ABC of Sound Meters in Chinese Poetry 声(shēng)律(lǜ)启(qǐ)蒙(mēng) Section VI of Part I
The Sixth, the character at the end of a line that pronounces with the sound of “yú” and its groups. 六(liù)鱼(yú): 鱼(yú)渔(yú)初(chū)书(shū)舒(shū)居(jū)裾(jū)琚(jū)车(jū)[same as in the “má” section]渠(qú)蕖(qú)余(yú)予(yú)誉(yù)舆(yú)胥(xū)狙(jū)锄(chú)疏(shū)蔬(shū)梳(shū)虚(xū)嘘(xū)墟(xū)徐(xú)猪(zhū)闾(lǘ)庐(lú)驴(lǘ)诸(zhū)储(chǔ)除(chú)滁(chú)蜍(chú)如(rú)畲(shē)淤(yū)妤(yú)苴(jū)菹(zū)沮(jù)徂(cú)龉(yǔ)茹(rú)榈(lǘ)於(yū)祛(qū)蘧(qú)疽(jū)蛆(qū)醵(jù)纾(shū)樗(chū)躇(chú)[same as in the “yào” section]欤(yú)据(jù)
无(wú)对(duì)有(yǒu)，实(shí)对(duì)虚(xū)，作(zuò)赋(fù)对(duì)观(guān)书(shū)。 (Literal translation of the line: Dispossessed vs. possess; solid vs. void; writing poetic prose vs. reading a book.) In modern times, the pronunciation of “book”—shū is in no way close to “yú”.
Green window vs. vermilion door
绿(lǜ)窗(chuāng)对(duì)朱(zhū)户(hù)，宝(bǎo)马(mǎ)对(duì)香(xiāng)车(chē)。 (Literal translation of the line: green window vs. vermilion door; harness with pearls vs. fragrant cart.) The last character should pronounce as “jū”, not “chē” as marked above.
伯(bó)乐(lè)马(mǎ)，浩(hào)然(rán)驴(lǘ)，弋(yì)雁(yàn)对(duì)求(qiú)鱼(yú)。 (Literal translation of the line: Bó Lè’s horse vs. Hàorán’s donkey; a wild goose shot by an arrow with a string attached to it vs. a fish caught.) The sixth character pronounces as “lú” and the last character pronounces as “yú”. Bó Lè in the State of Qín in the Spring and Autumn period was good at identifying good horses; Mèng Hàorán, one of the great Táng poets, had a hobby of riding a dunkey.
分(fēn)金(jīn)齐(qí)鲍(bào)叔(shū)，奉(fèng)璧(bì)蔺(lìn)相(xiāng)如(rú)。 The friendship between Bao Shu and Guan Zhong (Literal translation of the line: The story of Bào Shū of the State of Qí dividing gold vs. the story of how Lìn Xiàngrú protected the precious jade.) The fifth character pronounces as “shū” and the last character pronounces as “rú”. Bào Shū and Guǎn Zhòng were good friends and were doing business together. When dividing their profits, Guǎn Zhòng took much more by himself. Bào Shū didn’t take it as cheating, because he knew Guǎn Zhòng had an aged mother to look after. The king of the State of Qín heard that the State of Zhào obtained a piece of precious jade; he proposed to exchange the jade with fifteen cities. Lìn Xiàngrú groomed himself to go to the State of Qín with the precious jade. Lìn knew the King of Qín was not sincere in the exchange, so when he saw the King, he told the King that he would bump onto the pillar to kill himself and the jade would be smashed if the King didn’t mean what he said. Fearing things might happen to the jade, the King did nothing to Lìn. Lìn then asked one of his men to send the jade back home, and the King of Qín had to let the matter drop.
掷(zhì)地(dì)金(jīn)声(shēng)孙(sūn)绰(chuò)赋(fù)，回(huí)文(wén)锦(jǐn)字(zì)窦(dòu)滔(tāo)书(shū)。 (Literal translation of the line: When throwing the poetic prose by Sūn Chuò to the ground, it sounds like a stone percussion; the article embroidered onto the brocade for Dòu Tāo could also be read backward.) The seventh character pronounces as “fù” and the last character pronounces as “shū”. Sūn Chuò in the Jìn dynasty was a good writer, his friend remarked on one piece of his writing saying that if one throws his article onto the ground it would sound like a metal percussion instrument. Dòu Tāo is also a figure from the Jìn, whose wife composed a poem and embroidered it on a piece of brocade for him when he was transferred to a post in the Northwest. There are the following pairs in the line: to throw to the ground vs. reverse writing; metal-sounding vs. characters embroidered; Sūn Chuò vs. Dòu Tāo; poetic prose vs. poem.
未(wèi)遇(yù)殷(yīn)宗(zōng)，胥(xū)靡(mí)困(kùn)傅(fù)岩(yán)之(zhī)筑(zhù)； 既(jì)逢(féng)周(zhōu)后(hòu)，太(tài)公(gōng)舍(shě)渭(wèi)水(shuǐ)之(zhī)鱼(yú)。 Having met the Monarch of the Zhōu, Tài Gōng gave up fishing in the Wèishuǐ River. (Literal translation of the line: Before meeting Tài Zōng of the Yīn, the humble Fù Yuè was in servitude and trapped at Fùshān building walls for others; having met the Monarch of the Zhōu, Tài Gōng gave up fishing in the Wèishuǐ River.) The last character pronounces as “yú”. Fù Yuè was then appointed Prime Minister of the Shāng Dynasty, and Tài Gōng became the Prime Minister of the Zhōu.
终(zhōng)对(duì)始(shǐ)，疾(jí)对(duì)徐(xú)，短(duǎn)褐(hè)对(duì)华(huá)裾(jū)。 (Literal translation of the line: Termination vs. beginning; swift vs. slow; clothing made of coarse material vs. beautiful attire.) The sixth character pronounces as “xú” and the last character pronounces as “jū”. There are apparently three pairs in the line.
六(liù)朝(cháo)对(duì)三(sān)国(guó)，天(tiān)禄(lù)对(duì)石(shí)渠(qú)。 (Literal translation of the line: Six dynasties vs. three kingdoms; the Tiān Lù Hall vs. the Shí Qú Hall.) The last character pronounces as “qú”. There are only two pairs in the line. However, there have been two sets of six dynasties in history. The first set includes the State of Wú, Eastern Jìn, Song, Qí, Liáng and Chén in the Southern Dynasty all with today’s Nánjīng as their capital. The second set includes the State of Wèi, Jìn, Later Wèi, Northern Qí, Northern Zhōu and the Suī in the north. The two halls were in the imperial court of the Western Hàn and were used to house books of state importance.
千(qiān)字(zì)策(cè)，八(bā)行(xíng)书(shū)，有(yǒu)若(ruò)对(duì)相(xiāng)如(rú)。 (Literal translation of the line: One-thousand character long paper on strategy vs. a letter-head with eight columns; Yǒu Ruò vs. Xiàngrú.) The sixth character pronounces as “shū” and the last character pronounces as “rú”. As from the Song Dynasty, one content of imperial level examination was to write an essay on strategy in less than one thousand characters; the letter head paper usually had eight vertical lines for writing. Yǒu Ruò is a disciple of Confucius. There have been two Xiàngrús, one, as mentioned above, was in the Warring States period, the other lived in the Western Hàn and was famous for his poetic prose writing.
花(huā)残(cán)无(wú)戏(xì)蝶(dié)，藻(zǎo)密(mì)有(yǒu)潜(qián)鱼(yú)。 (Literal translation of the line: Butterflies do not play with withered flowers; fish swims deep among dense algae.) The last character pronounces as “yú”. There are apparently two pairs in the line.
Butterflies do not play with withered flowers, fish swims deep among dense algae.
落(luò)叶(yè)舞(wǔ)风(fēng)高(gāo)复(fù)下(xià)， 小(xiǎo)荷(hé)浮(fú)水(shuǐ)卷(juàn)还(hái)舒(shū)。 (Literal translation of the line: Tree leaves dance in the air with the wind and then fall down; lotus leaves fold and unfold in the water and floating.) The last character pronounces as “shū”. There are such pairs in the lines: fallen leaves vs. small lotus; dancing with wind vs. floating in the water; falling down from high place; fold and unfold.
