Li Qingzhao: In the snowy yard I see Spring's messenger arrived -渔家傲 . 雪里已知春信至

渔家傲

原作：李清照 （宋）

英译：戈登.奥赛茵，闵晓红

雪里已知春信至，

寒梅点缀琼枝腻。

香脸半开娇旖旎，

当庭际，

玉人浴出新妆洗。

造化可能偏有意，

故教明月玲珑地。

共赏金尊沈绿蚁，

莫辞醉，

此花不与群花比。

In the snowy yard I see Spring’s messenger arrived

– to the Tune of Yujia’ao

written by Li Qingzhao （ 1084-1155？）

translated by Gordon Osing & Julia Min

In the snowy yard I see Spring just arrived,

cold plum blossoms on branches jade-like.

there, mirrors a beauty bathed in moonlight,

so delicate, lips opening, sweetness personified.

Her, the Creation favours above all her like,

so let the vivid moon shine all the brighter.

Let’s fill our golden cups with new wine tonight.

A toast to this brave lady blooming alone in winter.

For appreciation:

Scholars associate the exuberance of this ci with the earlier phase of Li Qingzhao’s career, before she and her kind began fleeing from foreign encroachments. Western readers would do well to imagine the absolute unity she pictured, between the snowy yard, the moon, herself, and, of course, the special, beautiful eloquence on the plum blossoms – a symbol of the brave, the proud, the enduring, the noble and the traditional qualities of a gentleman / gentlewoman in China still today.

Notes:

1. “spring message”: the plum tree blossoms before all other trees by the end of Winter, in February and March, even in the north.

2. ” a lady “: the imagery constructing the plum blossoms as a beautiful and elegant lady, fresh from her bath and dressing table, as of Li Qing-zhao’s own class and taste.

Pinying and Word -For-Word Translation:

yú jiā ào . xuě lǐ yǐ zhī chūn xìn zhì

yuán zuò ：lǐ qīng zhào

yīng yì ：mǐn xiǎo hóng

xuě lǐ yǐ zhī chūn xìn zhì ，

hán méi diǎn zhuì qióng zhī nì 。

xiāng liǎn bàn kāi jiāo yǐ nǐ ，

dāng tíng jì ，

yù rén yù chū xīn zhuāng xǐ 。

zào huà kě néng piān yǒu yì ，

gù jiāo míng yuè líng lóng dì 。

gòng shǎng jīn zūn shěn lǜ yǐ ，

mò cí zuì ，

cǐ huā bú yǔ qún huā bǐ 。