Ten of the most famous poems by Bai Juyi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty: "Spring Journey to Qiantang Lake", "Farewell to the Ancient Grass", "Ode to the Dusk River", "On the Pond", "Ask Liu Nineteenth", "Peach Blossoms at Dalin Temple", "Viewing the Cutting of Wheat", "Feelings at the Moon", "Flowers Are Not Flowers", and "Village Night".
1. "Spring Tour of Qiantang Lake"
To the north of Gushan Temple and to the west of Jia Pavilion, the water surface is initially flat and the clouds are low. In several places, early orioles compete for warmth in the trees, while new swallows peck at the spring mud.
The wild flowers are becoming more and more charming, and only in Asakusa can there be no horse hooves. My favorite part of the lake is the east side of the lake, where the green poplar trees shade the white sand embankment.
Translation: Go around the north of Gushan Temple and stroll west of Jiagong Pavilion. The lake water has just risen and is level with the shore. The white clouds are hanging very low. A few orioles that emerged early are vying to roost in the warm trees facing the sun, and the newly arrived swallows are busy building nests and carrying mud. The wild flowers are blooming in a dazzling way, and the spring grass has just barely covered the horses' hooves before it grows tall. My favorite scenery on the east side of the lake is unforgettable, with rows of willows crossing a white sand embankment.
2. "Farewell to Fude Ancient Grass"
The grass grows in Liliyuan, withering and flourishing every year. Wildfires never burn out, but spring breezes blow them again.
The distant fragrance invades the ancient road, and the clear green meets the deserted city. I also sent the king and grandson away, full of love.
Translation: The long grass on the plain is so lush, and every autumn and winter turn yellow and the grass becomes thicker in spring. The ruthless wildfires can only burn away the dry leaves, and the spring breeze blows the earth green again. Wild grasses and wild flowers are spreading and submerging the ancient road. Under the bright sun, the end of the grassland is your journey. I once again bid farewell to a close friend, and the lush green grass represents my deep affection.
3. "Ode to the Dusk River"
A setting sun spreads over the water, half of the river is rustling and half of the river is red. It's a pity that on the third night of September, the dew looks like pearls and the moon looks like a bow.
Translation: The setting sun is reflected on the river surface, and the rays of sunlight are shining down, making the waves sparkling; half of the river water shows a deep blue color, and the other half shows a red color. The loveliest thing was that night on the third day of September, when the dewdrops were like pearls and the bright crescent moon was shaped like a bow.
4. "On the Pond"
The little boy held a boat and secretly picked white lotus flowers. Without clearing up the hidden traces, the duckweeds bloom together.
Translation: A child held a boat and secretly picked white lotus flowers. He didn't know how to hide his traces, but there was a trace of a boat on the duckweed on the water.
5. "Ask Liu Nineteen"
New fermented wine from green ants, small red clay stove. It's snowing tonight, can I have a drink?
Translation: The light green rice wine is brewed and the small stove is heated. It's getting late and the snow is getting thicker. Can you take a look at your humble house and drink a glass of warm wine?
6. "Peach Blossoms in Dalin Temple"
The beauty of April in the world is over, and the peach blossoms in the mountain temple are beginning to bloom.
Eternal regret has no place to return to in spring, and I don’t know where to turn.
Translation: In April in the human world, all the flowers have withered, but the peach blossoms in the ancient temples on the mountains have just begun to bloom. I often regret that spring has passed away and I can't find it anywhere, but I don't know that it has moved here.
7. "Viewing the Cutting of Wheat"
The Tian family has few free months, but in May people are twice as busy. At night, the south wind blows, and the wheat is covered with yellow.
Women and aunts carry baskets of food, children carry pots of pulp, and go to the salary fields with them. Young men and women are in Nangang.
The weather is full of rustic heat, and the sky is scorching on my back. I am exhausted and don’t know the heat, but I regret that the summer is long.
There is also a poor woman with a child beside her, holding an earring in her right hand and a basket hanging on her left arm.
Hearing his words of care makes those who hear them feel sad. When all the taxes on the family fields are exhausted, this is left to satisfy the hunger.
What merit do I have now? I have never been involved in farming and mulberry trees. The official salary is three hundred stones, and Yan has more than enough food every year.
Translation: Farmers rarely have free months, and people are even busier in May. A southerly wind blew during the night, and the wheat covering the field ridges had matured and turned yellow. Women carry meals in bamboo baskets, and children carry water in pots. They follow each other to the fields to deliver meals. The men harvesting wheat are all in Nangang.
Their feet were fumigated by the heat from the ground, and their spines were basking in the hot sunshine. I'm sweating profusely, as if I don't know the weather is hot, and I just cherish the long summer. I also saw a poor woman standing next to the wheat cutter with her child in her arms, picking up the fallen ears of wheat in her right hand, and a broken basket hanging on her left arm.
Listening to her talking while looking at others, everyone who heard her felt sad for her. Because of the rent and taxes, all the farmland in the family was sold, so they had to pick up some ears of wheat to satisfy their hunger. Now I have any merits and virtues, but I don’t have to engage in farming and sericulture. He received a salary of 300 shi meters a year, and at the end of the year there was still some food left. I feel ashamed when I think of these things, and I can't forget them all day long.
8. "Looking at the Moon and Feelings"
Since the war in Henan, there has been hunger in the pass, and the brothers have been separated, each in one place. Because of the feeling of looking at the moon, I wrote about my feelings and sent them to Fuliang's eldest brother, Yuqian's seventh brother, Wujiang's fifteenth brother, and also to Fuli and his brothers and sisters in Xiagui.
It was a difficult time and the desolate world was empty, and the brothers were traveling in various places. After the war, the countryside was desolate, and the bones and flesh were scattered on the road. The hanging shadow is divided into thousands of miles of wild geese, and the roots are scattered into Jiuqiu Peng. ***You should shed tears when you look at the bright moon. My heart is in the same place all night long.
Translation: Due to the war in Henan, water transportation in the Guan area was blocked, resulting in famine. As a result, our brothers were separated and separated. I was touched by seeing the moon, so I wrote a poem to record my feelings, and sent it to my eldest brother in Fuliang, my seventh brother in Yuqian, my fifteenth brother in Wujiang, and my younger brothers and sisters in Fuli and Xiagui. Let's see.
The family fortune was wiped out in the disaster years, and the brothers were scattered to the west and the east.
After the war, the countryside was desolate, and the bones and flesh were scattered on the roads in foreign lands. The hanging shadow is as sad as a solitary wild goose, wandering without a trace like an autumn canopy with its roots cut off. Looking at the bright moon at the same time makes one feel sad and shed tears, and the feeling of homesickness at night is the same in all places.
9. "Flowers are not flowers"
Flowers are not flowers, and fog is not fog. Come at midnight and leave at dawn. It came like a spring dream in a short time, and left like a morning cloud with nowhere to find.
Translation: Like a flower but not a flower, like a mist but not a fog. Arrive at midnight and leave after dawn. Does it feel like a short but beautiful spring dream? When I left, I was like the clouds in the morning, nowhere to be found.
10. "Village Night"
The frost grass is full of green grass and insects, and there are no people walking to the south of the village or to the north of the village.
Going out the front door alone to look at the wild fields, the moon is bright and the buckwheat flowers are like snow.
Translation: In a patch of gray-white autumn grass beaten by frost, small insects were whispering, and there were no pedestrians around the mountain village. I came to the front door alone and looked at the fields. I saw the bright moonlight shining on the endless buckwheat fields. The buckwheat flowers on the ground were like a dazzling white snow.