To the Tune of "Paying Homage at the Golden Door" 1
Feng, Yan-yi 2 (903-960 CE)
The wind suddenly rises.
It ripples a pool of Spring water 3.
She leisurely leads the mandarin ducks 4 to a fragrant path.
Her fingers stroke the red apricot blossoms.
She watches the ducks fight 5
While leaning against the banister alone.
Her jade hairpin loosens and falls in a slant.
She looks forward to seeing her lover all day,
But he never arrives.
She becomes excited when looking up and seeing magpies 6.
Notes
1 "The golden door" refers to "the palace door". Those who passed the
Advanced Exam had the opportunity to enter the palace and pay homage to the
emperor.
2 Yan-si and Zheng-zhong were Yan-yi Feng's other first names. His ancestors
lived in Peng-cheng City. At the end of the Tang dynasty, his family moved to
Xin-an City and then Guang-ling City (the old name for Yang-zhou City; present
day Jiang-du-xian City in Jiangsu Province). Yan-yi Feng worked for the Kingdom
of Southern Tang as minister of the Legislative Bureau, prime minister, and
grand tutor of the crown prince in succession. He wrote a poetry book called
Spring Sunshine.
Shi-xiu Chen said, "Yan-yi Feng's poetry is deep and beautiful. His rhyming
schemes are creative and elegant."
"The Preface of Spring Sunshine" written by Ju Feng says,
"In the
Kingdom of Southern Tang, King Yuan-zong and his son, Last King Li, excelled at
Ci poetry, so did their prime minister, Yan-yi Feng. Their achievements have
never been paralleled. All the Ci poets during the Early Song dynasty followed
the legacy of the two kings of Southern Tang and held Yan-yi Feng's poetry as
their model just like calligraphers Xun Ou-yang (557-641), Shi-nan Yu (558-638),
Sui-liang Chu (596-659), and Ji Xue (649-713) followed the calligraphical works
of Xi-zhi Wang (321-379)."
Notes and Comments on Ci Poetry at the Willow Pond says,
"Yan-yi Feng wrote more than one hundred folk style poems. Some of them were
collected in the poetry book, Liu-yi. Ting-jian Huang and Shi-dao Chen of
the Jiangxi Poetry School considered Feng's poetry shallow and mediocre.
(Translator's note. Ban Feng of the Qing dynasty attacked Shi-dao Chen's poetry
by saying, "Shi-dao Chen's poetry is rigid, awkward, and difficult to
understand.") However, most poets aimed at composing flowery couplets. In
contrast, Yan-yi Feng was a poet who could fully express his feelings."
The Lotus Town says, "Spring Sunshine is rich and nuanced. Its
poems may compete with Yu Li's."
Guo-wei Wang said, "Among all the Ci poets who excelled at meanings, the best
one was Xiu Ou-yang. Among all the Ci poets who excelled at art, the best one
was Guan Qing. There were few Ci poets like Bai Li, the two kings of Southern
Tang, and Yan-yi Feng who excelled both at art and at meanings."
3 This poem describes a woman cherishing the memory of her lover. "The wind"
refers to the love of her boyfriend. "Suddenly rises" refers to the fact that
her feelings cannot be controlled. A pool of Spring water represents her heart.
The title of the following video is called "From Where Does the Wind Come?".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QELYjhFWpwk&feature=related
The wind in this video also means love.
King Yuan-zong of the Kingdom of Southern Tang teased Yan-yi Feng by asking,
"Why are you worried about the wind rippling a pool of Spring water when it has
nothing to do with you?" Feng replied, "My line is not as good as your lines "I
play a wind pipe in an attic to cherish the memory of a distant friend./ The
music is sad and cold." King Yuan-zong was pleased.
4 Mandarin ducks always walk in pairs, a male and a female. They are used to
represent an affectionate couple.
5 After My Guests Leave written by Yu Zhao says, "'To the Tune
of 'Paying Homage at the Golden Door'' written by Yan-yi Feng enjoys great
popularity. It says, 'She watches the ducks fight/While leaning against the
banister alone'. People doubt that ducks can fight. I have investigated this
matter. The notes for 'The Biography of Chuan Sun' in The History of the
Three Kingdoms quote 'The Biography of Biao Jiang' which says, 'Emperor Wen-di of the Wei dynasty sent an envoy to the Kingdom of Wu and requested
fighting ducks. The officials in Wu's court suggested to their king, Chuan Sun,
that he decline the request. The King of Wu said, 'Emperor Wen-di is in imperial
mourning. It is impolite to decline his modest request.’ Therefore, the king
gave all his fighting ducks to Emperor Wen-di.'
"'The Biography of Sun Lu' says, 'Lü Sun,
Count of Jian-chang and the second son of Chuan Sun, built a cage for his
fighting ducks. Sun Lu said, 'You should diligently study classics. What use is
it to build a duck cage?'
"'The Biography of Seng-da Wang' in The History of Southern Dynasties
written by Yan-shou Li says, 'Seng-da Wang, the crown prince's secretary, went
to Yang-lie Bridge to watch a duck fight on pretext of illness. Wang was
impeached by an auditor.'
"The essay 'The Biography of King You of Qi' in The History of the Tang
Dynasty says, 'King You loved to raise fighting ducks. Once when he went
out, a fox came and killed more than forty of the king's ducks by breaking their
necks. When the king came back and found the slaughter of his ducks, he accused
more than forty of his servants of negligence and punished them with death.'
"Thus, there have been duck fights since ancient times.
"'The Biography of Ling-zi Tian' in The History of the Tang Dynasty
says, 'Emperor Xi-zong loved to watch ducks fight. He visited Xing-qing Pool
near the residence of six kings several times and brought his geese to fight the
kings' ducks. One goose could be worth half a million dollars. This story shows
that geese can also fight.'"
6 Chinese Valentine's Day is on the seventh day of the seventh month in the
Chinese lunar calendar. In Chinese mythology, Chinese Valentine’s Day originates
from a story about the Milky Way. The Spinning-damsel, a daughter of the Jade
Emperor (the Supreme Deity of Taoism), lives east of the Heavenly River. She is
in charge of weaving colorful clouds for heavenly clothing. The Jade Emperor
appreciates her hard work and pities her living alone. Therefore, he marries her
to the Herd-boy living west of the Heavenly River. Shortly after they get
married, they begin to neglect their duties. This negligence irritates the Jade
Emperor. Consequently, he punishes them by changing the Herd-boy into a star in
the western sky and the Spinning-damsel into a star (Vega) in the eastern sky.
They are allowed to meet each other once a year, the night of Chinese
Valentine's Day. On that night, the magpies (xi-que [happy birds]) will build a
heavenly bridge from east to west so that the Herd-boy and the Spinning-damsel
can meet. It is these magpies that made the Milky Way we see today. Here
"magpies" is a favorable sign of her lover's imminent arrival. Thus, she misses
her lover so much that even a favorable sign makes her day.