When the Emperor sought guidance from wise men, from exiles,
He found no calmer w i sdom than that of young Chia
And assigned him the foremost council-seat at midnight,
Yet asked him about gods, instead of about people.
Original Poem:
「听筝」
李端
鸣筝金粟柱， 素手玉房前。
欲得周郎顾， 时时误拂弦。
Interpretation:
This is a poem about a young girl in love, vividly portraying the image of a young girl in the throes of passionate love.
The young girl is sitting in front of a gorgeous house, playing a magnificent guzheng. The girl often plays the wrong string in order to win the favour of her beloved, and she is obviously not the only one here. Of course, the indirect cause of this girl’s “mistakenly playing the wrong string” is already very clear, because she is too full of emotion, too excited, because her lover is right in front of her, she is always looking forward to her sweetheart to give her a heartfelt glance, and thus she unknowingly and frequently played the wrong string. This is the direct cause of her “wrong string”. This is her true feelings, and the description of the girl’s movements and psychology is very delicate.
From this, we can see that this poem is not about a girl’s “invitation for favour”, but about the true feelings of a girl in love.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Li Duan was a native of Zhao County, Hebei Province. He lived in Mount Lu and studied under Kyauk Ran. In 770 A.D., Li Duan passed the entrance examination and was initially appointed as a school scholar, but resigned due to illness. Later, Li Duan was appointed as the Secretary of Hangzhou, but he was tired of the official business and abandoned his post to hide in Hengshan, one of the “Ten Scholarly Men of the Dali Dynasty”. He was one of the “Ten Scholarly Men of the Dali Dynasty”. He wrote many poems of farewells and gifts, and was praised by the people of his time for his quick-wittedness.
