Song of an Old Jade-digger
- Poetry of Li He
He digs up jade, he digs up jade in water green
To make a headdress for a lady or a queen.
When he's hungry and cold, the dragon would be sad;
Nor clear nor pure, the water of Blue Creek turns bad.
He eats hazelnuts when it rains in mountains deep;
With tears like the blood shed by the cuckoo, he'd weep.
The Blue Creek dislikes a digger when he appears;
He too dislikes it though dead for a thousand years.
By the mountainside the wind soughs and the rain falls;
A rope hangs around his waist over waterfalls.
How can he not think of his children in his hut cold,
When he sees the forget-me-not on the cliff old?
"Song of an Old Jade-digger" is a poem by Li He that portrays the hardships of laborers in the Blue Creek area, known for its jade mines. While the process of mining jade is fraught with danger, the workers' efforts are often in vain, as they face life-threatening risks. Through this poem, the poet expresses sympathy for the suffering of the common people and critiques the social injustices of the time.
采玉采玉须水碧，琢作步摇徒好色。
老夫饥寒龙为愁，蓝溪水气无清白。
夜雨冈头食蓁子，杜鹃口血老夫泪。
蓝溪之水厌生人，身死千年恨溪水。
斜山柏风雨如啸，泉脚挂绳青袅袅。
村寒白屋念娇婴，古台石磴悬肠草。
- Why Chinese poems is so special?
- The most distinctive features of Chinese poetry are: concision- many poems are only four lines, and few are much longer than eight; ambiguity- number, tense and parts of speech are often undetermined, creating particularly rich interpretative possibilities; and structure- most poems follow quite strict formal patterns which have beauty in themselves as well as highlighting meaningful contrasts.
- How to read a Chinese poem?
- Like an English poem, but more so. Everything is there for a reason, so try to find that reason. Think about all the possible connotations, and be aware of the different possibilities of number and tense. Look for contrasts: within lines, between the lines of each couplet and between successive couplets. Above all, don't worry about what the poet meant- find your meaning.
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