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Zèng Huā QīngFor General Hua 赠花卿
Du Fu on music in Chengdu: "such a tune belongs in heaven".
Original Chinese text with pinyin
锦城丝管日纷纷
jǐn chéng sī guǎn rì fēn fēn
半入江风半入云
bàn rù jiāng fēng bàn rù yún
此曲祇应天上有
cǐ qū qí yīng tiān shàng yǒu
人间能得几回闻
rén jiān néng dé jǐ huí wén
Simplified characters; traditional title: 贈花卿.
English translation
In Brocade City, strings and pipes play day after day,
half into the river wind, half into the clouds.
Such music belongs only in heaven —
how many times can one hear it on earth?
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Du Fu on music in Chengdu: "such a tune belongs in heaven". The scene stays with you.
Background
Du Fu on music in Chengdu: "such a tune belongs in heaven".
Key words
- 人间 rén jiān
- the human world; this mortal realm
- 锦城 jǐn chéng
- Brocade City — Chengdu
- 丝管 sī guǎn
- strings and pipes — music
About the poet: Du Fu
Du Fu (also romanized Tu Fu) lived through the An Lushan Rebellion, which tore apart the Tang empire and his own family life. His precise, compassionate poems record war, poverty and loyalty, earning him the titles "Sage of Poetry" and "poet-historian."
Lifetime: 712–770. Other famous works: Happy Rain on a Spring Night (春夜喜雨); The Prime Minister of Shu (蜀相); The Officer at Shihao Village (石壕吏); Thoughts While Traveling at Night (旅夜书怀); Qujiang (曲江); Meeting Li Guinian in Jiangnan (江南逢李龟年); Ballad of the Army Carts (兵车行); Moonlit Night (月夜); Spring View (春望); Climbing High (登高); Quatrain: Two Orioles (绝句·两个黄鹂鸣翠柳); On Yueyang Tower (登岳阳楼); My Thatched Hut Torn by the Autumn Wind (茅屋为秋风所破歌); Gazing at Mount Tai (望岳); A Guest Arrives (客至); Strolling by the River V (江畔独步寻花 其五); Strolling Alone by the River in Search of Flowers (江畔独步寻花); River Village (江村); Winter Solstice Eve (小至); Thinking of Li Bai on a Spring Day (春日忆李白); Easing the Heart by the Water Rail (水槛遣心); Quatrain (绝句); Casual Quatrain (绝句漫兴); For General Hua (赠花卿).
More by Du Fu
- Spring View春望
- Quatrain (The River Blue)绝句
- Climbing High登高
- On Yueyang Tower登岳阳楼
- Moonlit Night月夜
- Happy Rain on a Spring Night春夜喜雨
- Meeting Li Guinian in Jiangnan江南逢李龟年
- Qujiang曲江