A Night Mooring Near Maple Bridge (枫桥夜泊)

To the right you will see the beautiful scroll which adorns the wall in my room. It has been hanging there since Christmas and I never get tired of looking at it. It is a thing of beauty. All the more so since I it was written especially for me by Lailai's mother as a gift. Using an older style of Chinese calligraphy she wrote Zhang Ji's (张继) famous poem "Night Mooring Near Maple Bridge" (枫桥夜泊). Zhang Ji was a famous Tang dynasty (唐朝)poet and there is a bridge in Suzhou was has been made famous by this poem and while I was in Suzhou last year I did not get a chance during our brief visit to see it. Perhaps next time. In traditional Chinese writing such as that seen here the characters are written with a brush and the words are to be read from top to bottom, starting at the right hand side and progressing left.

I have included the text of the poem as it would be written using modern simplified Chinese characters, pinyin and of course and English translation.

Simplified Characters:

张继 Zhang ji

月落乌啼霜满天，
江枫渔火对愁眠。
姑苏城外寒山寺。
夜半钟声到客船。

Pinyin:

枫feng1 桥qiao2 夜ye4 [泊bo2;po1] 张zhang1 继ji4

月yue4 [落la4;lao4;luo1;luo4] [乌wu1;wu4] 啼ti2 霜shuang1 满man3 天tian1 ，

江jiang1 枫feng1 渔yu2 火huo3 对dui4 愁chou2 眠mian2 。

姑gu1 苏su1 城cheng2 外wai4 寒han2 山shan1 寺si4 ，

夜ye4 半ban4 钟zhong1 声sheng1 到dao4 客ke4 船chuan2 。

English:

Moon sets, crows cry and frost fills all the sky;

By maples and boat lights, I sleepless lie.

Outside Suzhou Hanshan Temple is in sight;

Its ringing bells reach my boat at midnight.

The English does not do the poem justice. It captures what is being said but the feeling is in the sound of the Chinese words. There are other English translations available which might be more literal but I think this one captures the feeling of the poem nicely. Other more liberal translations add too much to the poem and take away from its simplicity and economy of words. The poem is peaceful and tranquil and at the same time possesses a hint of loneliness. All the same I really love this poem and it is one of my first exposures to some of the great works of poetry that China possesses.

If you would like to hear how this poem sounds when spoken in its native language then go to this page: http://kid.baby.sina.com.cn/2004-11-15/4054.html

我要谢来来妈妈，她给了我这张绘画. 谢谢!