Chapter 1

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_Translations by Arthur Waley_ I A HUNDRED AND SEVENTY CHINESE POEMS II MORE TRANSLATIONS FROM THE CHINESE

MORE TRANSLATIONS FROM THE CHINESE BY ARTHUR WALEY

NEW YORK ALFRED · A · KNOPF MCMXIX

COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY ALFRED A. KNOPF, INC.

PRINTED BY THE VAIL-BALLOU CO., BINGHAMTON, N.Y. ON WARREN’S INDIA TINT OLD STYLE PAPER BOUND BY THE PLIMPTON PRESS, NORWOOD, MASS

CONTENTS

PAGE INTRODUCTION 5

CH‘Ü YÜAN:-- The Great Summons 13

WANG WEI:-- Prose Letter 23

LI PO:-- Drinking Alone by Moonlight 27 In the Mountains on a Summer Day 29 Waking from Drunkenness on a Spring Day 30 Self-Abandonment 31 To Tan Ch‘iu 32 Clearing at Dawn 33

PO CHÜ-I:-- Life of Po Chü-i 35 After Passing the Examination 37 Escorting Candidates to the Examination Hall 38 In Early Summer Lodging in a Temple to Enjoy the Moonlight 39 Sick Leave 40 Watching the Reapers 41 Going Alone to Spend a Night at the Hsien-Yu Temple 42 Planting Bamboos 43 To Li Chien 44 At the End of Spring 45 The Poem on the Wall 46 Chu Ch‘ēn Village 47 Fishing in the Wei River 50 Lazy Man’s Song 51 Illness and Idleness 52 Winter Night 53 The Chrysanthemums in the Eastern Garden 54 Poems in Depression, at Wei Village 55 To His Brother Hsing-Chien, Who was in Tung-Ch‘uan 56 Starting Early from the Ch‘u-Ch‘ēng Inn 57 Rain 58 The Beginning of Summer 59 Visiting the Hsi-Lin Temple 60 Prose Letter to Yüan Chēn 61 Hearing the Early Oriole 65 Dreaming that I Went with Lu and Yu to Visit Yüan Chēn 66 The Fifteenth Volume 67 Invitation to Hsiao Chü-Shih 68 To Li Chien 69 The Spring River 70 After Collecting the Autumn Taxes 71 Lodging with the Old Man of the Stream 72 To His Brother Hsing-Chien 73 The Pine-Trees in the Courtyard 74 Sleeping on Horseback 76 Parting from the Winter Stove 77 Good-Bye to the People of Hangchow 78 Written when Governor of Soochow 79 Getting Up Early on a Spring Morning 80 Losing a Slave-Girl 81 The Grand Houses at Lo-Yang 82 The Cranes 83 On His Baldness 84 Thinking of the Past 85 A Mad Poem Addressed to My Nephews and Nieces 87 Old Age 88 To a Talkative Guest 89 To Liu Yü-Hsi 90 My Servant Wakes Me 91 Since I Lay Ill 92 Song of Past Feelings 93 Illness 96 Resignation 97

YÜAN CHĒN:-- The Story of Ts‘ui Ying-Ying 101 The Pitcher 114

PO HSING-CHIEN:-- The Story of Miss Li 117

WANG CHIEN:-- Hearing that His Friend was Coming Back from the War 137 The South 138

OU-YANG HSIU:-- Autumn 141

APPENDIX 144

INTRODUCTION

This book is not intended to be representative of Chinese literature as a whole. I have chosen and arranged chronologically various pieces which interested me and which it seemed possible to translate adequately.

An account of the history and technique of Chinese poetry will be found in the introduction to my last book.[1] Learned reviewers must not suppose that I have failed to appreciate the poets whom I do not translate. Nor can they complain that the more famous of these poets are inaccessible to European readers; about a hundred of Li Po’s poems have been translated, and thirty or forty of Tu Fu’s. I have, as before, given half my space to Po Chü-i, of whose poems I had selected for translation a much larger number than I have succeeded in rendering. I will give literal versions of two rejected ones:

[1] “170 Chinese Poems,” New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1919.

EVENING

[_A.D. 835_]

_Water’s colour at-dusk still white; Sunsets glow in-the-dark gradually nil. Windy lotus shakes [like] broken fan; Wave-moon stirs [like] string [of] jewels. Crickets chirping answer one another; Mandarin-ducks sleep, not alone. Little servant repeatedly announces night; Returning steps still hesitate._

IN EARLY SPRING ALONE CLIMBING THE T‘IEN-KUNG PAGODA

[_A.D. 389_]

_T‘ien-kung sun warm, pagoda door open; Alone climbing, greet Spring, drink one cup. Without limit excursion-people afar-off wonder at me; What cause most old most first arrived!_

While many of the pieces in “170 Chinese Poems” aimed at literary form in English, others did no more than give the sense of the Chinese in almost as crude a way as the two examples above. It was probably because of this inconsistency that no reviewer treated the book as an experiment in English unrhymed verse, though this was the aspect of it which most interested the writer.

In the present work I have aimed more consistently at poetic form, but have included on account of their biographical interest two or three rather unsuccessful versions of late poems by Po Chü-i.

For leave to reprint I am indebted to the editors of the _English Review_, _Nation_, _New Statesman_, _Bulletin of School of Oriental Studies_, and _Reconstruction_.

CH‘U YÜAN

[_Fourth Century B.C._]

[1] THE GREAT SUMMONS

_When Ch‘ü Yüan had been exiled from the Court for nine years, he became so despondent that he feared his soul would part from his body and he would die. It was then that he made the poem called “The Great Summons,” calling upon his soul not to leave him._

Green Spring receiveth The vacant earth; The white sun shineth; Spring wind provoketh To burst and burgeon Each sprout and flower. In those dark caves where Winter lurketh Hide not, my Soul! O Soul come back again! O, do not stray!

O Soul come back again and go not east or west, or north or south! For to the East a mighty water drowneth Earth’s other shore; Tossed on its waves and heaving with its tides The hornless Dragon of the Ocean rideth: Clouds gather low and fogs enfold the sea And gleaming ice drifts past. O Soul go not to the East, To the silent Valley of Sunrise!

O Soul go not to the South Where mile on mile the earth is burnt away And poisonous serpents slither through the flames; Where on precipitous paths or in deep woods Tigers and leopards prowl, And water-scorpions wait; Where the king-python rears his giant head. O Soul, go not to the South Where the three-footed tortoise spits disease!

O Soul go not to the West Where level wastes of sand stretch on and on; And demons rage, swine-headed, hairy-skinned, With bulging eyes; Who in wild laughter gnash projecting fangs. O Soul go not to the West Where many perils wait!

O Soul go not to the North, To the Lame Dragon’s frozen peaks; Where trees and grasses dare not grow; Where a river runs too wide to cross And too deep to plumb, And the sky is white with snow And the cold cuts and kills. O Soul seek not to fill The treacherous voids of the north!

O Soul come back to idleness and peace. In quietude enjoy The lands of Ching and Ch‘u. There work your will and follow your desire Till sorrow is forgot, And carelessness shall bring you length of days. O Soul come back to joys beyond all telling!

Where thirty cubits high at harvest-time The corn is stacked; Where pies are cooked of millet and bearded-maize. Guests watch the steaming bowls And sniff the pungency of peppered herbs. The cunning cook adds slices of bird-flesh, Pigeon and yellow-heron and black-crane. They taste the badger-stew. O Soul come back to feed on foods you love!

Next are brought Fresh turtle, and sweet chicken cooked in cheese Pressed by the men of Ch‘u. And pickled sucking-pig And flesh of whelps floating in liver-sauce With salad of minced radishes in brine; All served with that hot spice of southernwood The land of Wu supplies. O Soul come back to choose the meats you love!

Roasted daw, steamed widgeon and grilled quail-- On every fowl they fare. Boiled perch and sparrow broth,--in each preserved The separate flavour that is most its own. O Soul come back to where such dainties wait!

The four strong liquors are warming at the fire So that they grate not on the drinker’s throat. How fragrant rise their fumes, how cool their taste! Such drink is not for louts or serving-men! And wise distillers from the land of Wu Blend unfermented spirit with white yeast And brew the _li_ of Ch‘u. O Soul come back and let your yearnings cease!

Reed-organs from the lands of T‘ai and Ch‘in And Wei and Chēng Gladden the feasters, and old songs are sung: The “Rider’s Song” that once Fu-hsi, the ancient monarch, made; And the harp-songs of Ch‘u. Then after prelude from the flutes of Chao The ballad-singer’s voice rises alone. O Soul come back to the hollow mulberry-tree![1]

Eight and eight the dancers sway, Weaving their steps to the poet’s voice Who speaks his odes and rhapsodies; They tap their bells and beat their chimes Rigidly, lest harp and flute Should mar the measure. Then rival singers of the Four Domains Compete in melody, till not a tune Is left unsung that human voice could sing. O Soul come back and listen to their songs!

Then women enter whose red lips and dazzling teeth Seduce the eye; But meek and virtuous, trained in every art; Fit sharers of play-time, So soft their flesh and delicate their bones. O Soul come back and let them ease your woe!

Then enter other ladies with laughing lips And sidelong glances under moth-eye brows; Whose cheeks are fresh and red; Ladies both great of heart and long of limb, Whose beauty by sobriety is matched. Well-padded cheeks and ears with curving rim, High-arching eyebrows, as with compass drawn, Great hearts and loving gestures--all are there; Small waists and necks as slender as the clasp Of courtiers’ brooches. O Soul come back to those whose tenderness Drives angry thoughts away!

Last enter those Whose every action is contrived to please; Black-painted eyebrows and white-powdered cheeks. They reek with scent; with their long sleeves they brush The faces of the feasters whom they pass, Or pluck the coats of those who will not stay. O Soul come back to pleasures of the night!

A summer-house with spacious rooms And a high hall with beams stained red; A little closet in the southern wing Reached by a private stair. And round the house a covered way should run Where horses might be trained. And sometimes riding, sometimes going afoot You shall explore, O Soul, the parks of spring; Your jewelled axles gleaming in the sun And yoke inlaid with gold; Or amid orchises and sandal-trees Shall walk in the dark woods. O Soul come back and live for these delights!

Peacocks shall fill your gardens; you shall rear The roc and phœnix, and red jungle-fowl, Whose cry at dawn assembles river storks To join the play of cranes and ibises; Where the wild-swan all day Pursues the glint of idle king-fishers. O Soul come back to watch the birds in flight!

He who has found such manifold delights Shall feel his cheeks aglow And the blood-spirit dancing through his limbs. Stay with me, Soul, and share The span of days that happiness will bring; See sons and grandsons serving at the Court Ennobled and enriched. O Soul come back and bring prosperity To house and stock!

The roads that lead to Ch‘u Shall teem with travellers as thick as clouds, A thousand miles away. For the Five Orders of Nobility Shall summon sages to assist the King And with godlike discrimination choose The wise in council; by their aid to probe The hidden discontents of humble men And help the lonely poor. O Soul come back and end what we began!

Fields, villages and lanes Shall throng with happy men; Good rule protect the people and make known The King’s benevolence to all the land; Stern discipline prepare Their natures for the soft caress of Art. O Soul come back to where the good are praised!

Like the sun shining over the four seas Shall be the reputation of our King; His deeds, matched only in Heaven, shall repair The wrongs endured by every tribe of men,-- Northward to Yu and southward to Annam To the Sheep’s Gut Mountain and the Eastern Seas. O Soul come back to where the wise are sought!

Behold the glorious virtues of our King Triumphant, terrible; Behold with solemn faces in the Hall The Three Grand Ministers walk up and down,-- None chosen for the post save landed-lords Or, in default, Knights of the Nine Degrees. At the first ray of dawn already is hung The shooting-target, where with bow in hand And arrows under arm, Each archer does obeisance to each, Willing to yield his rights of precedence. O Soul come back to where men honour still The name of the Three Kings.[2]

[1] The harp.

[2] Yü, T‘ang and Wēn, the three just rulers of antiquity.

WANG WEI

[_A.D. 699-759_]

[2] PROSE LETTER

_To the Bachelor-of-Arts P‘ei Ti_

Of late during the sacrificial month, the weather has been calm and clear, and I might easily have crossed the mountain. But I knew that you were conning the classics and did not dare disturb you. So I roamed about the mountain-side, rested at the Kan-p‘ei Temple, dined with the mountain priests, and, after dinner, came home again. Going northwards, I crossed the Yüan-pa, over whose waters the unclouded moon shone with dazzling rim. When night was far advanced, I mounted Hua-tzü’s Hill and saw the moonlight tossed up and thrown down by the jostling waves of Wang River. On the wintry mountain distant lights twinkled and vanished; in some deep lane beyond the forest a dog barked at the cold, with a cry as fierce as a wolf’s. The sound of villagers grinding their corn at night filled the gaps between the slow chiming of a distant bell.

Now I am sitting alone. I listen, but cannot hear my grooms and servants move or speak. I think much of old days: how hand in hand, composing poems as we went, we walked down twisting paths to the banks of clear streams.

We must wait for Spring to come: till the grasses sprout and the trees bloom. Then wandering together in the spring hills we shall see the trout leap lightly from the stream, the white gulls stretch their wings, the dew fall on the green moss. And in the morning we shall hear the cry of curlews in the barley-fields.

It is not long to wait. Shall you be with me then? Did I not know the natural subtlety of your intelligence, I would not dare address to you so remote an invitation. You will understand that a deep feeling dictates this course.

Written without disrespect by Wang Wei, a dweller in the mountains.

LI PO

[_A.D. 701-762_]

[3-5] DRINKING ALONE BY MOONLIGHT

[_Three Poems_]

I

A cup of wine, under the flowering trees; I drink alone, for no friend is near. Raising my cup I beckon the bright moon, For he, with my shadow, will make three men. The moon, alas, is no drinker of wine; Listless, my shadow creeps about at my side. Yet with the moon as friend and the shadow as slave I must make merry before the Spring is spent. To the songs I sing the moon flickers her beams; In the dance I weave my shadow tangles and breaks. While we were sober, three shared the fun; Now we are drunk, each goes his way. May we long share our odd, inanimate feast, And meet at last on the Cloudy River of the sky.[1]

II

In the third month the town of Hsien-yang Is thick-spread with a carpet of fallen flowers. Who in Spring can bear to grieve alone? Who, sober, look on sights like these? Riches and Poverty, long or short life, By the Maker of Things are portioned and disposed; But a cup of wine levels life and death And a thousand things obstinately hard to prove. When I am drunk, I lose Heaven and Earth. Motionless--I cleave to my lonely bed. At last I forget that I exist at all, And at _that_ moment my joy is great indeed.

III

If High Heaven had no love for wine, There would not be a Wine Star in the sky. If Earth herself had no love for wine, There would not be a city called Wine Springs.[2] Since Heaven and Earth both love wine, I can love wine, without shame before God. Clear wine was once called a Saint;[3] Thick wine was once called “a Sage.”[3]

Of Saint and Sage I have long quaffed deep, What need for me to study spirits and _hsien_?[4] At the third cup I penetrate the Great Way; A full gallon--Nature and I are one ... But the things I feel when wine possesses my soul I will never tell to those who are not drunk.

[1] The Milky Way.

[2] Ch‘iu-ch‘üan, in Kansuh.

[3] “History of Wei Dynasty” (Life of Hsü Mo): “A drunken visitor said, ‘Clear wine I account a Saint: thick wine only a Sage.’”

[4] The lore of Rishi, Immortals.

[6] IN THE MOUNTAINS ON A SUMMER DAY

Gently I stir a white feather fan, With open shirt sitting in a green wood. I take off my cap and hang it on a jutting stone; A wind from the pine-trees trickles on my bare head.

[7] WAKING FROM DRUNKENNESS ON A SPRING DAY

“Life in the World is but a big dream; I will not spoil it by any labour or care.” So saying, I was drunk all the day, Lying helpless at the porch in front of my door. When I woke up, I blinked at the garden-lawn; A lonely bird was singing amid the flowers. I asked myself, had the day been wet or fine? The Spring wind was telling the mango-bird. Moved by its song I soon began to sigh, And as wine was there I filled my own cup. Wildly singing I waited for the moon to rise; When my song was over, all my senses had gone.

[8] SELF-ABANDONMENT

I sat drinking and did not notice the dusk, Till falling petals filled the folds of my dress. Drunken I rose and walked to the moonlit stream; The birds were gone, and men also few.

[9] TO TAN CH‘IU

My friend is lodging high in the Eastern Range, Dearly loving the beauty of valleys and hills. At green Spring he lies in the empty woods, And is still asleep when the sun shines on high. A pine-tree wind dusts his sleeves and coat; A pebbly stream cleans his heart and ears. I envy you, who far from strife and talk Are high-propped on a pillow of blue cloud.

[10] CLEARING AT DAWN

The fields are chill; the sparse rain has stopped; The colours of Spring teem on every side. With leaping fish the blue pond is full; With singing thrushes the green boughs droop. The flowers of the field have dabbled their powdered cheeks; The mountain grasses are bent level at the waist. By the bamboo stream the last fragment of cloud Blown by the wind slowly scatters away.

PO CHU-I

LIFE OF PO CHU-I

772 Born on 20th of 1st month. 800 Passes his examinations. 806 Receives a minor post at Chou-chih, near the capital. 807 Made Scholar of the Han Lin Academy. 811 Retires to Wei River, being in mourning for his mother. 814 Returns to Court. 815 Banished to Hsün-yang. 818 Removed to Chung-chou. 820 Reprieved and returns to Court. 822 Governor of Hangchow. 825 Governor of Soochow. 826 Retires owing to illness. 827 Returns to Ch‘ang-an. 829 Settles permanently at Lo-yang. 831 Governor of Ho-nan, the province of which Lo-yang was capital. 833 Retires owing to illness. 839 Has paralytic stroke in tenth month. 846 Dies in the eighth month.

[11] AFTER PASSING THE EXAMINATION

[_A.D. 800_]

For ten years I never left my books; I went up ... and won unmerited praise. My high place I do not much prize; The joy of my parents will first make me proud. Fellow students, six or seven men, See me off as I leave the City gate. My covered couch is ready to drive away; Flutes and strings blend their parting tune. Hopes achieved dull the pains of parting; Fumes of wine shorten the long road.... Shod with wings is the horse of him who rides On a Spring day the road that leads to home.

[12] ESCORTING CANDIDATES TO THE EXAMINATION HALL

[_A.D. 805_]

At dawn I rode to escort the Doctors of Art; In the eastern quarter the sky was still grey. I said to myself, “You have started far too soon,” But horses and coaches already thronged the road. High and low the riders’ torches bobbed; Muffled or loud, the watchman’s drum beat. Riders, when I see you prick To your early levee, pity fills my heart. When the sun rises and the hot dust flies And the creatures of earth resume their great strife, You, with your striving, what shall you each seek? Profit and fame, for that is all your care. But I, you courtiers, rise from my bed at noon And live idly in the city of Ch‘ang-an. Spring is deep and my term of office spent; Day by day my thoughts go back to the hills.

[13] IN EARLY SUMMER LODGING IN A TEMPLE TO ENJOY THE MOONLIGHT

[_A.D. 805_]