From Emperor to Prisoner: Verses of China's Last Monarchs
In ancient Chinese history, the final rulers of a state or dynasty were commonly perceived as having strayed from moral principles, leading to their perceived abandonment by the heavens. In reality, though, they were simply incompetent at governing a nation. Surprisingly, some of them were talented in writing poems and dedicated a substantial amount of their lives to the pursuit of art and literature. In this article, we translated two poems composed by the last monarchs of distinct dynasties in ancient China. These verses were penned in the aftermath of their respective states' defeat, when they found themselves in captivity under enemy rules.
虞美人 Beautiful Lady Yu 李煜 (Author: Li Yu, 10th century) 春花秋月何时了, spring flow autumn moon when time end 往事知多少? past affairs know many a few 小楼昨夜又东风, small tower yesterday night again east wind 故国不堪回首月明中! past kingdom no bear return head moon bright in 雕阑玉砌应犹在, carved railing jade stairs should still exist 只是朱颜改。 only is red face change 问君能有几多愁? ask you can have several many sorrow 恰似一江春水向东流。 just similar one river spring water towards east flow
Translation: Spring flowers, autumn moon ― when will they end? All those undertakings of the past ― who knows how many there were? Last night the east wind came to my small building again. In the bright moonlight, I couldn’t bear to look back toward my homeland. The inlaid ramparts and jade stairs should still be there. It’s only the beautiful faces that have changed. I ask you, how much sorrow is possible? Just as much as a river full of spring water flowing east.
在北题壁 Writing the Poem on the Wall at North 赵佶 (Author: Zhao Ji, 12th century) 彻夜西风撼破扉,whole night west wind shake worn-out door 萧条孤馆一灯微。desolate alone house one candle tiny 家山回首三千里,home mountain return head three thousand li 目断天南无雁飞。look stop sky south no geese fly
Translation: I’m alone in this empty house with one small candle And all night long the west wind rattles the old wood door. Looking back to my homeland three thousand miles away I search the southern horizon but see no geese to carry our letters.
Translation Notes:
The author of the first poem was the last ruler of the Southern Tang state. After his empire was invaded by the Northern Song armies, he was captured and spent the last couple of years of his life essentially as a prisoner in the North. This poem is said to be the last poem that he wrote, lamenting his miserable life as a prisoner and demonstrating how much he missed his empire/hometown. The historical record indicates that after he wrote this poem and asked some singing girls to chant it, the emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty grew furious and ordered that Li Yu be poisoned to death.
The wind in traditional Chinese thought is seen as a powerful force for change, often heralding the coming of spring. Even the word ‘wind’ has within it the symbol for insect, as it was believed that the wind brought the insects that appear in great number during the spring. In Grass, translated on this site, the spring wind blows the grass back to life. In other poems, however, such as Lu You’s Pheonix Hairpin, the wind is bitter and brings tragic change. In Beautiful Lady Yu, the east wind comes to the poet’s small building to remind the poet of his lost and beautiful homeland, triggering unbearable pain.
The author of the second poem was technically the penultimate emperor of the Northern Song dynasty. While lacking talent in governing a nation, he was well-known for his talent in the areas of poetry, painting, music, and calligraphy. His ascent to the throne followed the passing of his elder brother who didn't produce an heir. He was devoted to arts, literature, and culture during the early part of his reign. However, as the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty encroached upon the Song dynasty in 1126 AD, he abdicated, passing his crown to his eldest son and adopting the title "Retired Emperor." This was a customary gesture in ancient Chinese history when an emperor foresaw a looming defeat, seeking to avoid the ignominious title of the last monarch abandoned by the heaven.
The following year witnessed the fall of the Song capital to Jin forces. He, along with his eldest son (technically the last emperor of the Northern Song dynasty), and the entire royal household, was taken captive by the Jurchens, with many royal consorts and princesses subjected to the miserable fate of becoming sex slaves―a dark episode chronicled as the "Humiliation of Jingkang." The author spent the last nine years of his life in captivity, and this short poem reflects the harshness of his northern imprisonment. Both poems share a common theme, a look back at their homeland. Notably, the second poem discusses a wish that geese may carry messages from the South. The reason he wants to exchange messages with the South is that one of his surviving sons avoided the fate of being captured by the Jurchens, fled south, declared himself emperor, and continued the rule of the Song dynasty. The dream of return, unfortunately, never came true.
In translating this second poem, we made two significant alterations to the original. We changed the order of the first two lines so that the reader begins by being located in the poet’s home and then hears the wind rattling the door. After some debate, we decided to make this change so that the translation would flow better and have a greater sense of immediacy. By reversing the order of the lines, however, we are centering the reader’s need to have the scene set and losing some of the subjective terror of the deposed king who first blurts out that the door has been rattling all night and then tells us where he is. We believe that a contemporary reader would have already understood the poem’s location and not have needed the explanation implied by the change we made. The final line of the poem ends with “no geese fly” in the original, but we added an explanation of why he was looking for geese. In both instances we have altered the original in an attempt to give the modern reader a better understanding of the events being described so that the reader would have some of the same experience of reading the poem that a Chinese person living at the time the poem was written would have had.