Mastering Chinese Poetry Ep28: Song of Hawthorn

Today is the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of Zheng Yue, the first lunar month. It is traditionally considered to be the final day of the spring festival and represents people's hopes for a good life. For the ancient Chinese, the lanterns shining during the festival are only rivaled by the moon in their radiance. The two illuminations have inspired countless poets and As poems have been handed down through the generations, the moon and the lanterns have become inseparate themes during the Lantern Festival. In episode 28 of Mastering Chinese Poetry, CGTN will share a classic Song Zi poem, which gives you a glimpse of how these objects have cast light on Chinese culture. Last year on Lunar Festive Night, lanterns mid-blooms shone as daylight. The moon rose atop willow tree. My lover had a tryst with me. This year on Lunar Festive Night, moon and lantern still shine as bright. But where's my lover of last year? My sleeves are wet with tear on tear. This poem is one of Ouyang Xiu's iconic works and it has profound meaning. It is relatively unknown even among Chinese that the Lantern Festival is the Chinese equivalent of Valentine's Day. These two lines depict a dating scene on Lantern Festival night under a shining moon and a willow tree. They could also depict ardent love, which shows the author's towards the true meaning of love. But where's my lover of last year? My sleeves are wet with tear on tear. Those two final sentences use direct language to depict one who is desperately and helplessly missing past lovers. These two sentences seemed negative and pessimistic, but they're actually not. This shows the author knows the true nature of life, that he knows flowers will wither and that spring will end. Even though he knows this, he still holds this genuine and persistent attitude towards life. His persistence makes him affectionate and this is the most charming part of the Song Dynasty poets like Ouyang Xiu. Yue Shang Liu Shao Tou Ren Yue Huang Kun Hou Jing Nian Yuan Ye Shi Yue Yu Deng Yi Jiu Bu Jian Qu Nian Ren Lei Shi Chun Shan Xiu