琴诗 The Sound of Qin Music

琴诗

原作: 苏轼（字子瞻, 号东坡居士; 11世纪北宋）

闵晓红(2023)

若言琴上有琴声，

放在匣中何不鸣？

若言声在指头上，

何不与君指上听？

The Sound of Qin Music

Chinese original: Su Shi / Han Yu

English version: Julia Min

If the music lives within the Qin,

Why can’t I hear it when locked in?

If the notes stream through fingers,

Then who needs a Qin to make a din?

Analysis:

Here lies a little allegory about the pre-eminence of the subjective—specifically, the artistically apprehended reality of music—over the mere objects of wood and fingers. The Song dynasty had a habit of embedding philosophical puzzles in art, and this poem (attributed to both Su Shi and Han Yu, which is itself a philosophical joke: if you can't agree on who wrote it, how can you agree on where the music lives?) carries on that tradition. There's likely an influence from Su Xun, the father, a famous essayist known for constructing sophisticated arguments with bold simplicity. He understood that art and actuality require each other—much like a qin requires both wood and fingers, yet remains neither.

This twining of opposites—static and dynamic, yin and yang, wood and flesh—applies to life as well. The world evolves in such a dance. If we were wise enough, we might discover the governing pattern in this little universe of ours. Then again, if we were truly wise, we might also laugh at ourselves for trying to find it.

Reference:

1. Blooming Alone in Winter by Gordon Osing, Julia Min, and Huang Haipeng， published by the People's Publication House Henan Province in 1990 (《寒心未肯随春态》戈登.奥赛茵，闵晓红，黄海鹏) （ “Qin —I hear you say the music's in the wood;/why can't I hear it when it's put away?/You say the music's in the fingers, good!/But could one listen to his hands all day?"）

2. picture from “洛水琴客” via《每日头条》