Music and poetry have been closely linked for at least two thousand years in China. There was some mentioning of this in the ancient classic,
Shangshu (The Book of Documents), dating back to pre-Qin period of 221BCE and beyond. Later in research on
Shijing (The Book of Songs), the same concept was upheld. The annotations by Mao Heng and Mao Chang of the Western Han period, titled
The Mao Poems to distinguish it from the other three schools of thoughts and annotations, is the only extant work today. Its preface, venerably known as
The Great Preface, offers comprehensive discussions on the nature, content and genre of poetry and songs. There is a much quoted passage that reads: "Poetry is where the resolve goes. While in the heart, it is resolve; manifested in words, it is a poem. Emotion moves within and takes shape in words. Words are not enough, and so one sighs it. Sighing it is not enough, and so one draws it out in song. Drawing it out in song is not enough, and so all unawares one’s hands dance it and one’s feet
tap it out." (Fuller, 2018: 51-52)
To the ancients, poetry, song and dance were all used to express one’s inner feelings. They may have been different in their forms of expression, but they often complemented each other and could be blended seamlessly. Chinese poetry has always placed emphasis on rhythm and rhyme since ancient times, from
The Book of Songs to the poems of the Tang Dynasty. The
yuefu of the Han dynasty and the
ci of the Song dynasty were also poems that could be set to music to be sung. This is evidenced by the captions of the
yuefu poems and set pieces in the
ci poems.
The programme of this concert by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra includes exemplary pieces of how poetry and music can complement each other.
The Moon over Guanshan, a
yuefu music piece dating back to the Han Dynasty is one brilliant narrative. It tells of the sadness of a soldier on the battlefield at the frontier who is doomed never to return. Li Bai (701 - 762) was inspired by it to write a poem,
The Moon over Guanshan, in the format of five-character verses that echo ancient poetry. The poem is as follows:
(Chinese only)
《關山月》
明月出天山，
蒼茫雲海間。
長風幾萬里，
吹度玉門關。
漢下白登道，
胡窺青海灣。
由來征戰地，
不見有人還。
戍客望邊邑，
思歸多苦顏。
高樓當此夜，
嘆息未應閒。
The poem translates the emotions in the tune into words, allowing the tragic sentiments to strike at the listener’s inmost heart.
Another ancient tune,
Moonlight on the Spring River, has been attributed to the
yuefu music of the early 3rd century CE to the late 6th century CE. The poet Zhang Ruoxu of the Tang Dynasty did not adopt the original tune, but the motif inspired him to compose a long seven-word poem, using the river as the scene and the moon as the main subject to depict a beautiful, tranquil, expansive and slightly mysterious moonlit night on the spring river. It expresses the feelings of the wanderer who misses his home as well as his ruminations on life:
(Chinese only)
《春江花月夜》
春江潮水連海平，
海上明月共潮生。
灩灩隨波千萬里，
何處春江無月明？
江流宛轉遶芳甸，
月照花林皆似霰。
空裏流霜不覺飛，
春江潮水連海平，
海上明月共潮生。
灩灩隨波千萬里，
何處春江無月明？
江流宛轉遶芳甸，
月照花林皆似霰。
空裏流霜不覺飛，
汀上白沙看不見。
江天一色無纖塵，
皎皎空中孤月輪。
江畔何人初見月，
江月何年初照人？
人生代代無窮已，
江月年年祇相似。
不知江月待何人？
但見長江送流水。
白雲一片去悠悠，
青楓浦上不勝愁。
誰家今夜扁舟子，
何處相思明月樓？
可憐樓上月徘徊，
應照離人妝鏡臺。
玉戶簾中卷不去，
擣衣砧上拂還來。
此時相望不相聞，
願逐月華流照君。
鴻雁長飛光不度，
魚龍潛躍水成文。
昨夜閒潭夢落花，
可憐春半不還家。
江水流春去欲盡，
江潭落月復西斜。
斜月沉沉藏海霧，
碣石瀟湘無限路。
不知乘月幾人歸，
落月搖情滿江樹。
Moonlight on the Spring River is a familiar tune to all of us. But when it is combined with poetry like this, it gives us richer, more tangible reverberations in our hearts and soul.
A programme highlight of this concert is an excerpt from
The Dream of the Red Chamber Suite.
The Dream of the Red Chamber is one of the four great classical novels of China, and has a monumental influence in the history of Chinese literature. It was made into a television drama series by CCTV in 1987, and it has preserved, to a large extent, the essence of the original novel. The series has been described as a "masterpiece in the history of Chinese television" and an "unparalleled classic". The soundtrack music was composed by renowned lyricist-composer, Wang Liping. It took him four years to complete and is equally regarded as an unparalleled opus in his repertoire. The song
Burying the Flowers alone took Mr Wang a year and nine months to write, and is, in his own words, the most emotionally invested piece. It is also one of the most celebrated poems in the novel itself. It traces the intricate emotional shifts of Lin Daiyu, from first seeing the fallen flowers on the ground and lamenting the sight, to feeling sorry for her life. The flowers are used as an analogy for a living person – in this case, herself. The verses incorporate Daiyu’s personal experiences, her fate and her feelings into the scene, expressing her lament for love, life and death. This poem can be considered as the gist of everything about the fictional character of Lin Daiyu; it offers important clues to the author as maker and the reader as perceiver in understanding the character in the round, as well as hints at the character's eventual end. As we listen to the musical interpretation by the orchestra while reading the lyrics here, we may gain much more insight into the protagonist’s tormented heart:
(Chinese only)
花謝花飛花滿天，
紅消香斷有誰憐？
遊絲軟系飄春榭，
落絮輕沾撲繡簾。
閨中女兒惜春暮，
愁緒滿懷無釋處。
手把花鋤出繡簾，
忍踏落花來複去。
柳絲榆莢自芳菲，
不管桃飄與李飛；
桃李明年能再發，
明年閨中知有誰？
三月香巢已壘成，
梁間燕子太無情！
明年花發雖可啄，
卻不道人去梁空巢也傾。
一年三百六十日，
風刀霜劍嚴相逼；
明媚鮮妍能幾時，
一朝漂泊難尋覓。
花開易見落難尋，
階前愁殺葬花人，
獨倚花鋤淚暗灑，
灑上空枝見血痕。
杜鵑無語正黃昏，
荷鋤歸去掩重門；
青燈照壁人初睡，
冷雨敲窗被未温。
怪奴底事倍傷神？
半為憐春半惱春。
憐春忽至惱忽去，
至又無言去未聞。
昨宵庭外悲歌發，
知是花魂與鳥魂？
花魂鳥魂總難留，
鳥自無言花自羞；
願儂此日生雙翼，
隨花飛到天盡頭。
天盡頭，何處有香丘？
未若錦囊收豔骨，
一抔淨土掩風流。
質本潔來還潔去，
強於污淖陷渠溝。
爾今死去儂收葬，
未卜儂身何日喪？
儂今葬花人笑痴，
他年葬儂知是誰？
試看春殘花漸落，
便是紅顏老死時；
一朝春盡紅顏老，
花落人亡兩不知！
References
Fuller, M. A. (2018). An Introduction to Chinese Poetry : from the Canon of Poetry to the Lyrics of the Song Dynasty. Harvard University Asia Center.
