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

《中國詩詞大會》引發讀詩熱潮

“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

“俏也不爭春，只把春來報”。2017年春節期間，《中國詩詞大會（第二季）》，用一種中國人的方式，讓觀眾度過一個中國傳統佳節。

中華詩詞，以其獨特魅力傳誦千年，不但感染國人，在中外文化交流中也扮演著極為重要的角色，不少外國小伙伴折服于這東方的詩意。

該節目中，有兩位外國選手給觀眾留下深刻印象。一個是擊敗武亦姝攻擂成功的新加坡女大學生李宜幸，一位是熱愛毛澤東詩詞的美國大學生伍淡然。他們在比賽中表現得一派輕松，李宜幸攻擂的過程眉頭都不皺一下，伍淡然也是表現呆萌，令人感觸的是他們對中國詩詞的純粹熱愛。

李宜幸就讀于北京大學中文系，自幼喜歡中國古詩詞，看到有同學在留學生群里發了報名資訊，就抱著嘗試的心態報名，通過電話面試，加入百人團。

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，媽媽開始教她背誦自己喜歡的詩詞，耳濡目染之下萌生興趣，漸漸詩詞滲透在她的生活里，成為喜怒哀樂的寄托，不離不棄的良伴。對詩詞的愛好，也是她到北京大學就讀中文系的重要原因。“以前喜歡詩詞，是很孤獨的，因為在新加坡的環境，很少有同好。參加這個節目，能和一些志同道合的朋友浸潤在詩詞的氛圍里，真覺得是一件幸事。”李宜幸說。

來自美國的小伙子伍淡然在北京外國語大學就讀，因為對詩詞有興趣，被學校老師推薦參賽。

在美國上中學時，伍淡然修讀中文課，有個來自上海的老師，辦了一臺春節聯歡晚會，他所在的班表演李白的《靜夜思》。從那時候開始，伍淡然便愛上中國詩詞，買了很多書自學。

●Wu Danran

●Li Yixing

伍淡然最喜歡毛澤東詩詞，喜歡詩中壯麗澎湃、激動人心的詞句，讀詩時他感覺熱血沸騰。伍淡然說：“我感覺能看到當時的情景，長征的場面，紅旗飄揚。”

可以說，對中國詩詞的熱愛，影響了兩位外國選手的人生軌跡。

《中國詩詞大會》熱度也延伸到了國外。據澎湃新聞17日報道，近來，在Reddit和Quora兩個論壇上，許多外國的詩歌愛好者就中國詩詞展開許多有趣且生動的討論。

Quora上，有個帖子討論“你讀過最美的中國詩歌是什么？”網友們踴躍回答。

Reddit上，也有學中文的外國網友分享喜愛的中國古詩詞。

網友gndowns說：我最近學中國詩歌覺得很有意思，研究詩句和翻譯之類的。大家有沒有喜歡的詩歌分享？

網友Charl講述了一個感人的故事，“這一首之所以特別，是因為來自別人的饋贈。那是我大約十三歲時，家里的農場附近有一個上了年紀的荷蘭婦女，她失去丈夫許多年，并漸漸染上酗酒。然而，她同時又是一個極富教養的文學愛好者。在生命的最后幾個星期，她向我們家贈送一本李白詩集，大概是為了感謝父親對她的醫療幫助，她在詩集前留下一張字條。”

花間一壺酒，獨酌無相親。

舉杯邀明月，對影成三人。

月既不解飲，影徒隨我身。

暫伴月將影，行樂須及春。

我歌月徘徊，我舞影零亂。

醒時同交歡，醉后各分散。

永結無情游，相期邈云漢。

作者在結尾深情地說：“通過這首詩，我們看到她如何總結自己的一生。兩者都是悲劇性的，并且里面有一個部分讓人無論如何難以忘懷，她在活著和毀滅時都是一個藝術家。”

被外國網友提及最多的是唐代詩人李白和杜甫。

Reddit上一位網友表示他最喜歡的是李白的《早發白帝城》。

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，

輕舟已過萬重山。

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

還有網友表示喜歡胸懷天下的杜甫，提到杜甫的長篇作品《自京赴奉先縣詠懷五百字》。誰說詩歌非要描寫風花雪月？這首詩同樣展示了詩人豐富的思想情感。

我們來欣賞下這首長詩的節選：

勸客駝蹄羹，

霜橙壓香橘。

朱門酒肉臭，

路有凍死骨。

榮枯咫尺異，

惆悵難再述。

不難看出，外國網友用自己的方式去理解詩詞，進而領悟詩詞的深意。古詩詞熱猶如一股清泉，潤澤全球所有詩詞愛好者的心靈。中國古詩詞，不僅要在中華大地上根深葉茂，還應當花開全球，讓所有追尋美好的人們共知共享。

墻內開花 香飄海外

編輯 許曠
翻譯 Chase Coulson