Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 12-31-10 08:21
A Tang poem by Du Fu (杜甫 712AD to 770AD)
春望 Chun Wang (Looking forward to the spring)
國破山河在,---Guo2 po4 shan he2 zai4
城春草木深.---Cheng2 chun cao3 mu4 shen.
感時花濺淚,---Gan3 shi2 hua jian4 lei4,
恨別鳥驚心.---Hen4 bie2 niao3 jing xin.
烽火連三月,---Feng huo3 lian2 san yue4,
家書抵萬金.---Jia shu di3 wan4 jin.
白頭搔更短,---Bai3 tou2 sao geng duan3,
渾欲不勝簪.---Hun2 yu4 bu4 sheng4 zan
The explanations in plain Chinese and English.
(1) 國家雖然破壞, 但山河依舊存在,
The nation is broken but not its rivers or mountains.
(2) 城中到了春天, 草木便茂盛起來.
When spring comes our city will be thick with trees and grass.
(3) 因為感傷時世, 花草也要流淚了,
Due to the trouble in the country even the flowers also shed tears,
(4) 怨恨著彼此的離別, 所以飛鳥也有些驚心.
My hatred of our separation has startled the birds.
(5) 現在兵事亂後, 烽火接連有了三個月,
The flames of war have raged on into a third month.
(6) 偶然得到一封家信, 珍貴得可以抵過萬兩黃金哩.
A letter from home is more precious than gold.
(7) 現在我老了, 把白髮搔起來覺得更加短少,
My white hair thinning with touch.
(8) 差不多插不上簪子了.
It can almost do without a hairpin.
--------------------------------
A biography of the Tang poet - Du Fu (杜甫 712AD to 770AD)
Du Fu, a renowned poet, was born in Gong Xian (鞏縣) in Henan province (河
南省) during the Tang Dynasty (唐朝 618AD to 907AD). His father was a low
ranking official. At the age of 14 or 15 he began to write poetry and at
20 he left home and went touring. In 735AD he sat for the Palace Examinations
and he failed. The following year he left home the second time and went
touring the present day province of Hebei (河北省). After 5 years of roaming
the North he returned home to Luoyang (洛陽) in 741AD. He met Li Bo (李白
), another poet, in about 744AD and they went touring together in the area
south of Changjiang (長江). In 746AD he bade farewell to Li Bai and went
to the capital Chang An (長安 present day Xi An 西安 in Shaanxi province
陜西省).
Du Fu's intention of going to Chang An was to become an official. At that
time, the Tang Court was very corrupted and the administration was controlled
by Yang Guo Zhong (楊國忠), the first cousin older brother of Yang Gui Fei
(楊貴妃) who was the Emperor Xuan Zong Li Long Ji's (玄宗皇帝李隆基 713AD
to 755AD) favourite concubine. The Emperor had no time for the official
because Yang Gui Fei took up almost all his time and attention. Although
Du Fu applied for a position he was not accepted.
At that time, it was the fashion of the learned men to write poetry to the
officials, particularly the members of the Imperial Academy (翰林學士),
hoping that the officials could pay attention to their poetry and to recommend
them to Government jobs. Du Fu was of no exception. He began to write poems
and presented them to the high officials. He even presented his poems twice
to Emperor Xuan Zong, but without any respond from the Emperor.
In 752AD, Yang Guo Zhong became the Prime Minister. He was very corrupted
and had amassed a great fortune. He was not only the Prime Minister but
also held more than forty other portfolios. The Emperor's excesses and obsessions
with his beloved concubine, Yang Gui Fei, brought about the gross neglect
of affairs to the country.
Finally, in 755AD the Government offered Du Fu a job as a junior officer
in He Xi (河西 in the present day province of Gansu 甘肅省). Knowing that
this job was to wring every ounce of sweat and blood out of the people in
He Xi, Du Fu turned down the offer and asked for a better job. The Government
then gave him a junior position as an officer in the Weaponry Department.
Although the job was a very low position, 8th grade, he considered that
it was better than a junior officer to He Xi to oppress people.
Before Du Fu took up the position as a junior official there was turmoil
in the country. An Lu Shan (安祿山), the non-Han Chinese commander-in-chief
and Governor of Fan Yang (范陽 present day Beijing 北京 city in Hebei province
河北省), rebelled against the Tang Government. With 170,000 troops under
his command An Lu Shan marched west to the Tang capital Chang An. It seemed
that An Lu Shan and his troops were unstoppable. They crossed the Yellow
River, overran Luoyang (洛陽 in Henan province 河南省) and turned west marching
towards the capital. Under such an environment it was very hard for Du Fu
as he was without a job and had a family to support. He lived like a beggar
asking friends for assistance. He was so poor that he had no money to buy
food for his family. Due to this factor his youngest son died of starvation.
The Tang Court was in panic. Emperor Xuan Zong ordered a mass evacuation.
In the fourth Month in 755AD An Lu Shan occupied the capital and razed it
to the ground. Du Fu and his family managed to escape to Feng Xiang (鳳翔
) in Shaanxi province.
Emperor Xuan Zong and his Court together with thousands of residents from
the capital, fled southwest towards Cheng Du (成都 in the present day of
Sichuan province 四川省). Arriving at a place called Ma Wei Po (馬嵬坡 present
day Xing Ping county 興平縣 in Shaanxi province) about 100 kilometers from
the capital, the retreating army and the mass of people stopped and refused
to go any further. They demanded the death of the Emperor's concubine, Yang
Gui Fei, and her elder cousin brother Yang Guo Zhong, the Prime Minister.
Under such extreme circumstances Emperor Xuan Zong had no alternative but
to issue an order to have them executed. Yang Guo Zhong was put to death
by beheading and Yang Gui Fei was by hanging from a tree.
While the Tang Court took refuge in Cheng Du the lovelorn Emperor was pining
away. Eventually Emperor Xuan Zong abdicated the throne and his third son,
Li Heng (李亨) was installed as Emperor Su Zong (肅宗). In 757AD An Lu Shan
was killed by his own son, An Qing Xu (安慶緒). The rebellions started by
An Lu Shan was crushed and the Tang Court returned to the capital, Chang
an.
Having returned to the capital, Emperor Su Zong reorganized the Tang Administration.
At the end of 757AD Du Fu was appointed as 左拾遺 or an adviser to the
Emperor. Finally, Du Fu had a good job and he was very happy. However, being
a poet he sometime criticized the Government in his poems and Emperor Su
Zong could not tolerate his criticism. Eventually he was demoted and sent
to work in the Department of Defence in Hua Zhou (華州), near his hometown
Luoyang, in the present day Henan province. He continued to write poetry
profusely.
In the 7th Month of 759AD Du Fu resigned his Government job and went to
Cheng Du to see his friend, Yan Wu (嚴武), who was the Governor of Cheng
Du city. He worked as an adviser to his friend. When Yan Wu died Du Fu left
Cheng Du and went touring. He toured Jia Zhou (嘉州), Yu Zhou (渝州), Zhong
Zhou (忠州), Jiang Ling (江陵) and other places. In 770AD he arrived at
Tan Zhou (潭州). From there he took a boat to Yue Yang (岳陽). Unfortunately,
Du Fu died on the boat.
CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
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