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(2) Mu’s Reply to the County Magistrate
When Heaven’s ruler fell in ruins,
The Sui clan joined his fate like a tassel,
Faced tribulations from paired watch-towers.
War-spears connected the nine provinces—
Outside the gates were vicious commoners
And toward that palace came rebel schemes.
Wangyi Palace once held blood-sacrifice—
The ancestral spirits also brought shame.
At Wenshi Palace, troops were gathered.
At the inner gate the blood soon flowed.
Pity, ah! —the boy flute-player.
Grief wailed beneath the Phoenix Tower.
Frost-glitter blades appeared and pressed.
“Jade hairpins” couldn’t plead for mercy.
Silk jackets left behind for servants.
Face-powder, brow-liner: bitter foes.
The realm by then had sunk and capsized—
Survivors didn’t keep their vows.
Brave, so brave, my ancestor general—
For the land only do I grieve—
His crimson blood splashed on the screen,
His firm flesh stained the spears and lances.
Today we see the wheat and millet,
Who daily mourn the dynastic cycle.
The jade tree is already lonesome—
In the Yellow Springs, ten-million autumns.
I feel your single glance is heavy
And wish his loyalty be rewarded—
For secret and seen, if there’s no harm,
Then this pact is a silken bond.
皇天昔降祸，
隋室若缀旒。
患难在双阙，
干戈连九州。
出门皆凶竖，
所向多逆谋。
白日忽然暮，
颓波不可收。
望夷既结衅，
宗社亦贻羞。
温室兵始合，
宫闱血已流。
悯哉吹箫子，
悲啼下凤楼。
霜刃徒见逼，
玉笄不可求。
罗襦遗侍者，
粉黛成仇雠。
邦国已沦覆，
馀生誓不留。
英英将军祖，
独以社稷忧。
丹血溅黼扆，
丰肌染戈矛。
今来见禾黍，
尽日悲宗周。
玉树已寂寞，
泉台千万秋。
感兹一顾重，
愿以死节酬。
幽显傥不昧，
终焉契绸缪。〈穆答县主〉
Notes on the second poem: The run-up to the coup included widespread agrarian revolts over high taxes and a new harsh legal code—thus the “vicious commoners.” Wangyi was a Qin Dynasty palace where court eunuch Zhao Gao had the second and last Qin emperor murdered. A “jade hairpin” is a young woman, esp. an upper-class one such as a lady-in-waiting. The jade tree is obviously symbolic, but of what, I cannot say. Again, secret and seen mean “the living and the dead.”
---L.
When Heaven’s ruler fell in ruins,
The Sui clan joined his fate like a tassel,
Faced tribulations from paired watch-towers.
War-spears connected the nine provinces—
Outside the gates were vicious commoners
And toward that palace came rebel schemes.
Wangyi Palace once held blood-sacrifice—
The ancestral spirits also brought shame.
At Wenshi Palace, troops were gathered.
At the inner gate the blood soon flowed.
Pity, ah! —the boy flute-player.
Grief wailed beneath the Phoenix Tower.
Frost-glitter blades appeared and pressed.
“Jade hairpins” couldn’t plead for mercy.
Silk jackets left behind for servants.
Face-powder, brow-liner: bitter foes.
The realm by then had sunk and capsized—
Survivors didn’t keep their vows.
Brave, so brave, my ancestor general—
For the land only do I grieve—
His crimson blood splashed on the screen,
His firm flesh stained the spears and lances.
Today we see the wheat and millet,
Who daily mourn the dynastic cycle.
The jade tree is already lonesome—
In the Yellow Springs, ten-million autumns.
I feel your single glance is heavy
And wish his loyalty be rewarded—
For secret and seen, if there’s no harm,
Then this pact is a silken bond.
皇天昔降祸，
隋室若缀旒。
患难在双阙，
干戈连九州。
出门皆凶竖，
所向多逆谋。
白日忽然暮，
颓波不可收。
望夷既结衅，
宗社亦贻羞。
温室兵始合，
宫闱血已流。
悯哉吹箫子，
悲啼下凤楼。
霜刃徒见逼，
玉笄不可求。
罗襦遗侍者，
粉黛成仇雠。
邦国已沦覆，
馀生誓不留。
英英将军祖，
独以社稷忧。
丹血溅黼扆，
丰肌染戈矛。
今来见禾黍，
尽日悲宗周。
玉树已寂寞，
泉台千万秋。
感兹一顾重，
愿以死节酬。
幽显傥不昧，
终焉契绸缪。〈穆答县主〉
Notes on the second poem: The run-up to the coup included widespread agrarian revolts over high taxes and a new harsh legal code—thus the “vicious commoners.” Wangyi was a Qin Dynasty palace where court eunuch Zhao Gao had the second and last Qin emperor murdered. A “jade hairpin” is a young woman, esp. an upper-class one such as a lady-in-waiting. The jade tree is obviously symbolic, but of what, I cannot say. Again, secret and seen mean “the living and the dead.”
---L.