Mastering Chinese Poetry Ep.22: The #Qixi Festival-tune: Riverside Daffodils

Qixi, also known as Chinese Valentine's Day, falls on August 14th this year. It takes place on the seventh day of the seventh month of Chinese lunar calendar, which is why we call it Double Seventh. It celebrates the annual rendezvous between a cowherd called Niulang on earth and Zhinü, the weaver girl. This ancient tale, which can be traced back to the Han Dynasty over 2,000 years ago, tells how they fell in love but were banned from seeing each other This beautiful tale of forbidden love has inspired Chinese writers, artists, and poets to create countless masterpieces. CGTN shares a classic poem of Song Ci poetry, written by northern Song poet Yan Jidao, which speaks to our deepest romantic yearnings, in episode 22 of Mastering Chinese Poetry, Tuen, Riverside Daffodils Awoke from the dreams, I find the locked tower high Sober from wine, I see the curtains hanging low As last year's spring grief seems to grow Amid the falling blooms, a lawn stands high In the fine rain, a pair of swallows fly I still remember when I first saw pretty Ping In silken dress, embroidered with two hearts in the rain Revealing lovesickness by touching pipa string The moon shines bright just as last year It did see her, like a cloud, disappear Here, we'd like to talk about this great poet, Yan Jidao. He was born and raised during the northern Song Dynasty, a period with a comparatively stable political and economic environment. Literary works from this time focused more on the beauty of life and some mellowness things. Take these two lines in the poem as an example. Luo Hua Ren Du Li, Wei Yu, Yan Shuang Fei Amid the falling blooms, a lawn stands high In the fine rain, a pair of swallows fly The writer uses imaginary here, straightforwardly depicting a scene by using descriptive language to play in the reader's senses. It's a scene where you can see a person standing amidst falling flowers and a pair of swallows flying through the misty rain. He didn't use adjectives to describe his emotions, but expressed them by drawing us into the scene. So what's the emotion behind it? Loneliness? Sadness? Disappointment? Comprehension about life? He created a space for the readers to imagine. Yan Jidao's poems mainly focused on love, often portraying a male persona worried about being abandoned by his lover, with clear language, sincere emotion, and straightforward expression. The Song Ci poetry is talking about his love for a singer named Ping, who he met long ago. It's a kind of love that is destined to not last. But he wrote, I still remember when I first saw pretty Ping in silken dress, embroidered with two hearts in the rain. He clearly remembers her name and use it in this work. There are not many things that happen in our lives that can be remembered forever, but the poet remembered what she wore, and even the pattern embroidered on her gown. The moon shines bright, just as last year. It did see her like a cloud disappear. I personally really like these two lines. The author did not directly express his feelings, but by describing the scene, the bright moon still remains, the one which once illuminated the home path of the cloud of many hues. We can feel the sincere and deep emotions from his heart. There was so much joy in his life the night he met Ping, the singer. These are important memories and moments to him, the love he felt, the joy in his life. Those feelings are very personal. People define love in different ways, but it's just always very beautiful. Pi Pa Xian Shang Shuo Xiang Si Dang Shi Ming Yue Zai Ceng Zhao Cai Yun Gui