Poem & Jinling Song, Deceased Courtesan of Taicheng

[lnhammer]

Advanced Scholar Huang of Jinling dreamed he met a deceased courtesan of Taicheng. Since she said (her poems), they were used by Yang Wu’s Sacrificial Music Department. Her poems went:

Poem
My moon-song on the jade floor was cut off,
My dance in gold-thread robes was incomplete.
The even hairpins, gathered, burst their bonds
And frowning eyebrows parted many gates.
Its web cut, the spider still keeps weaving,
And don’t spring swallows come back to the bridge?
How can I bear to look back at the river
Landing where the wild-pear petals fly?

Jinling Song
Within the palace, fine plants damp with fragrant crimson blooms—
Inside the palace, a slender waist weeps by the green screened window.
There are indeed upon the arched beams swallow chicks in spring,
And yet beside the pearl-bead curtain the jade-hook moon is rising.

作者：故台城妓
〈金陵黄进士梦遇台城故妓，自云今为吴神乐部，其诗云：〉

诗
歌罢玉楼月，
舞残金缕衣。
匀钿收迸节，
敛黛别重闱。
网断蛛犹织，
梁春燕不归。
那堪回首处，
江步野棠飞。

金陵词
宫中细草香红湿，
宫内纤腰碧窗泣。
唯有虹梁春燕雏，
犹傍珠帘玉钩立。

More potted history: Taicheng was the name for China’s southern capital from the Three-Kingdoms-era state of Eastern Wu until the city’s destruction when the Chen Dynasty was conquered by Sui forces. Its courtesans were known for songs describing landscapes, which as a genre influenced early Tang Dynasty poetry. The city was rebuilt as a capital by the Ten-Kingdoms-era state of Yang Wu, which restored its Warring-States-era name Jinling. It was renamed Nanjing during the Ming Dynasty, and normally I’d use the modern name but the headnote is specifically highlighting two eras by using historical names.

The Department of Sacrificial Music was part of the state religious apparatus, in charge of exactly what it says on the tin: providing music during sacrifices. As in many other cultures, higher status courtesans often provided entertainment, including song and dance, to their clients.

---L.

Comments

[sartorias]

So image-rich!!!

[lnhammer]

Yes.

I realize these are given as both by the same person, but the second reads very much as a reply to the first.

[marycrawford]

Wow, that's gorgeous in its imagery. What do you think the 'frowning eyebrows parted many gates' line was about?

[lnhammer]

Ah, I should have annotated that. The "many gates" are the entries into the women's quarters in, especially, the imperial palace. The image I'm getting is that a displeased PTB, possibly the emperor/lord or empress/principal wife, sweeping in and having the doors opened before them.

[marycrawford]

Ah I see, thanks for explaining! That makes the images of the interrupted dance etc. all the more dramatic.

[lnhammer]

:scrambles to edit the notes even more: