TONY BARNSTONE AND CHOU PING
The Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry
Tony Barnstone is an associate professor of creative writing and American literature at Whittier College. His first book of poetry, Impure, was a finalist for several national literary awards, among them the Academy of American Poets Walt Whitman Prize, the National Poetry Series Prize, and the White Pine Prize. His other books include Out of the Howling Storm: The New Chinese Poetry, Laughing Lost in the Mountains: Selected Poems of Wang Wei (with Willis Barnstone and Xu Haixin), The Art of Writing: Teachings of the Chinese Masters (with Chou Ping), and several textbooks about world literature. His poetry, translations, essays, and fiction have appeared in dozens of literary journals, from The American Poetry Review to Agni. He lives in California.
Chou Ping writes poetry in both Chinese and English. His poems and translations have appeared in such journals as The Literary Review and Nimrod. Born in Changsha City, Hunan province, in 1957, he holds degrees from Beijing Foreign Language University, Indiana University, and Stanford University. He is the translator, with Tony Barnstone, of The Art of Writing: Teachings of the Chinese Masters, and he has taught at Stanford, Washington University, Oberlin College, The College of Wooster, and Reed College. He lives in Oregon.
Please visit The Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry Web Companion: http://web.whittier.edu/barnstone/poetry
This book is dedicated to
Caroline Heldman
and
Joey
CONTENTS
A Note on the Selections and Some Words of Thanks
Preface: The Poem Behind the Poem:
Literary Translation as English-Language Poetry
BY TONY BARNSTONE
Introduction to Chinese Poetic Form
(as a Function of Yin-Yang Symmetry)
BY CHOU PING
ZHOU DYNASTY (1122–256 BCE)
BOOK OF SONGS (C. 600 BCE)
White Moonrise
Fruit Plummets from the Plum Tree
Serene Girl
In the Wilds Is a Dead River-Deer
All the Grasslands Are Yellow
Ripe Millet
I Beg You, Zhongzi
When the Gourd Has Dried Leaves
LAOZI (FOURTH-THIRD CENTURIES BCE)
from the Dao De Jing
VERSES OF CHU (THIRD CENTURY BCE)
from Encountering Sorrow
HAN DYNASTY (206 BCE-220 CE)
NINETEEN ANCIENT POEMS
1. “Traveling traveling and still traveling traveling”
2. “Green so green is the river grass”
3. “Green so green are the cypress over the burial mounds”
4. “At today's great banquet”
5. “A tall tower in the northwest”
6. “I cross the river to pick lotus flowers”
7. “Clear moon pours bright light at night”
8. “Soft and frail is a solitary bamboo”
9. “There is a wonderful tree in the courtyard”
10. “Far and far is the Cowherd Star”
11. “I turn my carriage around to return”
12. “The east wall is tall and long”
13. “I drive my wagon to the east gate”
14. “Day by day the dead are receding”
15. “Man dies within a hundred years”
16. “Chilly, chilly, the year-end clouds darken”
17. “A cold current in early winter”
18. “A traveler came from afar”
19. “Pure and white bright moon”
JIA YI (200–168 BCE)
The Owl
LIU XIJUN (LATE SECOND CENTURY BCE)
Lament
ANONYMOUS FOLK SONGS FROM THE MUSIC BUREAU
(c. 120 bce)
The East Gate
A Sad Tune
He Waters His Horse Near a Breach in the Long Wall
At Fifteen I Went to War
An Ancient Poem Written for the Wife of Jiao Zhongqing
SIX DYNASTIES PERIOD (220–589)
CAO CAO (155–220)
Watching the Blue Ocean
Song of Bitter Cold
RUAN JI (210–263)
from Chanting My Thoughts
FU XUAN (217–278)
To Be a Woman
ZI YE (THIRD-FOURTH CENTURIES)
Three Songs
Four Seasons Song: Spring
Four Seasons Song: Autumn
LU JI (261–303)
from The Art of Writing
Preface
1. The Impulse
2. Meditation
3. Process
4. The Joy of Words
9. The Riding Crop
10. Making It New
11. Ordinary and Sublime
18. The Well-Wrought Urn
19. Inspiration
20. Writer's Block
21. The Power of a Poem
PAN YUE (247–300)
In Memory of My Dead Wife
TAO QIAN (C. 365–427)
Return to My Country Home
Begging for Food
I Stop Drinking
Drinking Alone When It Rains Day After Day
Scolding My Kids
Fire in the Sixth Month in 408 ce
from Twenty Poems on Drinking Wine
Elegies
SU XIAOXIAO (LATE FIFTH CENTURY)
Emotions on Being Apart
The Song of the West Tomb
To the Tune of “Butterflies Adore Flowers”
BAO ZHAO (C. 414–466)
from Variations on “The Weary Road”
On the Departure of Official Fu
BAO LINGHUI (FL. C. 464)
Sending a Book to a Traveler After Making
an Inscription
PRINCESS CHEN LECHANG (SIXTH CENTURY)
Letting My Feelings Go at the Farewell Banquet
TANG DYNASTY (618–907)
WANG BO (649–676)
On the Wind
HE ZHIZHANG (659–744)
Willow
ZHANG RUOXU (C. 660-C. 720)
Spring, River, and Flowers on a Moonlit Night
MENG HAORAN (689–740)
Parting from Wang Wei
Spring Dawn
Spending the Night on Jiande River
WANG CHANGLING (C. 690-C. 756)
Song from the Borders
WANG WAN (693–751)
Stopping at Beigu Mountain
WANG WEI (701–761)
Watching the Hunt
Walking into the Liang Countryside
A Young Lady's Spring Thoughts
For Someone Far Away
Climbing the City Tower North of the River
Deep South Mountain
Living in the Mountain on an Autumn Night
Drifting on the Lake
Cooling Off
Return to Wang River
Written on a Rainy Autumn Night After Pei Di's Visit
To Pei Di, While We Are Living Lazily at Wang River
Birds Sing in the Ravine
Sketching Things
from The Wang River Sequence
Preface
1. Deer Park
2. House Hidden in the Bamboo Grove
3. Luan Family Rapids
4. White Pebble Shoal
5. Lakeside Pavilion
6. Magnolia Basin
Things in a Spring Garden
Answering the Poem Su Left in My Blue Field Mountain
Country House, on Visiting and Finding Me
Not Home
About Old Age, in Answer to a Poem by Subprefect
Zhang
To My Cousin Qiu, Military Supply Offic
ial
On Being Demoted and Sent Away to Qizhou
For Zhang, Exiled in Jingzhou, Once Adviser
to the Emperor
Seeing Off Prefect Ji Mu as He Leaves Office and Goes East
of the River
Winter Night, Writing About My Emotion
Seeing Zu Off at Qizhou
A White Turtle Under a Waterfall
Song of Peach Tree Spring
Sitting Alone on an Autumn Night
Green Creek
Visiting the Mountain Courtyard of the Distinguished Monk
Tanxing at Enlightenment Monastery
Questioning a Dream
Weeping for Ying Yao
Suffering from Heat
LI BAI (701–762)
A Song of Zhanggan Village
Grievance at the Jade Stairs
Seeing a Friend Off at Jingmen Ferry
Watching the Waterfall at Lu Mountain
Hearing a Flute on a Spring Night in Luoyang
River Song
I Listen to Jun, a Monk from Shu, Play His Lute
Seeing a Friend Off
Drinking Alone by Moonlight
Seeing Meng Haoran Off to Guangling at the
Yellow Crane Tower
Saying Good-bye to Song Zhiti
Song
In Memory of He Zhizhang
Confessional
Zazen on Jingting Mountain
Questioning in the Mountains
Missing the East Mountains
Having a Good Time by Myself
Drinking Wine with the Hermit in the Mountains
Sent Far Off
Inscription for Summit Temple
Summer Day in the Mountains
Brooding in the Still Night
Singing by Green Water in Autumn
Drunk All Day
Song on Bringing in the Wine
On My Way Down Zhongnan Mountain I Passed by Hermit
Fusi's Place and He Treated Me to Wine While I Spent
the Night There
Song of the North Wind
War South of the Great Wall
Hunting Song
CHU GUANGXI (707-C. 760)
from Jiangnan Melodies
DU FU (712–770)
Facing Snow
Gazing in Springtime
Ballad of the War Wagons
Moonlit Night
Thinking of My Brothers on a Moonlit Night
Broken Lines
Thoughts While Night Traveling
A Hundred Worries
Standing Alone
To Wei Ba
Dreaming of Li Bai
A Painted Falcon
New Moon
Spring Night Happy About Rain
Brimming Water
River Village
Looking at Mount Tai
Jiang Village
Jade Flower Palace
Newlyweds' Departure
Old Couple's Departure
A Homeless Man's Departure
Song of a Thatched Hut Damaged in Autumn Wind
The Song of a Roped Chicken
Poem to Officer Fang's Foreign Horse
Qu River
Leaving in My Boat
Guest's Arrival: Happy About County
Governor Cui's Visit
A Lone Goose
A Traveler's Night
from Five Poems About Historical Sites
On Yueyang Tower
Climbing High
Traveler's Pavilion
LIU CHANGQING (C. 710-C. 787)
Spending the Night at Hibiscus Mountain
When It Was Snowing
To Official Fei on His Demotion to State Ji
JIAO RAN (730–799)
On Lu Jianhong's Absence During My Visit to Him
MENG JIAO (751–814)
Complaints
Song of the Homebound Letter
Statement of Feelings in a Shabby Residence on an Autumn Evening
Visiting Zhongnan Mountain
Frustration
Borrowing a Wagon
After Passing the Highest Imperial Examinations
LADY LIU (MID-EIGHTH CENTURY)
To the Tune of “Yangliuzhi”
ZHANG JI (MID-EIGHTH CENTURY)
Moored by the Maple Bridge at Night
HAN YU (768–824)
Mountain Rocks
Losing My Teeth
Listening to Yinshi Play His Instrument
Poem to Commander Zhang at the Meeting of the Bian and Si Rivers
XUE TAO (768–831)
Seeing a Friend Off
Sending Old Poems to Yuan Zhen
A Spring in Autumn
Spring Gazing
Willow Catkins
Hearing Cicadas
Moon
LIU YUXI (772–842)
Mooring at Niuzhu at Dusk
Bamboo Branch Song
Black-Uniform Lane
Looking at Dongting Lake
BAI JUYI (772–846)
Assignment Under the Title “Departure at Ancient Grass Field”
Night Rain
Song of an Evening River
Lament for Peony Flowers
Buying Flowers
Light Fur and Fat Horses
Watching the Reapers
The Old Charcoal Seller
Song of Everlasting Sorrow
Song of the Lute
Seeing Yuan Zhen's Poem on the Wall at Blue Bridge Inn
On Laziness
On Laozi
Madly Singing in the Mountains
After Getting Drunk, Becoming Sober in the Night
Resignation
On His Baldness
Old Age
Since I Lay Ill
A Dream of Mountaineering
LIU ZONGYUAN (773–819)
River Snow
Poem to Relatives and Friends in the Capital After Looking at Mountains with Monk Hao Chu
Summer Day
Fisherman
The Caged Eagle
ZHANG JI (C. 776-C. 829)
A Soldier's Wife Complains
Song of a Virtuous Woman
Arriving at a Fisherman's House at Night
WU KE (EIGHTH-NINTH CENTURIES)
To Cousin Jia Dao in Autumn
JIA DAO (778–841)
Looking for the Hermit and Not Finding Him
YUAN ZHEN (779–831)
When Told Bai Juyi Was Demoted and Sent to Jiangzhou
Late Spring
Petals Falling in the River
from Missing Her After Separation
LIU CAICHUN (LATE EIGHTH-EARLY NINTH CENTURIES)
Song of Luogen
LI HE (791–817)
from Twenty-three Horse Poems
Shown to My Younger Brother
from Speaking My Emotions
Flying Light
from Thirteen South Garden Poems
Su Xiaoxiao's Tomb
Song of Goose Gate Governor
Under the City Wall at Pingcheng
Song of an Old Man's Jade Rush
A Piece for Magic Strings
An Arrowhead from the Ancient Battlefield of Changping
A Sky Dream
HAN SHAN (LATE EIGHTH-EARLY NINTH CENTURIES)
5. “My heart is the autumn moon”
72. “Pigs eat dead men's flesh”
87. “Greedy men love to store wealth”
92. “Heaven is endlessly high”
100. “The life and death metaphor”
125. “New rice not yet ripe in the field”
128. “An elegant, poised, and handsome young man”
131. “During thirty years since my birth”
140. “When Mr. Deng was in his youth”
141. “Who was this young man?”
146. “My way passed ancient tombs”
158. “There's a tree that existed before the woods”
165. “In idleness I go to visit a prominent monk”
&
nbsp; 194. “A crowd of stars lines up bright in the deep night”
204. “I gaze on myself in the stream's emerald flow”
210. “Talking about food won't fill your stomach”
218. “When people meet Han Shan”
225. “The ocean stretches endlessly”
237. “This life is lost in dust”
262. “In this world people live then die”
265. “The hermit escapes the human world”
266. “A word to meat eaters”
307. “Keep Han Shan's poems in your home”
DU QIUNIANG (EARLY NINTH CENTURY)
The Coat of Gold Brocade
DU MU (803–852)
Written While Moored on the Qinhuai River
Two Poems Improvised at Qi An County
On Purebright Day
The Han River
Visiting Leyou Park
WEN TINGYUN (812–870)
from To the Tune of “The Water Clock Sings at Night”
To the Tune of “Dreaming of the South Side
of the River”
To the Tune of “Beautiful Barbarian”
LI SHANGYIN (813–858)
The Patterned Zither
Visiting Leyou Park
Untitled
Poem Sent as a Letter to the North on a Rainy Night
WEI ZHUANG (836–910)
To the Tune of “Silk-Washing Brook”
To the Tune of “The River City”
To the Tune of “Missing the Emperor's Hometown”
To the Tune of “Daoist Priestess”
SIKONG TU (837–908)
from The Twenty-four Styles of Poetry The Placid Style
The Potent Style
The Natural Style
The Implicit Style
The Carefree and Wild Style
The Bighearted and Expansive Style The Flowing Style
YU XUANJI (C. 843–868)
Visiting Chongzhen Temple's South Tower and Looking Where
the Names of Candidates Who Pass the Civil Service
Exam Are Posted
To Zian: Missing You at Jianling
A Farewell
Sent in an Orchid Fragrance Letter
Autumn Complaints
QI JI (861–935)
Looking at the Zhurong Peak in a Boat at Twilight
LI JING (916–961)
To the Tune of “Silk-Washing Brook”
To the Tune of “Silk-Washing Brook”
MADAM HUARUI (FL. C. 935)
On the Fall of the Kingdom, to the Tune of “Mulberry-Picking Song”
LI YU (936–978)
To the Tune of “A Bushel of Pearls”
To the Tune of “Bodhisattva Barbarian”
To the Tune of “Clear and Even Music”
To the Tune of “Lost Battle”
To the Tune of “Beauty Yu”
To the Tune of “Crows Cry at Night”
To the Tune of “Crows Cry at Night”
SONG DYNASTY (960–1279)
ANONYMOUS FEMALE POET (UNCERTAIN DATES)
Drunk Man
SUN DAOXUAN (UNCERTAIN DATES)
To the Tune of “As in a Dream”
The Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry Page 1