150. The Temple of the First King of Shu, Liu Yuxi
Wednesday, 30 March 2022 07:57![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lnhammerA mighty hero breathed on heaven and earth—
A thousand autumns, yet we do still shiver.
By force he split apart the three-legged cauldron
And minted once again the five-zhu coin.
He gathered talent, and they founded a state,
Although his son did not seem worthy of it:
From desolate Shu, the song-girls came to dance
Before the palace of the king of Wei.
蜀先主庙
天地英雄气，
千秋尚凛然。
势分三足鼎，
业复五铢钱。
得相能开国，
生儿不象贤。
凄凉蜀故妓，
来舞魏宫前。
This would be the funeral temple of Liu Bei (161-223), first king of Shu, one of the Three Kingdoms. Despite the second line, the poet is writing about 600 years after his death. The three-legged cauldron is an old symbol for the Three Kingdoms, stable only when all three were strong. The 5-zhu coin (worth 5/24 of a tael) was minted during the Western Han dynasty but went into abeyance during the interregnal Xin Dynasty. When Shu, then ruled by his by all estimates (including Liu Bei himself) incompetent son, was conquered by the armies of Wei, general Sima Zhao had the Shu court’s singing-and-dancing girls perform before his emperor.
... just a wee bit of toxic masculinity there, that this is considered the worst possible slam on Liu Chan ...
Nerdy historical note: the character 妓, here song-girl, meant at the time a woman who played music, sang, and/or danced for others’ entertainment, but in modern Chinese means only “prostitute.” This sort of semantic drift has happened in many cultures.
---L.
A thousand autumns, yet we do still shiver.
By force he split apart the three-legged cauldron
And minted once again the five-zhu coin.
He gathered talent, and they founded a state,
Although his son did not seem worthy of it:
From desolate Shu, the song-girls came to dance
Before the palace of the king of Wei.
蜀先主庙
天地英雄气，
千秋尚凛然。
势分三足鼎，
业复五铢钱。
得相能开国，
生儿不象贤。
凄凉蜀故妓，
来舞魏宫前。
This would be the funeral temple of Liu Bei (161-223), first king of Shu, one of the Three Kingdoms. Despite the second line, the poet is writing about 600 years after his death. The three-legged cauldron is an old symbol for the Three Kingdoms, stable only when all three were strong. The 5-zhu coin (worth 5/24 of a tael) was minted during the Western Han dynasty but went into abeyance during the interregnal Xin Dynasty. When Shu, then ruled by his by all estimates (including Liu Bei himself) incompetent son, was conquered by the armies of Wei, general Sima Zhao had the Shu court’s singing-and-dancing girls perform before his emperor.
... just a wee bit of toxic masculinity there, that this is considered the worst possible slam on Liu Chan ...
Nerdy historical note: the character 妓, here song-girl, meant at the time a woman who played music, sang, and/or danced for others’ entertainment, but in modern Chinese means only “prostitute.” This sort of semantic drift has happened in many cultures.
---L.
no subject
Date: 30 March 2022 16:43 (UTC)no subject
Date: 30 March 2022 16:48 (UTC)(TIL dings came in three- and four-legged forms. Huh.)