Flowers Bloom beyond the Doors Fragrance Flutters beyond the Shores

Compiled by Xu Kuang

Translated by Chase Coulson

Flowers Bloom beyond the Doors Fragrance Flutters beyond the Shores

Compiled by Xu Kuang

Translated by Chase Coulson

Ancient Chinese poetry enchants every poetry lover’s soul at home and abroad

《中國(guó)詩(shī)詞大會(huì)》引發(fā)讀詩(shī)熱潮

“Beauty vies not with fair spring, but pronounces the rebirth it will bring.”

The second series of televisedChinese Poetry Conferencetook place during the Chinese Spring Festival period in 2017. All the talented contestants gave the Chinese audience a cultural treat, and let them taste the magnificence of the traditional Chinese festival.

With its unique enchantment, Chinese poetry has been widely read and appreciated throughout the whole country for millennia. Not only has it influenced the people of China, it has also played an integral role in Sino-foreign cultural exchanges. Many a non-Chinese has been deeply moved by the mellifluous grace of Chinese poetry.

In this TV program, two foreign contestants deeply impressed the Chinese audience: One being Li Yixing, a young female student from Singapore who defeated Wu Yishu, the most promising teenage contestant in this competition, and won in a landslide victory; the other being Wu Danran, an American college student and adoring fan of Mao Zedong’s poetry. Throughout the program, they couldn’t have appeared more relaxed. In picking up the gauntlet, Li Yixing didn’t even bat an eyelash, and Wu Danran’s big, bright, innocent eyes wooed audiences and judges alike. What was most striking was the purity of their love for Chinese poetry.

Li Yixing studies at the Chinese Department in Peking University, and has been fond of ancient Chinese poetry since childhood. Having seen the poetry competition information posted by her fellow exchange students, in the spirit of adventure she decided to sign up. After a telephone interview, she was given placement among the talented cast of 106 challengers.

When Li Yixing was 12, her mother began to teach her to recite her favorite Chinese poems, and her interest in poetry blossomed like a rose. Poetry began to permeate her life and became her companion and friend on which her emotions reposed. Love of poetry was also a core reason for her to study Chinese in Peking University. “In Singapore, fondness for poetry was a lonesome pursuit, because it was hard to find friends of like minds. But participating in this program has allowed me to meet a group of poetry lovers who are immersed in the world of poetry together—I consider it a blessing.” Said Li Yixing.

Wu Danran, a young man from the United States who is now studying in Beijing Foreign Studies University, was recommended by one of his teachers to participate in this program owing to his profound fondness for Chinese poetry.

Danran attended some Chinese classes in high school in the United States where he had a Chinese teacher from Shanghai who organized a mini Chinese Spring Festival Gala for her students. Luckily his class was chosen to deliver a recitation of Li Bai’s poemA Tranquil Night. Since then he has been passionately enamored with Chinese poetry, and the experience has prompted him to purchase volumes and volumes of Chinese poetry from which he continues to learn the art.

Danran is particularly fond of the exquisite poetry of former Chairman Mao

“俏也不爭(zhēng)春，只把春來(lái)報(bào)”。2017年春節(jié)期間，《中國(guó)詩(shī)詞大會(huì)（第二季）》，用一種中國(guó)人的方式，讓觀眾度過(guò)一個(gè)中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)佳節(jié)。

中華詩(shī)詞，以其獨(dú)特魅力傳誦千年，不但感染國(guó)人，在中外文化交流中也扮演著極為重要的角色，不少外國(guó)小伙伴折服于這東方的詩(shī)意。

該節(jié)目中，有兩位外國(guó)選手給觀眾留下深刻印象。一個(gè)是擊敗武亦姝攻擂成功的新加坡女大學(xué)生李宜幸，一位是熱愛(ài)毛澤東詩(shī)詞的美國(guó)大學(xué)生伍淡然。他們?cè)诒荣愔斜憩F(xiàn)得一派輕松，李宜幸攻擂的過(guò)程眉頭都不皺一下，伍淡然也是表現(xiàn)呆萌，令人感觸的是他們對(duì)中國(guó)詩(shī)詞的純粹熱愛(ài)。

李宜幸就讀于北京大學(xué)中文系，自幼喜歡中國(guó)古詩(shī)詞，看到有同學(xué)在留學(xué)生群里發(fā)了報(bào)名資訊，就抱著嘗試的心態(tài)報(bào)名，通過(guò)電話面試，加入百人團(tuán)。

Zedong. Reading the lines, he was filled with the raw and unrestrained emotion imbued with the power of surging waves under the full moon’s tide, as if fire was coursing through his veins. When speaking about how he felt when first encountering the poetry of Mao Zedong, Wu Danran quipped, “It was like I was there with them, marching right alongside Chairman Mao and the vast scores of people on the Long March, with red flags and golden stars waving over the scene.”Ultimately, it was a deep love of Chinese poetry that actually changed the course of the two foreign contestants’ lives. Now, the popularity of the Chinese Poetry Conference has been extended even to foreign countries. It was reported by thepaper.cn on February 17th, 2017 that a warm and lively discussion and debate over Chinese poetry had been conducted among the poetry aficionados on two popular online forums: Reddit and Quora.

On Quora, a question was posted, “What is the most beautiful Chinese poetry you’ve ever read?”There was a flurry of replies by poetry zealots.

On Reddit, many foreigners enthusiastically shared their love of ancient Chinese poetry. A Reddit online contributor, “gndowns” said, “I’ve been having a lot of fun lately learning through poetry, analyzing lines and translations and such, but I can’t always find good materials. Does anybody have a personal favorite poem that they want to share?”

Netizen “Charl” recounted a moving story, “The reason why this poem is special to me is that it was a gift sent by a Dutch woman on death’s doorstep. When I was about 13 years old, I met her near our family farm. She had long ago lost her husband, and was given over to alcoholism. But she was a very learned literary enthusiast. In her last few weeks, she bestowed aCollection of Li Bai’s Poemsto my family, which was presumably a way to thank my father for his medical attention. And she copied one of Li’s poems at the preface of the collection.”

From a carafe of wine among the blossoms I sip alone, not a soul’s company.

Raising a cup, my shadow and the moon make one into three.

My shadow follows and plays, but the moon refuses to drink with me.

The moment the moon and shadow accompany, I make merry in the fleeting spring.

I sing as the moon lingers overhead, I dance as my shadow begins a blurring.

As I awake the moon shares my joy, as I drink I’m dazed and all begins to fade.

I toast to my eternal spectral friends, to meet again among the silver stars and skies of jade.

At the end of the post, the netizen sighed with deep emotion, “This poem really embodies life in how it is tinged with such melancholy and sadness, yet at the same time there was also an unforgettable and wonderful chapter to this woman’s life, which is like a great tragedy, and she was like an actress taking her final bow before the final curtain was drawn on her life.”

Li Bai and Du Fu’s poetry in Tang Dynasty are best remembered by non-Chinese netizens.

A Reddit user expressed that one of his most favorite poems was Li Bai’sLeaving White Dragon City at Dawn.

At the golden luminance of dawn’s early clouds I bid farewell to White Dragon City,

for the day’s journey of a hundred miles I venture on the trek back to Jiangling.

The call of the monkeys and macaques is resonant on the banks behind me,

as I board a rowboat that has crossed a thousand rivers, it begins to sway and swing.

This same netizen gushed about his great esteem for Li Bai, “Li Bai (701-762) is my all-time favorite Chinese poet. From ancient times he is widely regarded as a pre-eminent literary genius and a romanticist who has elevated the traditional poetry of China to new heights.”

Another netizen said he appreciated Du Fu (712-770), a poet who was deeply concerned with ordinary people’s lives, the most. He in particular referred to one of his long-stanza poems,From Chang’an to Fengxian—a Five-Hundred-Character Verse.李宜幸十二歲時(shí)，媽媽開(kāi)始教她背誦自己喜歡的詩(shī)詞，耳濡目染之下萌生興趣，漸漸詩(shī)詞滲透在她的生活里，成為喜怒哀樂(lè)的寄托，不離不棄的良伴。對(duì)詩(shī)詞的愛(ài)好，也是她到北京大學(xué)就讀中文系的重要原因。“以前喜歡詩(shī)詞，是很孤獨(dú)的，因?yàn)樵谛录悠碌沫h(huán)境，很少有同好。參加這個(gè)節(jié)目，能和一些志同道合的朋友浸潤(rùn)在詩(shī)詞的氛圍里，真覺(jué)得是一件幸事。”李宜幸說(shuō)。

來(lái)自美國(guó)的小伙子伍淡然在北京外國(guó)語(yǔ)大學(xué)就讀，因?yàn)閷?duì)詩(shī)詞有興趣，被學(xué)校老師推薦參賽。

在美國(guó)上中學(xué)時(shí)，伍淡然修讀中文課，有個(gè)來(lái)自上海的老師，辦了一臺(tái)春節(jié)聯(lián)歡晚會(huì)，他所在的班表演李白的《靜夜思》。從那時(shí)候開(kāi)始，伍淡然便愛(ài)上中國(guó)詩(shī)詞，買(mǎi)了很多書(shū)自學(xué)。

●Wu Danran

●Li Yixing

伍淡然最喜歡毛澤東詩(shī)詞，喜歡詩(shī)中壯麗澎湃、激動(dòng)人心的詞句，讀詩(shī)時(shí)他感覺(jué)熱血沸騰。伍淡然說(shuō)：“我感覺(jué)能看到當(dāng)時(shí)的情景，長(zhǎng)征的場(chǎng)面，紅旗飄揚(yáng)。”

可以說(shuō)，對(duì)中國(guó)詩(shī)詞的熱愛(ài)，影響了兩位外國(guó)選手的人生軌跡。

《中國(guó)詩(shī)詞大會(huì)》熱度也延伸到了國(guó)外。據(jù)澎湃新聞17日?qǐng)?bào)道，近來(lái)，在Reddit和Quora兩個(gè)論壇上，許多外國(guó)的詩(shī)歌愛(ài)好者就中國(guó)詩(shī)詞展開(kāi)許多有趣且生動(dòng)的討論。

Quora上，有個(gè)帖子討論“你讀過(guò)最美的中國(guó)詩(shī)歌是什么？”網(wǎng)友們踴躍回答。

Reddit上，也有學(xué)中文的外國(guó)網(wǎng)友分享喜愛(ài)的中國(guó)古詩(shī)詞。

網(wǎng)友gndowns說(shuō)：我最近學(xué)中國(guó)詩(shī)歌覺(jué)得很有意思，研究詩(shī)句和翻譯之類的。大家有沒(méi)有喜歡的詩(shī)歌分享？

網(wǎng)友Charl講述了一個(gè)感人的故事，“這一首之所以特別，是因?yàn)閬?lái)自別人的饋贈(zèng)。那是我大約十三歲時(shí)，家里的農(nóng)場(chǎng)附近有一個(gè)上了年紀(jì)的荷蘭婦女，她失去丈夫許多年，并漸漸染上酗酒。然而，她同時(shí)又是一個(gè)極富教養(yǎng)的文學(xué)愛(ài)好者。在生命的最后幾個(gè)星期，她向我們家贈(zèng)送一本李白詩(shī)集，大概是為了感謝父親對(duì)她的醫(yī)療幫助，她在詩(shī)集前留下一張字條。”

花間一壺酒，獨(dú)酌無(wú)相親。

舉杯邀明月，對(duì)影成三人。

月既不解飲，影徒隨我身。

暫伴月將影，行樂(lè)須及春。

我歌月徘徊，我舞影零亂。

醒時(shí)同交歡，醉后各分散。

永結(jié)無(wú)情游，相期邈云漢。

作者在結(jié)尾深情地說(shuō)：“通過(guò)這首詩(shī)，我們看到她如何總結(jié)自己的一生。兩者都是悲劇性的，并且里面有一個(gè)部分讓人無(wú)論如何難以忘懷，她在活著和毀滅時(shí)都是一個(gè)藝術(shù)家。”

被外國(guó)網(wǎng)友提及最多的是唐代詩(shī)人李白和杜甫。

Reddit上一位網(wǎng)友表示他最喜歡的是李白的《早發(fā)白帝城》。

In people’s eyes, poetry always seems to only tackle the themes of romance and love. ButFrom Chang’an to Fengxianreveals that a poet’s talents and thoughts can extend to other social topics.

Let’s all enjoy an excerpt from this long poem:

Inside, guests are beguiled to eat humpback hoof stew,

Outside, frosted oranges and sweet tangerines lay strew.

The stench of rotting wine and meat lingers behind Vermilion chalets,

while the bones of the dead lay upon the road covered in frozen glaze.

The opulence of wealth and the paupers’deaths are only inches apart,

the agony of the scene and pangs of remorse lay heavy upon my heart.

It is plain to see that foreign friends understand Chinese poetry in their own way, and have become awakened to its profound connotations. The passion in ancient Chinese poetry, like a stream of purity, is enchanting each and every poetry lover’s soul. The beauty and magnificence of ancient Chinese poetry should not only blossom in its native land, but its radiance should also burst forth and shine a beaconing light across the entire globe, allowing it to be known and shared by all lovers of beauty and aesthetics worldwide.

朝辭白帝彩云間，

千里江陵一日還。

兩岸猿聲啼不住，

輕舟已過(guò)萬(wàn)重山。

他還在論壇科普了一下李白：我最喜歡的中國(guó)詩(shī)歌來(lái)自李白（701–762），他從古至今都被視為一位天才，是一位把中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)詩(shī)歌形式推向新高度的浪漫主義人物。

還有網(wǎng)友表示喜歡胸懷天下的杜甫，提到杜甫的長(zhǎng)篇作品《自京赴奉先縣詠懷五百字》。誰(shuí)說(shuō)詩(shī)歌非要描寫(xiě)風(fēng)花雪月？這首詩(shī)同樣展示了詩(shī)人豐富的思想情感。

我們來(lái)欣賞下這首長(zhǎng)詩(shī)的節(jié)選：

勸客駝蹄羹，

霜橙壓香橘。

朱門(mén)酒肉臭，

路有凍死骨。

榮枯咫尺異，

惆悵難再述。

不難看出，外國(guó)網(wǎng)友用自己的方式去理解詩(shī)詞，進(jìn)而領(lǐng)悟詩(shī)詞的深意。古詩(shī)詞熱猶如一股清泉，潤(rùn)澤全球所有詩(shī)詞愛(ài)好者的心靈。中國(guó)古詩(shī)詞，不僅要在中華大地上根深葉茂，還應(yīng)當(dāng)花開(kāi)全球，讓所有追尋美好的人們共知共享。

墻內(nèi)開(kāi)花 香飄海外

編輯 許曠
翻譯 Chase Coulson