#can this be understood with all the asterisks? i'm sure those who get it get it

[chaoswillcalmusdown]

whenever i try to follow people through posts in tags i end up on the wildest corners of tumblr. like. what do you mean that raye post was written by a w*******e ?? in the year 2024 ???

[hunxi-guilai]

I'm the 海内存知己 anon back with ANOTHER poem (sorry). So I came across 行路难三首 and the line 大道如青天，我独不得岀 reminds me of wwx, esp in ep29 when he says something like "there isn't a 阳关道 that allows me to protect those I want to protect"- the line is basically the situation he was in. In the same set of poetry is also the line 且乐生前一杯酒，何须身后千载名 which reminds me of the two wwx related alcohol lines you've posted about before (the idea of "what the heck, I'll drink first and deal with life later")

okay listen anon, you can’t just come into my askbox quoting 李白 Li Bai without some WARNING first

all righty so some context for folks who aren’t familiar with the greatest Chinese poet of all time*, Li Bai is a fucking ICON. Poet. Swordsman. Hermit. Drunkard. Li Bai, in my head, is the ULTIMATE poetic mood for Wei Wuxian, and yes this is a hill I will die on.

(* the asterisk is so I can say “joke’s on you, Li Bai and Du Fu actually trade off on that title, and also we’re pretty sure Li Bai was central Asian, not Han Chinese, so HAH”)

Receipts? Damn right I got receipts (by which I mean anon’s got the receipts)

The poems anon mentioned,《行路难三首》Three Poems on Difficult Roads, is a collection of three Li Bai poems written as he confronts his frustrated political ambitions; throughout the poems, he comes to the various conclusions that 1) the muddied world simply does not appreciate his upstanding and unique genius, 2) it’s not worth it to get involved in the messiness of court politics ft. many many historical examples of worthy men of service whose stories ended badly, and 3) he’ll drink to that, thanks.

I’m not going to translate all three poems, but some highlights!

其一 / the first

金樽清酒斗十千，玉盘珍羞直万钱 / The clear liquor in the golden goblet is worth a thousand taels; the delicacies on the jade plate costs ten thousand taels

停杯投箸不能食，拔剑四顾心茫然 / I hold the cup, cast aside my chopsticks, I cannot eat; I draw my sword, looking about at a loss

欲渡黄河冰塞川，将登太行雪满山 / I wish to ford the Yellow River, stop up the waters with ice; I want to climb up the snow-covered sides of the Taihang Ranges

闲来垂钓碧溪上，忽复乘舟梦日边 / An idle worthy once trailed a fishhook in a stream; another daydreamed in a boat by the riverside*

行路难！行路难！多歧路，今安在？/ The road is hard! The road is hard! There are many forks in the road; where am I today?

长风破浪会有时，直挂云帆济沧海 / There will be time enough to ride the wind and waves; until then, I raise the sails and cross the deep seas, headed for the low-hanging clouds.

god Li Bai is so good at that...高昂 elevated，豪放 unrestrained style. Just the sweeping scope of this poem...gosh.

(* yes these are references. yes I am also too tired to explain them)

其二 / the second

大道如青天，我独不得出 / The great way is as broad as the clear sky, yet I alone do not walk out on it

...

行路难，归去来 / The road is hard! Return, go home!

brb SCREAMING about the wide and sunny way and 魂兮归来 at the same time

其三 / the third

...

含光混世贵无名，何用孤高碧云月？/ When one holds light within in this muddied world, prize namelessness; what use is there to sit, high and alone, amidst the clouds and moon?

我观自古贤达人，功成不退皆殒身 / I look at the worthies, from ancient times to today; those who did not retire after achievement all lost their lives

子胥既弃吴江上，屈原终投湘水滨 / [Wu] Zixu was discarded into the Wu River; Qu Yuan, in the end, flung himself into the Xiang waters from the shores

...

君不见吴中张翰称达生，秋风忽忆江东行 / My lord, do you not see how Zhang Han of Wuzhong truly understood life; when the autumn winds blew, he suddenly thought of home, and departed for Jiangdong

且乐生前一杯酒，何须身后千载名？/ What joy can be found in a single cup of wine; why seek leaving a name for oneself in a thousand years?

gosh, I mean, I know there’s no government in the world of CQL, but Wei Wuxian would’ve been such a great travelling Daoist poet-swordsman oh my god

Bonus Round, 《将进酒》, another Li Bai classic, aka one of my favorite poems in existence

君不见，黄河之水天上来，奔流到海不复回。

君不见，高堂明镜悲白发，朝如青丝暮成雪。

人生得意须尽欢，莫使金樽空对月。

天生我材必有用，千金散尽还复来。

烹羊宰牛且为乐，会须一饮三百杯。

岑夫子，丹丘生，将进酒，杯莫停。

与君歌一曲，请君为我倾耳听。

钟鼓馔玉不足贵，但愿长醉不复醒。

古来圣贤皆寂寞，惟有饮者留其名。

陈王昔时宴平乐，斗酒十千恣欢谑。

主人何为言少钱，径须沽取对君酌。

五花马，千金裘，呼儿将出换美酒，与尔同销万古愁。

Do you not see the waters of the Yellow River from on high 

       surging down to sea, never to return?


Do you not see the elder generation sighing over their hair,

      in the morning as dark strands,


      in the evening already white as snow?


Happiness in a human life ought to be enjoyed to the utmost;

      raise not this wine cup empty to the moon.


My god-given talent has a purpose in this world,

      even if you scattered a thousand gold coins to the wind,

      they would still return.


But for now, we feast on lamb and ox to make merry,

      tonight, we'll drink at least three hundred cups.


Come, Cen-fuzi, Danqiu-sheng - drink with me, let our cups never still.

I will sing a song for you –

      turn your ears and listen carefully to what my song has to say:


Sonorous bells, magnificent drums, rare delicacies, fine jade - none

      are precious enough to win my heart,

      and yet, I'd gladly drown in drunkenness


      and never wake again.


All the sages and men of talent since ancient times have always walked

      alone; only the drinkers among them have left behind their names


The warrior-king Chen, in days of old, held magnificent banquets at Pingle,

      Uninhibited, they would down flagon after flagon

      Unheeding of the cost, so drunk on jubilation.


My dear host, why do you speak of lacking money?

      Go, go fetch more wine to pour for me.


Your five-flowered horse, your fur coat of a thousand gold--

      call your boy out to exchange them for wine,


      and with me, drink away the sorrows of the ages.


fuck I almost forgot how much I love this poem