ABC of Sound Meters in Chinese Poetry 声(shēng)律(lǜ)启(qǐ)蒙(mēng) Section Two of Part I
三江The Third”jiāng”
夏日池塘，出沿浴波鸥对对； 春风帘幕，往来营垒燕双双。 Xià rì chí táng ，chū yán yù bō ōu duì duì ； Chūn fēng lián mù ，wǎng lái yíng lěi yàn shuāng shuāng 。 (Literal translation of the lines: In the summer pond, gulls are coming out of the waves in pairs; spring wind blows up the curtains, swallows are flying back to their nest in couples.) The fourth character pronounces as “táng” and the last character pronounces as “shuāng”. This is an antithesis in thirteen characters. There are six pairs: summer sun vs. spring wind; pond vs. curtains; coming out vs. coming back; waves vs. nest; gull vs. swallow; in pairs vs. in couples. The end of the first line is in an oblique tone and that in the second line ends in a level tone.
铢对两，只对双，华岳对湘江。 Zhū duì liǎng, zhī duì shuāng, huá yuè duì xiāng jiāng。 (Literal translation of the line: The twenty-fourth of an ounce vs. an ounce; a single item vs. a pair; Mount Huá vs. the Xiāng River.) As we can see the third character pronounces as “liǎng”, the sixth pronounces as “shuāng”, and the last character pronounces as “jiāng”. There are four pairs in the line. “Zhū” is a weighing unit, which is twenty-fourth of an ounce.
朝车对禁鼓，宿火对塞缸。 Cháo chē duì jìn gǔ ，sù huǒ duì sāi gāng 。 (Literal translation of the line: Carts of the royal court vs. drums to strike time; candle fire burnt through the night vs. jars full of cold water.) The last character pronounces as “gāng”. There are such pairs in the line: morning vs. night; cart vs. fire; to strike vs. to be full of; drum vs. jar.
青琐闼，碧纱窗，汉社对周邦。 Qīng suǒ tà ，bì shā chuāng ，hàn shè duì zhōu bāng 。 (Literal translation of the line: Palace gate with a dark blue lock vs. windows with green gauze; society of the Hàn vs. lands of the Zhōu.) The sixth character pronounces as “chuāng”, and the last character pronounces as “bāng”. There are five pairs: dark blue vs. green; lock vs. gauze, gate vs. window; Hàn vs. Zhōu and society vs. lands. To be more accurate, society of the Hàn refers to the hometown of the first emperor of the Hàn. Lands of the Zhōu refer to the founder of the Zhōu, Hòu Jì (后稷).
笙箫鸣细细，钟鼓响摐摐。 Shēng xiāo míng xì xì ，zhōng gǔ xiǎng chuāng chuāng 。 (Literal translation of the line: Wind instruments shēng and xiāo give out soft sounds and bells and drums are sounding very powerfully.) The last character pronounces as “chuāng”. We can say there are three pairs in the line: shēng and xiāo vs. bells and drums; to give out sound vs. sounding; soft vs. powerful.
A vertical flute that is called “xiao”.
主簿栖鸾名有览，治中展骥姓惟庞。 Zhǔ bù qī luán míng yǒu lǎn ，zhì zhōng zhǎn jì xìng wéi páng 。 (Literal translation of the line: The name of the head clerk who perches for the time being at the county is Lǎn; the one who would fully exhibit his talent at a middle ranking post is Páng.) This is an antithesis of seven characters. The last character pronounces as “páng”. Lǎn’s full name is Qiú Lǎn (仇览). Páng’s full name is Páng Tǒng (庞统), who was one of the most important advisors in the State of Shǔ. There are five pairs: head clerk vs. a middle ranking post; perches like a male phoenix vs. displaying like a thorough bred; name vs. family name; to have vs. the only one; Lǎn vs. Páng.
苏武牧羊，雪屡餐于北海； 庄周活鲋，水必决于西江。 Sū wǔ mù yáng ，xuě lǚ cān yú běi hǎi ； Zhuāng zhōu huó fù ，shuǐ bì jué yú xī jiāng 。
When Sū Wǔ was shepherding, he often took snow as his meal at the North Sea.
(Literal translation of the lines: When Sū Wǔ was shepherding, he often took snow as his meal at the North Sea; when Zhuāng Zhōu was trying to save the life of a fish that was stranded in ruts, and he said he must bring water from the Western River over.) The last character pronounces as “jiāng”. This is an antithesis of ten characters. Sū Wǔ was an envoy sent to the Huns, the ruler of which wanted to have Sū Wǔ to work for him. However, Sū Wǔ refused and was tortured by the ruler, who sent him to the cold North Sea where he had very little to eat, he had to have snow to sustain his life. He survived and returned to China 19 years later. The fish was actually a black porgy, who told Zhuāng Zhōu he was a minister in the aquatic world and he needed a gallon of water to keep him alive, hearing this Zhuāng Zhōu replied he had to go to Western River to bring water over. There are such pairs in the lines: Sū Wǔ vs. Zhuāng Zhōu; shepherding vs. trying to save the life of a fish; snow vs. water; often vs. must; to eat at vs. to get from; North Sea vs. West River.
