Tang Dynasty Poem: Qingming by Du Mu 清明 (杜牧)

Today, April 5th, is Qingming Festival or Tomb-sweeping Day. Qingming 清明, literally "pure bright," is the day China and several other East and Southeast Asian countries commemorate their dead and celebrate the coming of spring.

My father shared this poem about Qingming with the family yesterday. Curious, I looked it up and liked the imagery it evoked and was awed by the deep meaning of the words. A lot gets lost in the literal translation.

To my father's everlasting chagrin, I suck at Chinese. I had Chinese classes as a kid but that never translated to conversational skills. I am the only one of his four kids who cannot converse or write in Chinese, whether Fookien or Mandarin. To be fair, my siblings all went to a Chinese high school and, after graduating from university, they each went to China and spent 1-2 years to study and improve their language skills. I, on the other hand, went to a science high school. I was offered the same opportunity to study abroad but chose instead to further my university studies. (I technically got myself another degree but it's actually just another year of specialized study on top of my 4 years of undergrad.) Anyway, this is just a long way of saying I cannot Chinese and I am so very thankful for the native speakers and non-native fluent speakers for explaining the nuances of the poem. The internet is a fount of knowledge!

This is actually Take 3. Take 1 was a disastrous freehand drawing attempt. Take 2 had the best illustration but that was ruined by an accidental ink splotch from a freshly inked pen.

The poem is by Tang Dynasty poet and government official Du Mu and depicts a rainy Qingming Day. This blog was very helpful in explaining the nuances of the poem and also has the reference picture I used in my drawing. I tried to freehand draw a cowherd at first but it ended up terrible. Ho hum. 

 

《 清  明 》Qing Ming

杜  牧 Du Mu

清    明     时 节   雨   纷 纷，

qīngmíng  shíjié yǔ  fēnfēn

路    上     行  人    欲    断  魂。

lù  shang  xíngrén yù duànhún

借  问    酒 家  何 处  有，

jiè wèn jiǔjiā  héchù yǒu

牧  童    遥    指  杏   花  村。

mùtong yáo zhǐ xìnghuā cūn

Poetic translation:

The ceaseless drizzles drip all the dismal day,
So broken-hearted fares the traveler on the way.
When asked where could be found a tavern bower,
A cowboy points to yonder village of the apricot flower.

Pen and Ink Used:

TWSBI Eco White (F) with Pilot Black