In her new project, For a Snail Horn of Fame, Julie Landau brings the voice, lyrics, and legend of the tenth century “songwriter” Liu Yong to an English speaking audience. Liu, the black sheep among classical Chinese literati poets and still a controversial figure today, was the central force in transforming Chinese poetry for the ensuing millennium. His lyrics take on love, desire, failure, disappointment, age, disillusion, and regret in a timeless manner with emotions and imagery that are as poignant now as they were when they were written.
His lyrics, despite their importance in China for so long, are virtually unknown in English translation. This is especially surprising given that they are still known to just about anyone raised in China.
The form, ci, originated in the brothels (Singing Houses) as erotic and exotic songs, made up and sung by the prostitutes (singing girls) to “Barbarian” tunes played on unusual instruments of the Central Asian Steppe. The main clientele of such Singing Houses was the literati–those hoping to pass the government exam along with government officials who had already done so–poets by inclination and education. For them, playing with putting words to these songs was a new game and the result was more elegant songs with beautiful images of girls and love. Liu Yong rapidly tired of these romantic images and introduced changes in substance and form that enabled ci to become the preeminent lyric form in Chinese. He was the first to write about women as real people, with names and problems and real lives. He wrote about himself with incredible honesty and a wry sense of humor.
For a Snail Horn of Fame tells the story of Liu Yong: the fascinating contrast of a man whose songs were wildly popular in the Singing Houses with a man that never achieved literary or political success and died in poverty without progeny. His story echoes through the 60 translations of his lyrics– songs that cover an amazing range of human emotions with words and imagery that have captivated readers for one thousand years.
Below are several translations from the book:
Mi xian yin
Just old enough for a pin
To fasten clouds of hair
She learned to sing and dance
Became a high class entertainer
Hoping to meet a rich man
Who’d like to keep her, idle
Now, her smile alone
Earns thousands, but she keeps looking
Always Afraid
Her bloom will suddenly pass
Her chance, wasted
She already endures a gentleman’s favor
Best let him have his way with her
Go ten thousand miles into the twilight
Hand in hand–why not with him?
Give up forever
The singing house world
Where others watch her
Sleeping around
~~~
He Zhuan
2
Amid deep greens and filmy reds
Black eyebrows frowning sadly
Catch my eye–
Her poise rare among young prostitutes
Dancing, singing, showing off clothes and fans–
Light make-up only brings out her lovely features
Drunk among the dissolute guests as usual
I’m struck by her
Quite startled by my wild desire
It’s not as though I were young
And had a thousand in gold to take my pick–
I’ve found her–and it’s too late
~~~
An gong zi
2
Awake from dreams in the middle of a night
So still I can count the minutes passing
Only misery ahead–the remnant candle’s
Red tears join mine
Overcome by wild desire
The moment I lie down
I toss and turn a thousand times
Even several bridal quilts
Don’t lead to lonely sleep, can’t keep me warm
I hate that it ended! I was a fool–
To think we didn’t match, that parting would be easy
Now, so bored, so lonely, so alone
I try to stay focused, but I’m falling apart
Rue that it had to be this way. . .
How can I stop loving you?
It’s finished
But I still want you
Our time together cut off too soon
Now, what chance we’ll ever meet again?
~~~
Shao Nian you
8
In the end, life is just too much
Looking back
To when I’d no broken heart to hide–
What good days–and better nights
Behind a screen, under the fragrant quilt. . .
But once you’d gone–force myself to forget–how?
And the others, as the years went by
Greedy to make love
How long did it go on?
How many were there–a thousand, ten–all sorts
I loved them each a bit
They came and went–what was it all about?
Julie Landau 