南歌子·天上星河转 原作：【宋】李清照 英译：闵晓红 天上星河转， 人间帘幕垂。 凉生枕簟泪痕滋。 起解罗衣， 聊问夜何其。 翠贴莲蓬小， 金销藕叶稀。 旧时天气旧时衣。 只有情怀， 不似旧家时。 The Starry River Turns her Sails - To the tune of Nangezi translated by Julia Min The Starry River turns her sails where the spirit of my blessed dwells. Deep in sleep the Earth seems so still. Alone, I’m awake into midnight chill. My pillow is wet with tears, so is my night dress. After changing, my maid persuades me to bed. Then my eyes touch my gown - the golden threads on lotus leaves, the seed head left alone by herself... Alas, this is the very dress of your taste, so is the season in the same pleasant phase. Only my heart’s rhymes and vibes go astray. Without you, the world is never the same. Appreciation: There are different opinions about the time she wrote this ci. This song poem, in my understanding, was most likely composed soon after her husband’s sudden death in Jiankang ( today’s Nanjing City). She wrote quite a few during this mourning period, and the other one on our list here is A chill wind woke me before dawn (“浪淘沙.帘外五更风”). You could feel these two poems are quite similar in terms of her feelings, language used and the overall style. The vibes are on the same frequency, and even the time of the occasion is about the same. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day in future these two were found creations of the same night. Personally I would allow my six sense join her before I lay down any words on paper, to feel her heart beat, her eye expressions, her tears, her dress, her qin, and ornaments, and the vibes of her chamber before translating into English. Notes: 1. xīng hé zhuǎn: the Milky Way / the Star River is making a turn, meaning it has passed midnight; 2. jīn xiāo ǒu yè xī: the lotus leaves embroidered on her night dress shows stems in golden threads. ‘xi’ very few, meaning autumn is on the corner; Pinying and Word -For-Word Translation: nán gē zǐ – the musical tune of this song poem; tiān shàng xīng hé zhuǎn – in the sky the Starry River turns; rén jiān lián mù chuí – human world curtains / drapes are unrolled /drawn liáng shēng zhěn diàn lèi hén zī – feel cold pillow and bamboo sheet tears traces all over; qǐ jiě luó yī – get up change my silk night dress; liáo wèn yè hé qí – tired and tedious, I ask what time it is; cuì tiē lián péng xiǎo – fresh green lotus pots small; jīn xiāo ǒu yè xī – in golden threads the lotus leaves only a few; jiù shí tiān qì jiù shí yī – old time weather, old time clothes; zhī yǒu qíng huái – only my feelings; bú sì jiù jiā shí – unlike old time

醉花阴.薄雾浓云愁永昼（重阳） 原作：【宋】李清照 英译：戈登.奥赛茵，闵晓红 薄雾浓云愁永昼， 瑞脑消金兽。 佳节又重阳， 玉枕纱厨， 半夜凉初透。 东篱把酒黄昏后， 有暗香盈袖。 莫道不销魂， 帘卷西风， 人似黄花瘦。 On the Double Ninth Festival - to the tune of Zuihuayin written by : Li Qingzhao (1084-1155?) translated by: Gordon Osing & Julia Min A light mist and impenetrable heaven weary the day till Karuing incense is ashes in the golden beast. On this, the Double Ninth, reunion festival, our bed’s gauze nets and my dream pillow of jade are filled already at twilight with midnight's cold. I took my wine alone in the garden after dusk, till my sleeves smell the subtle fragrance. Don't say it doesn't lead the soul away. When autumn wind raises the curtain, this lady is drawn as the bitten chrysanths’ golden rays. Appreciation: This ci is regarded as part of her early works when Li Qingzhao was 20 years old, two years after her wedding. She wrote to express her longings for her husband Zhao Mingcheng who was away on an official appointment. It was a late autumn day which should be shorter every day but seemed the hours pass so slowly as she felt alienated by the usual intimacies of home. She portrays herself as the wan, neglected lady among the last blooming chrysanthemums in the garden. Chinese poets had been captivated by the enduring quality of chrysanthemum. Li Qingzhao is believed to have taken the image to a new level that Chinese readers would tend to associate the flower with her poems or her favourite poet Tao Yuanming’s lines whenever the flower is discussed in literature. A famous story in Chinese literary folklore attaches to this ci. It seems Zhao Mingcheng felt challenged by this ci’s graceful composition when he received it, and resolved to write one better. He wrote fifty ci in three days' frenzy and gave them to his poet friend Lu Defu to judge the batch, his wife's among them. The great Song scholar returned them saying that in all the collection, only three lines were flawless, and he named the last three lines of this poem. So Mingcheng had to acknowledge his lady had surpassed him in a talent for this art. In Europe, chrysanthemum was introduced from ancient China into French gardens and onto the vibrant paintings of Impressionists and later, the pages of American novels. The flower, drawing its allure from the golden rays of the sun, also associates supreme power as gold is the ruling colour exclusively used by Chinese emperors. Europeans, however, signify it with both life and death as they use it for mourning while many artists celebrate it for its golden rays that light the autumnal gloom. Notes: 1. "chong yang": literarily ‘double sun’, often called "chong jiu" meaning the "Double-Ninth" Festival, the ninth day of the ninth month in the lunar calendar. The figure 9 in Chinese culture signifies the supreme power of the emperor who is also the Father figure for the nation’s big family, the sun for the earth. On this day Chinese would climb the mountains ("deng gao",climb high!). There’s a legendary story behind this that at some ancient time people were told to climb high to avoid impending disaster. They did so and when they returned homes their animals had all been destroyed. The story is similar to that of Noah and the animals in the Biblical flood. A retreat into one of China's scenic mountains is undertaken even these days on the Double Ninth Festival. Family reunions and pilgrimage homes are till annually associated with the ancient holiday. (Several festivals each year carry the expectation of family unity, as you may know.) The "yang" in "chong yang" is the same as the "yang" in "tai yang", "great sun", as also in "yin/ yang", "moon/sun" (used to refer to the feminine, passive / masculine, active) and phases of consciousness. So "chong yang" may mean in English "double masculine", when the order of Heaven and the order of self, family, clan and village are madc one. 2. "nong yun": in some versions "nong, wu", thick fog. "chou": wearied by sadness. "yong zhou": entire day. 3. "rui nao": karuing incense, a good quality incense. "jin shou": golden beast, i.e., gold color incense burner that could be designed with lion head on both sides; 4. "yu zhen": jade pillow, porcelain headrest for sleeping, a transferred epithet for jade (wonderful, ideal) dreaming. "sha chu": a wooden structure over the bed for a gauze net, to keep insects out. 5. "dong li": east fence, referring to her garden where many chrysanthemum are in full bloom. It originates from the famous poet Tao Yuanming’s famous lines“采菊东篱下，悠然见南山” “I pluck chrysanthemums under the eastern hedge,/Then gaze long at the distant summer hills. ” translated by Arthur Waley） 6. "an xiang": hidden fragrance, often refers to plum blossoms, though the line here must refer to chrysanthemums. Another Song Dynasty poet Lin Po had written in his "Little Plum Trees in the Hill Garden ": "Soft shadows crossing/the shallow, clear waters./ Hidden fragrances floating with the moon after dusk. "ying xiu": filling sleeves, i.e., touching intimately all the body. 7. "xiao hun": hurt spirit, i.e., so much pain the spirit feels removed from the body. 8. "huang hua shou": more than (the frost-bitten chrysanthemum). Pinyin and word-for-word translation: zuì huā yīn - to the tune of Zuihuayin (on the Double-ninth Festival) báo wù nóng yún chóu yǒng zhòu - thin fog dense cloud weary all day long; ruì nǎo xiāo jīn shòu - borneol is burning out in the golden beast; jiā jiē yòu zhòng yáng - happy festival another Double Ninth Festival; yù zhěn shā chú - jade pillow gauze net; bàn yè liáng chū tòu - midnight cold begins penetrating; dōng lí bǎ jiǔ huáng hūn hòu - east fence hold wine dusk after; yǒu àn xiāng yíng xiù - there's hidden fragrance filled sleeves; mò dào bú xiāo hún - don't say not taking the soul away; lián juàn xī fēng - curtain rowed west wind; rén sì huáng huā shòu - the person is chrysanthemum thin;

渔家傲. 天接云涛连晓雾 作者：李清照 英译：戈登.奥赛茵，闵晓红 天接云涛连晓雾， 星河欲转千帆舞。 仿佛梦魂归帝所。 闻天语， 殷勤问我归何处。 我报路长嗟日暮， 学诗谩有惊人句。 九万里风鹏正举。 风休住， 蓬舟吹取三山去！ Where Cloud Waves and Morning Mists Rejoin - to the Tune of Yujia’ao Translated by Gordon Osing and Julia Min Where cloud waves and morning mists rejoin, where Star River's countless sails see the turn, as if my soul had dreamed itself to Heaven, "Whence could you ever return?" it heard to herself kindly spoken. I replied: " Whatever rhymes and vibes I found, The road is long and my days are gone.” The Roc has taken wings towards Heaven. Please don’t cease, my dear Wind, just send my light boat to the Three Fairy Islands. Appreciation: Some editions title this poem "My Dream", because it is written entirely in a state of mind between sleep and waking. Scholars generally attribute the piece to the period in her life just after she fled south before the invaders, because the language in the original departs significantly from that of earlier poems, is more bold and defensively reflective. It’s most likely her real life experience on the sea as she had been following long team of the Royal family and court officials who fled to the sea before returning to land and settled in Ling’an (today’s Hangzhou) in 1130. So this ci was composed then. Notes: ① "tian jie" etc,: the imagery here is completely fanciful, midway between dreaming and waking, a hypnotic state brought on by longing for release from the ordinary anxieties of living in disappointment; ② "jiu wan li": ten thousand li is, of course, figurative, the usual way to say a very long distance; "feng peng ": wind roc, the bird that can mythically fly into Heaven; ③ "peng zhou": fleabane boat, small shell-boat that floats easily on waves; "san shan qu": the Three Fairy Islands; Legend has it in Bohai Bay, something like the Greek Elysian Fields, a place of rest from the cares of the world. Pinying and Word -For-Word Translation: yú jiā ào – to the tune of Yujia’ao tiān jiē yún tāo lián xiǎo wù - sky connect cloud waves with morning mist, xīng hé yù zhuǎn qiān fān wǔ - Star River is about to turn thousands of sails dance. fǎng fó mèng hún guī dì suǒ -as if dream soul return to god's place. wén tiān yǔ - hear god speak, yīn qín wèn wǒ guī hé chù -graciously ask me return to where. wǒ bào lù zhǎng jiē rì mù -I report roa long sigh day waning, xué shī màn yǒu jīng rén jù -study poetry though have remarkable lines. jiǔ wàn lǐ fēng péng zhèng jǔ -90 thousand li wind roc is lifting its wings. fēng xiū zhù -wind don't stop, péng zhōu chuī qǔ sān shān qù ！- fleabane boat blow to the Three (Fairy) Mountains.

殢人娇·后亭梅花 原作：【宋】李清照 英译：闵晓红 玉瘦香浓， 檀深雪散。 今年恨， 探梅又晚。 江楼楚馆， 云闲水远。 清昼永， 凭栏翠帘低卷。 坐上客来， 尊前酒满。 歌声共， 水流云断。 南枝可插， 更须频剪。 莫直待， 西楼数声羌管。 On the blooming plum trees at Houting - to the tune of Tirenjiao translated by Julia Min Again this year I missed the curdled view of white snow embracing the budding blooms. From jade-like petals tiered on slender branches, Spring has melted the plum trees for her perfume. By the Chu Hotel the river slowly flows down, meeting beyond a sky with some roaming clouds. Behind the green curtains over the tower rails, a quietude finds the long day a useless charade. At last our invited guests arrived in the room, and all the cups are filled to brim full, for now we’ll sing the Flowing Waters Chasing the Clouds. So make the most of it, my friends, if you could when the south branches are loaded with blooms. Pluck some to grace your room, or your hairdo. You don’t want to regret in that sad flute tune from west chamber - the Falling of Plum Blooms. Appreciation: This ci poem is considered as Li Qingzhao’s work as the language and style reads very much like her creation. Geographically, Houting is most likely located on the way from the capital ( today’s Kaifeng, Henan Province) to the young couple’s home at Qingzhou (Shandong Province) as shown on the map. It looks like a beautiful scenic spot marked with a Song dynasty town site there on today’s map. I wouldn’t be surprised if Houting was a popular tourist hotspot during the Song period. If so, this ci could be composed before the fall of the Northern Song, somewhere around 1107 to 1126 when her husband was mayor in a few places not far away from Houting. The poem subjects moves from the scene in the first stanza to the gathering ( most likely her girlfriends from local) in the second stanza, from external to internal, a yin-yang structure through to the end. The theme again is a sentimental sigh over the passing of blooming years, so enjoy what comes your way. The message of escaping to the South and of invaders from the West / North could be sensed, almost in an imperceptible way, reminding us of her similar theme in “’Tis the last flower of spring”, hinting the falling of the Northern Song. So she ask her friends to cherish the moment when they could, God knows what’s next. Notes: 1. Houting: Pinying and Word -For-Word Translation:

忆秦娥 . 临高阁 原作：【宋】李清照 英译：闵晓红 临高阁， 乱山平野烟光薄。 烟光薄， 栖鸦归后， 暮天闻角。 断香残酒情怀恶， 西风催衬梧桐落。 梧桐落， 又还秋色， 又还寂寞。 From the balcony to the bare distance - To the tune of Yiqin’e translated by Julia Min From the balcony to the bare distance, A light mist spreads to the hills and lands. With a late autumn chill it also sends in army horns from the west on the crows’ returns. My chamber now senses no more incense, no more wine, and no more sweet dreams. The wicked wind has robbed the last leaves of parasol trees before a winter more bleak. Appreciation: Notes: yā – the black crows; The symbolic meaning in English sees magic power, intelligence, teamwork and psychic abilities, hence it is often used for names such as Adelaide Crows (Adelaide Football Club). But it represents doomed fate, death and fear in Chinese literature. Jiǎo – horn, referring to the invaders from the Jin State. wú tóng – parasol tree, representing lonely sentiments in late autumn and winter. Pinying and Word -For-Word Translation: yì qín é . lín gāo gé lín gāo gé， luàn shān píng yě yān guāng báo 。 yān guāng báo ， qī yā guī hòu ， mù tiān wén jiǎo 。 duàn xiāng cán jiǔ qíng huái è， xī fēng cuī chèn wú tóng luò 。 wú tóng luò， yòu hái qiū sè ， yòu hái jì mò 。

庆清朝慢 原作：【宋】李清照 英译：闵晓红 禁幄低张， 雕栏巧护， 就中独占残春。 容华淡伫， 绰约俱见天真。 待得群花过后， 一番风露晓妆新。 妖娆艳态， 妒风笑月， 长殢东君。 东城边， 南陌上， 正日烘池馆， 竞走香轮。 绮筵散日， 谁人可继芳尘？ 更好明光宫殿， 几枝先近日边匀。 金尊倒， 拚了尽烛， 不管黄昏。 Tis the Last Flower of Spring Days - to the tune of Qingqingchaoman translated by Julia Min Tis the last flower of Spring Days Behind the palace red rail in half shade. She’s blooming in joy with gentle grace, Unaware that Spring’s going away. Fresh dews kiss her lips unfolded by Wind, She’s more charming than the rose of May. The Moon speechless envies the sight, And Spring is teased for being delayed. The sun is cosier from town’s south to east, Where dust of fragrance fills the wheels way. Will the lakeside terraces bustle again To beat the glamour after she fades? Come to Bright Palace to see species rare, Early blooms on sunny side, lushy buds behind. Let’s fill the cups again till the last candle light, Who cares if sunset replaced by dark night? Appreciation: The first stanza simply talks about how this last flower of spring is blooming under good care in half shaded sunny area in the Royal Palace. Unaware other flowers of the season are fading away, she stands proud in full bloom like the queen of flowers, as if Spring God would stay forever with her. In the second stanza, the scene expands to the best sunny places in town, the well decorated terraces, the pool sides in front of luxury mansions, … . Even the carriage wheels bring you the fragrance of the flower fair. The interesting feature of this poem works also like a riddle where the whole poem focus on the beauty and sentiments of the flower, but not a line tells the actual name of the flower. The readership is intrigued for a guessing game. The poet applies the situation further to herself, sighing how short her young days would be. What’s next? So why not indulge in the beautiful moment and forget about future loss. From a broader picture of the time, we could associate it with the last chapter of the Northern Song dynasty when the Jin on the north plotted an invasion which resulted in the fall of Song’s capital city. Historians hold the view that the gentlemen’s society were then enjoying a luxury life despite endless battles at the borders, unaware such life style would come to an end. Some politicians of the Court tried new reforms but all too hasty an effort. Being so close to the Throne and a poet of time and tides, Li Qingzhao wrote many poems criticising the social phenomena in her teenage years, a style never lost in her later works. So, this poem could be a warning call to the public about the danger ahead. Notes: 1. “jin”：forbidden place，the Royal Palace； 2. “chou yue”: graceful，beautiful; 3. “ti”：hold up；“dong jun”: the governor of the East, Spring God. The four directions in Chinese culture also represent the four seasons. Spring usually blows east wind as you may know; 4. “xiang lun”: fragrance from the wheels travelled in the flower show; 5.“qi yan”: a luxury banquet held by the Royal Palace; 6. “fang chen”: sweet scent from the bustling traffic dust Pinying and Word -For-Word Translation: qìng qīng cháo màn jìn wò dī zhāng ， diāo lán qiǎo hù ， jiù zhōng dú zhàn cán chūn 。 róng huá dàn zhù ， chāo yuē jù jiàn tiān zhēn 。 dài dé qún huā guò hòu ， yī fān fēng lù xiǎo zhuāng xīn 。 yāo ráo yàn tài ， dù fēng xiào yuè ， zhǎng tì dōng jun1 。 dōng chéng biān ， nán mò shàng ， zhèng rì hōng chí guǎn ， jìng zǒu xiāng lún 。 qǐ yàn sàn rì ， shuí rén kě jì fāng chén ？ gèng hǎo míng guāng gōng diàn ， jǐ zhī xiān jìn rì biān yún 。 jīn zūn dǎo ， pīn le jìn zhú ， bú guǎn huáng hūn 。

诉衷情 . 夜来沈醉卸妆迟 原作：【宋】李清照 英译：闵晓红 夜来沈醉卸妆迟， 梅萼插残枝。 酒醒熏破春睡， 梦远不成归。 人悄悄， 月依依， 翠帘垂。 更挼残蕊， 更捻馀香， 更得些时。 A bit tipsy, I slept with make-up on -to the tune of Suzhongqing translated by Julia Min Far into the mist extends the private garden. Barred cloud enfolds tops of pavilions. For whom in winter frost is she waiting? Must be the flirting buds on south branches her cold dreams feel so cosy with sweet kisses. Stop playing the song “The Fall of Crimsons”, when she’s blushing with delicate blossoms. Would this gentle grace win her love’s glimpse, Or Spring wind cares for her happiness, Or her pilgrim soul lived to see prunus blooms? Appreciation: Composed around 1127 shortly after the fall of Northern Song and the first Southern Song emperor was throned. It was a period of turmoil due to the Jin’s invasion. With the loss of their capital, the new court became mobile from place to place in the south. Jiangning ( later Jiangkang, today’s Nanjing) was one of the temporary court venues. Qingzhao’s husband was appointed the Mayor of Jiangning, so the couple had to leave their Qingzhou home ( in today’s Shandong Province) to the mercy of the Jin army who burned everything to ashes in the same year, so she was told later on. For our poet, it’s the home where they had over ten years’ happy marriage life, the home with ten households of their valuable collections, and ultimately the best memories of her lifetime. And this is only the beginning of her miseries, and the starting point of a dividing line in her literature topics and intellectual sentiments, which offers a glimpse of the shifting among the intellectuals and officials. It’s a song of a collective voice illuminating not only the war’s tragedies and their irreparable effects, but the hopes and disappointments of generations onwards. For a stronger impact on readers’ sentiment, the second stanza used repetition of syntax and words, a popular technique in English poetry also, such as “The Burden of Itys” by Oscar Wilde (1854–1900): “And sweet the hops upon the Kentish leas, And sweet the wind that lifts the new-mown hay, And sweet the fretful swarms of grumbling bees That round and round the linden blossoms play;” Notes: Pinying and Word -For-Word Translation: sù zhōng qíng – the musical tune of this sone yè lái chén zuì xiè zhuāng chí–last night I drank to sleep too late to remove make-up, méi è chā cán zhī – the plum blooms on my hair are just bones with some withered petals. jiǔ xǐng xūn pò chūn shuì – disturbed by the fragrance I woke from a spring sleep, mèng yuǎn bú chéng guī – I dreamed afar but failed to make home. rén qiāo qiāo – people are quiet, yuè yī yī – the moon is reluctant to leave, cuì lián chuí – light green curtains hang down. gèng luò cán ruǐ – more time spent crushing the withered plum stamen in hand, gèng niǎn yú xiāng - more time spent smashing the petals for more fragrance, gèng dé xiē shí – more time spent to kill more time.

偶成 原作：【宋】李清照 英译：闵晓红 十五年前花月底， 相从曾赋赏花詩。 今看花月浑相似， 安得情怀似往時。 Extempore verse translated by Julia X. Min Fifteen years ago under a full moon, We composed love poems among spring blooms. The garden looks so under the same moon, If I could remain in the same mood! Appreciation: Appreciation: This short verse was probably composed after she settled in Ling’an, the new capital. It’s a popular theme in many of the artistic works created during this period when the new settlers often sensed strong pain missing their lost family members. Obviously our poet revealed her deep yearning for her husband and the happy days they spent together in their Qingzhou home where they experienced the happiest marriage life for over 10 years.

题八咏楼 原作：李清照 英译：闵晓红 千古风流八咏楼， 江山留与后人愁。 水通南国三千里， 气压江城十四州。 The Eight Verses Tower translated by Julia X. Min The Eight Verses Tower stands so proud on this ancient land blessed with great minds. But for how long? The Jin might come down. Just let it be tested after we rest in ground. The Wujiang River in front is flowing down over a thousand miles towards the South, exposing fourteen counties with their towns. Would Guanxiu leave them out of bound? Appreciation： This heroic poem is another strong satire on the weak response of the Court against Jin’s invasion. The Song was at stake as tension was hanging in the air for the future. Li Qingzhao, past her prime years and all alone now, joined her dead husband’s sister’s family in Wuzhou. The sisiter’s husband was the Prefecture. She stayed there for a while and wrote quite a few famous poems on the same subject，e.g. “The storm’s past, and fallen petals perfume the ground – to the tune of Wulingchun”（《武陵春.风住尘香花已尽》）. Similar style is found in her other poem “Alive, I’d be a hero for the people”(《乌江绝句》. In her wisdom, our poet, renown as the Master of Ci, chose traditional poetic form for the heroic momentum when she wrote the ‘bigger’ subject，whereas she would come back to musical Ci form for her sentimental poems, be it affectionate, innocent，or melancholy sensations. Notes: 1. The Eight Verses Tower –The tower（八咏楼）, original name being Charmed Joy Tower（玄畅楼)was built in 494 under the order of the local Prefecture Shen Yue who was also a famous historian and writer. Located in a peninsular site surrounded by Wujiang River from east, south to west, overlooking a spectacular view of two rivers meeting point, Charmed Joy Tower had become a famous landmark, and of course the favourite place of the Prefecture who wrote eight long poems about it. Both his poems and the subject became well recognized that eventually the Tower was renamed as Eight Verses Tower. 2. The Wujiang River - The Wuzhou County is along the river, hence the name. It could be an important place accessing the north and the south of the Song territory. Li Qingzhao showed a strong concern if this place could stay for the Song in future as the Jin might head south after the fall of the Song Capital Bianliang (today’s Kaifeng). 3. Guanxiu – in Chinese贯休（832-912）; He was a revered monk who was born local here about 200 years before our poet visited the tower. Famous for his poetry, paintings and calligraphy, he was once requested by the emperor to change ‘ 14 states conquered’ into ‘ 40 states conquered’ in his poem celebrating the victory. But, as a man of heroic integrity, he refused with a reply :“Since you can hardly conquer another state, I shall not change my poem with another word.” So the ‘14 states’, often quoted by later writers, hints a strong criticism against the Southern Song Court which yielded again and again to the invasion of the Jin from the North. Pinyin and word-for-word translation: tí bā yǒng lóu – tower named after the eight poems qiān gǔ fēng liú bā yǒng lóu – thousand years eight verses tower; jiāng shān liú yǔ hòu rén chóu – country land leave to posterity to worry about; shuǐ tōng nán guó sān qiān lǐ -the River access to the South 3000 li; qì yā jiāng chéng shí sì zhōu – proudly overlooking the cities and towns in 14 counties;

春残 原作：【宋】李清照 英译：闵晓红 春残何事苦思乡， 病里梳头恨发长。 梁燕语多终日在， 蔷薇风细一帘香。 A Long Day in Late Spring translated by Julia X. Min Spring is going away no reason to stay In sickbed alone at this strange place. For whom shall I bother to do my hair in homesickness no one to share? The roof beam nests a happy swallow pair, Singing and grooming no time spared. The breeze ushers in a scent sweet and subtle From the climbing rose blooming by the window. Appreciation: This poem was composed on a late spring day after she escaped to the south following the court family and officials due to the fall of the Southern Song capital to the Jin army. The verse structure is shaped after a popular pattern called ‘qijue’(a four-line poem with seven characters to a line) in Chinese poetry. I chose to translated it into eight lines in English which is a more popular poetic form in English literature. Besides, eight lines allows me to transfer more fully on the cultural level. A hint of transferred epithet is sensed in the presentation. ‘late spring’ undertones rich sentiments resonating with the lady character struggling alone in her sickbed missing her homeland taken by the invaders. The simple description of the happy swallows, and blooming roses together form an ironic contrast with her state now that her husband is dead and her prime years all gone.

浣溪沙.闺情 原作：【宋】李清照 英译：闵晓红 绣幕芙蓉一笑开， 斜偎宝鸭亲香腮， 眼波才动被人猜。 一面风情深有韵， 半笺娇恨寄幽怀， 月移花影约重来。 Maiden in Love - to the tune of Huanxisha trans. by Julia Min Nestled on her hair a mandarin duck pair are mellowed in sweetness of her face fair. Her smile is charming like lotus blooming. One twinkle in her eye tells everything. In delight she composed some lines in rhyme filled with her secret longings and yearnings: “it looks good for a date in the flower garden when the moon is full and bright this evening.” Appreciation: Li Qingzhao is well recognized for her talent in describing the minute subtle changes on a maiden’s facial expression. This ci is another good example. The artistic effect is well supported with ‘mandarin duck pair’, a symbol of love, and ‘lotus flower’, a symbol of pure soul in Chinese culture. The language style presents vividly alive a maiden in youthful cheers and sunny mood. She is also timid and shy as a maiden would be for her first love. So, this ci was composed most likely in her teenage years, same period as her ci poem Swinging, and Swinging Done. Similarly critics frowned upon the erotic boisterousness it suggests which was then not expected from a gentle lady like Li Qingzhao. Being a poet of romantic and sentimental school, Li chose to embrace life the natural qualities rather than pretend in any hypocritical way. Notes: 1. bǎo yā – original meaning is an incense burner often designed with a duck or a pair of mandarin ducks under lotus flowers on it. Here it refers to the hairpin with duck design on her hairstyle in coils. Another version for it is a duck-shaped hairstyle. A pair of mandarin ducks, a symbol of eternal love, is chosen here as it works best with the context. 2. yuè yí huā yǐng – borrowed from Wang Anshi’s famous poem Spring Night, it means when the moon moves, the flowers’ shadows climbed up the rails where I was restless missing someone. The four character is now an idiomatic phrase often used in love poems. Pinyin and word-for-word translation huàn xī shā – the musical tune of Huanxisha； xiù mù fú róng yī xiào kāi: xiù mù – embroidery curtain; fú róng - lotus flower; yī xiào kāi - open with one smile; xié wēi bǎo yā qīn xiāng sāi: xié wēi – leaning on the side, bǎo yā – lovely duck，qīn xiāng sāi – touching / kissing the cheeks that smell so sweet yǎn bō cái dòng bèi rén cāi: yǎn bō - eye beams; cái dòng - just moved ; bèi rén cāi - was already guessed what it is yī miàn fēng qíng shēn yǒu yùn: yī miàn fēng qíng – a face look in love; shēn yǒu yùn- deep with graceful charm; bàn jiān jiāo hèn jì yōu huái bàn jiān – half of the letter; jiāo hèn – girly coquet， affectionate；jì yōu huái – send her secret longings for him; yuè yí huā yǐng yuē chóng lái yuè yí huā yǐng – the moon moves the flower shadow; yuē chóng lái – to meet again

满庭芳 . 小阁藏春 原作：【宋】李清照 英译：闵晓红 小阁藏春， 闲窗锁昼， 画堂无限深幽。 篆香烧尽， 日影下帘钩。 手种江梅更好， 又何必、临水登楼。 无人到，寂寥浑似， 何逊在扬州。 从来知韵胜， 难堪雨藉， 不耐风揉。 更谁家横笛， 吹动浓愁。 莫恨香消雪减， 须信道、扫迹难留。 难言处，良宵淡月， 疏影尚风流。 My chamber is dormant from spring - to the tune of Mantingfang translated by Julia X. Min My chamber is dormant from spring, windows neglected with curtains undrawn. A quietness distilled in the drawing-room， the day lapses away, imperceptibly as gloom， until the incense becomes ashes after noon, until the sun descends to the curtain hook. The plum trees look cosier planted with my own hands; So why bother the waterside towers with the crowd? If you knew the mind of He Xun amid Yangzhou’s blooms, the best friends for the moment are Quietude an’ Solitude. As much she is blessed with beauty and strength， she’s no match for the chasing wind and rain. And a passing sound of flute plays the sad tune “The Falling of Plum Blossoms”… … Tears won’t stop the fragrance fading away. Imperceptibly they came to your view; Imperceptibly they leave without a trace - beyond words as always when we face eternal truth. Just hold on and enjoy，as we should if we could, the scanty shadow of noble grace under the pale moon. Appreciation: This lyric poem reflects our poet’s real life moment in her later years not long after her husband’s death, or after she settled in Lin’an( today’s Hangzhou). Some scholars identified it as an earlier creation to which I can’t agree. The understanding comes from the turning point in the middle of each stanzas, indicating her positive effort in recovering from her grief-stricken state of mind. Such a transfer shows a transcending spirit from harrowing woes to an accepting attitude towards reality and a readiness to move forward, a state often seen in our lives after 40 or 50 , especially after twists and turns through loss and gains. This is heightened in the concluding lines where we are led to see the inner strength of our poet on a philosophical level. The first four lines presents a gentle lady trapped in her own consuming thoughts in the drawing room where all what remained in their collections are kept. Her husbands’ unexpected death and her lost homeland have now left her in her forties facing alone a future of potential recovery, or more mistrustfully, further loss and grief. Memories of their happy days are woven into every texture there. She has no interest in spring outing as she used to do with her friends. The front part of the second stanza depicts a similar melancholy. The falling of the plum blossoms indicates her spring days in life are gone. Then, a wakening shift follows -- she realises she can’t give up just yet. She decides to put her past to the past and enjoy her aloneness from the chaos of the world and live the moment. Although her blooming years are just memories, she would cherish what she has got and maintain a reclusive life style with noble grace. Such a state could be well explained with Lao Zi’s words: If you feel miserable, you live in the past; if you are anxious, you live in the future; if you are peaceful, you are living in the present. As we know she called herself the Recluse Yi’an, a Daoist pursuit shared by many great men in their later years including Su Dongpo who loves the lifestyle of Tao Yuanmin. Now we may also see the connection where Yi’an favorite flowers are also the chrysanthemum and the plum blossoms, especially in her later years. Such is my interpretation of her mind state as exposed in this poem. I’m also aware of different opinions which could be a result of their presumption about Yi’an’s tragic sensation. Interestingly, you would surely come to a new conclusion by imagining it was written by Su Shi. This poem also reminds me of an American poem by Emily Dickinson “As Imperceptibly as grief” from where I borrowed some expressions in my translation to sparkle the connection. A comparison of the two poets could yield overwhelming discovery. Emily was not able to get out of her melancholy, even on the verge of leaving for heaven, which perhaps also explains why Li Qingzhao lived much longer.