Last week was the 7th day of the 7th month on the lunar calendar and this is the Chinese Valentine's Day. How did everyone spend this day? Did you spend it with your loved one, having a romantic dinner, or going away for a holiday? Or if you are familiar with Chinese folklore, did you guys talk about the sad love story of the cowherd boy and weaving maid who can only meet once a year on the magpie bridge in the milky way? In the olden days, not everyone was so fortunate to spend Valentine’s day with their loved ones, especially the three thousand girls summoned into the palace for the Emperor. Many wait their entire life but never get to spend time with the Emperor let alone see him at all. Today’s poem is about one of these girls inside the palace. On the Chinese Valentine's Day, she sits there on her in the evening, wondering when will the wait be over?
上星期是中國的情人節七夕，大家如何慶祝這個美麗又浪漫的節日呢？有人會贈送愛人親手製作的小禮物；有人會與愛人來一次說走就走的旅行；有人會與愛人講述著牛郎織女淒美的愛情故事，緩緩入睡。可是，不是每個人都這麼幸運。中國古代皇帝後宮佳麗三千，有多少能真正一賭龍顏、甚至獲得皇上寵幸呢？我們今天的主角就是這樣一個幽怨的宮女：七夕之夜，她黯然地獨揮羅扇，在冰涼的石階上遙望牽牛織女星。長夜漫漫，等待的盡頭，又在何處？
The Meaning of the poem 作品大意
銀燭秋光冷畫屏，輕羅小扇撲流螢。
yín zhú qiū guāng lěng huà píng ，qīng luó xiǎo shàn pū liú yíng。
天階夜色涼如水，臥看牽牛織女星。
tiān jiē yè sè liáng rú shuǐ ，wò kàn qiān niú zhī nǚ xīng。
The light from the silver candle is especially cold on this autumn evening as it reflects onto the picture screen
The palace girl chases after the fireflies with her fan
The scene from the outdoor terrace is as cold as water
She lies there looking up into the sky and thinks about the cowherd boy and weaving maid
銀色的蠟燭在秋夜發出冰冷的光，映照著畫屏，
宮女拿著輕巧的團扇，撲打飛舞的螢火蟲。
露天台階上的夜色冰涼如水，
躺臥著遙望牽牛織女星。
Trivia fun fact 趣味小知識
Traditionally, the 7th day of the 7th month is when females pray to the weaving maid for better needlework skills, and it often involves some sort of game. In one of these games, the female puts a bowl of water under the sun in the morning and let it collect dust during the day. Then they will drop a needle into the bowl and see what pattern the water makes. If it’s like a pretty flower or animal, it means the weaving maid has granted her great needlework skills.
現在，七夕已經發展成了「中國情人節」。可是在傳統習俗中，七夕是婦女向織女乞求智巧的節日。不同的地區的習俗各異，但大多有著濃厚的遊戲意味，有些更是流傳至今。其中一個歷史悠久的習俗便是「丟巧針」。在七夕上午，婦女會拿一碗水暴曬日中，讓水面上落上一層薄薄的灰塵。然後，她們會把針放入碗中，再仔細觀察針在水底形成的影子。如果影子像花朵鳥獸，就表示她「乞得巧」，代表織女賜給了她一根靈巧的針；相反，如果影子是「粗如槌、細如絲、直如矢」的話，就代表她沒有乞到良針。有年紀小的女孩沒有乞到良針還會大哭，其母見狀會連忙安慰。
[referencewords](https://www.chiculture.net/1302/html/1302festivals_b02c02.shtml)
[referencepicture](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%A2%E5%B7%A7%E9%92%88)
Highlights of the poem 精選詩句
The light from the silver candle is especially cold on this autumn evening as it reflects onto the picture screen, The palace girl chases after the fireflies with her fan：
The light breeze in the autumn evening by the candlelight should be a very romantic scene. Yet for the thousands of palace girls, especially those not favoured by the emperor it creates an even colder scene. Pretty picture screens were popular inside the palace in the old days yet the candlelight shining onto it turns it into a picture with no life at all. These palace girls were like the birds and flowers on the screen, locked in for life, not knowing what their fate would be. Thus, Du Mu cleverly creates the coldness in his poem with the silver candle and lifeless picture screen.
清涼的秋風伴著微微燭光，這本應是浪漫的場景。可在失寵宮女心中，這是一個分外冷清的夜晚：銀色的蠟燭在淒清的秋夜靜靜地投在著毫無生氣的、畫著圖畫的屏風上。這不禁讓我們想起張愛玲《茉莉香片》中的幾句話：「她不是籠子裏的鳥。籠子裏的鳥，開了籠，還會飛出來。她是繡在屏風上的鳥——悒鬱的紫色緞子屏風上，織金雲朵裏的一只白鳥。年深月久了，羽毛暗了，黴了，給蟲蛀了，死也還死在屏風上。」這個宮女是不是也是一只繡在屏風上的鳥，終身被困皇宮、被迫承受無邊的寂寞呢？杜牧與張愛玲有一個相同之處——善於營造淒清幽怨的意象。杜牧巧用轉品，把「冷」用作動詞，這樣一來，銀燭秋光這些無情物就讓畫屏變得更加冰冷、更加無情。
The scene from the outdoor terrace is as cold as water, She lies there looking up into the sky and thinks about the cowherd boy and weaving maid：
Life for the palace girls can be very boring, and all they can do is to play with the fireflies with their fan to kill time. Normally fireflies only appear around dense grassland on quiet evenings, the fact they appear inside the palace is a reflection of how boring life is. In the old days, “autumn fan” was used to refer to females abandoned by their husbands, and the palace girls were often grouped into this category. So on Chinese Valentine’s Day the palace girls felt even more sorry for themselves.
宮女百無聊賴，只能揮動著小扇撲打螢火蟲打發時間。螢火蟲一般只出現在安靜、茂密的草叢間，宮女的庭院裏竟有了螢火蟲，反映出她生活的落寞。古代人以「秋扇、團扇」喻棄婦，所以這個宮女定為怨婦，在七夕夜為自己的失寵感到哀傷。
Previously, when females had no control over their own life and fate, to wish for a perfect love life was pretty much out of the question. However, in modern day society, Valentine’s Day is more of a romantic event for girls, and often not even the primary objective in life. Either way, it doesn’t really matter how we view love and what we want from it. The most important thing is just to be happy and chase our dreams, whatever that may be.
七夕對於現代女性來說或許是浪漫的，但對缺乏自主的古代女性來說，追求圓滿的愛情，簡直難如登天。時代在進步，女性的地位越來越高，不少女性更把愛情放在次要的位置。無論大家對愛情的看法是怎樣的，我們都希望大家能度過一個愉快美好的七夕，并在以後人生的道路上勇敢追求自己的夢想！
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://ccp-hk.vornix.blog/2018/08/23/ccp15/