Su Dongpo: Pictures of Lady Guo at an Evening Soire

 

Picture of Ladies Guo at an Evening Soire

 

虢 国 夫 人 夜 游 图
佳 人 自 鞚 玉 花 骢
翩 如 惊 燕 蹋 飞 龙。
金 鞭 争 道 宝 钗 落
何 人 先 人 明 光 宫。
宫 中 羯 鼓 催 花 柳
玉 奴 弦 索 花 奴 手。
坐 中 八 姨 真 贵 人
走 马 来 看 不 动 尘。
明 眸 皓 齿 谁 复 见
只 有 丹 青 余 泪 痕。
人 间 俯 仰 成 今 古
吴 公 台 下 雷 塘 路。
当 时 亦 笑 张 丽 华
不 知 门 外 韩 擒 虎。
Guo Guo Fu Ren Ye You Tu

Jia ren zi kong yu hua cong
Pian ru jing yan ta fei long.
Jin bian zheng dao bao chai luo
He ren xian ren ming guang gong.

Gong zhong jie gu cui hua liu
Yu nu xian suo hua nu shou.
Zuo zhong ba yi zhen gui ren
Zou ma lai kan bu dong chen.

Ming mou hao chi shei fu jian
Zhi you dan qing yu lei hen.
Ren jian fu yang cheng jin gu
Wu gong tai xia lei tang lu.
Dang shi yi xiao zhang li hua
Bu zhi men wai han qin hu.

 

Picture of Ladies Guo at an Evening Soire

Pretty ladies riding jade-like flowered and piebald horses by themselves
Ride so swiftly they startle the swallows, and dust flies like dragons.
After going to the whip and competing for road space, golden hairpins fall down
Wonder which ancestors went first into the Ming Guang palace.

Middle of the palace, ethnic drums hasten the dancers willow-like flows
Yu Nu playing her musical instrument, emperor’s son follows the drum.
They sit among eight noble ladies-in-waiting
Bai Yi did not rush to the palace party.

Even with clear eyes and white teeth, no one notices her
In the picture, can see traces of her teardrops.
Today people see the true life of the ancient Wu Gongtai and Lei Tang cemeteries
Like a Sui dynasty emperor, this one has his collection of pretty ladies
Sui general Han Qinhu also came in from the outside to dethrone the emperor.

 

Notes:

General Han Qinhu:  (571-649 AD) Early Tang Dynasty general. His legends are written up in the Taiping Guangji ( the novel “Biography of the Dragon-Beard Man”.