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 Listen to Shirley Singing the Lyric in English June 27, 2010
Listen to Shirley Singing the Lyric in Chinese June 27, 2010
Listen to Shirley Explaining the Lyric June 28, 2010 & Follow Me to Read It
Listen to Shirley Reading the Lyric and New Words June 28, 2010 & Follow Me to Read Them
Read Something About This Lyric & Shirley's Comments on It June 28, 2010
See Shirley Created Calligraphy & Paintings for the Lyric June 26, 2010 See Mr. Mao Zedong Created Calligraphy for the Lyric Dec, 1961
 Plum blossom is one of the important parts in Chinese culture. It is the subject that has been expressing by the ancient and contemporary Chinese literature and art works for a few thousand years. One of the most famous poems / lyrics to appreciate plum blossom is the Bu Suan Zi ? Yong Mei by Lu You (1125 - 1210) in Song Dynasty (960-1279):
驿外断桥边 ? Beside the broken bridge and outside of the post-hall ，
寂寞开无主 ? A flower is blossoming forlorn。
已是黄昏独自愁 ? Saddened by her solitude at nightfall，
更著风和雨 ? by wind and rain she is further torn。
无意苦争春 ? To spring she lays no claim，
一任群芳妒 ? let other flowers their envy pour。
零落成泥碾作尘 ? Fallen in mud and ground to dust, she seems no more，
只有香如故 ? but her fragrance is still the same.
In Lu You’s poem /lyric, the plum blossom is alone, pure and envied by the other flowers. But even though she has changed to be mud and ground to dust, she still keeps her fragrance. The other ancient poems relate to plum blossom also similar with this kind of meaning.
In December, 1961, during China's economy was in the quite difficult time. Chairman Mao Zedong (1893 - 1976) read the lyric by Lu You (1125 - 1210). With the same name of the tune, he wrote/filled a new lyric with totally different meaning.
In my opinions, this is the most positive and the best poem on plum blossom.
This poem/lyric has written out two kinds of characteristics of the plum blossom:
1. She is much stronger and braver than any the other flowers so that she can be able to blossom her beautiful flowers in the coldest season when the cliff is covered by the ice.
2.She is beautiful and blossoms earliest, but, she does not want to compete her beautiful with the spring and the other flowers at all. What she wants to do is just to be the herald of the spring. When all of the flowers have blossomed already, she will return among the flowers with a big smile...
I do think that via writing the beautiful quality of the plum blossom surface and inside, Chairman Mao has written out of his own dreams ? to keep the excellent personality of a person ? to work and live with a beautiful, positive and optimistic life attitude, to overcome the difficulties in the hard time...
During I itself is suffering the pain of the sickness, re-reading this lyric, it has really helped me so much. So, I have created 4 paintings and a piece of music to match this lyric; also, I have played, sung it and expressed it in Chinese and in English. I do hope that my effort will encourage both of you and me to live and to work on our positions, to help you to learn Chinese culture and language, while to improve my own physiological and psychology health.
 MAIN MEANING OF THIS LYRIC
Bu Suan Zi •Ode to the Plum Blossoms
By Mao Zedong (1893- 1976)
(Reading Lu You's Lyrics -- Bu Suan Zi • Ode to the Plum Blossom, write with the same tune, but the opposite meaning.)
The Spring departed in the wind and rain,
the flying snow welcomes her return.
When the cliff is covered by the ice,
There is still flower pretty.
Never vie with spring for her beautiful,
Just being the herald of spring.
When the mountain flowers are in full bloom,
She is smiling in the flowers.
The Other Translation by Foreign Languages Press, March, 1999
OLD TO THE PLUM BLOSSOM
――to the tune of Bu Suan Zi
December 1961
On reading Lu You’s Old to the Plum Blossom, I countered it with
the following lines.
Wind and rain escorted Spring’s departure,
Flying snow welcomes Spring’s return.
On the ice-clad rock rising high and sheer
A flower blooms sweet and fair.
Sweet and fair, she craves not Spring for herself alone.
To be the harbinger of Spring she is content.
When the mountain flowers are in full bloom
She will smile mingling in their midst.
NEW WORDS:
Note: Please hit any Chinese character that you need helped, to see its Chinese pinyin, pronunciation, meaning and follow me to read it.
CHINESE CHARACTERS :
卜算子•咏梅
毛泽东
读 陆 游 咏 梅 词，反其意而用之。
风 雨 送 春 归- Fēnyǔ sòng cūn guī,
飞 雪 迎 春 到- fēi yuě yíng chūn dào。
已 是 悬 崖 百 丈 冰 - Yǐ shì xuán yá bái zhàng bī，
犹 有 花 枝 俏 - yóu yǒu huā zhī qiào。
俏 也 不 争 春 - Qiào yě bù zhēng chūn，
只 把 春 来 报 - zhǐ bǎ chūn lái bào 。
待 到 山 花 烂 漫 时 - Dài dào shān huā lán màn shí，
她 在 丛 中 笑 - tā zài cōng zhōng xiào。
 If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, welcome to write to shirley@ebridge.cn or shirleyz004@yahoo.com ,you can also publish your opinions on Message Board . :-)
--Shirley Zhang
June 27, 2010
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Classical Poems/Lyrics
