While Journeying
- Poetry of Li Bai (Li Po)

《客中行》

English Rendering

How flavorous is golden-tulip Lanling wine!

Filling my bowl of jade,in amber it will glow.

It is enough if you can make me drunk,host mine,

No more nostalgia in foreign land shall I know.

Original Text (中文原文)

兰陵美酒郁金香，玉椀盛来琥珀光。

但使主人能醉客，不知何处是他乡。

Analysis & Context

Lanling - In present-day Shandong Province.

Residing in a foreign land, Li Bai longs to return to his hometown. However, throughout this poem, Li reveals how a pleasing scent has the ability to make his nostalgia and homesickness reside temporarily. The poet begins with sensory descriptions of the fine wine of Lanling, describing the smell and color of the wine: the wine gives off the fragrance of 郁金 (tulips), a universal symbol of beauty, and glows with 琥珀光 (an amber hue). Known as a man who loved to drink wine, Li reveals that this Lanling wine holds special in his heart through his detailed descriptions of the wine itself as well as the valuable 玉碗 (jade bowl or cup) that he uses to hold the wine in. The joy that observing and drinking this wine gives him allows the poet to transcend his wallowing sadness and experience momentary pleasure — pleasure coming from a state of oblivion.

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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