1).Snowy River
Mandarin pronunciation: giang xue 江雪
千山鳥飛絕,萬徑人蹤滅,孤舟簑笠翁,獨釣寒江雪.
qiang shan niao fei gue, wuang gin ri cung mie,
gu co suo li wung, du diao han giang xue
English lyrics: No bird flying in the mountain, no human walking in the path.
A single boating fish man, fishing alone in the snow; fishing alone in the snow.
Picture: In a snowy river, there is a little fishing boat, with one fish man. In the back ground, there are mountains. By the river, there are trees without leaves. It is cold, thus, no bird flying in the mountain, no human walking in the snow.
Poet: Lio Cung Yuan,柳宗元,773A.D.-819A.D., He was an officer for the Tong dynasty.He also wrote famous essays.
Music: Vivi Chu, teacher of Sunshine children’s choir
2). One Spring Morning
Mandarin pronunciation: cung xiao 春曉
春眠不覺曉,處處聞啼鳥,夜來風雨聲,花落知多少.
Cun mian bu gue xiao,chu chu wen ti liao,
Yi lai fung yu shen, hua luo zhi duo sao
English lyric: Sleeping unaware of the dawn; birds singing everywhere; rain blow, rainy, last night; how many flowers fell.
Picture: It is Spring,. Birds standing on the tree branches singing. They are everywhere.
Last night, it was raining and windy. There must be many flowers fell.
The poet just woke up in the morning, that was his feeling.
Poet: Mun Hau Zan,孟浩然,689A.D.-740A.D. He wrote poems for enjoyment, never did work for the dynasty.
Music: Vivi Chu, teacher of Sunshine children ’s choir
3).Under the pine tree, I asked, “Where did your teacher go?”
Mandarin pronunciation: Sung xia wen tung zi 松下問童子
松下問童子,言師採藥去,只在此山中,雲深不知處.
Sung xia wen tung zi, yian sh cei yao qu,
zi zei ci sen cung,yun sen bu zhi cu.
English lyric: Where your teacher went? collecting medicine; in this mountain, where the clouds stay.
Picture : Under the pine tree. The poet asked the boy,: “Where did your teacher go?”. The boy said:” My teacher went to collect medicine.”
“ He is somewhere in this mountain, I don’t know the exact spot, where the clouds are.”
Meaning:1).Chinese herb medicine was very popular way back then, that was one housand two hundred years ago. In order to get the good medicine, some times, people had to go to the deep high mountain.
2). From the poem, you can tell, this boy did not lived with his parents. He lived with his teacher. He is an apprentice. The relationship between teacher and him is like father and son.
3). This little poem showed us the ultimate Chinese philosophy: ”Away from the human rat race, going back to the great nature, where we came from.”
Poet: Jia Dau,賈島,779A.D.-843A.D.He worked as an officer for the dynasty.
Music: Vivi Chu, teacher of Sunshine children’s choir
4). River South is nice
Mandarin pronunciation: jiang nang hao 江南好
江南好,風景舊曾諳,日出江花紅勝火,春來江水綠如藍,能不憶江南.
jiang nan hao, fung jing jio cen an, ri cu jian hua hung shen huo,
Cuen lai jiang shei lu ru lan, len bu yi jiang nan, yi giang nan.
English lyric: River South is nice, scenery is familiar; Sun rising redder than water, water green like blue: How can I not remember, Remember the river south.
Picture: Sun rising by the river, the reflection of the sun is red, so red, it is redder than fire. Water is blue, so blue, it is almost greenish. Two colors were in contrast. Yet it was very beautiful.
Background: At the time Bei Ju Yi wrote the poem. He was working in Xi An province which was far away from the River( yang Zi River). In the cold of the north west, he remembered the River South.
Poet: Bei Ju Yi ,白居易, 772A.D.-846A.D., He wrote about three thousand poems. easy to remember. People from other countries read his poems. Old ladies who had no education recite his poems.
Music: Vivi Chu, teacher of Sunshine children’s choir
5). Don’t know when I can be home again
Mandarin pronunciation: Ju wen guei qi wei yio qi 夜雨懷北
君問歸期未有期,巴山夜雨漲秋池,何當共剪西窗燭,卻話巴山夜雨時.
ju wen guei qi wei yio qi, ba shan yi yu cang qio ci,
He shi gung jian xi cung cu, gung hua ba shan yie yu shi.
English lyric: Don’t know when I can be home again, Ba Shen rain falling in pond;Wishing we’ll be together again, talking whole night about the old time.
Picture this: A man was sitting by the window, thinking of his wife, who was far away. He was wondering when they can be together, using the same
table and same candle. Talking whole night about the good old time.
Back ground: A man was sent to work in Si Cuan Province, at a place called Ba Shen,where was surround by huge mountains. At the time this poem was written, that was one thousand two hundred years ago. There was no air plane. He missed his wife, and wrote this poem. Now this poem is so famous, you can use this poem for your friends too.
Poet: Li Shan Yien, 李商隱,813A.D.-858A.D.,He worked as an officer for the tong dynasty for a short period of time. His poems were mostly romantic inclined.
Music: Vivi Chu, teacher of Sunshine children’s choir.
6). Swan
Mandarin pronunciation: e 鵝
鵝,鵝,鵝,曲項向天歌,白毛浮綠水,紅掌撥清波.
e,e e, qu xiang xiang tian ge, bei mao fu lu shei,hung cang bo qieng bo.
English lyric: Swan, Swan, Swan. Singing to heaven; Red feather, green pond; Red palm up the water.
Picture: A greenish blue pond with swans swimming there. These swans have red palms.
Poet: Lu Bien Wang, 駱賓王,619A.D.-?, He was an officer for the Tong dynasty, he was in prison too. Nobody know when he passed away.
Some legend said that he was killed by the bandits; some legend said he became a monk.
Music: Vivi Chu, teacher of Sunshine children’s choir
7).The beautiful grass
Mandarin pronunciation: li li yuan shang cao 離離原上草
離離原上草,一歲一枯榮,野火燒不盡,春風吹又生.
Li li yuan shang cao, yi sui yi ku rang;
Ye huo shao bu ji, chun feng chui you sheng
English Lyric: The beautiful grass, every year live and die; Wild fire never destroy them; Spring wind make them live.
Picture: The severe winter never did really killed the prairie grasses. As soon as the Spring is here, the grass live again.
Meaning: Little grass never die from disasters, why should you? We need to learn from these grasses.
Poet: Bei Ju Yi, 白居易,772A.D.-846A.D., See above 4) River South is nice., which he also wrote.
Music: Vivi Chu, teacher of Sunshine children’s choir
8). Sun sets by the mountain
Mandarin pronunciation: bai ri yi shan jin 白日依山盡
白日依山盡,黃河入海流,欲窮千里目,更上一層樓.
Bai ri yi shan jin, huang he ru hai liu,
Yu qiong qian li mu, ge shang yi ceng lou,yi ceng lou,
yi ceng lou, geng shang yi ceng lou
English lyric: Sun sets by the hill, river flow to the see; In order to see far, ought go up more, go up more, go up more, ought to go up more.
Picture: The sunsets by the hill, river flows to the sea; it was a very beautiful scenery. However, in order for us to see the complete picture, we need adjust our own position, that is to go up higher.
Meaning: In order to comprehend the big picture, you need to adjust your footing. That is to go up at least one step more.
Poet: Wang Ze Huen, 王之渙,688A.D.-742A.D. An officer for Tong dynasty for a short period .
Music: Vivi Chu, teacher of Sunshine children’s choir
9). Moon fall, birds sing, frosting sky
Mandarin pronunciation: yue luo wu ti shuang man tian 月落鳥啼霜滿天
月落烏啼霜滿天,江楓漁火對愁眠,姑蘇城外寒山寺,夜半鐘聲到客船.
Yue luo wu ti shuang man tian, jian feng yu huo dui chou mian,
Gu su cheng wai han shan si, ye ban zhong sheng dao ke chuang
English lyric: Moon Falls, birds sing, frosting sky; maple river, spotty light. I hear the bell ring ding and dong, from the Hen- Shen temple.
Picture: It is fall season. The poet was in a boat, going some place. Seeing this scenery:
Moon fall, birds sing( the go home singing), the sky was frosting. There were
maples trees by the river, many boats with lights on. He could not sleep, for he was worry too much. At this time, he hear the bell ring ding and dong, from the Hen Shen temple.
Meaning: The temple bell was telling him something: Why worry about useless things? At the end, we all going to leave this human world . Then, why bother, why worry?
Poet: Zhang Ji, 張繼,Native of Hu Bei province. An officer for the Tong dynasty.
Music: Vivi Chu, teacher of Sunshine children’s choir.
10). Golden dress
Mandarin pronunciation: Jin Lu Yi 金縷衣
勸君莫惜金縷衣,勸君惜取少年時,有花堪折直須折,莫待無花空折枝.
Quan ju mo xi jin lu yi, quan ju xi qu shau lien shi.
You hua kan zhe zh xu zhe, mo dei wu hua hung zhe zh
English lyric: Never mind golden dress, do care about living well. Treasure beauty
In this moment, don’t wait too long.
Picture: The poet saw beautiful flowers on the branch, she was hesitating about take the flower. The poet said that you take down the flowers now before the flowers die.
Meaning: Enjoy life before it is gone. Time goes faster than we think.
Poet: Du Cio Liang, 杜秋娘,wife of an Tong dynasty officer Li Qi.
Music: Vivi Chu, teacher of Sunshine children’s choir.
11). January First
Mandarin pronunciation: yuan ri 元日
炮竹聲中一歲除,春風送暖入屠蘇,千門萬戶瞳瞳日,總把新桃換舊符.
bau zhu shen zhung yi sui chu, chun feng song nuan ru tu su,
qian men wan hu tong tong ri, zung ba xin tao huan jiu fu
zung ba xin tao huan jiu fu
English lyric: Fire cracker sound loud, Warm Spring coming now. The sun shining,
We are changing to the brand new.
Picture: Children and adults were using fire cracker to celebrate the new year at his time. It was Spring. Everybody was changing to the brand new stuff.
Poet: Wang An Sh, 王安石, He was the Primer for Sung dynasty. He was a famous politician.
Music: Vivi Chu, teacher of Sunshine children’s choir
12). Memorial Day
Mandarin pronunciation qing ming 凊明時節
清明時節雨紛紛,路上行人欲斷魂,借問酒家何處有,牧童遙指杏花村.
qing ming shi jie yu fen fen, lu shang xing ren yu duan huen,
Jie wen jiu jia he cu you, mu tung yao zhi xin hua cun, xin hua cun
English lyric: Memorial day, it is rainy make me sad; Ask where the Café is? Cowboy point to flower village; flower village.
Picture: Most tombs were in the country. In the memorial day. People went to the countryside for showing their respect to the ancestors. When it was raining, the sadness deepens. They were tired and needed to eat and rest. They met a cowboy. They asked for the nearest restaurant, and were told that it was in one of the flower villages.
Meaning: The memorial day is in March. It is the rainy season of the year. It was Spring. The time many flowers started to blossom. The nearest café located in the flower villages. Cow boy were water- buffalo boy. In Asia, water buffalos were used as field labor to work in the rice fields.
Poet: Du Mu, 杜牧, 803 A.D.-852 A.D. An officer for Tong Dynasty
Music; Vivi Chu, teacher of Sunshine choir
Poem Songs (Tong and Sung Dynasty)
1).Snowy River 江雪
2).One Spring Morning 春曉
3).Under The Pine Tree, I Asked, ”Where did your teacher go?” 松下問童子
4).River South Is Nice 江南好
5). Don’t know When I Can Be Home Again 夜雨懷北
6). Swan 鵝
7). The Beautiful Grass 離離原上草
8). Sun Sets By The Mountain 白日依山盡
9). Moon fell, Bird Sing, Frosting Sky 月落鳥啼霜滿天
10). Golden Dress金縷衣
11). January First 元日
12). Memorial Day 清明時節
Music by Vivi Chu, Copy Right 2003,2004,2005 by Vivi Chu
Cwyinc@aol.com, tel.612-207-6038
