Shuǐ diào gē tóu
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Shui diao ge tou (Traditional Chinese: 水調歌頭; Simplified Chinese: 水调歌头; pinyin: Shuǐ diào gē tóu) is the name of a poem by the Song dynasty poet Su Shi, commonly known as Su Dongpo.
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[edit] Text of the Poem
水調歌頭1
丙辰中秋2， 歡飲達旦， 大醉， 作此篇， 兼懷子由3。
明月幾時有？ 把酒問青天。 不知天上宮闕4， 今夕是何年？ 我欲乘風歸去， 又恐瓊樓玉宇5， 高處不勝寒。 起舞弄清影6， 何似在人間7！
轉朱閣8， 低綺戶9， 照無眠10。 不應有恨， 何事長向別時圓？ 人有悲歡離合， 月有陰晴圓缺， 此事古難全。 但願人長久， 千里共嬋娟11。
[edit] English Translation
Bright moon, when did you appear? Lifting my wine, I question the blue sky. Tonight in the palaces and halls of heaven what year is it, I wonder?
I would like to ride the wind, make my home there, only I fear in porphyry towers, under jade eaves, in those high places the cold wind would be more than I could bear. So I rise and dance and play in your pure beams, though this human world — how can it vie with yours?
Circling red chambers, low in the curtained door, you light our sleeplessness. Surely you bear us no ill will — why then must you be so round at times when we humans are parted!
People have their griefs and joys, their togetherness and separation, the moon its dark and clear times, its roundings and wanings. I only hope we two may have long long lives, may share the moon’s beauty though a thousand miles apart.
[edit] Notes on the Poem
| Characters | Pinyin | Explanation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 水调歌头 | shuǐ diào gē tóu | The name of a tune |
| 2. | 丙辰 | bǐng chén | the ninth year of the reign of Song Emperor Shenzong (1076 C.E.), when Su Shi served as magistrate in Mizhou, present-day Zhucheng County in Shandong Province |
| 3. | 中秋 | zhōng qiū | the Mid-Autumn Festival, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month (lunar calendar); a traditional Chinese holiday when people gather to enjoy the moon, drink wine, and eat moon cakes |
| 4. | 怀 | huái | to think of, miss |
| 子由 | Zǐ yóu | Su Che (苏辙), courtesy name Ziyou, Su Shi's younger brother, also a famous author; at this time Su Che was in Jinan, Su Shi in Mizhou; the brothers had not seen each other for seven years. | |
| 5. | 琼楼玉宇 | qióng lóu yù yǔ | a building made of beautiful jade, here, the Moon Palace. |
| 6. | 弄 | nòng | to play, to sport; here, "to dance" |
| 清影 | qīng yǐng | crisp, cold shadow in the moonlight | |
| 7. | 何似 | hé sì | how can it compare to... |
| 8. | 朱阁 | zhū gé | red pavilion |
| 9. | 绮户 | qǐ hù | a door or window with carved patterns and designs |
| 10. | 无眠 | wú mián | sleepless; here, refers to a sleepless person |
| 11. | 婵娟 | chán juān | originally Chang E, a beauty; here, used to refer to the splendid moon. |
[edit] Tunes of the poem
In 1983, Liang Hong Zhi (梁弘誌) composed this poem into an officially produced song entitled "Wishing We Last Forever" (但願人長久) by Teresa Teng in one of her albums Light Exquisite Feeling (淡淡幽情), filled with other poems from dynasties of Tang and Song. In later years, singers like Faye Wong, Jacky Cheung and China Flowers (芳華十八) covered this song in albums and concerts.
