Daoist and a resident of Dongpo, known as Su Dongpo and Su Xian, a native of Meishan, Meizhou (present-day Meishan, Sichuan), a Northern Song Dynasty writer, calligrapher, painter, and one of the eight great masters of the Tang and Song dynasties. His works include "Seven Episodes of Dongpo" and "Dongpo Yichuan".
SU Shi(1037-1101), styled Looker and Seer, East Slope Buddhist and Iron Crown Wordist by literary names, known as East Slope Su and Immortal Su. The poet, a native of Mt. Mei, Meizhou (present-day Mt. Mei, Sichuan Province), was a litterateur and calligrapher in the Northern Song dynasty, and was honored as one of the “Eight Great Litterateurs of the Tang and Song Dynasties”. His works includeSeven Volumes by East Slope and East Slope’s Commentary on I Ching.（彭雅卓译）
How Often Does the Bright Moon Appear?
—To the Tune of Prelude to Water Melody
By SU DongpoTr. ZHAO Yanchun
On Mid-Autumn Festival (the 15th day of the 8th moon), 1076，I drink till dawn and get fuddled. Writing this, I miss my brother Zi You.
How often does the bright moon appear?
Holding my cup, I ask the blue sky.
Tonight, I do not know, which year
It is in the palace on high?
I would go above, riding the air;
In the celestial castles there,
The cold, I’m afraid, I couldn’t bear.
To dance there with a cool shadow whirled
Is not better than this human world.
Thus turns around the moon glow,
From red roofs to my window,
And floods my sleepless sorrow.
Gainst man the moon should bear no spite.
Why, then, when people part is it round and bright?
People gather and part again,
The moon undergoes wax and wane,
One can ne’er perfection attain.
How I wish man could live for e’er
And share her fair light everywhere.
Translator's Bio:
Zhao Yanchun, Doctoral Supervisor, Director of Translation Research and Publication of Shanghai University, Editor-in-Chief of International Academic Journal Translating China, President of the International Sinology and Education Research Association, President of the Professional Committee on Traditional Culture Translation and International Communication, Executive President of the Chinese Bilingual Research Association of the Chinese Pre-Qin History Society, and Vice President of the Chinese Chinese Language Education Research Association.
ZHAO Yanchun, Professor of English at Shanghai University, Director of Shanghai University Center for Translation and Publishing, Editor of Translating China, President of International Sinology and Education Society, President of Chinese Culture Translation and International Promotion Committee, Executive President of Chinese Classics Bilinguals’ Association, Vice President of China Language Education Association, a proponent of the principle of translating poesie into poesie and classic into classic.
Column planning: Jin Shikai
Column editors-in-chief: Zhao Yanchun, Mo Zhenbao
Editor: Lv Wenpeng
This issue is written by Su Shi
Translator of this issue: Zhao Yanchun
Chinese-English recitation: Zhu Shengjie
English Calligraphy: Ling Guangyi
Typesetting of this issue: Manman
《酬乐天扬州初逢席上见赠》A Reply to Bai Juyi, Who Writes Me a Verse at Our First Meeting at a Feast in Yangzhou
On My Way to Peking
《次韵答东翁见寄》In Reply to What Lord East Sent to Me
《病 起》I’m Cured
Mt. White Cloud
《行路难》It’s a Hard Go, Three Poems (No. 1)
Cold Food Day
An Impromptu on a Summer Day of 1974
Battle by the Hsiang River
Ode to the Wintersweet
Composed at My Dwelling of Sedate Wisdom Fane in Huangzhou
Tea
My Conscience
High Balcony · Dreaming of Jade Hairpin Flowers in My Old Clime
Seeing Off a Friend
《题破山寺后禅院》An Inscription for the Back Yard of Zen of Bliss Fane
"Cool" So Cool
《卖炭翁》The Charcoal Gray Hair
《茅屋为秋风所破歌》A Song to My Thatched Roof Ruined by an Autumn Wind
Rural Summer
A Sketch of Rural Spring Festival (No.7)
To Premier Zhang Overlooking Cavehall Lake
Pure Brightness Day in the Rain
High Balcony · Lilac in Dharma Source Fane in Reply to Miss Meng's Rhymed Verse
An Impromptu: Chinese Yellow River Tower
"Painting Hall Spring · Gazing at the Spring Wind
Seeing Du Fu Off to His Post in Sichuan
《式微》It’s Dark
Linjiangxian · My Classmate Rong Ying's Illness Abed
The Yellow River Kettlemouth
A Merry Encounter
A Mulberry Gatherer
A Tour of Zoo with My Grandkid on May 4
Editor: Wang Aofei, Second Instance: Man Man, Final Trial: Jin Shikai