Crossing the Yangtze
By Xi Peilan
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
Click to hear me recite the original in a reconstruction of mid-Qing guanhua pronunciation
And suddenly our boat is like a leaf,
whirled over waves' terrain and up from rest.
The bleary sky now stretches from high to low.
The blanked expanse confuses east and west.
Our ferry-launch is plunged in the paling clouds,
The heart of waves is bathing the reddening sun.
Kept ladylike indoors1, could I ever see this?
My sight-seeing spirit's manhood has begun2.
Notes:
1-she's talking about the 深閨 shēnguī or "Innermost Quarters," which is the section, inside a palace or main building of an estate, wherein wealthy men could hide their women.
2-in its time, this line would have carried overtones of the debate that raged during Xi Peilan's lifetime over whether it was permissible for a woman to develop literary talent, as it might pollute their virtue. Xi Peilan herself was the most well-known pupil of Yuan Mei, a male scholar who had become infamous or famous (your mileage may vary) among the literate classes for not only stating that women who showed literary talent should be taught the skills of verse-making, but for actually taking on female pupils himself. The following fulmination, penned by the historian Zhang Xuecheng, is an example of the ire Yuan Mei provoked among conservatively-minded men:
Lately a certain wanton imbecile, basking in his own licentiousness, has gone about poisoning the minds of young men and women, hoodwinking everyone by engaging actors and putting on plays about heroes and damsels. South of the Yangtze, many women from noteworthy families have been taken in by him. He has even gussied up his own reputation by collecting their verse and publishing their compositions! He has quite simply lost all appreciation for the differences between men and women, practically to the point of ignoring their biological sex!
(translation mine)
The Original, with transcriptions:
By Xi Peilan
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
Click to hear me recite the original in a reconstruction of mid-Qing guanhua pronunciation
And suddenly our boat is like a leaf,
whirled over waves' terrain and up from rest.
The bleary sky now stretches from high to low.
The blanked expanse confuses east and west.
Our ferry-launch is plunged in the paling clouds,
The heart of waves is bathing the reddening sun.
Kept ladylike indoors1, could I ever see this?
My sight-seeing spirit's manhood has begun2.
Notes:
1-she's talking about the 深閨 shēnguī or "Innermost Quarters," which is the section, inside a palace or main building of an estate, wherein wealthy men could hide their women.
2-in its time, this line would have carried overtones of the debate that raged during Xi Peilan's lifetime over whether it was permissible for a woman to develop literary talent, as it might pollute their virtue. Xi Peilan herself was the most well-known pupil of Yuan Mei, a male scholar who had become infamous or famous (your mileage may vary) among the literate classes for not only stating that women who showed literary talent should be taught the skills of verse-making, but for actually taking on female pupils himself. The following fulmination, penned by the historian Zhang Xuecheng, is an example of the ire Yuan Mei provoked among conservatively-minded men:
Lately a certain wanton imbecile, basking in his own licentiousness, has gone about poisoning the minds of young men and women, hoodwinking everyone by engaging actors and putting on plays about heroes and damsels. South of the Yangtze, many women from noteworthy families have been taken in by him. He has even gussied up his own reputation by collecting their verse and publishing their compositions! He has quite simply lost all appreciation for the differences between men and women, practically to the point of ignoring their biological sex!
(translation mine)
The Original, with transcriptions:
| Han Characters 渡江 席佩蘭 頓覺舟如葉， 飄然萬頃中。 混茫連上下， 空濶失西東。 渡口沈雲白， 波心浴日紅。 深閨曾未見， 放眼膽俱雄。 | Mid-Qing Guānhuà tú kjāŋ sɪʔ pʰʊ́jlân twǽn kyɛʔ tʂə̄w ʐŷ jɛʔ pʰjāuʐɛ̂n wánkʰɪ̀ŋ tʂʊ̄ŋ xwǽn mâŋ ljɛ̂n ʂáŋxjá kʰʊ̄ŋ kʰwɔʔ ʂɪʔ sītʊ̄ŋ túkʰǝ̀u tʂʰɪ̂n ŷn pəʔ pɔ̄ sīn jʊʔ ʐɪʔ xʊ̂ŋ ʂɪ̄nkʊ̄j tsʰæ̂ŋ wí kjɛ́n fáŋŋjɛ̀n tàn ký xjʊ̂ŋ | Modern Standard Chinese Dù jiāng Xí pèilán Dùn jué zhōu rú yè Piāorán wànqǐng zhōng Hùn máng lián shàngxià Kōng kuò shī xīdōng Dùkǒu chén yún bái Bō xīn yù rì hóng Shēnguī céng wèi jiàn Fàngyǎn dǎn jù xióng |
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