English Rendering
Must autumn’s breath be mourned? Not so, I find—
This light chill is the weather most refined.
Though red lotuses fade from green pool’s face,
Small coin-like lotus leaves still find their place.
Evening Walk in Autumn Cool
- Poetry of Yang Wanli
《秋凉晚步》Original Text (中文原文)
秋气堪悲未必然，轻寒正是可人天。
绿池落尽红蕖却，荷叶犹开最小钱。
Analysis & Context
Composed during the Chunxi era (1174-1189) when Yang Wanli was in his fifties, this lyric dismantles a millennia-old literary trope—autumn as melancholy metaphor. Written during an evening stroll, it exemplifies his mature "Chengzhai Style," where nature observation becomes philosophical rebellion against poetic convention. Here, autumn sheds its elegiac garb to reveal climatic perfection and cyclical renewal.
Reader's Companion
The Essence of the Verse
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
Reading Between the Lines
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
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- Invitation to Wine
- Question and Answer in the Mountains
- Cold sheet
- Coming Home ( Returning Home )
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