Preamble

惟十四年，中山王𰯼命相邦賈擇燕吉金，鑄爲彝壺，節于禋齊，可法可尚，以饗上帝，以祀先王。穆穆濟濟，嚴敬不敢怠荒。因載所美，昭肆皇功，詆燕之訛，以儆嗣王。

中山王𰯼: King Cuo of Zhongshan

相邦賈: Chancellor Jia

燕: Yan state

吉金: bronze

彝壺: ritual hu vessel

節: to regulate (the quantity)

于: the text shows mixed usage of 于 and 於

禋齊: sacrificial wine

饗: to feast

穆穆 / 濟濟 / 嚴敬: solemn, reverent

怠荒: remiss

因: therefore

載: to write down

所美: that which is deemed laudable (virtuous)

昭: clear(ly)

肆: to lay out; to state

詆: to denounce

訛: fault

儆: to warn

嗣王: succeeding kings

King's speech

惟朕皇祖文、武、桓祖、成考，寔有純德遺訓，以施及子孫，用惟朕所倣。慈孝寬惠，舉賢使能，天不斁其有願，使得賢士良佐賈，以輔相厥身。余知其忠信也，而屬任之邦，是以遊夕飲食，寧有懅惕。賈竭志盡忠，以左右厥辟，不貳其心。受任佐邦，夙夜匪懈，進賢措能，無有常息，以明辟光。

考: late father

寔: truly

訓: teachings

施: to pass down

倣: to emulate

寬惠: kind, benevolent

舉賢使能 / 進賢措能: to elevate the worthy and appoint the able

斁: to be weary of

其有願 / 厥身: In bronze prose, 其 / 厥 can point back to a first-person antecedent (朕, the speaker); in the following sentence, 余知其忠信也, 其 returns to its standard usage, referring to Chancellor Jia

屬任: to entrust

遊夕: royal seasonal inspection-and-relief tours (spring agricultural inspection and autumn disaster relief)

寧有: how could (I) have

懅惕: worry, fear

辟: monarch

貳心: to be disloyal to

匪: not

光: luster, glory

適遭燕君子噲，不顧大義，不忌諸侯，而臣主易位，以內絕召公之業，乏其先王之祭祀，外之則將使上覲於天子之廟，而退與諸侯齒長於會同，則上逆於天，下不順於人也，寡人非之。賈曰：「爲人臣而反臣其主，不祥莫大焉。將與吾君並立於世，齒長於會同，則臣不忍見也。賈願從士大夫，以靖燕疆。」是以身蒙甲冑，以誅不順。燕故君子噲，新君子之，不用禮義，不顧逆順，故邦亡身死，曾無一夫之救。遂定君臣之位，上下之體，休有成功，創闢封疆。天子不忘其有勳，使其老策賞仲父，諸侯皆賀。

適遭: happen to encounter

燕君子噲: Lord Zikuai of Yan (historically known as King Kuai of Yan)

臣主易位: the subordinate (minister) takes the position of the sovereign; it refers to King Kuai of Yan abdicating his throne to his minister Zizhi (子之), so that the minister became the ruler while the king became subordinate, a reversal of the proper ruler–minister hierarchy

絕 / 乏: to terminate; to abandon

召公: Duke of Shao, founder of the Yan state

使上覲於天子之廟: to let Zizhi present himself at the Zhou royal temple (as if he were a legitimate ruler)

退: to withdraw (after an audience / 上覲)

齒長: to be ranked by seniority; to stand side by side (with other feudal lords)

會同: regular assemblies of the feudal lords

逆 / 不順: to go against

莫大: no greater

士大夫: military nobles

以靖燕疆: to pacify (bring order to) the Yan state; 疆, territory

蒙: to cover; to don

甲冑: body armour

曾無: not even

體: proper order

休: glorious(ly)

創闢封疆: to open up / expand into new territory; 封疆, enfeoffed land, fief

老: a senior minister of the Zhou king

策(冊)賞: to bestow reward by means of a written commission

仲父: an honorific title referring to Chancellor Jia

夫古之聖王，務在得賢，其次得民。故辭禮敬，則賢人至；質愛深，則賢人親；籍斂中，則庶民附。嗚呼，允哉若言！明肆之于壺而時觀焉。祗祗翼翼，昭告後嗣：惟逆生禍，惟順生福；載之簡策，以誡嗣王：惟德附民，惟義可長。子之子，孫之孫，其永保用無疆。

務: priority

質: sincerity

籍斂: taxation

允: true, indeed

若: this, these

祗祗翼翼: respectful, cautious

後嗣: posterity

順: conforming to the natural order of Heaven and man

簡策(冊): bamboo slips

附民: to keep people attached (to the ruler)

可長: can be long-lasting; can endure

永保用: forever treasure and use (this hu vessel)

無疆: without end

I'm working on study of the Classical Chinese (漢詩) of the Man'yōshū 萬葉集. It contains only four poems written and i can read them in japanese but i have no idea if those poems resemble rime in classical chinese.

愛河波浪已先滅

苦海煩惱亦無結

從來厭離此穢土

本願託生彼淨刹

俗道變化猶撃目

人事經紀如申臂

空與浮雲行大虚

心力共盡無所寄

餘春媚日宜怜賞

上巳風光足覽遊

柳陌臨江縟unknown in my sources服

桃源通海泛仙舟

雲罍酌桂三清湛

羽爵催人九曲流

縱醉陶心忘彼我

杪春餘日媚景麗

初巳和風拂自輕

來燕銜泥賀宇入

歸鴻引蘆迥赴瀛

聞君嘯侶新流曲

禊飲催爵泛河清

雖欲追尋良此宴

還知染懊脚 two characters unknown in my sources

I don't even know in which verses should rime.

One of the first texts my Chinese calligraphy teacher exposed me to was the 千字文. Zhi Yong and Zhao Mengfu's models for brushwork were apparently pretty standard texts for student calligraphers but I fell in love with the text and how succiently traditional Chinese thought is folded into its 250 lines.

For a learner, it is unusually efficient.

The four-character lines and strict parallelism train you to read the way classical prose works: 知過必改，得能莫忘 ("knowing a fault, correct it; having gained an ability, never forget it") pairs verb with verb and object with object.

Its rhyme and rhythm make it easy to memorise.

The whole text is a compact worldview. It begins with cosmology (天地玄黃，宇宙洪荒), moves to the sage-kings, sets out the Confucian bonds of family, friendship and service to the state, surveys the capital and the empire, and closes with a quiet retirement from office.

I went on to compile an annotated edition based on calligrapher Zhi Yong's text, with pinyin, a full translation, commentary on the allusions and a vocabulary list to help me with my learning as I practiced the calligraphy and thought it might be of interest to the community (amazon link).

Do give it a go, especially if you subscribe to Kindle unlimited.

I don't know much about Classical Chinese, so I can't properly analyse the syntactic structure of the Xiongnu Song myself.

The song has two versions with slightly different wording but similar structures. The two versions are as follows:

Shiji Suoyin:

亡我祁連山，使我六畜不蕃息；

失我燕支山，使我嫁婦無顏色。

Yuefu Shiji:

失我焉支山，令我婦女無顏色。

失我祁連山，使我六畜不蕃息。

I also have a specific question: Do the clauses beginning with 失 (or 亡) function as independent clauses, or could they be subordinate clauses expressing cause or circumstance, approximately equivalent to "Having lost Mount Qilian..."? (I saw such a translation on a website.)

吾韓國人也

吾來此以學而習漢文

若與君等交談而學英語亦好事也

English is translated as 英語 in East Asia(and as 영어(young uh) in Korea). Since England is rendered as 英國, we call English 英語.

第一節

起立地上慘者等

起立饑之奴者等

火坑中義轟如雷

其是終局之噴爆

掃蕩舊世至空白

起立奴群衆起立

天地根基將變換

吾儕微物爲天主

How do you think about it?

(The video above is a zhongruan中阮 performance)

Today, let's meet another member of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove (竹林七贤) — Ruan Xian (阮咸), the nephew of Ruan Ji (阮籍).

The Story Behind the Idiom

According to A New Account of the Tales of the World (世说新语), there was a custom of showing off fine clothes during a traditional festival. While his relatives and neighbors displayed their fancy silk garments, Ruan Xian(阮咸), who wasn't wealthy, simply hung out a pair of ordinary short trousers instead.

He reportedly explained: 未能免俗，聊复尔耳。
Roughly translated: “I can't escape the custom, so I'll just go along with it!”

Ruan Xian was known for his unconventional personality and disregard for rigid social rules. He seemed to go along with the custom, but didn't really care what others thought of his ordinary trousers. I find that attitude both amusing and charming!

What Does 未能免俗 Mean Today?

Today, we use it when we do something not because we particularly care about it, but simply to fit in or because it's expected.

Example:
The company party wasn't really my thing, but it would've felt awkward not to show up, so I went anyway. 未能免俗!

One More Interesting Fact

Ruan Xian was also famous for playing a traditional Chinese string instrument associated with his name: the ruan (阮).

The video at the very top of the post is a performance on the zhongruan (中阮), an instrument of medium size in the ruan (阮) family. Give it a listen!

There's another video, the second one on the right is Ruan:
https://youtu.be/n8eS9KpRpXo?list=RDn8eS9KpRpXo&t=284

Pretty cool that his name lives on in Chinese music, too!

(AI-assisted editing)

My Chengyu (Chinese Idioms) Posts

just curious as I'd expect it to be Alexander Dent-Young's considering his translation is the most complete

Been reading about 璇玑图 this week and I can't get over it.

苏蕙 (Su Hui) wove it into a piece of brocade in the 4th century. It's a 29 by 29 grid of characters, with 心 right in the center. You can read it forwards, backwards, around the border, through the colored blocks... People have been counting the poems hidden in it ever since.

The story is the part I like most. Her husband 窦滔 was posted far away and, depending on the version, took another woman with him. She didn't write him a normal letter. She wove this and sent it. He read it and came back for her.

The simplest way to see how it works is the first line:

琴清流楚激弦商

Read it backwards and it still works: 商弦激楚流清琴

Has anyone here actually tried reading through the full grid? And are there other 回文 poems you like, especially less famous ones?

Edit: here's the grid itself, thanks u/dmkam5 for the nudge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Gauge

得意忘形

In my previous posts, I mentioned Ruan Ji (阮籍, 210–263 AD). Here's another idiom about him.

青眼相加 (qīng yǎn xiāng jiā) means “to look favorably on someone” or “to show someone special respect.”

The Story Behind the Idiom

According to  世说新语 (Shi Shuo Xin Yu) , a book we've mentioned many times before, Ruan Ji 阮籍had a pretty unusual way of treating people. When he met someone he liked or admired, he would look at them with his pupils centered normally. This was called 青眼 (qīng yǎn), literally “dark pupil,” and it was a way of showing respect and appreciation.

But if someone he didn't like came to visit, he'd roll his eyes so that more of the whites showed. This was called 白眼 (bái yǎn), a way of showing disdain or that he didn't want to deal with someone.

A famous example involves Ji Kang (嵇康). When Ji Kang's brother, Ji Xi (嵇喜), came to visit, Ruan Ji gave him the 白眼 treatment, and Ji Xi left unhappy. But when Ji Kang himself came, Ruan Ji was delighted and welcomed him with 青眼.

What Does It Mean Today?

青眼相加 means to look favorably on someone or give them special respect. The opposite expression, 白眼相待 (bái yǎn xiāng dài), means to treat someone with disdain. You can also simply say 给某人白眼, meaning to give someone a dirty look or roll your eyes at them.

You'll also hear 白眼 in everyday Chinese:

• 翻白眼 (fān bái yǎn) means “to roll your eyes,” usually because you're annoyed or don't believe what someone is saying.
• 白眼狼 (bái yǎn láng) literally means “white-eyed wolf.” It's a common expression for an ungrateful person who repays kindness with ingratitude.

So, if someone gives you 青眼, you've made a good impression. If you get 白眼, well, things probably aren't going so well.

(AI-assisted editing)

My Chengyu (Chinese Idioms) Posts

What do readers make of this effort? Is it reliable for a student of the language? https://philpapers.org/go.pl?aid=WILZHF

Hi! My undergrad professor mentioned "hell books", texts aimed at women containing representation of hell/immoral behaviour, and I've been trying to find academic sources or pictures of them - any suggestions? Or anything on moral instruction aimed at women. Any period works, Ming would be ideal.

I mentioned Cao Zhi (曹植) in my previous post. Today, here's another idiom about him and his brother, Cao Pi (曹丕).

相煎何急 (xiāng jiān hé jí) literally means “Why boil your own kind so hard?”

Their father, Cao Cao (曹操), was a powerful warlord and politician during the late Han Dynasty. Even before his death, his two sons were competing for succession. Cao Pi eventually won, became King of Wei, and later founded the Wei dynasty.

According to the famous story in the book 世说新语 (Shishu Xinyu), the new king Cao Pi wanted to punish his brother. He ordered Cao Zhi to write a poem within seven steps, or face execution.
The catch? He had to describe the situation between the two brothers without using the word “brother.” Pretty tough.

Cao Zhi supposedly came up with:

煮豆燃豆萁，豆在釜中泣。本是同根生，相煎何太急？

“Beans are boiled using their own stalks as fuel.
The beans inside the pot are crying:
We were born from the same root,
why are you boil me so hard?”

Cao Pi was moved by the poem, and Cao Zhi survived.

Although the story may not be entirely accurate historically, later generations accepted it, and it became a famous legend showcasing Cao Zhi’s literary talent.

Backstory
Cao Cao, Cao Pi, and Cao Zhi are sometimes called the “Three Caos” (三曹) because of their literary achievements. Cao Pi got the crown, but Cao Zhi got the literary crown. He was considered one of the greatest poets of his time, with the famous saying 才高八斗.

(AI-assisted editing)

My Chengyu (Chinese Idioms) Posts