花樣年華 Florescent Age

作詞:范煙橋 Lyrics: Fan Yanqiao
作曲:林枚 Music: Lin Mei

周旋唱 Sung by Zhou Xuan

花樣的年華,月樣的精神,冰雪樣的聰明。
In my florescent age, luminal spirit, crystallinus wisdom
美麗的生活,多情的眷屬,圓滿的家庭。
La vie en rose, passionate relations, rises a perfect home.

驀地裡這孤島籠罩著慘霧愁雲,慘霧愁雲。
Suddenly—this lone isle is shrouded with tragic mists and forlorn clouds, tragic mists and forlorn clouds.
啊!可愛的祖國幾時我能夠投進你的懷抱,
Ah! When can I return to you, my beloved motherland
能見那霧消雲散,重見你放出光明。
To see the mists and clouds dissipate, to see your brilliance again?

花樣的年華,月樣的精神。
Florescent age, luminal spirit.

《Ten Talks on Poetry Appreciation: 10__As the River Flows》__ Kong Shiu Loon (53)

Ten Talks
(10) As the River Flows 

To conclude this Talk on Poetry Appreciation I must share with my readers the many wonderful experiences I had with the river, in life as in poetry.
I first encountered a river in 1942, days after Hong Kong fell into Japanese hands, when I was brought to my mother’s native home, Village Beneath the Tall Mountain (太山下) Nearby flowed a big river ………
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《Ten Talks on Poetry Appreciation: 9_Pastoral Poetry》__ Kong Shiu Loon(53)

(9) Pastoral Poetry an International Tradition 

Chinese pastoral poetry is unique, not only because China was an agricultural country for thousands of years, but also because people who had left home to be scholars and officials in cities always yearned for the quietude and charm of a pastoral life. It has a practical honesty and a spiritual charm. The value of earning one’s keeps to meet needs is basic since antiquity.

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《Ten Talks on Poetry Appreciation: 4_禪詩》__ Kong Shiu Loon (53)

(4) Chan, Poetry, Being Free  

China is the kingdom of poetry. It is so because we Chinese love poems and being free, in body and mind. Fortunately, we also live a Chan () way of life, caring for self and others, mindful of Nature and things, and knowing life and death in cosmic meanings.
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All cultures have poems and songs to express human emotions and aspirations. Only the Chinese culture has poems and songs to do so in the spirit and wisdom of Chan, integrating the wisdom of all ancient sages and Buddha.

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《Ten Talks on Poetry Appreciation: 3_曹操_曹丕_曹植》__ Kong Shiu Loon (53)

(3) Poets of the same family

In the annals of Chinese poetry, there had been famous poets in the same families, like father and son, husband and wife, brothers and sisters. But, because of varying environments, the contents and moods of these blood-related poets, such as two brothers, may differ markedly.

We begin with Emperor Cao Cao 曹操(155-200)……

His two sons were also poets of distinction. They were, however of different characters. The older son Cao Pi 曹丕(186-226) was keen on amassing power. The younger Cao Zhi 曹植(192-232) was a prodigy, and contended to be a good poet.  Continue reading

《Ten Talks on Poetry Appreciation: 2_詞》__ Kong Shiu Loon (53)

 (2) Melodic Lyrics and Poems 

The Tang and Song (唐宋) dynasties were great moments for literature. The former was open, when China took in diverse foreign things in exchange of her own wisdom. The latter was under the attacks of powerful tribes from the north, when the Emperor immersed himself in esthetic creation. It was an epoch of consolidation and contradiction, a time of consistence and change. It was an age for songs and poems.

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