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Click to printSu Shi. "To the tune “The Moon Over the West River”—Plum Blossom." Global Medieval Sourcebook.

Text based on Tang, Guizhang 唐圭璋 (ed.). Quan Song Ci 全宋詞. Vol 1. Beijing: Zhonghua shu ju, 1965, 284. .

西江月 | To the tune “The Moon Over the West River”

Source Information

西江月 | To the tune “The Moon Over the West River”

by Su Shi

Text Source:

Text based on Tang, Guizhang 唐圭璋 (ed.). Quan Song Ci 全宋詞. Vol 1. Beijing: Zhonghua shu ju, 1965, 284.

Responsibility Statement:
  • Text based on Tang, Guizhang 唐圭璋 (ed.). Quan Song Ci 全宋詞. Vol 1. Beijing: Zhonghua shu ju, 1965, 284.
  • Translation by Qian Jia
  • Notes by Nina Du, Runqi Zhang, and Dante Zhu
  • Encoded in TEI P5 XML by Manya Bansal and Dante Zhu
Editorial Principles:

Texts are translated into modern English with maximum fidelity to the original text, except where it would impair comprehension or good style. Archaisms are preserved where they do not conflict with the aesthetic of the original text. Creative translation choices are marked and discussed in the critical notes.

The original text of this ci is based on the edition by Tang Guizhang 唐圭璋 (Quan Song Ci 全宋詞. Vol 1. Beijing: Zhonghua shu ju, 1965). Punctuation follows the edition. Since ci poetry rarely includes personal pronouns, and gender-differentiated pronouns did not exist in Classical Chinese of this period, the gender of the speaker as well as their perspective (e.g. first, second or third person) must often be deduced by the translator from context.

Punctuation follows the edition.
Publication Details:

Published by The Global Medieval Sourcebook.

The Global Medieval Sourcebook is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

西江月 To the tune “The Moon Over the West River” 梅花 Plum Blossom
玉骨那愁瘴霧, Why would the jade bones (need to) worry about noxious air
c
Critical note:

Huizhou, in China's far south, was considered uninhabitable due to its hot and humid weather. Northerners believed that its air contained harmful vapors.

?
冰肌自有仙風。 The skin, translucent as ice
c
Critical note:

Imagery of ice and jade was used to convey the beauty of women’s bodies, clean like ice and smooth like jade. It comes from a philosophical work by Zhuangzi, in which he uses “skin of ice and bones of jade” to describe a deity living in the Gu Ye Mountain. The phrase suggests an otherworldly quality to Zhaoyun's beauty.

, was naturally endowed with a transcendent temperament.
海仙時遣探芳叢。 From time to time, the sea nymphs
c
Critical note:

According to Chinese mythology, four dragon kings control the sea, but nymphs who live beneath the waves maintain its balance. This line implies that the plum blossom/Zhaoyun was so extraordinary that even the sea nymphs sought to learn about it/her.

sent an envoy to explore this fragrant shrub
c
Critical note:

Refers to the plum blossom.

:
倒掛綠毛幺鳳。 a green-feathered bird like a phoenix, hanging upside down
c
Critical note:

This image of a remarkable bird as the envoy emphasises the specialness of the object of its research: the plum blossom/Zhaoyun. The phoenix has a special significance in Chinese mythology, and the color green is often associated with purity and luxury (and the jade already mentioned).

.
5
素面常嫌粉涴, The natural face never liked being smudged by powder;
洗妝不褪唇紅。 after washing off its makeup, the rouge on its lips did not fade.
高情已逐曉雲空。 My lofty longings chased after the dawn cloud
c
Critical note:

The "dawn cloud" (曉雲, Xiao Yun) is a coded reference to Zhaoyun (朝雲): the only difference between the two Chinese words is the first character, yet these characters (曉 and 朝) are synonymous in Chinese, both meaning dawn, so the full expression means "dawn cloud" in both cases. Su Shi is using word play to hint that he’s writing about Zhaoyun.

and vanished,
不與梨花同夢。 Sharing no dreams with the pear blossoms
c
Critical note:

This is a reference to a poem by a famous Tang Dynasty poet, Wang Changling 王昌龄. In the only surviving line of the poem, Wang Changling writes that after he saw plum blossoms, he dreamt of pear blossoms. By contrast, the final line here implies that Su Shi will not be dreaming of pear blossoms, i.e. he won't think of Zhaoyun (his plum blossom) and dream of another woman (a pear blossom), and will remain faithful to his memory of her.

.
西江月 To the tune “The Moon Over the West River” 梅花 Plum Blossom
玉骨那愁瘴霧, Why would the jade bones (need to) worry about noxious air
c
Critical note:

Huizhou, in China's far south, was considered uninhabitable due to its hot and humid weather. Northerners believed that its air contained harmful vapors.

?
冰肌自有仙風。 The skin, translucent as ice
c
Critical note:

Imagery of ice and jade was used to convey the beauty of women’s bodies, clean like ice and smooth like jade. It comes from a philosophical work by Zhuangzi, in which he uses “skin of ice and bones of jade” to describe a deity living in the Gu Ye Mountain. The phrase suggests an otherworldly quality to Zhaoyun's beauty.

, was naturally endowed with a transcendent temperament.
海仙時遣探芳叢。 From time to time, the sea nymphs
c
Critical note:

According to Chinese mythology, four dragon kings control the sea, but nymphs who live beneath the waves maintain its balance. This line implies that the plum blossom/Zhaoyun was so extraordinary that even the sea nymphs sought to learn about it/her.

sent an envoy to explore this fragrant shrub
c
Critical note:

Refers to the plum blossom.

:
倒掛綠毛幺鳳。 a green-feathered bird like a phoenix, hanging upside down
c
Critical note:

This image of a remarkable bird as the envoy emphasises the specialness of the object of its research: the plum blossom/Zhaoyun. The phoenix has a special significance in Chinese mythology, and the color green is often associated with purity and luxury (and the jade already mentioned).

.
5
素面常嫌粉涴, The natural face never liked being smudged by powder;
洗妝不褪唇紅。 after washing off its makeup, the rouge on its lips did not fade.
高情已逐曉雲空。 My lofty longings chased after the dawn cloud
c
Critical note:

The "dawn cloud" (曉雲, Xiao Yun) is a coded reference to Zhaoyun (朝雲): the only difference between the two Chinese words is the first character, yet these characters (曉 and 朝) are synonymous in Chinese, both meaning dawn, so the full expression means "dawn cloud" in both cases. Su Shi is using word play to hint that he’s writing about Zhaoyun.

and vanished,
不與梨花同夢。 Sharing no dreams with the pear blossoms
c
Critical note:

This is a reference to a poem by a famous Tang Dynasty poet, Wang Changling 王昌龄. In the only surviving line of the poem, Wang Changling writes that after he saw plum blossoms, he dreamt of pear blossoms. By contrast, the final line here implies that Su Shi will not be dreaming of pear blossoms, i.e. he won't think of Zhaoyun (his plum blossom) and dream of another woman (a pear blossom), and will remain faithful to his memory of her.

.
Critical Notes
Translation
Line number 1
Critical note:

Huizhou, in China's far south, was considered uninhabitable due to its hot and humid weather. Northerners believed that its air contained harmful vapors.

Translation
Line number 2
Critical note:

Imagery of ice and jade was used to convey the beauty of women’s bodies, clean like ice and smooth like jade. It comes from a philosophical work by Zhuangzi, in which he uses “skin of ice and bones of jade” to describe a deity living in the Gu Ye Mountain. The phrase suggests an otherworldly quality to Zhaoyun's beauty.

Translation
Line number 3
Critical note:

According to Chinese mythology, four dragon kings control the sea, but nymphs who live beneath the waves maintain its balance. This line implies that the plum blossom/Zhaoyun was so extraordinary that even the sea nymphs sought to learn about it/her.

Translation
Line number 3
Critical note:

Refers to the plum blossom.

Translation
Line number 4
Critical note:

This image of a remarkable bird as the envoy emphasises the specialness of the object of its research: the plum blossom/Zhaoyun. The phoenix has a special significance in Chinese mythology, and the color green is often associated with purity and luxury (and the jade already mentioned).

Translation
Line number 7
Critical note:

The "dawn cloud" (曉雲, Xiao Yun) is a coded reference to Zhaoyun (朝雲): the only difference between the two Chinese words is the first character, yet these characters (曉 and 朝) are synonymous in Chinese, both meaning dawn, so the full expression means "dawn cloud" in both cases. Su Shi is using word play to hint that he’s writing about Zhaoyun.

Translation
Line number 8
Critical note:

This is a reference to a poem by a famous Tang Dynasty poet, Wang Changling 王昌龄. In the only surviving line of the poem, Wang Changling writes that after he saw plum blossoms, he dreamt of pear blossoms. By contrast, the final line here implies that Su Shi will not be dreaming of pear blossoms, i.e. he won't think of Zhaoyun (his plum blossom) and dream of another woman (a pear blossom), and will remain faithful to his memory of her.

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