Lü Yan [Tang Dyansty]
The sun is setting low, autumn wind chill.
You are coming tonight, my familiar, are you not?
The shade of phoenix trees I stand in disappears fast.
梧桐影
[唐] 吕岩
落日斜，秋风冷。
今夜故人来不来？
教人立尽梧桐影。
Word-by-word annotation in English:
梧桐phoenix tree影shadow
[唐] 吕岩
落falling日sun斜slant秋autumn风wind冷cold
今夜tonight故人old friend来come不not来come？
教let人person立stand尽end梧桐phoenix影shadow
Chinese Pinyin pronunication:
梧wu2 桐tong2 影ying3
[唐] 吕岩
落luo4日ri4斜xie2，秋qiu1风feng 1冷leng3
今jin1夜ye4故gu1人ren2来lai2不bu4来lai2？
教jiao4人ren2立li4尽jin4梧wu2桐tong2影ying3
About the poet:
The biographical notes to the authors in Complete Tang Poetry recorded that Late Tang poet Lv Yan, after failing Xiantong (860-874) Imperial Examination, stayed in the capital Chang’an (Xi’an), drinking. Then he met Zhong Liquan and went to practice Taosim in Zhongnan Mountain, and then he was heard no more. He was one of the Eight Immortals in Chinese folklore, and was revered as one of the five founders of Quanzhen Taoism.
晚唐吕岩即吕洞宾，是民间传说中的一位“神仙”。《全唐诗》小传说他“咸通(公元后860-874年)中举进士不第，游长安酒肆，遇钟离权得道，不知所往。
This is an obvious “love” poem, and indeed it has been read as such. The speaker is waiting till the nightfall and the shadow of the trees in which s/he stands dissolves in and into the dark. Still, s/he seems to be hard to drag herself/ himself away. Also, the tone is usually assigned to a female.
However, in Chinese cultural tradition, the phoenix tree could usually evoke the sentiment other than romantic love. The foremost allusion would be the phoenix tree in both Book of Poetry and Chuangtse.
In The Great Odes of The Book of Poetry, a poem writes:
Hark to the phoenix wings astir in the air,
Here is their bourne, here is their place of rest,
Old and tried officers crowd round the throne
to know thy will, now thou art Heaven’s son.
Old and tried officers crowd round the throne,
Hark to the phoenix-wings at heaven’s gate,
Let him appoint such as will keep touch
With the folk of his state.
Hark to the phoenix’ song
O’er the high ridge amid dryandra boughs
That face the rising sun,
Thick, thick the leaves,
So calm serene that song. (Ezra Pound’s translation)
In Book of Songs, the phoenix tree is associated with the talented persons not necessarily of noble origin, and the poem has been understood as an ode to King of Zhou for and a call for him to a courteous and appreciative attitude toward the talented.
In the passages immediately preceding the famous allegory about the pleasure of fish (How can you know I do not know the pleasure of the fish since you are not the fish?), someone warns the prime minister Hui that Chuangzi is coming to replace him. Hui is greatly concerned, whereupon Chuangzi tells a story. In the south, there is a kind of bird called phoenix, which will not perch on any tree but wu-tong tree, eats nothing but the fruits of bamboo, and drinks nothing but the purest spring water (“Autumn Water”). Wutong tree is therefore rendered as phoenix tree. A Chinese proverb goes: With Wutong trees planted before your gate, you shall expect phoenix to come.
The person who is waiting in the shade of phoenix trees may be expecting someone noble-minded, and this can be justified also by the fact that scholars in the ancient when trying to recommend themselves to or ask for recognition from the emperor would adopt the personality and tone of a female. If related to the poet’s failures, the poem may imply the message of hope to be recognized.
That is perhaps why in one of most famous modern men of letters and painters Feng Zikai’s (1898-1975) drawing, the waiting figure appears to be a man (a scholar).
梧wu2 桐tong2 影ying3
[唐] 吕岩
落luo4日ri4斜xie2，秋qiu1风feng 1冷leng3
今jin1夜ye4故gu1人ren2来lai2不bu4来lai2？
教jiao4人ren2立li4尽jin4梧wu2桐tong2影ying3
About the poet:
The biographical notes to the authors in Complete Tang Poetry recorded that Late Tang poet Lv Yan, after failing Xiantong (860-874) Imperial Examination, stayed in the capital Chang’an (Xi’an), drinking. Then he met Zhong Liquan and went to practice Taosim in Zhongnan Mountain, and then he was heard no more. He was one of the Eight Immortals in Chinese folklore, and was revered as one of the five founders of Quanzhen Taoism.
晚唐吕岩即吕洞宾，是民间传说中的一位“神仙”。《全唐诗》小传说他“咸通(公元后860-874年)中举进士不第，游长安酒肆，遇钟离权得道，不知所往。
This is an obvious “love” poem, and indeed it has been read as such. The speaker is waiting till the nightfall and the shadow of the trees in which s/he stands dissolves in and into the dark. Still, s/he seems to be hard to drag herself/ himself away. Also, the tone is usually assigned to a female.
However, in Chinese cultural tradition, the phoenix tree could usually evoke the sentiment other than romantic love. The foremost allusion would be the phoenix tree in both Book of Poetry and Chuangtse.
In The Great Odes of The Book of Poetry, a poem writes:
Hark to the phoenix wings astir in the air,
Here is their bourne, here is their place of rest,
Old and tried officers crowd round the throne
to know thy will, now thou art Heaven’s son.
Old and tried officers crowd round the throne,
Hark to the phoenix-wings at heaven’s gate,
Let him appoint such as will keep touch
With the folk of his state.
Hark to the phoenix’ song
O’er the high ridge amid dryandra boughs
That face the rising sun,
Thick, thick the leaves,
So calm serene that song. (Ezra Pound’s translation)
In Book of Songs, the phoenix tree is associated with the talented persons not necessarily of noble origin, and the poem has been understood as an ode to King of Zhou for and a call for him to a courteous and appreciative attitude toward the talented.
In the passages immediately preceding the famous allegory about the pleasure of fish (How can you know I do not know the pleasure of the fish since you are not the fish?), someone warns the prime minister Hui that Chuangzi is coming to replace him. Hui is greatly concerned, whereupon Chuangzi tells a story. In the south, there is a kind of bird called phoenix, which will not perch on any tree but wu-tong tree, eats nothing but the fruits of bamboo, and drinks nothing but the purest spring water (“Autumn Water”). Wutong tree is therefore rendered as phoenix tree. A Chinese proverb goes: With Wutong trees planted before your gate, you shall expect phoenix to come.
The person who is waiting in the shade of phoenix trees may be expecting someone noble-minded, and this can be justified also by the fact that scholars in the ancient when trying to recommend themselves to or ask for recognition from the emperor would adopt the personality and tone of a female. If related to the poet’s failures, the poem may imply the message of hope to be recognized.
That is perhaps why in one of most famous modern men of letters and painters Feng Zikai’s (1898-1975) drawing, the waiting figure appears to be a man (a scholar).
After Lv Yan by Feng Zikai 这是一首一眼看来就是情诗的小令；确实，人们一直如此理解。说话人在夜幕降临的时候，还站在越来越不可见的树荫下等待，无法狠心抽身离开。再说，这首词的口吻也是女性化的。
然而，中文传统中的梧桐最初就涉及两个并非情爱的典故：《诗经》和《庄子》。
《诗经·大雅》中的《卷阿》篇中有：
凤凰于飞，翙翙其羽，亦集爰止。蔼蔼王多吉士，维君子使，媚于天子。
凤凰于飞，翙翙其羽，亦傅于天。蔼蔼王多吉人，维君子命，媚于庶人。
凤凰鸣矣，于彼高冈。梧桐生矣，于彼朝阳。菶菶萋萋，雍雍喈喈。
通常的理解是这首歌包含着对于周王礼贤下士的歌颂和劝勉。而这里的凤凰自然也就是贤士了。
在《庄子》著名的“子非鱼”语言之前，就是惠子担忧自己的地位不保。这是庄子说了一个有关凤凰的寓言。“南方有鸟，其名为鹓雏，发于南海而飞于北海，非梧桐不止，非练实不食，非醴泉不饮”。而民间有一个谚语：门前栽得梧桐树，不怕没有凤凰来。
从这两个典故来看，在梧桐树下等人，就不仅仅是等待情人。而这首词中用的是故人，也就是旧相识。该作者科举仕途皆不顺，最终归隐成仙，这种呼求被赏识的心情应该是可以理解的吧。而现代著名文人画家丰子恺根据这个词意所作的画中，那个等待的人的性别即便不是一个男人，也至少是含糊的。
然而，中文传统中的梧桐最初就涉及两个并非情爱的典故：《诗经》和《庄子》。
《诗经·大雅》中的《卷阿》篇中有：
凤凰于飞，翙翙其羽，亦集爰止。蔼蔼王多吉士，维君子使，媚于天子。
凤凰于飞，翙翙其羽，亦傅于天。蔼蔼王多吉人，维君子命，媚于庶人。
凤凰鸣矣，于彼高冈。梧桐生矣，于彼朝阳。菶菶萋萋，雍雍喈喈。
通常的理解是这首歌包含着对于周王礼贤下士的歌颂和劝勉。而这里的凤凰自然也就是贤士了。
在《庄子》著名的“子非鱼”语言之前，就是惠子担忧自己的地位不保。这是庄子说了一个有关凤凰的寓言。“南方有鸟，其名为鹓雏，发于南海而飞于北海，非梧桐不止，非练实不食，非醴泉不饮”。而民间有一个谚语：门前栽得梧桐树，不怕没有凤凰来。
从这两个典故来看，在梧桐树下等人，就不仅仅是等待情人。而这首词中用的是故人，也就是旧相识。该作者科举仕途皆不顺，最终归隐成仙，这种呼求被赏识的心情应该是可以理解的吧。而现代著名文人画家丰子恺根据这个词意所作的画中，那个等待的人的性别即便不是一个男人，也至少是含糊的。
Feng Zikai's After Lv Yan
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