04Sep/21

Chinese poem illustration/召南 行露/佚名 A lawsuit

读书, History, 汉语, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chinese poem illustration: 召南 行露/Shao Wind – Road Dew by Anonymous

召南 行露

Full video also available at Bilibili: 召南 行露

A strange and mysterious lawsuit made the poet outrages, while it was widely argued about who launched the lawsuit against the poet, what for this laswsuit was made? who was the poet? a male or a female? These questions further complicate another question: this poem appeared to be written in the early stage of Zhou dynasty which was described as one of the few prosperous period(成康盛世) in Chinese history with a unqiue imprint: no lawsuit happened during the whole period.

A new arguement is raised in this video, yet, there are still too many unknowns. The character 女 and 汝 are discussed.

召南 行露
佚名

厌浥行露，岂不夙夜，谓行多露。

谁谓雀无角？何以穿我屋？
谁谓女无家？何以速我狱？
虽速我狱，室家不足！

谁谓鼠无牙？何以穿我墉？
谁谓女无家？何以速我讼？
虽速我讼，亦不女从！

24Aug/21

Chinese poem illustration/周南 汝坟/佚名 Go with or stay down?

读书, History, 汉语, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chinese poem illustration: 周南 汝坟/Zhou Wind – Your Tomb by Anonymous

周南 汝坟

Full video also available at Bilibili: 周南 汝坟

A poem likely written at the last period of West Zhou(西周) by indicating the royal house of ancestor temple was damaged almost completely.

This poem is about a wife attending the tomb(扫墓) of her husbund, who was a former lord. The whole poem is a mixture of sadness, a moment of joy and hopless, especially in a time of nationwide chaos.

Even thought this poet is considered as a female as always, it still has the possibility that a man wrote this poem, the brother or son of the passed away lord.

周南 汝坟
佚名

遵彼汝坟，伐其条枚。
未见君子，惄如调饥。

遵彼汝坟，伐其条肄。
既见君子，不我遐弃。

鲂鱼赪尾，王室如毁。
虽则如毁，父母孔迩。

20Aug/21

Chinese poem illustration/周南 葛覃/佚名 A bride

读书, History, 汉语, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chinese poem illustration: 周南 葛覃/Zhou Wind – Kudzu Vine by Anonymous

周南 葛覃

Full video also available at Bilibili: 周南 葛覃

As the second poem in Book of Songs, the poem should be significantly important to Zhou people. A draft analysis based on Zhouyi(周易) is made to dig into this poem, how and why it is with profound meaning at the time. The key word is homeward bound(归) which actually does not have a equivalent word and concept in English.

This poem vividly described a typical girl’s life, especially the sultle moment before her wedding.

周南 葛覃
佚名

葛之覃兮，施于中谷，维叶萋萋。
黄鸟于飞，集于灌木，其鸣喈喈。

葛之覃兮，施于中谷，维叶莫莫。
是刈是濩，为絺为綌，服之无斁。

言告师氏，言告言归。
薄污我私。薄浣我衣。
害浣害否？归宁父母。