The beautiful girls are many as the cloud in Lhasa
- Poetry of Tsangyang Gyatso

《拉萨游女漫如云》

- Last updated: 2024-03-22 16:05:05

中文原文

拉萨游女漫如云，琼结佳人独秀群。

我向此中求伴侣，最先属意便为君。

English Translation

The beautiful girls are many as the cloud in Lhasa,

the best of them are living in Qonggyai county.

I seek for a wife in these exceedingly beautiful girls,

you're the first one i wanna spend my rest life to be with.

By Tsangyang Gyatso

Why Chinese poems is so special?: The most distinctive features of Chinese poetry are: concision- many poems are only four lines, and few are much longer than eight; ambiguity- number, tense and parts of speech are often undetermined, creating particularly rich interpretative possibilities; and structure- most poems follow quite strict formal patterns which have beauty in themselves as well as highlighting meaningful contrasts.

How to read a Chinese poem?: Like an English poem, but more so. Everything is there for a reason, so try to find that reason. Think about all the possible connotations, and be aware of the different possibilities of number and tense. Look for contrasts: within lines, between the lines of each couplet and between successive couplets. Above all, don't worry about what the poet meant- find your meaning.

List of Chinese poets