Translation
| Liu Changqin (709-785) | 劉長卿 |
| A New Year’s Piece | 新年作 |
| | |
| My native town... the New Year cuts my heart; | 鄉心 新歲切 |
| I’m at the sky’s border, alone with flowing tears. | 天畔 獨潸然 |
| Reaching old age, dwelling, a man brought down; | 老至 居人下 |
| Spring has returned first— while this traveler stays. | 春歸 在客先 |
| Dawn to dusk with mountain apes, | 嶺猿 同旦暮 |
| The river, the willow trees— the wind and fog. | 江柳 共風煙 |
| Already I feel like the Changsha Teacher, | 已似 長沙傅 |
| And from here, how many more years? | 從今 又幾年 |
Commentary
Liu Changqing was upright and he would not stoop to flattery. In the spring of 758 AD, he was framed and demoted to become local sheriff of Nanba county, which was viewed as a barbarian place in the Tang Danasty. Three years later, Liu was still stuck in Nanba County
“Cut my heart” is a sharper way of saying he misses his hometown. “At the sky’s border” means his exiled location is far away from his hometown. “Spring has returned first” means that he passed through a year and spring returned while he has not. Spring also has the connotation of youth and joy, which contrasts to the previous verse of growing old and falling from grace. “Mountain apes” is symbolic of sadness because their cries were considered sad. The “Changsha Teacher” is Jia Yi, who had a similar experience of being framed and exiled to the same place.
Original Chinese
| Traditional | Simplified | Pronunciation |
| | | |
| 劉長卿 | 刘长卿 | Liú cháng qīng |
| 新年作 | 新年作 | Xīn nián zuò |
| | | |
| 鄉心新歲切， | 乡心新岁切， | Xiāng xīn xīn suì qiē， |
| 天畔獨潸然。 | 天畔独潸然。 | Tiān pàn dú shān rán。 |
| 老至居人下， | 老至居人下， | Lǎo zhì jū rén xià， |
| 春歸在客先。 | 春归在客先。 | Chūn guī zài kè xiān。 |
| 嶺猿同旦暮， | 岭猿同旦暮， | Lǐng yuán tóng dàn mù， |
| 江柳共風煙。 | 江柳共风烟。 | Jiāng liǔ gòng fēng yān。 |
| 已似長沙傅， | 已似长沙傅， | Yǐ sì cháng shā fù， |
| 從今又幾年。 | 从今又几年。 | Cóng jīn yòu jī nián。 |
Literal Notes
| 劉長卿 | Kill Forever High-ranking-person [= Liu Changqin (709-785)] |
| 新年作 | New Year’s Work(of writing) |
| | |
| 鄉心新歲切， | Native-town heart/miss new year close-to/cut |
| 天畔獨潸然。 | Sky border alone weep/tears-flowing thus [Sky border = As Nanba county was very remote in Tang Dynasty, and was far from Liu Changqing’s hometown, so Liu Changqing called it the sky border] |
| 老至居人下， | Old/aged reached/arrived lives/dwells man brought-down [Lives man = inhabitant. Lives man brought-down = Liu was still stuck in a low official position] |
| 春歸在客先。 | Spring returns be-at/on traveler in-advance [traveler = Liu himself], [Note: this line means that the spring came, but Liu still couldn’t return hometown] |
| 嶺猿同旦暮， | Mountain-ridge/peak ape together-with/same dawn/morning evening/dusk/sunset [“together-with” can be interpreted as “to keep company”] |
| 江柳共風煙。 | River willow-tree/pleasure together-with wind fog |
| Already resemble Chang/long Sha/sand teacher [Chang Sha = Changsha City, now located in the Hunan province], [teacher = to Jia Yi, who was Grand Preceptor in Han Dynasty. Jia Yi was very talented and upright, but the emperor demoted him to Grand Preceptor of the Changsha King due to slander. Jia Yi was demoted and stayed in | |
| 從今又幾年。 | From now in-addition/again how-many years? |
Year:
2012
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