Grand Poetry Memorization Project #1: 溪居

[rezaf]

*This is a part of Grand Poetry Memorization Project. For more information you can read this topic: http://www.chinese-f...zation-project/

名称:《溪居》

年代: 唐朝

作者: 柳宗元

久为簪组束，幸此南夷谪。

jiǔ wéi zān zǔ shù ， xìng cǐ nán yí zhé 。

闲依农圃邻，偶似山林客。

xián yī nóng pǔ lín ， ǒu sì shān lín kè 。

晓耕翻露草，夜榜响溪石。

xiǎo gēng fān lù cǎo ， yè bèng* xiǎng xī shí 。

来往不逢人，长歌楚天碧。

láiwǎng bù féng rén ， cháng gē chǔ tiān bì 。

*bèng seems to be the pronunciation in more reliable dictionaries but some dictionaries say bàng.

English translation: http://www.chinapage...poem/t300a.html

I had so long been troubled by official hat and robe

That I am glad to be an exile here in this wild southland.

I am a neighbour now of planters and reapers.

I am a guest of the mountains and woods.

I plough in the morning, turning dewy grasses,

And at evening tie my fisher-boat, breaking the quiet stream.

Back and forth I go, scarcely meeting anyone,

And sing a long poem and gaze at the blue sky.

朗诵 link: 1－ http://www.tudou.com...ew/WzHxyUpNC3c/

2－http://www.56.com/u57/v_NDIxNjQ3OTY.html

Poet's Biography: Liu Zongyuan( Liu Tsung-yüan , Liu Zongyuan, 柳宗元, Liǔ Zōngyuán, 773 – 819) was a Chinese writer, Chinese poet and prose writer who lived in Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty. Liu Zongyuan was a master of the free and simple guwen prose of the early Chinese philosophers, and like his contemporary, the poet and essayist Han Yü, he strove to liberate writers from the formalized p'ien-wen (“parallel prose”) style which had been in vogue for nearly 1,000 years. Together with Han Yü, he was a founder of the Classical Prose Movement, and is traditionally classed as one of the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties.

Born in Chang'an, Liu Zongyuan was promoted very rapidly in the civil government. He supported the reform efforts of Emperor Shunzong, fell into disfavor with the authorities when the Emperor suddenly abdicated in 805, and was assigned a minor position as a commander of a remote military post at Yangzhou, in modern Hunan. After ten years, he was sent even farther away to the ethnic minority area of Liuzhou ( 柳州) (modern Guangxi province). In exile, Liu Zongyuan turned his attention to literature and wrote numerous letters, poems, fables reflective travelogues and essays synthesizing elements of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism. Around 180 of his poems are extant. Some of his works celebrate his freedom from office, while others mourn his banishment.

http://www.newworlde...ry/Liu_Zongyuan

[rezaf]

OK here is me reciting this poem. It's sort of in slow motion but that's the best my memory can do at 1:30 am. Any corrections or suggestions?

溪居.mp3

[heifeng]

FYI, there appears to be a different version(s?) of this poem, some of which use 累 in the first line (No big surprise here really). However, there also seems to be a different reading offered for the character 榜 (note 3) based on the below description. (I'll have to look into this more carefully later though...because then there is another different pronunciation also offered as 榜bàng（谤）。划船的工具as offered in the description of the poem here. ~so confusing~)

溪居

作者：柳宗元

久为簪组累①，幸此南夷谪②。

闲依农圃邻，偶似山林客。

晓耕翻露草，夜榜③响溪石。

来往不逢人，长歌楚天碧④。

柳宗元《溪居》的注释：

①簪组：古代官吏的服饰，此指官职。累；约束，束缚。②南夷：古代对南方少数民族的称呼。谪：被降职或调往边远地区。当时柳宗元被贬为永州司马。③夜榜：夜里行船。榜：此处读”彭“音，意为进船。此句指天黑船归，船触溪石而发出的声音，④楚天：永州原属楚地。

[rezaf]

Thanks for bringing this up. In that tudou link it sounds like bang4 I think. According to 古汉语常用字字典（华语教学出版社）as bang4 it means 船桨 and 划船, in 汉典 also bàng is 摇船的用具 but according to 王力古汉语字典 beng4 is 摇船的工具 and there is no pronunciation as bang4 . I'm gonna change the pinyin to bang4 for now but if you have other dictionaries please see if there is more information about it.

[Hofmann]

國語辭典 says bèng.

廣韻 says 北孟切. Homophones are [something that will probably screw up my post] and 跰.

[rezaf]

I just added another 朗诵 link. In that one it is clearly beng4.

[rezaf]

So if 榜 means 划船 then why does the English translation say "And at evening tie my fisher-boat"? Shall I change it?