Dr Gao, did you make a video about Meng Haoran? (Also, I like your darker eye makeup and oversized sweater with tee shirt. The look is a kind of artsy, but still professional.)
谢谢 Dr Gao. I will read more Wang Wei。Translating the poems into English is hard. The poems lack any subjects, prepositions etc. That means an English reader might struggle to comprehend the meaning. Generally, I prefer to translate/ and prefer translations that translate in a minimalist manner (adding as little grammar as possible) - In this way, the reader has to think for themselves as much as possible. After all, the poems were never designed to hand "meaning" on a plate to the reader - a poem should "Show rather than tell" - even in translation. What do you think?
Totally agree with you! I think Wang Wei's Buddhist belief makes him more restrained about his emotions and he turned to present pictures or motions that have implicit cultural significance in either Buddhist or Daoist philosophical contexts which make his poems even more difficult for readers without the background knowledge of those traditions to appreciate his poetry. And it also makes translation very very hard!
It sounds like Wang Wei was in Chang'an at the same time as He Zhi zhang 賀知章 too. Maybe he had a drink with "the eight immortals of the wine cup" 飲中八仙.
It is really funny that Wang Wei was not included by Du Fu. I suspected there might be a bit of rivalry between Li Bai and his circle of friends with Wang Wei and his circle. I have made two videos about this possible rivalry between Li Bai and Wang Wei. You can check those out.
@@dr.gaosclassroom I will look into this.I read Ha Jin's 哈金Biography of Li Bai - The Banished Immortal (and made a video about it if you are curious). Ha Jin argues that Du Fu liked Li Bai more than Li Bai cared for Du fu. Du Fu often wrote poems of Li Bai, but Li Bai hardly ever mentions Du Fu in his works. Perhaps Du Fu was more fond of Li Bai than of Wang Wei.
@@dr.gaosclassroom In Ha Jin's 哈金 Biography of Li Bai (the Banished Immortal - I made a video reviewing this if you are curious) it is suggested that Du Fu was more fond of Li Bai than Li bai was of Du fu. Maybe Du Fu's inclusion of Li Bai without Wang Wei is more evidence of Du Fu's allegiance to Li Bai.
@@sinolit I think so! Li Bai and Wang Wei belonged to different social circles. Wang Wei is from old aristocrats while Li Bai was the son of a nameless merchant. There was a huge difference in their social status. I would certainly have a look of your review of Ha Jin's book.
@@dr.gaosclassroom There are many theories about where Li Bai's family came from - he certainly was from no great family. A "self-made man" . Perhaps Suyab in Central Asia. He also spent time in a small town called Jiangyou - Sichuan. (very close to where i spent most of my 20's)
In the first poem, what is meant by 少一人？ It's hard to translate into English, as a literal translation doesn't make sense. - perhaps "lacking someone" or “” missing a brother" makes more sense in English.
Dr Gao, did you make a video about Meng Haoran? (Also, I like your darker eye makeup and oversized sweater with tee shirt. The look is a kind of artsy, but still professional.)
Yes, I made two videos about Meng Haoran and his poems, here is the first one: ruclips.net/video/uo5lSV152HA/видео.html
Great video!!!
谢谢 Dr Gao. I will read more Wang Wei。Translating the poems into English is hard. The poems lack any subjects, prepositions etc. That means an English reader might struggle to comprehend the meaning. Generally, I prefer to translate/ and prefer translations that translate in a minimalist manner (adding as little grammar as possible) - In this way, the reader has to think for themselves as much as possible. After all, the poems were never designed to hand "meaning" on a plate to the reader - a poem should "Show rather than tell" - even in translation. What do you think?
Totally agree with you! I think Wang Wei's Buddhist belief makes him more restrained about his emotions and he turned to present pictures or motions that have implicit cultural significance in either Buddhist or Daoist philosophical contexts which make his poems even more difficult for readers without the background knowledge of those traditions to appreciate his poetry. And it also makes translation very very hard!
It sounds like Wang Wei was in Chang'an at the same time as He Zhi zhang 賀知章 too. Maybe he had a drink with "the eight immortals of the wine cup" 飲中八仙.
It is really funny that Wang Wei was not included by Du Fu. I suspected there might be a bit of rivalry between Li Bai and his circle of friends with Wang Wei and his circle. I have made two videos about this possible rivalry between Li Bai and Wang Wei. You can check those out.
@@dr.gaosclassroom I will look into this.I read Ha Jin's 哈金Biography of Li Bai - The Banished Immortal (and made a video about it if you are curious). Ha Jin argues that Du Fu liked Li Bai more than Li Bai cared for Du fu. Du Fu often wrote poems of Li Bai, but Li Bai hardly ever mentions Du Fu in his works. Perhaps Du Fu was more fond of Li Bai than of Wang Wei.
@@dr.gaosclassroom In Ha Jin's 哈金 Biography of Li Bai (the Banished Immortal - I made a video reviewing this if you are curious) it is suggested that Du Fu was more fond of Li Bai than Li bai was of Du fu. Maybe Du Fu's inclusion of Li Bai without Wang Wei is more evidence of Du Fu's allegiance to Li Bai.
@@sinolit I think so! Li Bai and Wang Wei belonged to different social circles. Wang Wei is from old aristocrats while Li Bai was the son of a nameless merchant. There was a huge difference in their social status. I would certainly have a look of your review of Ha Jin's book.
@@dr.gaosclassroom There are many theories about where Li Bai's family came from - he certainly was from no great family. A "self-made man" . Perhaps Suyab in Central Asia. He also spent time in a small town called Jiangyou - Sichuan. (very close to where i spent most of my 20's)
The first poem reminds me of Li Bai's "Quiet night thoughts" “静夜思”。- 低头思故乡。
Great!!
In the first poem, what is meant by 少一人？ It's hard to translate into English, as a literal translation doesn't make sense. - perhaps "lacking someone" or “” missing a brother" makes more sense in English.
It means that one brother less because Wang Wei was away from home so when all the brothers going out, he was not there hence one brother less.
@@dr.gaosclassroom in that case "one less brother" would - in English - be more grammatically correct.