#玲珑骰子安红豆，入骨相思知不知

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

ultimate note 终极笔记 

[bean-in-dice]

Lately I've been feeling like I've been perceived from one identity for way too long and while that's me too, there's more to myself than what people keep insisting that I am.

So what I am at discord with is not what I am and was, rather everyone else's projection that came along with it. Therefore I don't need a makeover of my old place, for I am fond of it as it is. I just need another place, to occasional go back and forth, and .... breathe. Without owing explanation to anyone but myself. Which this is.

And 玲珑骰子安红豆, 入骨相思知不知 just strikes a chord in me, so here I am.

[fwoopersongs]

新添声杨柳枝词 - Newly Added Melody to Willow Branch Lyric

by 温庭筠 (Wen Tingyun, ~812 - 866)

井底点灯深烛伊， jǐng dǐ diǎn dēng shēn zhú yī, At the well's bottom, lighting a candle in the deep, illuminating you; At the well's bottom, lighting a candle, my words for you are heartfelt.*

共郎长行莫围棋。 gòng láng cháng háng mò wéi qí. accompanying you, my dear, in a game of changhang but not weiqi. They'll accompany you on your journey long. On the promised return-date, do not renege.*

玲珑骰子安红豆， líng lóng shǎi zǐ ān hóng dòu, Dainty, lively ivory dice - red bean inlaid; 

入骨相思知不知？ rù gǔ xiàng sī zhī bù zhī? of this bone-deep yearning, are you aware?

*Alternate reading of the line based on homonyms of certain words.

..................................................................................................

Wen Tingyun. Wen Tingyun is a genius okay. 

(If the name sounds familiar to you, I’ve shared another of his poems before in 商山早行 - Morning Departure from Mount Shang.)

They say he was an important Chinese lyricist of the late Tang Dynasty, and I am not super familiar with that period, but I can believe that! This poem is so clever and the wordplay / punning game is brilliant.

Let’s have a look at the first line:

井底 | 点灯 | 深烛 | 伊， jǐng dǐ diǎn dēng shēn zhú yī,

well’s bottom | lighted lamp | candle in the deep | you

‘Candle in the deep’ may be easily read as ‘heartfelt urging’ because some words look very different written out, but in sound - are similar enough that a careless listener might mistake them. Of course, in this case Wen Tingyun has done this knowing that we (the readers) are very well aware of this.

深烛 |  shēn zhú = 深嘱 | shēn zhǔ ie. candle in the deep = heartfelt urging

And thus we have the readings of the line above...

At the well's bottom, lighting a candle in the deep, illuminating you;

At the well's bottom, lighting a candle, my words for you are heartfelt.

共 | 郎 | 长行 | 莫围棋。 gòng láng cháng hang mò wéi qí.

together with | dear/husband | (play) chángháng [game]/ long journey | don’t (play) weiqi [game]

One reading of 长行, is 长行 | chángxíng, or long journey. But the word 行 | xíng may also be read as háng, which gives it a different meaning; 长行 | chángháng was the name of a game also known as 双陆 | shuānglù. This was a game that required a pair of dice for playing, somewhat distantly similar to the modern day backgammon.  

围棋 | wéi qí = 违期 | wéi qī ie. encirclement chess (y'all might know it as go) = fail to return on the promised date

And thus we have the readings of the line above...

accompanying you, my dear, in a game of changhang but not weiqi.

They'll accompany you on your journey long. On the promised return-date, do not renege.

玲珑 | 骰子 | 安红豆， líng lóng shǎi zǐ ān hóng dòu,

dainty/exquisite/clever | dice | inlaid with red bean

入骨相思知不知？ rù gǔ xiàng sī zhī bù zhī?

entering bone | longing thoughts | don’t you know?

The highest quality dice at this point, that is, in the Tang Dynasty, were made of animal bone or ivory, and were inlaid with red bean for their markings. Red bean has been symbolic of longing, representing 'thoughts of you' and fond feelings ever since 王维 (Wang Wei , 701 to 766) first used them in the first line of his 《相思》 mutual longing, nearly a century before. 

红豆生南国 // red beans grow only in the South 春来发几枝 // spring comes; how many new branches sprout? 愿君多采撷 // I wish that you may gather more, 此物最相思 // for they are most worthy of remembrance

The red beans are inlaid within the bone-dice. | This longing has seeped into my bones. 

Don’t you know?

(I love this. So much.)

And in order to have this layer of meaning, you need to be able to keep both the original and homonym readings of first two lines in mind. So ‘you’ both are playing this game of changhang with the dice, but also with the dice ‘you’ are telling your husband, ‘I’ll miss you. Come back safely’.

[yvette3015]

Like red beans inlaid in the ivory dice, my yearning for you is deep in my bones. 玲珑骰子安红豆，入骨相思知不知。

DMBJ: Sand Sea 3

[tadokai]

你在干嘛

思念一个人该如何表达

古有"玲珑骰子安红豆，入骨相思知不知。"

而我只想问一句

你在干嘛

[honeymr]

玲珑骰子安红豆，入骨相思知不知

[joooookesok-blog]

玲珑骰子安红豆，入骨相思知不知？ 好喜欢这句话