posted by 华金 on April 8, 2013 | 5 comments
For those interested in Chinese poetry, or even those who want some reading material to challenge their level, I will post a famous Chinese poem on a weekly basis. This week's poem is 石灰吟 by 于谦.千锤万凿出深山，烈火焚烧若等闲。粉骨碎身全不怕，要留清白在人间。The idea is for us to benefit from an open discussion about the poem, and talk about anything from the meaning of an unfamiliar character, to when and why it was written, what it means, and how to translate it. This way, anyone from an elementary to an advanced level should find some benefit from the discussion. I also hope that others will chip in with other poems, whether ancient or contemporary. Popup crew, please feel free to drop in with your insight too! :)万岁泡泡中文！
Also, here's a very useful site about 成语. http://chineseproverbstories.com/It was actually posted by another user way back, but it's now buried in a post at the back. Anyone who's interested in 成语 and wants to learn about the stories behind them and what they mean should check it out!
murrayjames on April 8, 2013 | reply
华金，nice idea!
Here's my attempt at pseudo-criticism.
The poem is about the juxtaposition of grueling labor in a crowded mine with having purity in this life. Purity comes through hard work.
It's a short poem. Four lines total, 7-characters per line. Each line can be divided into 4+3 characters. The first four characters (千锤万凿、烈火焚烧、粉骨碎身) introduce the topic of each line, and are further divisible into 2+2. The lines seem to follow a regular pattern of stress:
1 2 3 4 / 1 2 3
The first three lines work out the theme of labor and toil, with images of working implements, fire, broken bodies and powdered bones. The true theme of the poem (salvation/purity) isn't revealed until the last line, where it comes unexpectedly and changes the meaning of the whole.
AAAB: toil/toil/toil/purity
I think this use of form is symbolic of toil and purity more generally. In the poem (as in real life) purity is worked out through toil. Yet purity is unseen during the process, and is revealed (unexpectedly) only at the end of it.
The poet doesn't identify a definite subject. There are no pronouns at all. Presumably the "thousand hammers and ten-thousand chisels" is a stand-in for the real subject: workers working out their salvation in this life, i.e., all of us.
A real analysis would need to take the author's life and 15th-century (Ming?) poetry into account. Sadly, I know exactly nothing about this. Brendan, David, Echo? Haha. Just asked my wife. She said every Chinese kid reads this poem in school but she forgot what it was about.
I hadn't seen the character 凿 before. Is that the usual way of writing "chisel" in Chinese?
How would you translate the second line“烈火焚烧若等闲”? "The raging flames and fire seem ordinary/commonplace"?
Wow, thanks murrayjames! That's a really thorough breakdown of the poem. You're right, I know nothing about the period it was written in, so it's difficult to comment on the context under which it was written. I really like your breakdown of the "toil/toil/toil/purity" and the conclusion that purity is only revealed at the end of the process. I think you're spot on, and I hadn't really thought about it like that.As for "凿", my girlfriend (she's from 贵州) told me that it is how you say chisel and, moreover, it's still commonly used - i.e. not archaic.My very poor attempt at interpreting “烈火焚烧若等闲” would be something like "Raging flames (aimlessly?) ablaze". Would that be a good translation?? :S
@华金,Yes, I agree with murrayjames. This is a great idea! I suggest 《清明》 by 杜牧 for next week, since it's 清明 now. And it's such a beautiful poem :)--Echoecho@popupchinese.com