I remember when I first encountered “Star Gauge” ((璇玑图) in a Chinese Literature class in college. It blew my mind, but seemed incomprehensible. I loved your breakdown of Su Hui's (蘇蕙) masterpiece.
Thank you! I wish I did a better job explaining it but I can't read classical Chinese for one thing and information about the poem is surprisingly scarce in English.
Wow, mind blown. I love that in different languages, there are different possibilities also for structures like this. The job of the translator is both much more difficult and creative!
It's amazing how classical Chinese scholars still debate over exactly how many poems are inside it. I also forgot to mention in the post that it's believed it was written in such a way that only Su Hui and her husband understood the true meaning of the poem. We'll never know for sure.
I remember when I first encountered “Star Gauge” ((璇玑图) in a Chinese Literature class in college. It blew my mind, but seemed incomprehensible. I loved your breakdown of Su Hui's (蘇蕙) masterpiece.
Thank you! I wish I did a better job explaining it but I can't read classical Chinese for one thing and information about the poem is surprisingly scarce in English.
Fascinating and well-researched. Poetry probably deserves more of my attention. Where to start?
I'm re-reading this comment months later and I just realized that I misread what you wrote. I recommend starting with Philip Larkin.
No idea lol. It makes me wish I could read classical Chinese though.
Every aspect of this story, of the story, within this post about this poem is Glorious.
Wow, mind blown. I love that in different languages, there are different possibilities also for structures like this. The job of the translator is both much more difficult and creative!
It's amazing how classical Chinese scholars still debate over exactly how many poems are inside it. I also forgot to mention in the post that it's believed it was written in such a way that only Su Hui and her husband understood the true meaning of the poem. We'll never know for sure.
Amazing.