The My Hero Project

Original Chinese Script of Long Yearning

Long Yearning
Long yearning,
To be in Chang'an.
The grasshoppers weave their autumn song
by the golden railing of the well;
Frost coalesces on my bamboo mat,
changing its colour with cold.
My lonely lamp is not bright,
I’d like to end these thoughts;
I roll back the hanging, gaze at the moon,
and long sigh in vain.
The beautiful person's like a flower
beyond the edge of the clouds.
Above is the black night of heaven's height;
Below is the green water billowing on.
The sky is long, the road is far,
bitter flies my spirit;
The spirit I dream can't get through,
the mountain pass is hard.
Long yearning,
Breaks my heart.

POET HERO:
LI BAI
by Sukey from Flushing

Li Bai's picture

Li Bai was born in the year of 701 during the Tang Dynasty. He died when he was 61 years old. The Tang Dynasty was the stongest era in Chinese history. Its economy was the strongest. China developed more advanced technologies than other nations. During this age, the most famous and talented Chinese poets emerged. Li Bai was one of them.

Li Bai was in Gang Xiao Sheng, a territory of China. When he was five years old he followed his father to Sichuan. Maybe because he traveled around so much when he was little, he decided to keep traveling around the land when he was 25 years old. He wanted to learn more about nature and people, and kept journals.

Li Bai's poems are varied. He wrote poems about the beautiful landscapes he saw in China. He wrote poems about people in the scenes which touched his heart. He expressed his feelings through the fantastic words in his poems. His poems are easy to understand with rhyming, alliteration and assonance, and beautiful imagery. All people love his poems.

Even today people still read his poems, not only adults, but children too. In Chinese schools kids start to learn his poems when they are in the elementary grades. Li Bai is an important figure to the language of Chinese and to his people. He is just as important as William Shakespeare to the language of English.

Li Bai and his poetry are one part of Chinese people's education because people really like his poems. They respect him as the "God of Poets." His poems will be taught in the future for hundreds of thousands of years.

Written by Sukey from Flushing

RELATED LINKS
Li Bai Poetry A selection of Li Bai's poems translated into English.

Long Yearning original Chinese and English translation.

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Last changed on:7/18/2004 3:00:01 AM