"Childhood Sweethearts" comes from "Changgan Xing" by Li Bai, a poet of the Tang Dynasty. "The man came riding a bamboo horse and went around the bed to make green plum blossoms. Living together in Changgan, the two children had no doubts."
Original text
Changganxing
Author: Li Bai
My concubine has her first hair covering her forehead, and there is a drama in front of the door. ?
The man came riding a bamboo horse and went around the bed to make green plums. ?
Living together in Changqianli, the two children have no doubts. ?
At the age of fourteen, she is a gentleman's wife, and her face has not yet shown her shame. ?
He lowers his head to the dark wall and calls out a thousand times. ?
On the fifteenth day, I raise my eyebrows and wish to be like dust and ashes. ?
How can I go to the husband-watching platform if I always keep a letter holding a pillar? ?
The Sixteenth Lord traveled far away, and Qutang Yan was ready to pile up. ?
The fifth month is untouchable, and the apes cry out in mourning from the sky. ?
There are no signs of slow movement in front of the door, and there is always green moss. ?
The moss is too deep to be swept away, and the leaves fall early in the autumn wind. ?
In August, the butterflies are yellow and fly over the grass in the west garden. ?
This hurts my heart, and I feel sad that my beauty will grow old. ?
Get off the bus in the morning and evening and send the book home in advance. ?
It’s not far to meet each other, until there is a long wind and sand. ?
Translation
I remember when my bangs first covered my forehead, I would often break a flower and play in front of the door. The husband always rides up like a horse astride a bamboo pole, holding green plums and vying for the top spot to catch up. We have lived together in Changqianli for a long time. We are innocent and never doubt each other. I became your wife when I was fourteen. When we got married, I was so embarrassed that I didn't dare to raise my face. I lower my head and face the dark corner. No matter how many times you call me, I will not look back. Only when I was fifteen did I open my eyebrows with a happy smile, and I vowed to grow old with you until I turned into dust. If you always hold on to your promise like a pillar, I will never be able to climb the platform. When you were sixteen years old, you left me to travel far away, and you had to pass through the terrible Yandui of Qutang Gorge. When the water rises in May, it is difficult to distinguish and worry about hitting the rocks. The apes are screaming on the mountains on both sides of the bank, which is even more sad. The footprints of your slowly leaving in front of the door have become covered with moss over time. The moss has grown too thick and cannot be swept away, and the fallen leaves have covered it with the early autumn wind. The pink and yellow butterflies in August are so frivolous, they fly over the West Garden and make love in the grass. How can this situation not make me heartbroken? I am so sad all day long that beauty will naturally age prematurely. Sooner or later, if you leave Sanba, you should write a letter and report it to me and send it to your home. In order to welcome you, I don’t say it’s a long journey, even if I have to walk 700 miles to reach Changfengsha! ?
Appreciation
Li Bai's "Changgan Xing" draws on some techniques from the folk songs of the Six Dynasties, and uses the age ordinal method and the style of lovesickness in the four seasons to cleverly connect some life fragments in At the same time, it has a soft, gentle, smooth and subtle charm. "Poetry of the Tang and Song Dynasties" praised: "The love affairs between children and women flow straight from the chest. They linger and twist, and they are deeply in love." Zhong Xing, a litterateur in the Ming Dynasty, said: "The ancient show is the real music house of the Han people." It outlines a carefree life. The little girl grew up to be a shy and beautiful girl, but when she began to be obsessed with her husband, she became a wife. As the years go by, it's not just the girl in Changqianli who feels sadness coming one after another? Fortunately, sadness can make people sad, enriched, and even brave. At least in "Changgan Xing", the poet makes the brave welcoming of her husband the starting point of her next life. Under the baptism of time, she has become brave, self-respecting, loyal and passionate, reflecting countless infatuated lovers throughout the ages.
Notes
1. Bed: This refers to the seat.
2. Letter of Holding a Pillar: "Zhuangzi Robber Zhi" "Wei Sheng and his daughter lived under a beam. The woman did not come, and the water did not go away. He held the beam and pillar and died."
3. Not too far: not too far.
4. Changfengsha: a place name on the edge of the Yangtze River in the east of Anqing City, Anhui Province. The ends of the earth are dangerous. ?
About the author
Li Bai (701-762), also known as Taibai, also known as Qinglian Jushi, also known as "Exiled Immortal", was a great romantic poet in the Tang Dynasty. Later generations hailed him as the "Immortal of Poetry", and together with Du Fu, he was called "Li Du". In order to distinguish him from the other two poets Li Shangyin and Du Mu, known as "Little Li Du", Du Fu and Li Bai were also collectively called "Big Li Du".
According to the "New Book of Tang" records, Li Bai was the ninth grandson of Emperor Xingsheng (Liang Wuzhao King Li Hao) and the same clan as the kings of Li and Tang Dynasties. He is a cheerful and generous person who loves drinking, writing poetry, and making friends. His representative works include "Looking at the Lushan Waterfall", "The Difficult Journey", "The Difficult Road to Shu", "About to Enter the Wine", etc.