Li Shangyin weaves mythic history
He commemorates a splendid fallen emperor of the Sui Dynasty
A Palace of the Short-lived Sui Dynasty Li Shangyin In wild Jiangdu the Emperor Yang Decreed a new imperial base. He left the palace of Chang’an, Beside where Purple River ran, An empty, misted space. His barge with velvet sails was set To explore where sky and ocean met— But no. The jade seal had its destiny, To give the royal power its rightful place With men whose right to form a dynasty Was written in the sun-mark on their face. And now the luscious grass he sowed is rotten, Not even fireflies spawn, and nothing grows, All memory of the firefly light-burst shows Are, like the emperor’s palace, long forgotten, His willow avenues, in timeless rows, Still weep as rests for dusky crows. Down below, who will he meet? The Emperor Chen, last of his line? Who lived for women, song, and wine And lost his empire and his seat... Sing together, you who once had power! Sing lascivious tunes, like Harem Flower.
The Sui Dynasty (581-618) reunified China for the first time after the fall of the Han. However, following the pattern that was first played out by the Qin and Han, the Sui quickly fell, to be replaced by the Tang, a more competent and durable dynasty. Emperor Yang (ruled 604-618) was the last Sui emperor.
Jiangdu was a town in modern Jiangsu where Emperor Yang constructed a new capital.
The Purple River was the name of the river that runs through Chang’an.
Velvet sails: Yang had luxurious royal barges which he sailed around the country on inspection tours.
Jade seal: The imperial seal, symbol of power.
Sun-mark: Literally “sun horns,” in classical physiognomy, a mark of royalty. The forehead was high, with a flat, round central part, said to look like the sun.
Light-burst shows: One of the amusements said to be organized by Emperor Yang at his Jiangdu palace was the capturing of hundreds of fireflies, which were then released together as a kind of natural firework display.
Emperor Chen: Chen Shubao, last emperor of the state of Chen, ruled 582-589. Chen held southern China until the Sui reunification. Chen was regarded by historians as being a terrible emperor, much more concerned with enjoying himself in the harem than with running his country. After being conquered by the Sui, Chen was allowed to keep his noble status, and became a personal acquaintance of the Sui emperors, including Emperor Yang.
Harem Flower: The most famous poem attributed to Chen Shubao, a description of long hours spent in his women’s quarters.
Li Shangyin (813-858) is a lot. His poems are notoriously difficult to understand and translate because he combines two separate traditions: first, the pre-Tang poetic tradition of constant allusion and reference; and second, the Tang innovations of emotional range and personal narrative. In a pre-Tang poem, you might find references on every line, but they generally all exist to glorify and praise. In a Li Shangyin poem, the references might take a number of different emotional tenors, and form a narrative in themselves. This is why translations of Li Shangyin are often long: to unpack all of the stories takes a lot of words. Of course, the cost of extra length is that we lose the lightness, elegance, and compressed tension of the original.
For a reader of English poetry, the comparison with Coleridge’s Kubla Khan is irresistible. An emperor creating a new compound, great rivers, inevitable downfall, supernatural events… The two poems share content, and also have the same instinct to mythologise history, and to find emotional power and pathos in the myths. I chose to copy Coleridge’s form. If I’ve followed it too closely, then version may have slipped over into pastiche. Please let me know if you think it has!
李商隐 隋宫
紫泉宫殿锁烟霞，欲取芜城作帝家。
玉玺不缘归日角，锦帆应是到天涯。
于今腐草无萤火，终古垂杨有暮鸦。
地下若逢陈后主，岂宜重问后庭花。
I loved this :-)