Letter to My Wife on a Rainy Night 1
Li, Shang-yin (812?-858 CE)
You asked when I would return home,
But I cannot tell you the exact date.
The night rain on Mts. Ba-shan 2 fills the autumn pools.
I wonder when we can trim the candle wicks together by our west window 3,
And talk about this rainy night.
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1 Shang-ying Li wrote this letter to his wife, Lady Wang, in Chang-an City
while he traveled to the Eastern State of Shu. The State of Shu is now called
Sichuan Province.
2 Mts. Da-ba-shan and Mts. Ba-ling are other names of Mts. Ba-shan. The
mountain range stretches across the borders of Shaanxi and Sichuan Provinces.
Here "Mts. Ba-shan" refers to the eastern region of Sichuan Province.
3 This line reminds us of romantic candlelight. One may desire to view the
following video,
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/y-gO3W0v8lI/. This piece of Chinese classical music is entitled
"A Candle's Shadow Dances
with the Flame".
