Posted 2016/10/29
Xin Qiji an ancient Chinese poet succeeded Su Shi in developing the new style and making great contribution in exploring new fields of the Song poems , Xin Qiji’s Song poems are “powerful and sonorous , embracing the world and history”. As a patriotic lyricist , he sang of the sorrows and joys of the time , and the indignation and hope of the nation , pushing the Song poems up a new peak . The Song poems of his were unrestrained and forthright , embracing life with his impassioned enthusiasm and noble ideals , and displaying a hero’s indignation and aspirations . Xin’s lyrics were chiefly characterized by his fervent , subjective sentiments and his obstinate ideals . He used allusions aptly and naturally . From Xi Qiji 's work, a feture of free vividly reflected and richer language character draws people's attentions.
when compared with Su Shi, many scholar consider him equally talented and excellent in Ci creation. Scholars consider Xin equally talented in ci as in Su Shi. Their difference, however, is that the content of Xin's poetry spans an even greater range of topics. Xin is also famous for employing many allusions in his poems for wilder imagination.
Some of the most quoted lines from his poetry (with accompanying translations) are shown below from which we can inspire his wisdom and free style and broad mind.
"众里寻他千百度，蓦然回首，那人却在灯火阑珊处。" -《青玉案·元夕》
"Having almost exhausted my energy searching for this person (vague), I suddenly turned my head, and there he was, standing at the far end of the street where the candlelight is the dimmest."
"少年不识愁滋味，爱上层楼。 爱上层楼，为赋新词强说愁。 而今识尽愁滋味，欲说还休。 欲说还休，却道天凉好个秋。" -《丑奴儿》
"When I was young, I could not tell what melancholy was, but I loved to climb towers. As I climbed up this and that tower, I wrote many a poem too, but these poems did not communicate true melancholy, they were simply a word game for me. As for now, I have grown old and tasted the bitter taste of melancholy, I wish to talk and write about it, but I am silenced, I give up even before I try. How I want to talk and write about it, but give up even before trying! I find myself exclaiming instead, that this chilly weather makes a good fall!"
In this last line, the sudden transition from Xin's personal understanding of melancholy to the season that he's experiencing while writing the poem requires a leap of melancholy on the reader's part. This leap probably presents itself as a formidable psychological and cultural obstacle for a non-Chinese speaker. For a Chinese speaker, it is, however, still hard to tell whether Xin chooses to avoid any talk on melancholy or he is staying on the topic of melancholy. The fall carries so many meanings in Chinese literature that pinning one down for the sake of making sense of this poem just seems flippant. This combination of open-endedness with explicitness is probably one reason that people love this poem and quote it ever so often today.
