How to Read Chinese Poetry A Guided Anthology

Sh i P oe t ry oF t He m i ng anD q i ng Dy na s t i e s 373

10 Awakened I recite “The Cock Crows,” alas, but you don’t hear
at all the words of dawn. 醒賦雞鳴兮奚不聞昧旦詞
(xĭng fù jī míng xi xī bù wén mèi dàn cí)
[YXLG 3.4a]

It is dusk, the room is empty, and the young widow is emotionally devastated while
keeping wake by her husband’s spirit tablet with the small children. Her agitated
emotional state is indicated by her movement of going out from the inside to the
courtyard and then back again. In the final line, Gan Lirou alludes to the poem
“The Cock Crows” in the Book of Poetry, which was interpreted as referring to a
virtuous royal consort who woke up the ruler for his court audience when she
heard the cock crowing at dawn.31 The poem has become a standard reference for
a virtuous wife who attends to her husband’s affairs. The allusion emphasizes that
her deceased husband can no longer heed her counsel. Her longing for him can be
sought only in dreams.
After the travails of a long widowhood, Gan Lirou was finally vindicated by her
younger son’s success in passing the highest examination and obtaining an official
position. With all her duties fulfilled, Gan Lirou felt she had come to terms with
herself. Her poems from this period reveal that she had begun to enjoy a leisurely
life in old age, finding pleasure in nature’s delights, creativity in practicing the lit-
erati arts, and peace in spiritual contemplation.

C 1 7. 1 2

Recited at Random

In leisure, I roll out a scroll and open the window,
2 A painting in hand, I face the twilight in the breeze.
The world seems small when one takes a broad view,
4 Looking back, one recognizes the mistakes of the past and present.
Only when I practice meditation do I realize an undefiled mind,
6 Only when I copy sutras do I know there’s a crucial point in the brush.
When the myriad sounds quiet down thoughts become tranquil,
8 The moon moves pure shadows onto the screen.
[YXLG 4.27a]

偶吟 (ŏu yín)

leisure unroll ivory scroll open window leaf 閑披牙軸啟窗扉 (xián pī yá zhóu qĭ chuāng fēi)
hold painting facing wind in front of evening ray 捧卷臨風對夕暉 (pĕng juàn lín fēng duì xī huī)
release eyes see come heaven earth small 放眼看來天地小 (fàng yăn kàn lái tiān dì xiăo)
turn head recognize reach past present wrong 回頭認到昨今非 (huí tóu rèn dào zuó jīn fēi)
manage meditation begin perceive heart have not dirt 理禪始覺心無垢 (lĭ chán shĭ jué xīn wú gòu)
write sutra only then know brush have pivot 書葉方知筆有機 (shū yè fāng zhī bĭ yŏu jī)