How to Read Chinese Poetry A Guided Anthology

338 t He y uan, m i ng, anD q i ng Dy na s t i e s

Zhang Yanghao’s creative use of the tune pattern of “Sheep on Mountain Slope”

is but one example of how a song poem master can turn the restrictive formal

requirements of a sanqu matrix into powerful devices for thematic expression. I

return to this issue later in the chapter.

P o e m s o n t h e l i F e oF a r e C l u s e

Let us look at two song poems by Qiao Ji (1280–1345), a master songwriter who was

very conscious of the technique of sanqu composition. Qiao Ji’s best song poems

are fresh, with sharp images and novel expressions, and the aesthetic finish of his

works is not achieved at the expense of natural simplicity and ease.

C 1 6. 5

To the Tune “Drunk in a Peaceful Time” [zhenggong key]:

Idle Chats of the Woodcutter and the Fisherman

The fish, skewered on a willow twig, is cooked without delay.

2 The wine was newly obtained by bartering the firewood away.

Now the old woodcutter and the old fisherman have the leisure to watch

fighting bulls,

4 And exchange gossip and idle hearsay.

The hardship of going through rain and snow troubles their heads,

6 Yet they make the best of their meager living by chanting of the moon and

discussing the wind on a straw mat,

And with blurry eyes, they talk about heaven and earth over a wine gourd.

8 What a painting of mountains and rivers!

[QYSQ 1:574]

【正宮】醉太平漁樵閑話
([zhèng gōng] zuì tài píng yú qiáo xián huà)

willow pierce fish instantly boil 柳穿魚旋煮 ▲
(liŭ chuān yú xuán zhŭ)
firewood barter wine newly buy 柴換酒新沽 △
(chái huàn jiŭ xīn gū)
fight bull [particle] ride excitement old woodcutter fisherman
鬥牛兒乘興老樵漁
(dòu niú-r chéng xìng lăo qiáo yú)
discuss leisurely word wild language 論閑言倀語 ▲
(lùn xián yán chāng yŭ)
agitate head skull wear cloud shoulder snow bear bitter hardship
燥頭顱束雲擔雪耽辛苦 ▲
(zào tóu lú shù yún dān xuĕ dān xīn kŭ)
sit cattail cushion chat wind chant moon exhaust live road
坐蒲團攀風詠月窮活路 ▲
(zuò pú tuán pān fēng yŏng yuè qióng huó lù)