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Yan Jidao. "To the tune “Jade Tower in Spring”—"Back then, I believed"." 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, .
玉樓春 | To the tune “Jade Tower in Spring”
Source Information
玉樓春 | To the tune “Jade Tower in Spring”
by Yan Jidao
Text Source:
Text based on Tang, Guizhang 唐圭璋 (ed.). Quan Song Ci 全宋詞. Vol 1. Beijing: Zhonghua shu ju, 1965, 34.
Responsibility Statement:
- Text based on Tang, Guizhang 唐圭璋 (ed.). Quan Song Ci 全宋詞. Vol 1. Beijing: Zhonghua shu ju, 1965,
- Translation by Qian Jia
- Notes by Dante Zhu
- Encoded in TEI P5 XML by Dante Zhu
Editorial Principles:
Transcriptions and translations are encoded in XML conforming to TEI (P5) guidelines. The original-language text is contained within <lem> tags and translations within <rdg> tags.
Texts are translated into modern American 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. Scribal errors and 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.
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.
玉樓春 To the tune “Jade Tower in Spring”
當年信道情無價。 Back then, I believed that love was priceless,
桃葉尊前論別夜。 talking with Taoye
c
about parting, with cups of wine before us. Critical note:
“Taoye” was the name of the concubine of Wang Xianzhi 王獻之 (344-386 CE), a famous literatus and calligrapher. Wang wrote “Taoye Song” for her when he parted from her. Here the name is used to refer to the speaker's own beloved.
臉紅心緒學梅妝， She blushed and studiously applied the plum blossom makeup.
眉翠工夫如月畫。 The crescent-shaped kohl eyebrows were painted with great skill.
5
來時醉倒旗亭下。 When I woke up, I was drunk under the flag in front of the pavillion, 知是阿誰扶上馬。 not knowing who had put me onto a horse.
憶曾挑盡五更燈， I remember how I used to keep my lamp lit until the wick burned down completely at dawn
c
, Critical note:
In ancient China, the night time is divided into five periods 更. At the beginning of each period, drums are beaten. 五更 refers to the fifth period, which is equivalent to time after 4:48am. Here the translator translates it into “dawn”. Keeping the lamp lit until dawn implies that the speaker was with his lover the whole night.
不記臨分多少話。 but I cannot recall what I said when we parted.
玉樓春 To the tune “Jade Tower in Spring”
當年信道情無價。 Back then, I believed that love was priceless,
桃葉尊前論別夜。 talking with Taoye
c
about parting, with cups of wine before us. Critical note:
“Taoye” was the name of the concubine of Wang Xianzhi 王獻之 (344-386 CE), a famous literatus and calligrapher. Wang wrote “Taoye Song” for her when he parted from her. Here the name is used to refer to the speaker's own beloved.
臉紅心緒學梅妝， She blushed and studiously applied the plum blossom makeup.
眉翠工夫如月畫。 The crescent-shaped kohl eyebrows were painted with great skill.
5
來時醉倒旗亭下。 When I woke up, I was drunk under the flag in front of the pavillion, 知是阿誰扶上馬。 not knowing who had put me onto a horse.
憶曾挑盡五更燈， I remember how I used to keep my lamp lit until the wick burned down completely at dawn
c
, Critical note:
In ancient China, the night time is divided into five periods 更. At the beginning of each period, drums are beaten. 五更 refers to the fifth period, which is equivalent to time after 4:48am. Here the translator translates it into “dawn”. Keeping the lamp lit until dawn implies that the speaker was with his lover the whole night.
不記臨分多少話。 but I cannot recall what I said when we parted.
Critical Notes
Translation
Line number 2
Critical note: “Taoye” was the name of the concubine of Wang Xianzhi 王獻之 (344-386 CE), a famous literatus and calligrapher. Wang wrote “Taoye Song” for her when he parted from her. Here the name is used to refer to the speaker's own beloved.
Translation
Line number 7
Critical note: In ancient China, the night time is divided into five periods 更. At the beginning of each period, drums are beaten. 五更 refers to the fifth period, which is equivalent to time after 4:48am. Here the translator translates it into “dawn”. Keeping the lamp lit until dawn implies that the speaker was with his lover the whole night.
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