Ode To Red Cliff 念奴嬌 赤壁懷古

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In that car journey from Dongguan (see last post), my friend narrated his last meeting with his friend who questioned the life he had been living. What has it all being for? For money? Security? Status? The good things in Life? Are they worth the sacrifices? Isn’t it in the end, no matter what one achieved; they are just like 浪淘沙 (làngtáoshā), sands that are washed away by the relentless tides of time.

Or is Life just an illusion as suggested by 苏轼 Sū Shì’s Ode to Red Cliff 念奴娇 - 赤壁怀古 (niàn nú jiāo - Chìbì huáigǔ). Even if one is as kingly as Li Yu 李煜 lǐyù or as heroic as Zhou Yu 周瑜 Zhōu Yú, in the end we will still be swept away by the Great River to the East. Maybe he sensed his end was near. He was not feeling well and intended to visit the hospital for a thorough check-up. He did not do so immediately because he was busy and needed to go for another outstation trip. He never made it back.

Ode to Red Cliff was the second poem he quoted in this reminiscence just before his demise. I did not know this friend of his but I was sad when I heard his story.

念奴娇 - 赤壁怀古 niàn nú jiāo - Chìbì huáigǔ

苏轼 Sū Shì

大江东去, 浪淘尽、千古风流人物。
故垒西边, 人道是、三国周郎赤壁。
乱石崩云, 惊涛裂岸, 卷起千堆雪。
江山如画, 一时多少豪杰!

遥想公瑾当年, 小乔初嫁了, 雄姿英发。
羽扇纶巾, 谈笑间、樯橹灰飞烟灭。
故国神游, 多情应笑我, 早生华发。
人生如梦, 一樽还酹江月。


dàjiāng dōngqù, làngtáojìn, qiāngǔ fēngliú rénwù.
gùlěi xībian, réndào shì, Sānguó Zhōuláng Chìbì.
luànshí bēngyún, jīngtāo liè àn, juǎnqǐ qiān duīxuě,
jiāngshān-rúhuà, yīshí duōshao háojié!

yáoxiǎng gōngjǐn dāngnián, xiǎoqiáo chūjià le, xióngzī yīngfā.
yǔshàn-guānjīn, tánxiào jiān, qiánglǔ huīfēi yānmiè.
gùguó shényóu, duōqíng yīngxiào wǒ, zǎoshēng huáfà.
rénshēng rúmèng, yīzūn huánlèi jiāngyuè.

Nian Nu Jiao (Graceful Nian Nu) - Ode To Red Cliff

The Great River flows east, its waves sweeping away, all distinguished figures.
The fortress in the west of Red Cliff, it is said, stood Zhou Yu of the Three Kingdoms.
Scraggy rocks piercing clouds, sudden waves smashing the shores, into a thousand snow flakes.
The scene is like a painting, for a while, full of heroes!

Recalled Zhou Yu in his prime, Xiao Qiao by his side, in full majestic splendour.
The composed master strategist; talked and laughed, while the enemy's ships went up in flames.
A romantic journey to the past, I laughed at the sentimental me, prematurely turning gray.
Life is like a passing dream, a toast to the moon's reflection.

Three Smelly Tanners 三个臭皮匠

The other famous saying from the Three Kingdoms should of course belong to none other than Zhuge Liang (please refer to earlier post). But somehow I never quite like this proverb because of my high regards for Zhuge Liang and because I do not think the analogy is that good.

三个臭皮匠, 胜过一个诸葛亮 sāngè chòu píjiang, shèngguo yīgè Zhūgě Liàng –“ three smelly tanners, surpass one Zhuge Liang”. 皮匠 píjiang is both interpreted as cobbler or tanner. My personal take on this is tanner because of the word 臭 chòu (smelly). Tanners definitely smell worse than cobblers. And I am not joking about this either. The profession of tanner is also held in lower regards being involved in a dirty, smelly job involving carcasses.

The reason I do not like this proverb is that while three tanners may overpower Zhuge Liang by brute force, a thousand tanners will not match him in wit. Anyway the usage has evolved to mean “two heads are better than one”. It is also use to mean that the wisdom of the masses exceeds that of the wisest individual. In the time of dynasties, nobody really cares for the masses so I wonder when this meaning crept in. It did remind me of a recent book “The wisdom of crowds: why the many are smarter than the few and how ... By James Surowiecki” Maybe, he knows this Chinese proverb…

Zhu-ge Liang’s Advice Fell on Deaf Ears. 出师表

As we flew over the South China Sea, we talked about the famous strategist of the “Romance of the Three Kingdom” 三国演义 [Sānguó yǎnyì] fame – Zhuge Liang 诸葛亮 [Zhūgě Liàng], the chancellor of the state of Shu 蜀 [shǔ]. Before he left for the Northern expedition in 227 against the state of Wei 魏 [Wèi], he wrote a famous memorial advising his emperor, the incompetent Liu Shan 刘禅 [Liúshàn] (207 – 271) of the art of proper governance. The state of 吴 [Wú] makes up the three kingdoms.

He advised his emperor not to lose himself in the pursuit of mean things, to enforce a just law that rewards the good and punish the evil; and to avoid sycophants. This advice is still valid almost two thousand years later for every power on Earth. He gave his reason for his military expedition which is why it is called 出师表 [chūshībiǎo] “Memorial on the eve of Departure”. I like this translation better as it is more poetic than the more accurate “Military Expedition Memorial” for 出师 means sending out an army. 师 by itself is more commonly used to mean teacher or master.

He exhorted his emperor to continue the unfinished work of his late father Liu Bei 刘备[Liú Bèi] (161-223 A.D.) to further the glory of the Kingdom of Shu. He should have saved his breath for his good advice fell on deaf ear. Zhuge Liang died of illness seven years later in 234 after the series of indecisive Northern campaigns. The state of Shu fell to Wei just two years later in 236 after his death.

As wise as Zhuge Liang was, he let emotion (loyalty) interfered with his judgment. For he himself did not heed Liu Bei’s words at his deathbed – “If he (Liu Shan) does not have the necessary qualities to be an emperor, you mustn’t make him the emperor of Shu in Chengdu.” It is for this reason that the childhood name of Liu Shan, "A Dou" (阿斗) is taken to mean an incompetent weakling.

In the next posts, I’ll share two of the most popular sayings to come out from the story of the three kingdom…