Yang Wan-li (1127–1206)
The village festival is really worth seeing—
mountain farmers praying for a good harvest.
Flute players, drummers burst forth from nowhere;
laughing children race after them.
Tiger masks, leopard heads swing from side to side.
Country singers, village dancers perform for the crowd.
I’d rather have one minute of this wild show
than all the nobility of kings and generals.
Translated by Jonathan Chaves
Yang Wan-li
1
I don’t feel like reading another book,
and I’m tired of poetry—that’s not what I want to do.
But my mind is restless, unsettled—
I’ll try counting raindrop stains on the oilcloth window.
2
I finish chanting my new poems and fall asleep—
I am a butterfly journeying to the eight corners of the universe.
Outside the boat, waves crash like thunder,
but it is silent in the world of sleep.
Translated by Jonathan Chaves
The poet was born shortly after the Jürchen established the Chin dynasty in the north of China. He became a Presented Scholar in 1154. Yang’s emphasis on the development of a personal style was undoubtedly influenced by Zen Buddhism, which advocates enlightenment attained through individual insight and effort. Often called “the colloquial poet” for the rough quality of his diction, he paid great attention to the small details of everyday life.