Meng Haoren: Double Nine Days in Longsha: Write and Then Send to Liu Zheyu
九日于龙沙作寄刘大晢虚
龙 沙 豫 章 北
九 日 挂 帆 过。
风 俗 因 时 见
湖 山 发 兴 多。
客 中 谁 送 酒
棹 里 自 成 歌。
歌 竟 乘 流 去
滔 滔 任 夕 波。
Jiu Ri Yu Long Sha Zuo Ji Liu Da Zhe Xu
Long sha yu zhang bei
Jiu ri gua fan guo
Hu su yin shi jian
Hu shan fa xing duo
Ke zhong shei song jiu
Zhao li zi cheng ge
Ge jing cheng liu qu
Tao tao ren xi bo
Double Ninth Days in Longsha: Write and Then Send to Liu Zhexu
Longsha, north of Yuzheng
Double Ninth days, put up the sail upon arrival
Because of this season, can see the local customs
Lakes and mountains produce many insights
As a visitor drinking wine alone
Oars put inside, sing songs by myself
Completed songs flow away
Spreading sounds engage the sunset ripples.
Notes:
Double-Ninth holiday: The ninth day of the ninth month on the lunar calendar. According to ancient Chinese tradition from the Han Dynasty, the number nine is a yang number, one half of the yin–yang pair. Yang in this context means sun, masculine, hot, active energy. Because of the double nines, this day exhibits too much yang energy, and is therefore potentially dangerous. To protect against this danger, it was, and is, customary to climb a mountain, drink chrysanthemum tea or wine, and wear the zhuyu plant, which is used to cleanse and cure illnesses.
Longsha: A small village in Jiangxi province
Liu Zhexu: Meng Haoran went with his old friend during the Double-Ninth holiday
Yuzheng: Large city and county seat
