Full text:
Jiangnan can pick lotus, lotus leaves, and fish play between them.
Jan nán káI Lián, liá n yé hé tá n tiá n, yü xliá n yé jiá n.
Fish hits the lotus leaf, and fish hits the lotus leaf. Fish hit the south of the lotus leaf, fish hit the north of the lotus leaf.
You Cillan Yedon, You Cillan Yesi, You Cillan Yenan, You Cillan Yebisi.
Translation:
It's the season suitable for picking lotus in the south of the Yangtze River. Lotus leaves surfaced, squeezed, overlapped and fluttered with the wind.
Beneath the thick lotus leaves, cheerful fish are constantly playing.
I stayed here for a while, and then I suddenly swam there. I don't know whether it is in the east, west, south or north.
This poem is a "song of harmony". One of Xianghe Qu, found in Le Shu Zhi of Song Dynasty, can be regarded as the originator of picking lotus poems. The main idea is to write about beautiful scenery and happy times.
Shen Deqian, a poet in A Qing, rated this poem as "strange style" (Volume 3 of Ancient Poetry Source). Zhang thinks that this poem does not write flowers, but only leaves, which shows that leaves are still lovely, not to mention flowers.
Generally speaking, this kind of folk song is pure natural, and the original author may not intentionally do it, but naturally show a fresh vitality of nature. Mr. Yu Guanying thinks that the following four sentences of "fish playing with lotus leaves" may be "harmony". The first three sentences are sung by the lead singer, and the last four sentences are sung by the masses.
A lot of repeated sentences and words are used in the poem Jiangnan, which shows the simple and clear style of ancient folk songs. The poem depicts the lively and joyful scene of picking lotus in the south of the Yangtze River. We seem to hear the laughter of the lotus pickers, from the fish who are dressed happily and frolicking.