Thus Have I Heard

The Qinhuai River runs long, the Qinhuai River runs long; deep among the flowers, a young man gathers blooms. Young man, young man, your heart brims with spirit and your cup with wine. Cup brimming with wine, cup brimming with wine; a painted boat in mist and rain depicts lilacs. Lilacs depicted, lilacs depicted; nowhere to be found is the beloved to whom I might bare my heart.

The Qinhuai runs deep, the Qinhuai runs deep; lush grasses return with yet another spring. Another spring, another spring; delicate brows are drawn, beneath a splendid hairpiece. Hairpiece in place, hairpiece in place; together, let us cherish the one before us. The one before us, the one before us; yesterday, the paired swallows scattered in different directions.

Love on the Qinhuai, love on the Qinhuai; morning makeup done, rouge settles into place. Rouge settled, rouge settled; fragrant grasses stretch beneath the evening sun, past the long pavilion. The long pavilion, the long pavilion; spring blossoms and autumn moons must one day end. One day they end, one day they end; alone by a solitary lamp, I wait until dawn.

Liu Rushi, a celebrated courtesan of her age, was the most beautiful woman on the Qinhuai River and is remembered for her noble spirit. But who knows how bleak and sorrowful the other side of her life was, despite the rhythmic oars, shifting lamplight, and resounding praise of her poetry? As the old saying goes, "□ have no heart, and actors have no integrity." Yet when the nation faces disaster, even delicate shoulders can bear the weight of righteousness! Liu Rushi, known as Hedong Jun, lived a life of great splendor and once struck a playfully proud pose, saying, "I find the green hills so charming; I imagine the hills must find me just as they are." Who could have known that such dazzling youth would inevitably give way to a helpless retreat, and that all the affairs of the world would fall away into the fated words, "Three thousand feet of white hair hang in vain; with a smile, I regard all worldly affairs." Let me tell you, through the eyes of the courtesans of the Qinhuai River, the story that has scattered on the wind. Their lives may well have been our past lives.