South of the river, you can pick lotuses,
How like a field are the lotus leaves!
Fish play in the lotus leaves:
Fish play east of the lotus leaves,
Fish play west of the lotus leaves,
Fish play south of the lotus leaves,
Fish play north of the lotus leaves.
江南可采莲，莲叶何田田！鱼戏莲叶间。
鱼戏莲叶东，鱼戏莲叶西，鱼戏莲叶南，鱼戏莲叶北。
Han Poetry
This is a folk poem that was popular in the Han dynasty (202 BCE to 9 ACE). It was sung as a gentle metaphor for the relations between the sexes, with the men singing one line, and the women singing the next line. “South of the river” means south of the Yangtze, which is a common way of referring to the southern part of the nation.
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
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