ABC of Sound Meters in Chinese Poetry (Part I) 声(shēng)律(lǜ)启(qǐ)蒙(mēng) (上卷) Wang Ronghua The Fourth
笛(dí)韵(yùn)和(hé)谐(xié)，仙(xiān)管(guǎn)恰(qià)从(cóng)云(yún)里(lǐ)降(jiàng)； 橹(lǔ)声(shēng)咿(yī)轧(zhá)，渔(yú)舟(zhōu)正(zhèng)向(xiàng)雪(xuě)中(zhōng)移(yí)。 (Literal translation of the line: The sound of the flute is so harmonious that the notes seem to be coming down from clouds; with the cracking sound of the scull, the fishing boat is just moving towards the snow.) The last character pronounces as “yí”. There are six pairs in the lines: the sound of flute vs. the sound of scull; harmonious vs. cracking sound; the notes vs. fishing boats; seemingly vs. just; clouds vs. snow; coming down vs. moving.
戈(gē)对(duì)甲(jiǎ)，鼓(gǔ)对(duì)旗(qí)，紫(zǐ)燕(yàn)对(duì)黄(huáng)鹂(lí)。 (Literal translation of the line: Dagger vs. armor; drum vs. banner; purple sparrow vs. yellow oriole.) The sixth character pronounces as “qí” and the last character pronounces as “lì”. There are apparently four pairs in the line.
梅(méi)酸(suān)对(duì)李(lǐ)苦(kǔ)，青(qīng)眼(yǎn)对(duì)白(bái)眉(méi)。 (Literal translation of the line: Sour plum vs. bitter plum; a black eye vs. white eye brow.) The last character pronounces as “méi”. There are four pairs in the line: plum vs. plum; sour vs. bitter; black vs. white; eye vs. eye brow. The black eye here really means the black of the eye, which refers to a particular person—Ruǎn Jí of the Jìn Dynasty, who used to show the white of his eye to ordinary visitors and showed the black of his eye to Jì Kāng, a poet and famous lute player. The white eye brow here is the most talented person Mǎ Liáng of the Three-kingdom period.
三(sān)弄(nòng)笛(dí)，一(yì)围(wéi)棋(qí)，雨(yǔ)打(dǎ)对(duì)风(fēng)吹(chuī)。 (Literal translation of the line: Three flute pieces vs. one round of chess; slashing of rain and blowing of wind.) The sixth character pronounces as “qí” and the last character pronounces as “chuī”. Three flute pieces is really a story about Wáng Huīzhi, son of the most famous calligrapher Wáng Xīzhi. The young Wáng admired a flute player Huán Yī. One day, they run into each other on the way. The young Wáng asked Huán Yī to play flute for him. Huán Yī was then a provincial governor, yet he knew about the Wáng family, and played three pieces for the young guy, and then left without saying a word.
The Chinese flowering crabapple fell into sleep so early in the spring and the poplar and willow tree are still sleeping in the day.
海(hǎi)棠(táng)春(chūn)睡(shuì)早(zǎo)，杨(yáng)柳(liǔ)昼(zhòu)眠(mián)迟(chí)。 (Literal translation of the line: The Chinese flowering crabapple fell into sleep so early in the spring and the poplar and willow tree are still sleeping in the day.) The last character in the line pronounces as “chí”. There are three pairs in the line: the crabapple vs. poplar and willow; spring vs. daytime; early vs. being late. The first half of the line refers to a story between Emperor Xuánzōng of Táng and his concubine Yang Yùhuán, who was not fully recovered from her drunkenness in the night when the emperor came to see her, and the emperor compared her to the Chinese flowering crabapple and said that the crabapple didn’t have enough sleep. The second half relates to a legend that in the imperial court of the Hàn there was a willow tree that looked very much like a person, what was more was that it had to sleep and wake up three times a day.
张(zhāng)骏(jùn)曾(céng)为(wéi)槐(huái)树(shù)赋(fù)，杜(dù)陵(líng)不(bù)作(zuò)海(hǎi)棠(táng)诗(shī)。 (Literal translation of the line: Zhāng Jùn once wrote “Tribute to the Pagoda Tree”, Dù Líng never wrote poems on Chinese flowering crabapple.) The last character of the line pronounces as “shī”. There are four pairs in the line: Zhāng Jùn vs. Dù Líng; once wrote vs. never wrote; pagoda tree vs. Chinese flowering crabapple; poetic prose vs. poetry. It was said that Zhāng Jùn once planted a lot tree seedlings at the palace, yet none survived. However, some years later, at one corner of the palace one pagoda tree was standing there, he therefore wrote a poetic prose about the tree. It was out of his respect of his mother, Dù Líng never wrote anything about the Chinese flowering crabapple, which was the name of his mother.
The talents of the Jìn scholars are special and unique, outsiders can only see a tiny bit of them like watching the markings of a leopard through a pipe;
晋(jìn)士(shì)特(tè)奇(qí),可(kě)比(bǐ)一(yì)斑(bān)之(zhī)豹(bào)； 唐(táng)儒(rú)博(bó)识(shí)，堪(kān)为(wéi)五(wǔ)总(zǒng)之(zhī)龟(guī)。 (Literal translation of the line: The talents of the Jìn scholars are special and unique, outsiders can only see a tiny bit of them like watching the markings of a leopard through a pipe; the knowledge of the Táng Confucian scholars is as vast as the ten tails a turtle of one thousand years has.) The fourth character pronounces as “qí”, the thirteenth character pronounces as “shí” and the last character pronounces as “guī”. It is said the turtle grows out two new tails every two hundred years, so having grown for five times, it took the turtle for one thousand years and it had ten tails in all. Here it is a way to say the vastness of knowledge of the scholars.
