The Mandarin "Lunch and Learn 午间中文" is a free, online, weekly 'Read-Aloud' series for Chinese language learners of all levels.
The series helps individuals learn and practice pronunciation in Mandarin, while engaging with Chinese literature, culture and history with fellow enthusiasts. Participants will enjoy live interactions with our language and cultural experts from home.
The full playlist of Lunch and Learn sessions are available on YouTube.
These materials correspond to the April 27, 2020 session.
Delighting in Rain on a Spring Night, Du Fu 《春夜喜雨》，杜甫 “Delighting in Rain on a Spring Night” (《春夜喜雨》) is written by Du Fu (712 – 770), often considered as one of the greatest poets in China’s history. Known as the “Sage of Poetry (诗圣)” or the “Poet Historian (诗史)” as his poems paint the picture of the historical moments he lived through. The Tang Dynasty Du Fu lived through is often viewed as a golden age of China culturally, with great political influence in East Asia, Central Asia and beyond. Many scholars would compare Du Fu's influence in China and East Asian countries like Japan, Korean and Vietnam to that of Shakespeare in the English-speaking world.
The selected poem describes a lively, vibrant picture of the springtime in the ancient city of Chengdu in south-west China, where Du Fu lived peacefully for 4 years from 759 to 763 after suffering from a major political disruption that weakened the power Tang Dynasty.
The selected English translation is by Stephen Owen, a renowned sinologist from the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University.
For more of the language, culture and history of the poem, please visit the complete Read-Aloud session of “Delighting in Rain on a Spring Night”《春夜喜雨》on China Institute’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbCjATZDx40&list=PLz17ZzYlEqluTIGsHsfD_5fiS pMAJfBS&index=6
春(chūn) 夜(yè) 喜(xǐ) 雨(yǔ)/ Delighting in Rain on a Spring Night
作者：杜甫 /author: Du Fu (712-770 AD)
翻译 / translation by Stephen Owen
hǎo yǔ zhī shí jié
好 雨 知 时 节， A good rain knows its appointed time, dāng chūn nǎi fā shēng
当 春 乃 发 生。 right in spring it brings things to life. suí fēng qián rù yè
随 风 潜 入 夜 ， It enters the night unseen with the wind rùn wù xì wú shēng
润 物 细 无 声。 and moistens things finely, without a sound. yě jìng yún jù hēi
野 径 云 俱 黑， Over wilderness paths, the clouds are all black,
jiāng chuán huǒ dú míng a boat on the river, its fire alone bright. 江 船 火 独 明。
xiǎo kàn hóng shī chù At daybreak look where it’s wet and red— 晓 看 红 湿 处， huā zhòng jǐn guān chéng the flowers will be heavy in Brocade City. 花 重 锦 官 城。