The Collected Poems of Li He
Page 23
1. During the Later Han dynasty, He-pu county, Guangdong, was stripped of the pearls it produced by its local officials. Long-yang, Henan, was where Li Meng (early 3rd century A.D.), of the kingdom of Wu, planted a thousand orange trees, telling his children on his deathbed that they now had a thousand wooden slaves to produce wealth for them.
2. This was a tax notice.
3. He is arguing—from personal experience—that geniuses, who do what they must (while talent does what it can), find youth has passed them by while they were immersed in their work. They are so impatient to reap success, which will only come with the years, that for them time seems to crawl along. Yeats thought much the same, as is evident from his poem, “What then?” See Collected Poems (London, 1952), p. 347.
4. A sign of high office.
5. Jia Yi (201–168 B.C.) was a brilliant, young writer who lost favour with Emperor Wen when he was slandered by his envious contemporaries and later died tragically. “Bluebottles” could stand for “slanderers,” as in Song 219. Alternatively, it could mean that bluebottles, whining round the corpse, were the only mourners for Jia Yi.
6. The Cold Food Festival was held on the 105th day after the winter solstice, just before the Qing-ming Festival. He visits Jia Yi’s grave during the Qing-ming Festival, as was the custom, and sees the landscape mirror his mood.
7. Emperor Wen, who was stupid enough to listen to the calumnies of fools.
8. Mount Zhung-nan was the site of many graveyards.
9. Some editions read: “Spring’s beauty ages under the wind’s shears.”
10. Yao believes this is a reference to Shun-zong’s accession.
11. “Lacquer torches”―will-o’-the-wisps, generally called “ghost fires.” “Newcomers”—those newly buried.
12. Yen Zun, styled Jun-ping, was said to have been Lao-zi’s teacher. He lived in Cheng-du, Sichuan, where he told fortunes in the marketplace for a living, always shutting up shop for the day when he had gained a hundred cash.
13. He meant to refer not to Han Bai, styled Kang-bai (332–80), of the Eastern Jin dynasty, but to Han Kang, styled Bai-Xiu, of the Later Han. He sold medicines in the marketplace at Chang-an, gaining such a reputation for honesty that the Emperor himself finally sent for him. Kang, however, managed to escape.
14. Outstanding men have fled from the workday world, leaving only a crowd of noisy nonentities behind them.
15. A toad was supposed to live in the moon.
16. Chang-e, goddess of the moon with her cassia tree.
17. Or perhaps:
“The fairy maid watches her dewy cassia,
The lowering clouds gradually descend.”
18. A scholar-hermit of the Later Han. He is referring to his own loneliness and poverty.
In the Third Month I Pass by the Imperial Travelling Lodge
7-character: 1 rhyme
When Emperor Xuan-zong stayed at the lodge, several girls had been brought in to spend the night with him. After his departure, the girls were commanded to remain immured in the lodge for the rest of their lives though the emperor would never return there.
1. Or: “The palace is surrounded by a moat where prince’s feather and artemisia grow.”
Following the Theme of He and Xie: Singing-Girls in the Brazen Bird Tower
5-character: 1 rhyme
The Brazen Bird Tower in Ye (Lin-zhang county, Henan) had been built by Cao Cao, first Emperor of the Wei dynasty, in A.D. 210. When he died, he left instructions to his sons that all his concubines were to be immured for life in the mausoleum tower. Morning and evening, the girls had to bring food and wine to his bed, which stood with drawn curtains upon the topmost story. On the first and fifteenth days of every month, the girls had to dance and sing before his bed, just as though he were still alive.
1. Stone horses lined the path to the royal tombs, which lay west of the tower.
2. Because the girls are so numerous.
3. A sacrificial table on which offerings to Cao’s spirit were laid.
Seeing Off the Banquet Officer Qin on His Military Expedition to the North
5-character: 1 rhyme
Qin’s identity is unknown. He held a post in the Office of Imperial Banquets.
1. Glue for sticking together the sections of composite-bows was made in autumn, when the nomads attacked.
2. The river Ba flows through Shaanxi, east of Chang-an.
3. During the Former Han, Zhou Ya-fu (d. 143 B.C.) had encamped at Xi-liu (Little Willow), northwest of Chang-an, while on a punitive expedition against the nomads.
4. Comets were portents of war.
5. Elms planted along the Great Wall.
6. Jade Gate is a strategic point in Gansu, west of Dun-huang.
7. Towards the end of the Later Han dynasty, the corpse of the rebel Dong Zhuo (d. 192) was left in the marketplace with a fire burning in the fat of its belly. Hence our line reads literally “…planted fire in Dong Zhuo’s navel.”
8. Tai-chang—an officer of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
9. Peach-blossom markings were a sign of a fine horse.
10. A reference to the farewell banquet given to him by the emperor, in connection with his new appointment.
11. All these were presents bestowed on him by the emperor. “Fish-gut” was the name of a famous sword of antiquity. Sticks of incense were burnt to mark the watches of the night. Falcons were kept awake at night to make them hungry and fierce.
12. The last ten lines have vexed the commentators into disagreement. Presumably this couplet means that he parted from his wife when he set out for Yellow Dragon Fort in Liao-dong, and on the way took a concubine at Qing-meng (Green Grave) in Inner Mongolia, south of present day Huhehot. A broken, bronze mirror is the symbol of the parting of husband and wife. “Sunny Terrace” refers to a line from the Gao Tang fu, a poem attributed to Sung Yu, where the goddess with whom the king has spent the night mentions this spot on Mount Wu. Hence our line may allude to a clandestine love-affair. It is possible, however, that the line simply means that Qin was thinking of his wife while on his journey.
13. While he defeats the nomads (“slays the dragon”), his wife laments his absence. Hou Tiao was supposed to have invented the vertical harp at the instigation of Han Wu-di.
14. Presumably a reference to his taking his sons with him. But some commentators believe this refers to singing-girls from Qian-tang, a city famous for its courtesans. This poem has defeated all the commentators, for it is either incomplete or else full of mistakes.
15. One commentator believes this refers to the story in Huai-nan-zi about Ci Fei slaying the water-dragon. Another thinks it refers to Zhou Chu, who slew a dragon at Long Bridge.
Written in Reply
7-character: 1 rhyme
1. Officials of the third degree and upwards wore golden-fish purses at their belts.
2. Perfume made and given to him by a palace lady.
3. “Yong-chou”: the district round the capital.
4. The night-heron was commonly kept as a pet since its presence was supposed to avert fires.
On a Painting of the Walls of Yong-dong
5-character: 1 rhyme
Yong-dong is a well-known port in Zhejiang. Since both a dawn scene and a night scene are depicted, He may be describing two paintings.
1. Sea-spray (“water-flowers”) wets the head-bands of the soldiers, who are welcoming the spirits of the tide with banners and drums.
Bachelor Xie Had a Concubine by the Name of Gao-Lian Who Deserted Him for Another Man. Xie Tried to Make Her Stay with Him, but was Unsuccessful. Later She Grew Sentimental about Him. Those of Our Party Wrote Poems Satirizing and Vilifying Her. Later I Added Four Poems of My Own.
5-character: 1 rhyme
1. “Mud” stands for the girl; “clouds” for her first husband.
2. “Elder sister”: the girl in question, who was, of course, no relative of He’s.
3. Insignia of high office.
4. One commentator believes that “simurgh” here stands for the girl. It is more likely that her vanity-mirror was cast in the form of a simurgh.
5. A cosmetic made from the safflower.
6. A prince who had a concubine by the name of Emerald Jade was so infatuated with her that he wrote her a yue-fu beginning: “When Emerald Jade split the melon….” The expression po-gua (“to split a melon”), when used of a girl, means “to reach her sixteenth year,” since the character for “melon” can be split up into two characters which look like the graph for “eight.” But in the strongly satirical context of our poem, the phrase also suggests the expressions po-shen and po-zhen, both of which mean “to be deflowered.” The next line of the couplet carries on this suggestion.
7. Because the rank of her new master was so exalted. But the line might also mean: “What man dare she look in the face (after such infamous conduct)?” This poem has been brilliantly translated by Schafer, The Golden Peaches of Samarkand (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1963), p. 116.
8. She is thinking of her former husband with as much ardour as the bee shows when honey-gathering.
9. Aromatic candles were popular in well-to-do households. But since the lady already has a lamp in her room (line 5), the incense-stick here was presumably for sweetness rather than light.
10. See Schafer, Golden Peaches, pp. 184–85, for a discussion of the chrysochroa beetle, whose wing-cases were used as ladies’ hair-ornaments and love-talismans.
11. Mandarin ducks—ironically in this context—are a symbol of faithful love.
12. The sound of the pounding of washing-blocks with batons had reminded her of the days of her poverty and so prevented her from sleeping. It was not so much the noise as her conscience that was troubling her!
13. Sung Yu here stands for Bachelor Xie.
14. Wen Shu, pet-name Wen-ying, son of Wen Qin of Wei dynasty, was a general at eighteen. Gao-lian had obviously married a military man.
15. The tops of the frames which held musical stones, drums, and so on were often shaped by the handles of halberds. The uprights of such stands were ornamented with dragons.
16. A “cassia window” is a window with a cassia tree growing across it.
17. To welcome guests in such a way was the height of vulgarity.
18. On the beams, customarily ornamented with dragons and phoenixes, she sees only a crow, symbol of her present husband.
While Studying in Chang-gu, I Showed This Poem To My Servant-Lad from Ba
5-character: 1 rhyme
Ba was the name of the ancient state which occupied present-day Ba county, Sichuan. The boy, who belonged to the Lao people, may have been the lad who accompanied He when he wandered round the countryside writing poems.
1. Disappointed and ailing after failing to obtain his doctorate, He sees himself as a defeated fighting-cock, nursing its wounds.
The Servant-Lad from Ba Replies
2. An allusion to He’s “new yue-fu” criticizing the government and the times. He seems to be hinting that writing these ballads has ruined his career.
I Take Cui’s Place in Seeing Off a Traveler
5-character: 1 rhyme
1. The mist is so thick that the slightest movement of their horses will make them lose sight of each other.
Leaving the City
5-character: 1 rhyme
This poem was written in 810, after He had been refused his doctorate.
1. The Han-gu Pass.
2. The wind was blowing him in the direction of Chang-an.
3. He had no official position.
4. “Qing-qing” would refer to a mistress rather than a wife. There is no indication that He was married.
Plant No Trees
5-character: 1 rhyme
1. Several versions read “…the moon over my southern couch.” This seems inferior.
Setting Out
5-character: 1 rhyme
Four Poems Written After Looking at a Painting of the Jiang-tan Park
5-character: 1 rhyme
1. The Jiang-tan Park, 20 li southeast of present Nanjing, had been established by Emperor Wu of Liang in A.D. 543. Anciently, this territory had belonged to the state of Wu.
2. The Tai-cheng palace was built by Emperor Cheng of Chin in A.D. 332. It stood near the Ji-ming temple in modern Nanjing.
3. The imperial carriage was decorated with kingfishers’ wings.
4. King Xiang of Chu was notorious for his love of women and pleasure. This line is perhaps a thrust at Xian-zong.
5. This poem continues the description of the palace ladies, who are wearing red-flowered slips under yellow gowns.
6. Money shaped like knives was used in parts of Northeast China in ancient times.
7. Bows were decorated with horn.
8. The ladies have been weeping because the emperor did not spend the night with them. In spite of their gorgeous attire, they are all deeply unhappy. Another thrust at the emperor?
9. In this vignette the palace-ladies are seen as austringers hunting hares, pheasants, and partridges with goshawks. “Scissored wings” is puzzling. I suggest their wings look like the open blades of scissors. Jesses are straps fixed to the hawk’s feet. They are attached to the leash by a swivel.
10. These were black and white hounds known as “Song magpies.”
11. Black Dragon Mountain stood very close to Nanjing.
12. The ladies have dismounted to search for their arrows.
13. Emperor Wu of the Southern Qi dynasty (regnet 482–93) found that his harem could not hear the palace drum which told the hours, so he set up a bell in the Jing-yang tower to let them know when it was time to get up.
While Recovering from a Drinking-Bout in the Elder Zhang’s House in Lu-zhou, I Sent This Poem to My Fourteenth Elder Male Cousin through the Agency of a River Messenger.
5-character: 1 rhyme
Li He wrote this poem at the end of his life, while he was staying with his friend Zhang Che in Lu-zhou. At this time hostilities had been recommenced against the rebel general, Wang Cheng-zong. This explains the presence of the River Messenger, a military courier who travelled in the region south of the Yangzi bearing urgent messages.
1. Zhao-kuan was in the south, Lu-zhou was up north, in the ancient territory of Zhao. Hence the marked difference in climate.
2. A traditional name given to urgent military despatches.
3. The battlements were white with mist.
4. A reference to the military situation.
5. His “turban” was a night-cap.
6. “Silver”: perhaps traces of frost. Perhaps the remains of a picture done with silver paint.
7. “Coins”: round patches of moss, looking like copper coins covered with verdigris, were growing on the steps of the artificial hill in the garden.
8. “Traveller’s wine”: the wine he had been drinking while travelling. Note the allusion to his lung complaint.
9. A little evergreen bush often found growing on the roofs of old Chinese houses, where it finds a footing in the dirt that accumulates between the ridge-shaped tiles, is known as “roof-pine.” The “tile-animals” were highly coloured ceramic beasts placed on roofs to ward off evil influences.
10. Yan was the old name for the territory in the north next to Zhao. It was famous for its horses.
11. Zhao-guan was in former Chu territory.
12. Wine flavoured with pepper or cinnamon was a southern delicacy, as were perch and bream.
13. Island in the Yangzi, i.e., in the south. He is half-playfully asking his cousin whether the delights of the south are going to prevent their reunion.
Song: Hard to Forget
5-character: 1 rhyme
1. During Tang, high officials planted halberds before their gates.
2. The blinds resemble flutes which, when gilded by the sun, “blow the sun’s colours.”
3. Cloves stand for love. The indiscriminate interlacing of branches here suggests the promiscuity of the men of thi
s rich family. Hence the lady, neglected, “turns to the sunset.”
The Noble Son-in-Law of Jia Gong-lü
5-character: 3 rhymes
For the story of Jia Chung, styled Gong-lü, who married off his errant daughter to Han Shou, see above. This poem is evidently pure satire. A rich, young man, tired of his well-born wife, is to spend the day with a singing-girl.
1. A coral pillow was the height of luxury. The perfume that sickened our hero must have been the rare scent used by his wife, with whom he shared the pillow.
2. Literally: “A sunny male-rainbow….” The rainbow was a sexual symbol for the Chinese. The line means that the man was closeted with the girl.
3. Pan Yue (d. A.D. 300) was so good-looking that women found him irresistible. He once held the rank of Governor of He-yang county.
Song: Drinking All Night, Asleep All Morning
7-character: 2 rhymes
This ballad is probably a satire on the marriage of the Princess of Pu-ning, daughter of Xian-zong (regnet 805–20), to Ji-you, dissolute son of the powerful Yu Ti. This alliance was contracted in spite of the protests of many of the more upright officials of the court. He is obviously hinting that the princess will be corrupted by her husband’s licentious behaviour.
1. The warmth of her face, heated by wine, brings out all the fragrance of the powder.
2. Literally: “silk from Chu,” an allusion to her marriage with the son of a governor of a circuit in this region.
Written by the Tomb of Wang Jun
5-character: 1 rhyme
Wang Jun (206–85) played a major part in helping the Jin dynasty overcome the kingdom of Wu in A.D. 280 and thus briefly unify China. He was buried in his native place on Mount Bai-gu, Shaanxi, in a magnificent tomb surrounded by a wall fifteen miles long, with four entrances flanked by lines of funereal pine and cypress.
1. “Little Dong” was Wang Jun’s pet-name. A popular song about Little Dong said that he: