Changan Traveller

長干行 (崔顥)
君家何處住
妾住在橫塘
停船暫借問
或恐是同鄉

Long - To Concern - Travel (Cui Hao)
Gentleman - Home - Where - Place - To Reside
Maiden - To Reside - At - Harsh - Pond
To Stop - Boat - Temporary - To Borrow - To Ask
Maybe - To Fear - Is - Same - Village

Changan Traveler (Cui Hao)
Where do you live sir
I live in Hengtang
Stop the boat a moment so I may ask
Perhaps we are from the same village

長干: Changan is an ancient capital of ten dynasties.

君: polite address for a gentleman

妾: deprecatory self-reference for a woman

橫塘: the name of a city

借問: This means, "May I ask?".

或恐: This means, "perhaps". 恐 did not have the negative connotation that it now has.

同鄉: same village

This poem is about a woman asking a passing traveler in a boat on the river if they are perhaps from the same village.

Sending Off Zhu Da As He Leaves for Qin

送朱大入秦 (孟浩然)
遊人五陵去
寶劍值千金
分手脫相贈
平生一片心

To Send Off - Zhu - Big - To Enter - Qin (Meng Hao Ran)
To Travel - Person - Five - Mound - To Go
Precious - Sword - Worth - Thousand - Gold
Ti Divide - Hand - To Take Off - Each Other - To Gift
Flat - Born - One - Piece - Heart

Sending Off Zhu Da As He Leaves for Qin (Meng Hao Ran)
A tourist travels to Wuling Hills
A double-edged sword worth a lot of money
Upon parting I remove it and present it to you as a gift
To keep with your whole life a piece of my heart

朱大: Zhu Da. A person's name.

遊人: tourist

寶劍: double-edged sword

千金: invaluable

分手: to split up

平生: all one's life

This poem is about sending off a friend with a parting gift of a valuable sword.

Bamboo House

竹里館 (王維)
獨坐幽篁裏
彈琴復長嘯
深林人不知
明月來相照

Bamboo - Home - House (Wang Wei)
Alone - Sit - Remote - Bamboo Grove - Inside
Pluck - Instrument - Again - Long - Whistle
Deep - Forest - Person - Not - Know
Bright - Moon - Arrive - Each Other - Shine

Bamboo House (Wang Wei)
Sitting alone in a remote bamboo grove
Plucking my lute again and crooning
Deep in the forest no one is aware
The bright moon arrives and we shine on each other

竹里館: Bamboo House is the name the poet has given to a house he has built.

琴: This is just a general term for instrument, but because of '彈' it has to be a stringed instrument.

長嘯: to sing or croon

Sending Off Zhao Zong At Night

Sending Off Zhao Zong At Night (Yang Jiong)

夜送趙縱 (楊炯)
趙氏連城璧
由來天下傳
送君還舊府
明月滿前川

Night - Send Off - Zhao - Zong (Yang Jiong)
Zhao - Clan Name - Join - City - Jade Annulus
Reason - Return - Sky - Below - Historical Narrative
Send Off - Gentleman - Return - Old - Home
Bright - Moon - Full - Front - River

Sending Off Zhao Zong At Night (Yang Jiong)
Mr. Zhao and the Jade Disc of Liancheng
Originally known throughout China
Sending off a gentlemen as he returns to his old home
The bright moon fills the river ahead

趙縱: the person's name

連城: Liancheng city

連城璧: the famous jade disc of Liancheng city

由來: origin

天下: This refers to China as the kingdom under heaven.

傳: historical narrative that should be widely known

This poem is about a minister who was to deliver the jade disc to a neighboring kingdom and his return trip.

On the Topic of Mr. Yuan's Villa

題袁氏別業 (賀知章)
主人不相識
偶坐為林泉
莫謾愁沽酒
囊中自有錢

Topic - Yuan - Clan Name - Other - Business (He Zhi Zhang)
Owner - Person - Not - Each Other - Know
Accidental - Sit - Because - Woods - Fountain
Not - Neglect - Worry - Buy - Wine
Purse - Middle - Self - Have - Money

On the Topic of Mr. Yuan's Villa (He Zhi Zhang)
The owner is not an acquaintance
I stop to sit here because of the trees and fountain
Do not worry about buying the wine
I have money in my coin purse

氏: equivalent of Mr. or Mrs., but is placed after the surname

別業: villa

相識: acquaintance

莫謾: do not

囊: This refers to the coin purse that people carried under their clothes.

This poem is about the poet stopping at someone's estates and offering to share a bottle of wine.

Thinking About My Lord's Favor

思君恩 (令狐楚)
小苑鶯歌歇
長門蝶舞多
眼看春又去
翠輦不曾過

Think - Lord - Favor (Ling Hu Chu)
Small - Park - Oriole - Song - Stop
Long - Door - Butterfly - Dance - Many
Eye - Look - Spring - Also - Go
Kingfisher - Emperor's Carriage - Not - Already - Pass

Thinking About My Lord's Favor (Ling Hu Chu)
In my small courtyard the orioles have stopped singing
At the gate many butterflies dance
Soon spring will once again go
Your kingfisher feather covered carriage never passes

長門: This refers to the large door that leads into the courtyard.

眼看: soon

蝴蝶: Butterfly is almost always written with these two characters together.

翠: Although this can mean "jade" or "bluish-green" or "kingfisher", the emperor's carriage was festooned in the bluish-green feathers of the kingfisher.

This poem is about one of the emperor's wives who has fallen out of favor and is no longer visited by him.

Pear Blossoms of the East Wing

左掖梨花 (丘為)
冷艷全欺雪
餘香乍入衣
春風且莫定
吹向玉階飛

East - Thrust in Between - Pear - Blossom (Qiu Wei)
Cold - Glamorous - All - Beat - Snow
Surplus - Fragrant - Suddenly - Enter - Clothes
Spring - Wind - Just - Not - Decide
Blow - Toward - Jade - Step - Fly

Pear Blossoms of the East Wing (Qiu Wei)
Its cool elegance beats even the snow
Its fragrance suddenly permeates clothing
Spring wind just don't stop
Blow towards the jade steps

左掖: This refers to government offices in the east wing of the palace.

冷艷: cool, elegant, and magnificent

玉階: Apparently the palace steps were made of jade.

Spring Complaint

春怨 (蓋嘉運)
打起黃鶯兒
莫教枝上啼
啼時驚妾夢
不得到遼西

Spring - Complaint (Ge Jia Yun)
Hit - Initiate - Yellow - Oriole - Children
Not - Teach - Branch - Up - Cry
Cry - Time - Startle - Wife - Dream
Not - Ought - Arrive - Liao - West

Spring Complaint (Ge Jia Yun)
Scare away the black-naped orioles
Don't let them cry in the branches
Their crying startles my (the wife addressing herself) dreams
I may not arrive in Liaoshi

教: Although this means, "to teach", it is being used here as a more forceful means of not wanting the birds to cry in the branches.

妾: This means, "wife" when the wife is addressing herself. Otherwise, it means, "concubine".

不得: may not / must not

遼西: an area west of Liaoning

Watching Princess Yung Le Leaves For Foreign Lands

觀永樂公主入蕃 (孫逖)
邊地鶯花少
年來未覺新
美人天上落
龍塞始應春

Observe - Forever - Happy - Public - Lord - Enter - Foreign (Sun Ti)
Border - Land - Oriole - Flower - Few
Year - Arrive - Not - Feel - New
Beautiful - Person - Sky - Up - Fall
Dragon - Pass - Begin - Ought - Spring

Watching Princess Yung Le Leaves For Foreign Lands (Sun Ti)
On the frontier orioles and flowers are rare
After a year nothing feels new
Spring shall not come to Dragon Pass
Until a beauty falls from heaven

永樂: Yung Le. The name of a princess from 717 A.D. Can be translated as, "paradise". She had an arranged marriage with a "barbarian" chief to secure an alliance.

公主: princess

蕃: any foreign land; same as 番

邊地: borderland or frontier

龍塞: Dragon Pass

始: Indicates that something shall not happen until something else does. In this case, the arrival of spring is preceded by the arrival of the princess.

Climbing Stork Magpie Tower

登鸛鵲樓 (王之渙)
白日依山盡
黃河入海流
欲窮千里目
更上一層樓

Climb - Stork - Magpie - Tower (Wang Zhi Huan)
White - Sun - Near - Mountain - Finished
Yellow - River - Enter - Sea - Flow
Desire - Poor - Thousand - Kilometer - Eye
Again - Up - One - Story - Tower

Climbing Stork Magpie Tower (Wang Zhi Huan)
The noonday sun has disappeared behind the mountains
The Yellow River flows into the sea
Desiring to see more of the distant landscape
I climb another story

鸛鵲樓: name of a famous tower

白日: noonday sun

千: In this context,  it does not have to literally mean, "thousand".

盡: The presence of this character indicates an action that has already occurred. In the case of the sun's proximity to a mountain, it can be inferred that it has gone behind the mountain.

欲窮千里目更上一層樓: This is a Chinese proverb that means, "In order to achieve yet another goal, you have to put forth more effort".

Sitting Alone on Ching-Ting Mountain

獨坐敬亭山 (李白)
眾鳥高飛盡
孤雲獨去閒
相看兩不厭
只有敬亭山

Alone - Sit - Respect - Pavilion - Mountain (Li Bai)
Multitude - Bird - High - Fly - Finished
Solitary - Cloud - Alone - Depart - Idle
Each Other - Look - Two - Not - Tire of
Only - To  Be - Respect - Pavilion - Mountain

Sitting Alone on Ching-Ting Mountain (Li Bai)
A flock of birds has soared away
A solitary cloud has idly drifted on
We never tire of looking at each other
Only Ching-Ting Mountain


敬亭山: Some place names may not appear in some dictionaries so you'd just have to know. It is sort of like knowing that Menlo Park is a city.

眾鳥: This is literally a multitude of birds, which in English is a flock of birds.

高飛: to soar

盡: This character made me choose the present perfect tense for both the second and third lines. It indicates the action has already occurred.

去: Although this means, "to go", clouds drift.

相看兩不厭: Since the title establishes that he is alone on the mountain, this can be interpreted as he and the mountain never tire of looking at each other.

Roads of Luoyang

洛陽道 (儲光羲)
大道直如髮
春日佳氣多
五陵貴公子
雙雙鳴玉珂

Luo - Sun - Road (Chu Guang Xi)
Big - Road - Straight - As - Hair
Spring - Day - Excellent - Weather - Many
Five - Mound - Noble - Public - Son
Pair - Pair - To Ring - Jade - Ornament on a Bridle

Roads of Luoyang (Chu Guang Xi)
Main roads as straight as hair
Many spring days with excellent weather
Noble sons of officials of Wuling Hills
Riding side-by-side the jade ornaments on their bridles ringing

About plurality: Chinese words don't generally have a distinct plural form. Sometimes you just have to infer the plurality from the context.

五陵: Wuling Hills. If you are not lucky enough to find the dictionary entry for the names of places, then you just have to rely on someone telling you.

雙雙: This means, "in pairs". Since this poem is about the young lords on the main roads of a city and because of the reference to the jade ornaments of bridles, it would make sense that they are riding horseback side-by-side or in pairs.

Seeing Off Granary Director Guo

送郭司倉 (王昌齒)
映門淮水綠
留騎主人心
明月隨良掾
春潮夜夜深

See Off - Outer City Wall - Company - Granary (Wang Chang Chi)
Reflect - Door - Huai River - Water - Green
Remain - Ride - Host - Person - Heart
Bright - Moon - Follow - Good - Official
Spring - Tide - Night - Night - Deep

Seeing Off Granary Director Guo (Wang Chang Chi)
The green water of the Huai River reflects on my door
The departing guest remains in the host's heart
The bright moon follows a good official
The spring tide gets deeper every night

郭: surname Guo

司倉: This is the person's title. Red Pine uses "granary director" as the title.

主人: host, owner

淮: Huai River

留騎主人心: I am not sure how to address the 騎 character in this line.

I Call On Censor Yuan But We Do Not Meet

訪袁拾遺不遇 (孟浩然)
洛陽訪才子
江嶺作流人
聞說梅花早
何如此地春

Call On - Yuan - Pick Up - To Lose - Not - Meet (Meng Hao Ran)
Luo - Sun - Call On - Just - Suffix
River - Mountain Range - To Do - Flow - Person
Listen - Speak - Plum - Flower - Early
How - As If - This - Ground - Spring

I Call On Censor Yuan But We Do Not Meet (Meng Hao Ran)
In Luoyang I call on a gifted scholar
To Jianling he has been exiled
I've heard it said the plum blossoms flower early [in Jiangling]
But it can't compare to this place [Louyang] in spring


袁: surname Yuan

拾遺: This means to appropriate someone else's property, but in this case because it is right after the person's name, it more likely is a reference to his title. Red Pine uses "censor" as the title.

流人: someone in exile

何如: This is used to compare what comes after the phrase to what is in front. The thing that comes after is usually "better" than the thing in front.

Spring Dawn

春曉 (孟浩然)
春眠不覺曉
處處聞啼鳥
夜來風雨聲
花落知多少

Spring Dawn (Meng Hao Ran)
Sleeping in spring I'm not aware of the dawn
Everywhere I hear the crowing of birds
In the night the sound of wind and rain
Flowers have fallen I wonder how many

Not much to say. This is an easy one.

Quiet Evening Thoughts and Traveler's Poem

My 3 year-old daughter has started taking Chinese classes on the weekends. To fend off the inevitable question, "Why do I have to learn it if you don't know it?", I'm making a concerted effort to learn Chinese. I can speak it at a somewhat limited conversational level, understand enough to watch Chinese movies without the subtitles, and can recognize the odd character here and there, but I am in no means fluent. After spending a little under two months memorizing about 38 nursery rhymes, I could read and write about 450 characters, but this is only about 1/5 of the way to being considered literate.

I tried using a textbook that teaches a seemingly random collection of  words and sentences in each chapter, but found that I simply can't remember the characters in this manner. Even short children stories were not conducive to my goal of learning the characters well enough to be able to read and write them. There is something about the short and rhythmic pattern of rhymes that allows me to better remember the characters and words.

Instead of memorizing more nursery rhymes, I decided to pick up "Poems of the Masters", translated by Red Pine. These 224 poems from the Tang and Sung Dynasty were taught from grade school onwards as a means to learning the characters and the rhythm of the language. My father had to memorize these when he was going through school. Although each poem is accompanied by a translation, I find that I'm not always completely satisfied with Red Pine's translations.

I never really understood poetry even in English so I'm only offering my attempts at translating the words in my attempt to learn Chinese. There will be no clever insights into any subtext, or at least not many. And I will not be attempting to make English rhymes. I mainly use apps on my iPod Touch for looking up words (Pleco, DianHua, KTdict C-E, and ChineseIdiom) and also purpleculture.net when I'm on my desktop. When I can't locate the word or phrase or make sense of the dictionary entries, I ask my father and friends. I also go to them to confirm my understanding of the words. I also use http://lingua.mtsu.edu/chinese-computing/vp/index.php to keep a running tally of how many characters I can recognize.

I'll be going through the book in order, except for these first two because they popped up in my daughter's class amongst such rhymes as "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Two Tigers".

With my lengthy introduction out of the way, here is the first classic poem that I learned through my daughter's Chinese classes.

靜夜思 (李白)
床前明月光
疑是地上霜
舉頭望明月
低頭思故鄉

Quiet Evening Thoughts (Li Bai)
At the front of my bed the moon light is bright
I suspect on the ground there is frost
I raise my head and look at the bright moon
I lower my head and think of home

思故鄉: This could also be interpreted as the person being homesick.

I'm not sure if this next poem is in Red Pine's book. I had trouble translating this because the previous rhyme from my daughter's school was "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands" so I was not in the right mindset. Also, I was being much too literal in translating and not looking for the meaning behind the words.

遊子吟 (孟郊)
慈母手中線
遊子身上衣
臨行密密縫
意恐遲遲歸
誰言寸草心
報得三春暉

Traveler's Poem (Meng Jiao)
The thread in the caring mother's hand
Becomes the clothes on the traveler's body
Upon his leaving she sews the thread closely
She fears that he will return late
Who says that a humble heart
Can payback a mother's love

寸草春暉: This is a Chinese idiom that translates to "one-inch grass spring sunshine". It means, "Children owe to parents what young grass owes to the spring sunshine" or "Parents give to their children far beyond what the children can or is expected to repay".

寸草心: A one-inch grass heart is a small or humble heart.

得: This is a particle linking a verb to the following phrase indicating effect (I'm not sure how to explain this better. I grew up speaking the language :-p ).