Galleries and Translations > Recent Works / Poetry and Others > Lyrics to Wulin Chun, Late Spring 《 武陵春 ∙ 春晚 》
Lyrics to Wulin Chun, Late Spring
by Li Qingzhao
( 李清照《 武陵春 ∙ 春晚 》)
67 X 44 cm
Lyrics to Wulin Chun, Late Spring
(《 武陵春 ∙ 春晚 》)
67 X 44 cm in Clerical Script (隸書)
Translation
Original Chinese
English Translation
1. 風住塵香花已盡,
The spring wind retired (風住), only a light hint of floral fragrance (塵香, 1) remained, and flowers had long exhausted their blooms,
2. 日晚倦梳頭.
Even late in the day (日晚, 2), I was fed up (倦, 3) with combing my head to groom.
3. 物是人非事事休,
The scenery remained (物是, 4), but the people did not (人非, 5), and every affair (事事, 6) had come to their hopeless end (休).
4. 欲語淚先流.
As I tried to find words, tears had already flowed without my command.
5. 聞說雙溪春尚好,
I heard the Twin Streams (雙溪, 7) were still full of fantastic Spring scenery,
6. 也擬泛輕舟.
And I should prepare (擬, 8) to drift (泛) on a light boat to see all the beauty.
7. 只恐雙溪舴艋舟，
Yet, I feared the tiny boats (舴艋舟, 9) on the Twin Streams were too small,
8. 載不動許多愁.
They could only withstand (載, 10) but not sway (動, 11) that much sorrow at all.
(translated by KS Vincent POON, July 2024)
Remarks
(I)
This lyrical poem was composed by Li Qingzhao (李清照, 1084 – 1151 AD), one of the greatest poets in Chinese history (12). It was written in 1135 AD when the Song Dynasty faced an aggressive invasion by Jin (13). At that time, Li was fleeing Lin’an (臨安) to Jinhua (金華) (14).
(II)
Li was born into an aristocratic family. Her father, Li Gefei (李格非, 1045-1105 AD) was a renowned literati (15) and a revered government official (16). Her mother was also adept at writing (17). At a very young age, Li married Zhao Mingcheng (趙明誠, 1081-1129 AD), who was a scholar (18) and the son of senior statesman Zhao Tingzhi (趙挺之, 1040-1107 AD) (19). After marriage, Li helped Zhao Mingcheng finish his masterpiece Catalogue of Bronze and Stone Inscriptions (《金石錄》) before his death in 1129 AD (20).
(III)
There are several phrases in this poem that are commonly misinterpreted. First, “塵香” is typically interpreted as “the soil carrying floral fragrance (塵土裡帶有花的香氣)”. This sort of interpretation is incorrect. “塵” here does not refer to “soil (土)”. Rather, “塵” here is the adjective “a light hint of (塵輕)” for the noun “fragrance (香)”. Such usage can be seen in various classical literary works of the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties:
i. (宋) 蘇軾 《元夕夜游絕句》: "午夜朧朧淡月黃, 夢回猶有暗塵香." (21)ii. (宋) 吳文英《木蘭花慢∙餞韓似齋赴江東鹺幕》: "潤寒梅細雨, 卷燈火、暗塵香." (22)iii. (元) 宋无《春愁》: "金雁(筝柱)塵香暗鳯絃, 紅繩風緊閣秋千." (23)iv. (明) 楊慎《望西山》 : "行行國艷皆桃李, 處處塵香盡綺羅." (24)
In all four instances above, “塵” cannot take the meaning of “soil”. Thus, “塵香” should be “a light hint of floral fragrance.”
(IV)
Another commonly misinterpreted phrase is “物是人非”. Many, like Ming Dynasty’s Ye Sheng (葉盛, 1420-1474 AD) (25) and Zhang Yan (張綖, 1487-1543 AD) (26), took “物是人非” as something like “My late husband’s things are still here, but he no longer lives”. Using this, they even accused Li of being immoral, for she openly expressed a longing for her late husband while married to a new one (27). Such is utterly absurd. Li was merely borrowing Cao Pi’s (曹丕, 187-226 AD) words to lament the fall of her motherland while fleeing Lin’an:
節同時異，物是人非. (28)The seasons are the same, yet the times have changed; the scenery remained, but the people did not.(translated by KS Vincent Poon)
It is reasonable for Li to display such patriotic lamentation, for she had always been very passionate about her motherland, as can be seen in her earlier masterpiece, A Quatrain Written in a Summer (《夏日絕句》) (29):
生當作人傑,死亦爲鬼雄.至今思項羽,不肯過江東.Live to be a person with gallant valour,Die to become a ghost with a heroic aura.Even now, we all remember Xiang Yu, the conqueror,For he willed not to retreat East by crossing the Wu River.(translated by KS Vincent Poon)
Thus, judging from the historical context and Li’s temperament, Li's “物是人非” had little to do with her late husband. No wonder contemporary scholar Cao Shuming (曹樹銘) denounced Ye Sheng’s and Zhang Yan’s conjectures as “absolutely ridiculous (荒謬萬分)”(30).
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(1) “塵” here means “a tiny amount/a light hint of a certain object (常喩事物的微小)”, as in 聶夷中《古興》: “片玉一塵輕, 粒粟山丘重.” See《漢語大字典》, Wuhan: 湖北四川長江出版集團, 2010, p. 517. Also, see Remarks (III) for further elaborations.
(2) “晚” here means “late in a period of time (一個時期的後一段)”, as in《古詩十九首∙行行重行行》: “思君令人老, 歲月忽已晚.” See《漢語大詞典》. Shanghai: 上海辭書出版社, 2008, p.743.
(3) “倦” here means “fed up (厭煩)”, as in《易∙繫辭下》: “通其變, 使民不倦.” See《漢語大詞典》. Shanghai: 上海辭書出版社, 2008, p.1518.
(4) “物是人非” here means “the scenery remained, but the people and circumstances did not (景物依然, 人事已非)”, as in 曹丕《與吳質書》：“節同時異, 物是人非, 我勞如何!” See《漢語大詞典》. Shanghai: 上海辭書出版社, 2008, p.253. Also, see Remarks (IV) for further elaborations.
(5) Ibid..
(6) “事事” here mean “Each and every affair (每事)”, as in《書∙說命中》：“惟事事乃其有備, 有備無患.” 孔傳: “事事, 非一事. ” See《漢語大詞典》. Shanghai: 上海辭書出版社, 2008, p.548.
(7) “雙溪” here refers to the Twin Streams located in the south of Jinhua (金華) city, where Li fled to. See 徐培均,《李清照集笺注》. Shanghai: 上海古籍出版社, 2002, p.142.
(8) “擬” here means “prepare (準備)”, as in 柳永《鳳棲梧》詞：“擬把疏狂圖一醉, 對酒當歌, 強樂還無味.” See《漢語大詞典》. Shanghai: 上海辭書出版社, 2008, p.936.
(9) “舴艋” refers to a “small boat (小舟)”, as indicated in《玉篇》: “舴艋, 小舟也.” See《漢語大詞典》. Shanghai: 上海辭書出版社, 2008, p.6.
(10) “載” here means “withstand (承受)”, as in《三國志∙魏志∙王基傳》: “臣聞古人以水喩民, 曰‘水所以載舟, 亦所以覆舟’.” See《漢語大詞典》. Shanghai: 上海辭書出版社, 2008, p.1242.
(11) “動” here means “sway (搖)”, as in《庾信∙夢入內堂詩》: “日光釵焰動, 窗影鏡花搖.” See《康熙字典》. Shanghai: 上海書店, 1985, p.155.
(12) 鄭振鐸,《中國文學史》. Shanghai: Shanghai Commerical Press, 1932, p.505.
(13) 徐培均,《李清照集笺注》. Shanghai: 上海古籍出版社, 2002, p.141.
(14) Ibid..
(15) As in footnote (12).
(16) 脫脫,《宋史》Vol.444, 李格非傳. Taipei: 藝文印書館, 乾隆武英殿版, Book 7, pp.5390-5391.
(17) 鄭振鐸, as in footnote (12), p.506.
(18) Ibid..
(19) 《宋史》, as in footnote (16), p.5391.
(20) 趙明誠,《金石錄》, Li Qingzhao's epilogue《金石錄後序》. 欽定四庫全書史部, 乾隆四十一年版, pp.1-6.
(21) 蘇軾,《東坡全集》Vol.28. 欽定四庫全書集部三, 乾隆四十六年版, p.21a.
(22) 唐圭璋,《全宋詞》Vol.4. Beijing: 中華書局, 1999, p.3697.
(23) 顧嗣立,《元詩選》Vol.21. 秀野草堂, publication place and year unknown, p.5a.
(24) 楊慎,《升菴集》Vol.39. 欽定四庫全書集部六, 乾隆四十三年版, p.1b.
(25) 葉盛,《水東日記》Vol.21. 欽定四庫全書子部十二, 乾隆四十三年版, p.12.
(26) 徐培均, as in footnote (13), p.143.
(27) As in footnote (25)&(26).
(28) 曹丕,《與朝歌令吳質書》. See《藝文類聚》compiled by 歐陽詢, Vol. 26. 欽定四庫全書子部十一, 乾隆四十四年版, p 28a.
(29) KS Vincent Poon, Calligraphy Meets Philosophy Talk 3. Toronto: The Senseis, 2024, p.38.
(30) 曹樹銘,《李清照詩詞文存》. Taipei: 臺灣商務印書館, 1992, p.105.
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