Song of Everlasting Regret

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The Song of Everlasting Regret
by Bai Juyi, translated by Wikisource
Composed in the year 806, The Song of Everlasting Regret details the events surrounding the death of the lady Yang Guifei during the Anshi Rebellion in 755. Yang Guifei was the beloved concubine of the Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.

Contents

[edit] Lines 1 - 50

Original Pinyin Translation
cháng hèn gē The Song of Everlasting Regret
傾國 Hàn huáng zhòng sè sī qīngguó, A certain emperor of the Han dynasty[1] placed a premium on his dalliances, and longed for a woman so beautiful, that he might be tempted to ignore his duties at court, and thus bring about the downfall of his empire.[2]
御宇多年不得 yùyǔ duōnián qiú bùdé. He ruled his empire for many years without finding such a beauty.
Yáng jiā yǒu nǚ chū zhǎng chéng, There was a girl of the house of Yang who had just come of age.
深閨 yǎng zài shēnguī rén wèi shì. She had been brought up in the women's chambers, and was not yet known to the outside world.
天生麗質自棄 tiānshēng lìzhì nán zìqì, Her natural beauty and lovely comportment were difficult to ignore,
君王 yī zhāo xuǎn zài jūnwáng cè. One day, she was selected to stand at the side of His Majesty.
回眸一笑 huímóuyīxiào bǎi mèi shēng, She could melt one's heart with her coquettish smile,
六宮粉黛顏色 liùgōng fěndài wú yánsè. All of the powdered faces of the ladies in waiting from the six palaces paled in comparison.
華清池 chūn hán cì yù Huáqīngchí, On a cold spring day, he bestowed upon her the honor of bathing with him at the Huaqing pools,[3]
According to legend, this is the pool that was used by Yang Guifei and the emperor.
溫泉凝脂 wēnquán shuǐ huá xǐ níngzhī. The waters of the hot springs were smooth, and washed over her pale white skin.
侍兒無力 shìér fú qǐ jiāo wúlì, The palace maids helped her to leave the pool, because she was too delicate and lacked strength.
恩澤 shǐ shì xīn chéng ēnzé shí. This was when she began to receive the emperor's advances.
雲鬢花顏金步搖 yúnbìn huāyán jīnbùyáo, She had dark black hair, and the face of a flower, with golden jewelry dangling from her hair.
芙蓉 fúróng zhàng nuǎn dù chūn xiāo. They spent the spring nights in the warmth of a hibiscus tent.
chūn xiāo kǔ duǎn rì gāo qǐ, They lamented that the spring nights were all too short, and did not rise until long after the sun had come out.
從此君王早朝 cóngcǐ jūnwáng bù zǎozhāo. From this point on, His Majesty did not attend the morning court.
閒暇 chéng huān shì yàn wú xiánxiá, She spent her days pleasing the emperor and accompanying him to banquets. She had no free time.
chūn cóng chūn yóu yè zhuān yè. In the springtime, she accompanied him on his outings, and would share his bed night after night.
佳麗 hòu gōng jiālì sān qiān rén, Although there were 3,000 beauties in the inner palace,
寵愛一身 sān qiān chōngài zài yīshēn. He placed the love of 3,000 all on her alone.
金屋 jīnwū zhuāng chéng jiāo shì yè, After she finished putting on her makeup in the golden house, she was a bundle of charm[4] as she accompanied His Majesty in the evenings.
玉樓 yùlóu yàn bà zuì hé chūn. She was drunk with alcohol and springtime after the banquets at the jade mansion.
姊妹弟兄列土 jiěmèi dìxiōng jiē liètǔ, All of her brothers and sisters were granted land,
可憐光彩門戶 kělián guāngcǎi shēng ménhù. This enviable splendor breathed new life into their family status.
天下父母 suì lìng tiānxià fùmǔ xīn, This, in turn, caused the thinking of parents everywhere to change.
bú zhòng shēng nán zhòng shēng nǚ. They no longer held boy babies in high esteem, but began to prize girl babies.
驪宮高處青雲 Lígōng gāochù rù qīngyún, The high spots of Mount Li Palace[5] entered into the azure clouds.
仙樂處處 xiānyuè fēng piāo chùchù wén. Heavenly music floated on the winds; it could be heard everywhere.
絲竹 huǎn gē màn wǔ níng sīzhú, The slow songs and rhythmic dancing blended seamlessly with the orchestra.
君王不足 jìn rì jūnwáng kàn bùzú. His Majesty could watch all day long, and still not get enough of it.
漁陽 Yúyáng pí gǔ dòng dì lái, The sound of the war drums from Yuyang began to shake the earth,[6]
霓裳羽衣曲 jīng pò Níshāngyǔyīqǔ. And broke the spell of the Song of rainbow skirts and feather robes.
九重城闕煙塵 jiǔchóngchéngquè yānchén shēng, Smoke and dust descended upon the nine layered watchtowers of the imperial palace,
千乘萬騎西南 qiānshèngwànjì xī'nán xíng. As tens of thousands of imperial guards fled to the southwest.
翠華 cuìhuá yáo yáo xíng fù zhǐ, The jade ornaments adorning the imperial banners rocked back and forth as the emperor's chariot moved forward then stopped again,
西都門 xī chū dūmén bǎi yú lǐ. Traveling more than one hundred li from the western gate of the capital.
奈何 liù jūn bù fā wú nàihé, The six armies of the emperor refused to advance any further, so the emperor was left without a choice,
宛轉蛾眉 wǎnzhuǎn éméi mǎ qián sǐ. The writhing fair maiden, whose long and slender eyebrows resembled the feathery feelers of a moth,[7] died in front of the horses.[8]
the pass at Mount Jian
花鈿 huādiàn wěi dì wú rén shōu, Her ornate headdress fell to the ground, and nobody picked it up;
翠翹金雀玉搔頭 cuìqiào jīnquè yùsāotóu. Then her kingfisher hair ornament, her gold sparrow hairpin and her jade hair clasp.
君王不得 jūnwáng yǎn miàn jiù bùdé, His Majesty covered his face, for he could not save her.
huí kàn xuè lèi xiāng huò liú. Looking back, he saw a stream of blood and tears mixing together.
散漫蕭索 huáng āi sǎnmàn fēng xiāosuǒ, The yellow dust rising in the air amid a bleak and chilly breeze,
縈紆劍閣 yún zhàn yíngyū dēng Jiàn'gé. The winding wooden walkways high up in the clouds ascend through the pavilions of the pass at Mount Jian.[9]
峨嵋山 Éméishān xià shǎo rén xíng, Few people were traveling on the road beneath Mount Emei,[10]
旌旗 jīngqí wú guāng rì sè bó. The banners had no luster and the sky was bleak.
Shǔ jiāng shuǐ bì Shǔ shān qīng, The rivers of Shu were blue, and the mountains of Shu were green,
聖主 shèngzhǔ zhāo zhāo mù mù qíng. Our liege lord thought about her night and day.
行宮傷心 xínggōng jiàn yuè shāngxīn sè, In his temporary palace, he would gaze at the moon, and his facial expression would reveal his broken heart,
腸斷 yè yǔ wén líng chángduàn shēng. He would hear the wind chimes during an evening rain storm, a sound filled with sorrow.

[edit] Lines 51 - 100

天旋地轉龍馭 tiānxuándìzhuǎn huí lóngyù, After the uprising was over, the emperor's dragon chariot returned for him,
Song of Everlasting Regret (China)
capital
capital
Mawei
Mawei
Mount Jian
Mount Jian
Mount Emei
Mount Emei
The emperor's flight from the capital
躊躇不能 dào cǐ chóuchú bùnéng qù. Arriving back at this place,[11] he lingered and was unable to leave.
馬嵬坡泥土 Mǎwéipō xià nítǔ zhōng, In the dirt at the slopes of Mawei,[12]
bù jiàn yù yán kōng sǐ chù. He did not see her face of Jade,[13] he only saw the abandoned place where she had died.
君臣 jūnchén xiāng gù jìn zhān yī, The emperor and his ministers looked at each other and soaked their clothes with tears,
都門 dōng wàng dūmén xìn mǎ guī. Looking to the east at the gates to the capital, they allowed the horses to dictate the pace of their return.
guī lái chí yuàn jiē yījiù, They returned to find the ponds and gardens the same as before,
太液芙蓉未央 Tàiyè fúróng Wèiyāng liǔ. The lotus plants of Taiye ponds and the willow trees of Weiyang Palace.[14]
芙蓉 fúróng rú miàn liǔ rú méi, The lotus plants were like her face and the willow trees were like her eyebrows,
如何 duì cǐ rúhé bù lèi chuí Upon seeing this, how could he hold back the tears?
chūn fēng táo lǐ huā kāi rì, Gone were the breezy spring days when the peach and plum trees were in bloom,
梧桐 qiū yǔ wútóng yè luò shí. Replaced by the autumn rains when the leaves of the Wutong trees had fallen.
西宮南內 Xīgōng Nánnèi duō qiū cǎo, The Western and Southern Palaces[15] were overgrown with autumn grass,
落葉滿 luòyè mǎn jiē hóng bù sǎo. And nobody swept away the fallen red leaves that piled up on the steps.
梨園子弟 líyuánzǐdì bái fǎ xīn, The performers of the Pear Garden royal opera troop had newly white hair,
椒房阿監青娥 jiāofáng ājiān qīng'é lǎo. At Pepper residence,[16] the eunuchs and palace maids had become old.
殿悄然 xī diàn yíng fēi sī qiǎorán, In the evening palace, the fireflies filled the air as he sat in silence, alone with his thoughts,
gū dēng tiāo jìn wèi chéng mián. The lonely lamp had used up its wicker, yet he still could not sleep.
長夜 chí chí zhōng gǔ chū chángyè, The bells and drums slowly rang out at the start of each watch, marking the beginning of another long night,
gěng gěng xīng hé yù shǔ tiān. The Milky Way shined brightly, how he longed for day break.
鴛鴦 yuānyang wǎ lěng shuāng huá zhòng, The mandarin duck tiles were icy, and the frost on them was heavy,
翡翠 fěicuì qīn hán shéi yǔ gòng? The jadeite quilt was cold. After all, who would share it with him?
悠悠 yōuyōu shēng sǐ bié jīng nián, The living and the dead became separated one drawn-out year ago,
魂魄不曾入夢 húnpò bùcéng lái rùmèng. Her soul had not appeared to him in his dreams.
臨邛道士鴻都客 Línqióng dàoshì Hóngdūkè, A Daoist priest from Linqiong[17] came to the capital[18] as a guest,
精誠魂魄 néng yǐ jīngchéng zhì húnpò. He had the ability to use his piety to summon the spirits.
君王輾轉 wèi gǎn jūnwáng zhǎnzhuǎn sī, He was moved by His Majesty's anguish,
方士殷勤 suì jiāo fāngshì yīnqín mì. And because of this, His Majesty eventually prevailed upon the priest to search for her spirit in earnest.
pái kōng yù qì bēn rú diàn, The priest ran like lightning as he parted the skies and rode high through the air,
shēng tiān rù dì qiú zhī biàn. He ascended the heavens and down into the earth, looking for her everywhere.
上窮碧落下黃泉 shàng qióng bìluò xià huángquán, He searched thoroughly up in the blue beyond, as well as down in the Yellow Springs below the earth,
茫茫不見 liǎng chù mángmáng jiē bújiàn. But did not spot her in the vastness of either place.
海上 hū wén hǎishàng yǒu xiān shān, Then suddenly, he heard about a mountain of celestial beings that was on the sea,
虛無縹緲 shān zài xūwúpiǎomiǎo jiān. The mountain was in the midst of a vast expanse of haze.
樓閣玲瓏五雲 lóugé línglóng wǔyún qǐ, A tower rose exquisitely through the vibrant clouds,
其中綽約仙子 qízhōng chuòyuē duō xiānzǐ. In the tower, there lived a great many celestials who were possessed of a feminine grace.
太真 zhōng yǒu yī rén zì Tàizhēn, Among these was someone with the style name of Tàizhēn,[19]
雪膚參差 xuěfū huā mào cēncī shì. Who had snow-white skin, and a lovely countenance which more or less matched that of his lost love?
西 jīn què xī xiāng kòu yù jiōng, The priest knocked on the jade door to the western wing of the golden watchtower,
小玉雙成 zhuǎn jiāo Xiǎoyù bào Shuāngchéng. He implored Xiǎoyù to relay a message to Shuāngchéng.[20]
天子使 wén dào Hàn jiā tiānzǐ shǐ, Hearing that it was an emissary of the Han family's Son of Heaven,[21]
九華帳 jiǔhuázhàng lǐ mèng hún jīng. From inside the resplendent tent, she was startled awake from her dream.
徘徊 lǎn yī tuī zhěn qǐ páihuái, Reaching for her robes, and pushing aside her pillow, she began to pace around the room, dazed and confused,
珠箔銀屏迤邐 zhūbó yínpíng yǐlǐ kāi. She then made her way through the pearl lace curtains and the screens of silver.
雲鬢睡覺 yúnbìn bàn piān xīn shuìjiào, Her hairdo was lopsided, because she had been sleeping just now,
花冠 huāguān bù zhěng xià táng lái. Her headpiece was not straight as she descended into the main room.
飄飄 fēng chuī xiān mèi piāopiāo jǔ, A gust of wind caused her celestial sleeves to flutter,
霓裳羽衣舞 yóu sì Níshāngyǔyīwǔ. Just like when she used to perform the Dance of rainbow skirts and feather robes.[22]
玉容寂寞闌干 yùróng jímò lèi lán'gān, Her jade countenance was sad, and crisscrossed with tears,
lí huā yī zhī chūn dài yǔ. Like a pear blossom bathed in springtime rain.[23]

[edit] Lines 101 - end

含情凝睇君王 hánqíng níngdì xiè jūnwáng, Full of emotion, she fixed her gaze on the priest and relayed her thanks to His Majesty,
渺茫 yī bié yīn róng liǎng miǎománg. But since they last parted, they looked and sounded only vaguely familiar to each other.
昭陽殿恩愛 Zhāoyángdiàn lǐ ēn'ài jué, The passion that they shared in the Hall of the Bright Sun[24] was now no more,
蓬萊宮日月 Pénglái Gōng zhōng rìyuè cháng. The days and months are now long in Penglai Palace.
回頭人寰 huítóu xià wàng rénhuán chù, Turning back to look down at the places where mortals dwell,[25]
不見長安塵霧 bújiàn Cháng'ān jiàn chénwù. She does not see Chang'an, she only sees dust and mist.
深情 wéi jiāng jiù wù biǎo shēnqíng, All she could do was to send along some old keepsakes as an expression of her deep affection,
鈿合金釵 diànhé jīnchāi jì jiāng qù. So she sent away the emissary with her inlaid box and golden hairpin.
chāi liú yī gǔ hé yī shàn, But she kept one part of the hairpin and one leaf of the box,
黃金 chāi bò huángjīn hé fēn diàn. From then on, the pieces of the hairpin and the box would be separated.
dàn jiāo xīn sì jīn diàn jiān, But, she left word for His Majesty to remain firm in his devotion to her, just like the firmness of the gold and inlay work,
天上人間相見 tiānshàng rénjiān huì xiāngjiàn. Sooner or later, they will see each other again, whether it be in the heavens beyond or among the mortals on earth.
臨別殷勤 línbié yīnqín chóng jì cí, As they were about to part company, she once again implored the priest to pass along a message for her,
cí zhōng yǒu shì liǎng xīn zhī. The message contained a promise that only the two of them would know about.
七月七日長生殿 qīyuè qīrì Chángshēng Diàn, On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, in the Hall of Longevity,[26]
夜半 yèbàn wú rén sī yǔ shí. At midnight, when nobody is around, this is when we will make our secret pact.
zài tiān yuàn zuò bǐ yì niǎo, "In the heavens, we vow to be as two birds flying wingtip to wingtip,
zài dì yuàn wéi lián lǐ zhī. On earth, we vow to be as two intertwined branches of a tree."
天長地久 tiānchángdìjiǔ yǒu shí jìn, Even the heaven and earth have their ending times,
綿綿 cǐ hèn mián mián wú jué qí. The regret of our parting will last forever and never end.

[edit] Notes

  1. Han dynasty is only a disguise to avoid literary inquisition. It is actually referencing to Tang dynasty. The Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, whose relationship to Yang Guifei brought to mind the Emperor Wu of Han's relationship to his concubine, Consort Li. Bai Juyi would have considered it unpoetic to refer to his subject directly.
  2. Bai Juyi is referring to the story of how Emperor Wu of Han met Consort Li. See: 傾國.
  3. Built in 723, the Huaqing pools was a hot springs in Huaqing Palace (華清宮), which was located atop Mount Li (驪山) in the Qinling Mountains. It was located approximately 25 km to the east of the capital city of Chang'an.
  4. Bai Juyi is making an allusion to a story about the Emperor Wu of Han, who promised to build Empress Chen Jiao a golden house. Bai Juyi is taking advantage of the fact that Jiao (), the given name of the Empress, also means charming. This story is preserved in the modern day idiom: 金屋藏嬌.
  5. Huaqing Palace (華清宮), which was located atop Mount Li (驪山) in the Qinling Mountains.
  6. Yuyang county is now known as Miyun County. The capital city of Yuyang county was Fanyang. An Lushan was the regional military governor of Fanyang during this time. It was from there that he staged the An Lushan Rebellion, which forced the emperor to flee the capital.
  7. This may be a play on words. Mount Emei (峨嵋), where the emperor was fleeing to, was so named because the peaks of Mount Emei do in fact resemble the feelers of a moth (蛾眉). The feelers of a moth can also be a metaphor for the long and slender eyebrows of a beautiful woman.
  8. On 15 July, 756 Emperor Xuanzong's procession reached Mawei Station (馬嵬驛, in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi). The imperial guards were not fed and became angry at Yang Guifei's cousin Yang Guozhong. The emperor's general Chen Xuanli (陳玄禮) also believed that Yang Guozhong had provoked this disaster and planned to accuse him; he reported his plans to crown prince Li Heng through Li Heng's eunuch Li Fuguo, but Li Heng was hesitant and gave no approval. Meanwhile, Tufan emissaries, who had followed Emperor Xuanzong south, were meeting with Yang Guozhong and complaining that they also had not been fed. The soldiers of the imperial guard took this opportunity to proclaim that Yang Guozhong was planning treason along with the Tufan emissaries, and they killed him, along with his son Yang Xuan (楊暄), the Ladies of Han and Qin, and the official Wei Fangjin. Chancellor Wei Jiansu was also nearly killed, but was spared at the last moment with severe injuries. The soldiers then surrounded Emperor Xuanzong's pavilion, and refused to scatter even after Emperor Xuanzong came out to comfort them and order them to disperse. Chen publicly urged him to put Consort Yang to death -- which Emperor Xuanzong initially declined. After Wei Jiansu's son Wei E (韋諤) and the emperor's eunuch Gao Lishi spoke further, Emperor Xuanzong finally resolved to do so. He therefore had Gao take Consort Yang to a Buddhist shrine and strangle her. After he showed the body to Chen and the other imperial guard generals, the guard soldiers finally dispersed and prepared for further travel. Meanwhile, Yang Guozhong's wife Pei Rou (裴柔), son Yang Xi (楊晞), the Lady of Guo, and the Lady of Guo's son Pei Hui (裴徽) tried to flee, but were killed in flight. Consort Yang was buried at Mawei, without a coffin, but with masses of fragrances, wrapped in purple blankets. In the poem, Bai Juyi writes that the Consort Yang is killed in front of the horses. This is probably meant to be taken as literary allusion. The word for "horse" (mǎ) is also the first syllable of Mawei Station.
  9. In present day Jian'ge County, Sichuan Province. Jian'ge County is famous for the long and windy foot paths going through Jianmen Pass. Jianmen means "gateway to Mount Jian", so called because its jagged peaks resemble a "jian" (a straight sword).
  10. Bai Juyi is probably taking poetic liscence here. It was probably a mountain in Sichuan, but not necessarily Mount Emei, which has always been an inspiration to Chinese poets
  11. A reference to Mawei (馬嵬) way station, where Yang Guifei was killed.
  12. West of Xingping County in modern day Shaanxi
  13. Yang Guifei's name at birth was Yuhuan (玉環), which means jade earrings.
  14. The Taiye ponds were built in the time of the Emperor Wu of Han. Weiyang Palace refers to a palace of the Han Dynasty which was built by Xiao He. Both places were located to the northwest of Chang'an in Shaanxi. Bai Juyi is again drawing comparisons between the Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and the earlier Emperor Wu of Han.
  15. The Western Palace was also known as the Taiji Palace (太極宮), and was located to the northwest of the capital. The Southern Palace was also known as the Xingqing Palace (興慶宮), and was located to the southeast of the capital. After the rebellion was put down, the emperor temporarily stayed first at the Southern Palace, and then in Ganlu Hall (甘露殿) of the Western Palace, before returning to Chang'an.
  16. Where the empresses of the Han Dynasty had lived. Located in Weiyang Palace (未央宮). Bai Juyi is indirectly referring to Yang Guifei's living quarters via an analogy to the Han Dynasty.
  17. In present day Qionglai (邛崍), Sichuan.
  18. Hóngdū was originally the name of one of the gates of the Northern Palace in Luoyang (capital of China during the Han Dynasty). Later, it came to refer generically to any capital.
  19. Tàizhēn was Yang Guifei's style name
  20. In Daoist lore, Xiǎoyù and Shuāngchéng were the names of two female celestial beings. Here, the author turns them into the maid servants of Yang Guifei after she became a celestial being herself.
  21. In other words, an emissary of the Emperor Xuanzong of Tang
  22. A reference back to the earlier stanza, "The sound of the war drums from Yuyang began to shake the earth, And broke the spell of the Song of rainbow skirts and feather robes." (霓裳羽衣曲)
  23. This line gave birth to the idiom: 梨花帶雨
  24. Originally built during the time of Emperor Wu of Han, the Hall of the Bright Sun (Zhaoyang Hall) became the residence of Empress Zhao Feiyan during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han. Later poets used the Hall of the Bright Sun as a general metaphor for the living quarters of imperial consorts.
  25. The Chinese for "where mortals dwell" (人寰) contains the character 寰, which might also be an allusion to 環, part of Yang Guifei's birth name: Yáng Yùhuán (楊玉).
  26. The name of a hall within Huaqing Palace. Recall that the emperor first bathed with Yang Guifei at the pools of Huaqing Palace (line 9 of the poem).

[edit] Licensing

This is a translation and has a separate copyright status from the original text. The license for the translation applies to this edition only.
Original:
PD-icon.svg This work published before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
Translation:
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Cc.logo.circle.svg This work is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license, which allows free use, distribution, and creation of derivatives, so long as the license is unchanged and clearly noted, and the original author is attributed.
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