Hymns of Harmony: The Ballad of Wang Zhaojun
- Poetry of Shen Quanqi

《相和歌辞 · 王昭君》
Hymns of Harmony: The Ballad of Wang Zhaojun by Shen Quanqi
English Translation

It’s not the lord who prized the Palace Phoenix,

Nor the lady who envied the moth-brow fair.

’Twas the barbarian proud who sealed her fate,

And the painter unfair that caused despair.


The Tartar land was bleak where she was wed,

Unlike the Han Palace where she might have stayed.

Her heart was bored and wrapped in deep distress;

What could she say when she must go horsed and arrayed!

Shen Quanqi stands out among Tang poets for his skill in blending themes of palace lament, frontier life, and historical allusion. His poem "Wang Zhaojun" draws on the story of Wang Zhaojun, a Han dynasty palace lady sent to marry a Xiongnu chieftain during Emperor Yuan’s reign, portraying the sorrow and misfortune of a woman exiled to a foreign land. Originally a beauty in the Han court, Wang Zhaojun was relegated to obscurity after the court painter Mao Yanshou—bribed to distort her portrait—depicted her unfavorably. Later, she was married to the Xiongnu as part of a political alliance, spending the rest of her life on the frontier, never to return to her homeland.

中文原文( Chinese )

非君惜鸾殿，非妾妒蛾眉。

薄命由骄虏，无情是画师。

嫁来胡地恶，不并汉宫时。

心苦无聊赖，何堪上马辞。

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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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