Chinese poem - “Looking at the Moon and Thinking of One Far Away" By Zhang Jiuling (Includes original song and video) | 《望月懷遠》 - 張九齡 (內有原創樂曲及影片)

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Have you ever come across villains in life before? A member of our CCP team was very unfortunate and was even scammed quite a large sum of money. You can always rely on kind hearted peoole in life, but baddies are another issue. Some want to profit off you, and some want to harm you. In ancient Chinese history, we have seen many villains, and today's poet was very unfortunate to come across one who framed him causing him to lose his job.

你在生活中曾否遇過小人？我遇過，更被騙了巨款。在世界上，我們總會遇到不同的好人及壞人，遇到好人當然好，他將會是你的良友，伙伴，但遇到壞人時，你就要小心了，因為他總會把握機會在你身上得到好處，有些壞人更會不求好處，他就是只想害你。在中國古代，我們曾經出現過不少偉人，同樣也出現了很多小人，在這一篇介紹，我們會講及一位著名的丞相張九齡，他因遭小人誹謗，官場失意，留下了一篇名傳千古的詩歌。

The Background 創作背景

This poem was written in AD736. Zhang was a prominent Minister serving under the Emperor Xuanzong. However, he was set up by some villains, got demoted and ended up in exile in a remote part of China. It was under these circumstances that he wrote this poem.

此詩應作於唐玄宗開元二十四年（736年）。當時身為丞相的張九齡遭小人誹謗，貶為荊州長史。作者身在異鄉，睹月而思親，作下名留千古的《望月懷遠》。

Trivia Fact 趣味小知識

reference
Zhang was a charming and intelligent scholar. Although he was framed and sent to exile, Emperor Xuanzong still often talked about him. Whenever a minister wanted to recommend or promote someone to an official rank, the Emperor would always ask “How does he compare to Zhang?” Thus the term ‘Qujiang demeanor’ came about as a benchmark for a person. Qujiang is where Zhang hails from.

張九齡是位氣度不凡的俊傑。雖然他遭奸臣陷害離開朝廷，但唐玄宗仍然記著他。所以每當有大臣向唐玄宗推薦人才時，他都會問：「此人的氣度比起張九齡來怎麼樣？」張九齡是曲江人，漸漸地，唐玄宗的話造就了「曲江風度」一成語的出現，用來形容如張九齡般耿直文雅、風儀甚整的人。

###The meaning of the poem 作品大意

海上生明月，天涯共此時。
情人怨遙夜，竟夕起相思。
滅燭憐光滿，披衣覺露滋。
不堪盈手贈，還寢夢佳期。

The bright moon rises close above the sea, we watch it from different corners of the world.
Lovers resents the long sleepless nights, thinking of one another all night long.
The moonlight floods the house when you blow out the candle, and the clothes are damp with dew.
I wish I could gift you the beautiful moon, perhaps we shall meet in my dreams.

茫茫的海上升起一輪明月，此時你我在天涯共賞月。
有情人怨恨漫長月夜，徹夜不眠互相思念。
熄滅蠟燭滿屋月光惹人憐愛，披上衣服露水沾濕衣裳。
無法贈你美好的月色，只望能與你在夢中相見。

Highlight of the poem 精選詩句

“The bright moon rises close above the sea, we watch it from different corners of the world” - these two lines fully reflects the poet’s mood when he is far away from home. He uses above the sea and different corners of the world to reflect his emptiness and the distance between him and everything else.

「海上生明月，天涯共此時」：作者用自然樸實的字句，寫出天下遊子共同的思鄉之情，讓這兩句詩成為了千古名句。「海上」和「天涯」營造了廣闊雄渾的空間感與靜謐清幽的意境，仿佛繪出了一副淒美的水墨畫。後句讓人不禁想起蘇軾的名句「千里共婢娟」。無論活在什麼時代，睹明月思故人的深情，是永不變的。

“I wish I could gift you the beautiful moon, perhaps we shall meet in my dreams” - there are things that Zhang wishes he can do but he knows is impossible. So he wishes for the next best thing, but that is still beyond his control. All that is left, is his loneliness to accompany him under the bright moon.

「不堪盈手贈，還寢夢佳期」:「不堪」二字情感真摯、非真切體會者不可寫出。想贈予相隔千里之人皎潔的月光固然不可行，那麼退而求其次，在夢中相見又如何呢？可惜，夢不由人譜，相思之人即使在夢中也未必能相見！幸運的姜夔能與情人「分明又向華胥見」，張九齡呢？只剩下孤獨，陪伴他度過淒清的月夜。

The music and sketch 歌與畫

This poem is about the moon, the loneliness and the sleepless nights, so we have used a dark background to reflect the poet sitting there all on his own admiring the moon. But is that really admiration, or does he have something else on his mind? The is song is sung by @susanlo and @tine. It’s a rather sad song and listeners can feel the sorrow in it.

這首詩講的是月夜、孤寂、不眠，故我們的畫作以黑暗為主調，主角默默坐在空無一物的房間的窗邊，孤獨地欣賞明月，但，他真的是在「欣賞」嗎？歌曲的國語部份由@susanlo主唱，粵語則是@tine主唱，整首歌曲走的是幽怨的路線，讓聽者都不期然想起自己的不快經歷。

We will bound to go through peaks and troughs in life, and meet kind hearted people as well as villains. Zhang spent most of his latter years at the trough, but at least he was free. If you're in the same boat now, just remember, to have confidence to ride through the storm and you'll make it.

世上有好人、有壞人，人生也有高峰，有低谷，張九齡以低谷渡過人生的下半生，但至少他仍活得自在。人生總有不快事，願各位在遇到不快事時，樂觀面對，往往一首詩歌就能讓你排愁，在人生的道路上，大家都要加油！

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