Moon River  (Chop Suey)

I learned from the paper Andy William’s death. Immediately his song “Moon River” came to my mind and so did his voice.

It’s Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋節(zhong qiu jie2) today. For the Chinese people, it’s a day of the moon and the family; for today’s Taiwanese, barbeque too.

There’s too much to talk about as far as the moon is concerned—stories, customs, poetry, songs. One of the most often told story is the beautiful resident of the moon 嫦娥(chang2 er2) , who flew to the moon after taking her husband’s 仙藥(xian yao4), magic drug of immortality.

Along with her on the moon is the rabbit 玉兔(yu4 tu4), who keeps pounding medicine to make仙藥. And a man 吳剛 (wu2 gang), who keeps felling a cinnamon tree that will never fall, much like Sisyphus rolling up the stone.

Taiwanese of my generation were told as kids that we shouldn’t point at the moon. If you do so, one of your ears will be cut. Back then threatens of this kind from parents or grandparents were common for a certain educational purpose. (If you don’t finish the rice in your bowl, you’ll marry a freckled faced husband/wife.) For this one, many people interpret it as a teaching to treat nature with awe and respect.

Previously I’ve mentioned poet 李白Li Bai’s moon-related poetry several times. (See “低頭族” & “Raise your glass.”) Legend has it that the poet himself died from drowning himself when trying to scoop up the moon from the river on a boat. This story is called 李白撈月, Li Bai scooting up the moon. The legend consolidates Li’s relationship with the moon even more aside from his numerous well-written lines on her.

With so many poems chanted on her, you’ll find dozens of colorful names for the moon, some of which very poetic and beautiful. For example, 冰鏡(bing jing4)，ice mirror; 白玉盤(bai2 yu4 pan2), white jade plate; 銀盤(yin2 pan2), silver plate; 嬋娟(chan2 juan), beauty. . . .

My favorite lines on the moon are mostly form Li Bai. But that’s not what I’m gonna focus now, for I’d rather talk about it later than make this one too long. I’d like to wrap up my writing here with a well-know song by Faye Wong 王菲, whose lyrics is in fact a poem 水調歌頭(shui3 diao4 ge tou2) by 蘇軾(su shi4).

The last stanza of the song is as follows: (adopted from Wikipedia)

人有悲歡離合  People may have sorrow or joy, be near or far apart.

(ren2 you3 bai huan li2 he2)
月有陰晴圓缺  The moon may be dim or bright, wax or wan.

 (yue4 you3 yin qing2 yuan2 que)
此事古難全    This imperfection has been going on since the beginning of time.

(ci3 shi4 gu3 nan2 quan2)
但願人長久    May we be all blessed with longevity.

(dan4 yuan4 ren2 chang2 jiu3)
千里共嬋娟    Though thousand miles apart, we are still able to share the beauty of

(qian li3 gong4 chan2 juan)        the moon together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIdDASnirbY

中秋節=中秋节

仙藥=仙药

吳剛=吴刚

低頭族=低头族

李白撈月=李白捞月

冰鏡=冰镜

白玉盤=白玉盘

銀盤=银盘

嬋娟=婵娟

水調歌頭=水调歌头

蘇軾=苏轼

人有悲歡離合=人有悲欢离合

月有陰晴圓缺=月有阴晴圆缺

此事古難全=此事古难全

但願人長久=但愿人长久

千里共嬋娟=千里共婵娟