#spring couplets

[ijustwannahavefunn]

If you celebrate Lunar New Year, happy Lunar New Year! 🎊🐍 If you don’t, this is one of those square spring couplets people put on their walls or doors during the holiday. And the words on it means something like "The snake brings good fortune." Because it's the year of snake.

I thought I’d make spring couplets this time, since last year I made red envelope 🧧😂 It’s really fun 🐍 I don’t usually use red this much!

Oh if you are in Taiwan, here's a ibon code to put in if you want to print it out for yourself 😄 Just don't sell it or anything! Happy lunar new year 🐍

如果是在台灣的朋友們，我這邊有小七的ibon列印編號！😄 有想要的可以去操作並列印出來喔！不要販售之類的就好，新年快樂 🐍

Ibon code (列印代碼）： 7891020730

Deadline（截止時間）：01/30，7：00 PM

[flyingdreamsart]

(via "2025 Year of the Snake Red Spring Couplets" Sticker for Sale by FlyingDreamsArt)

[escherstrange-ffxiv]

Left: [迎新春事事如意] "Everything goes well as you expect" Right: [接鸿福步步高升] "Career rises steadily as you want"

Snake carries the meanings of malevolence, cattiness, mystery, as well as acumen and divination.

Studio: Elemental/Kujata Lavender Beds, W30 Lily Hills R32

[mitch-2-0]

MP yelled at me for just assuming everyone in the house would want to do Chinese new year stuff with me… so uh… @frankie-the-bad-guy-lupelli @francesca-russo @siennacobalt is that something you’d be chill with? Mostly I guess like… cleaning the whole house on the eve & making/eating dinner together would be the more intrusive activities. I don’t really care about the fake firecrackers at dawn thing my mom does, but that would be intrusive too I guess since they're kinda loud.

[soracities]

On the thirtieth night, we seal the sky and soil against demons, / then unlatch the first morning, let every woman gather spring in her arms.

Hồ Xuân Hương, “New Year Couplet” (trans. Natalie Linh Bolderston)

[angriff-zur-wahrheit]

Also - Happy Lantern Festival! ❤️‍🔥🏮🎇

The blessings represented by the Chinese characters on the couplet: Longevity. Wealth. Everlasting unity and happiness for the married couple.

Happy Lunar New Year everyone! 🥰💖🎇

[genshin-impact-updates]

January New Products Released in Genshin Impact's Official Amazon Merchandise Store!

Hello, Traveler!

A variety of new Genshin Impact merchandise is now available in our official Amazon store!

>> https://amzn.to/3Ats7Dc

The festive Vibrant Harriers Aloft in Spring Breeze Series Red Packet Envelope Set and Spring Festival Couplets Set are now available, along with the brand-new Paimon's Travels Series Suitcase and Luggage Tag! The Character Image Woven Bracelets now feature Furina, Wanderer, and more characters. Additionally, the Anniversary Celebration Series Character Stand introduces Mavuika to the lineup!

〓Promotion Duration〓

1/15/2025 00:00:00 – 1/25/2025 23:59:59 (PST)

[apollo-god-of-prophecy]

Name: Apollo

Age: 4612

Parents: Zeus and Leto

Powers: battle prowess, archery, swordsmanship, music, audiokinesis, photokinesis, heliokinesis, sunlight rays, dazzling appearance, pyrokinesis, vitakinesis, nosokinesis, prophecy, truth sense, couplets curse, shapeshifting, power granting, teleportation, prophetic dreams

Hobbies: music, poetry, spending time with my wife

Natural appearance: Long golden blonde hair, tan skin, blue eyes

Personality: flirtatious, playful, casual, arrogant, self-centered, cocky, laid back

Halfblood children: Isabella (Bella), Aesteria (Alex), Halcyon Green, Lee, Micheal, Austin, Will, Kayla, Amelie, Abi, Georgina, Yan, Gracie, Jerry, Greg, Victoria, Jeremiah, William, Bill Nye, Jorge Rivera-Herrans, Diana Rivera-Herrans

Cabin number: 7

Relationship status: married to Sophia

Children with Sophia: Posey, Lily, Violet, Hyacinth, Bloom, Alex

@sophia-goddess-of-spring

God of: poetry, light, sun, light, archery, civilization, healing, plagues, truth

[leeahqueen]

Lee (Spending your Birthday)

The Gray Raven lounge returned to its former tranquility. I walked back to my room along the deserted corridor, and saw Lee waiting at the door.

Read: Noan | Lamia

Lee: Happy birthday, commandant. 

It’s amazing. I can’t count how many times I said this blessing, but every time I celebrate your birthday, I still have a different feeling. 

Unknowingly, I began to look forward to spending every birthday with you. 

So, this year I prepared this gift. 

He handed over a thick photo album, which seemed to contain at least dozens of photos. 

Skk: Thank you. What is this? 

Lee: Instead of me explaining this in words, it may be better for you to see it yourself. 

Skk: (Open photo album) 

Opening the photo album, the first page showed the photos of the Gray Raven, and everyone celebrating Christmas for the first time. 

Nanami ran over from behind and hugged Liv, Lucia smiled beside her, and Lee stood behind and watched them quietly. 

One the second page, it was New Year’s Eve, and everyone gathered together in the lounge of Gray Raven to make Spring Festival couplets. 

As I scroll further down, there are more and more people, and the picture becomes more and more lively. But at every party, everyone will be photographed completely, and flipping through the photo album is like returning to those warm nights. 

Skk: It turned out to be a photo collection. You took photos of every party. 

Lee: Because I thought it might come in handy one day like it does now. 

It is precisely because we don’t know what will happen tomorrow that we want to use various ways to preserve the memories we spend together. 

Skk: I feel the same way as you. When you look through the photo album, memories from the past will gradually come back to you. 

Lee: It seems like everything happened yesterday, right? 

A faint smile that was difficult for outsiders to detect appeared on the blond construct's face. 

Skk: Although I really like this photo and the memories in it... This photo album still has some insufficient for me. 

Hearing this sentence, a rare hint of surprise appeared on Lee’s usually calm expression. 

Lee: Insufficient? That’s... 

Skk: There are no commemorative photo of me and you on this year’s birthday. 

Lee: (Blush) Ah... 

As if he had made a stupid mistake, Lee opened his mouth slightly and was so annoyed that he did not say the next sentence for a long time. 

His expression was like a domino that had been carefully built for several days. When he was about to knock down the last card, he realized that he had forgotten to set the Easter egg at the end if the row. 

However, his annoyance quickly dissipated, and he quickly took out an instant camera called a ‘Polaroid’ from the old days. 

Lee: This is a camera I borrowed from the Art Association. I originally planned to wait the birthday party started before taking commemorative photos as usual. 

But I discovered that there is no need to wait that long at all. 

Skk: Indeed. Then let’s shoot now. 

Lee: Um... the two of us.... 

Hmm... The two of us need to stand closer. 

If you hold the camera like this, you should be able to get both of us in the viewfinder. 

Lee walked up to the me, raised the camera slightly stiffly above his head, and focused the lens on the two of us. 

Lee: Are you ready? Then... 

Skk: Three? 

Lee: Two, one-- 

Click. 

The flash exploded instantly with bright electric sparks, freezing the moment forever. 

The film outlet under the camera slowly split out a piece of film, and two figures slowly appeared on the pure white color layer. 

After a while, the film was finally developed. 

The smile of the two people was shrunk on the small piece of paper, looking warm and lively. 

Lee: It seems like you are quite satisfied with this photo. 

Skk: You took the photo very well. 

Just as I was about to go and put the photo away, my arm was pulled by another force. 

When I turned around, I saw that it was Lee holding me back. 

Lee: Wait, since the commandant now has a photo, to be fair... 

He shook the camera with a lot of film in his hand. 

Lee: The commandant also needs to leave a photo for me. 

Read: Noan | Lamia

[maggiecheungs]

poems in episode one of the story of kunning palace

in episode 1 of kunning palace, xuening grabs a book of poems in order to trick her maids into thinking she keeps a ledger. my knowledge of classical chinese isn't particularly high level, but it's good enough to at least identify which poems are on the page that she opens to, and i'm certain they were deliberately chosen because of their relevance to the characters and themes of the show 👀 so i thought i'd do a post about them :)

this page contains three poems by the tang dynasty poet wang changling (698–756): 芙蓉樓送辛漸 (farewell to xin jian at lotus tower); 閨怨 (boudoir lament); and 春宮曲 (spring palace song). detailed analyses under the cut:

1 - 芙蓉樓送辛漸 (farewell to xin jian at lotus tower):

my translation

poem summary: the poet's friend came to wu on a night when cold rain was pouring into the river, and departs again at dawn. the poet accompanies him on his journey as far as the chu mountains [but cannot carry on journeying with him because he must stay at his official post in wu]. as he bids goodbye, he asks his friend to tell his family back in luoyang that his heart is still pure and resolute.

key themes: loneliness and solitude; duty; having a pure heart and noble character

analysis: this one is a fairly famous poem about parting before setting off on a long journey. it's particularly notable for its final line, 一片冰心在玉壺, which roughly translates to "my heart is as pure as a piece of ice within a vessel of jade"... which could easily have been written as a summary of zhang zhe's character.

however! while there's a definite emphasis on having a pure and guiltless heart, when you combine with the previous line, the couplet as a whole also gives a sense that the speaker wishes to be remembered by those they love as someone pure and righteous ("tell my family back in luoyang that my heart is still pure etc"). this seems to be a theme of xuening's second life: wanting to correct her past wrongs and treat the people she cares for better, and to prove to zhang zhe that she can be a good person in future

in particular, this poem makes me think of xuening's last moments in her first life. the poet's final request before he bids farewell to his friend? for his companion to tell his family that he is still noble at heart. xuening's final request before she dies? for xie wei to take her life in exchange for that of zhang zhe, as her way of repenting for being dishonourable and ruining his life... 🤔🤔🤔

2 - 閨怨 (boudoir lament):

poem summary: the young wife in her boudoir knows nothing of sorrow, but as she completes her toilette and ascends the emerald tower, she suddenly sees the hue of poplars and willows on the roadside and regrets letting her husband leave home to pursue official position and power.

key themes: love and marriage; abandonment; ambition (and the effect that ambition has on love)

analysis: it's essentially about how the husband's ambition causes him to abandon his wife to grief and loneliness, which seems like a clear parallel with xuening's willingness to abandon her faithful lovers for the sake of her ambition; there's also the implication that political status is ultimately less meaningful than a loving marriage.

i think it's worth noting that the character 怨 (yuan) in the title is fairly hard to translate, as it implies a mixture of grief and anger/resentment, or even hatred. it's fairly common in boudoir poems about women left behind by their husbands, and in that context it's often translated as 'lament' or 'grief', but i think the ambivalence of the term is fairly important, particularly if you apply it to kunning palace and the mix of grief and anger that xuening inspires in her old lovers in her first life.

3 - 春宮曲 (spring palace song):

poem summary: the wind is mild, the flowers are in full bloom, the moon is full and bright. the emperor has fallen in love with one of his sister's singing serving women, and is showering her with imperial favour and bestowing brocade robes upon her to keep out the spring chill.

key themes: happiness, success, security. (however, with contextual knowledge, there's also the implication of future doom, and that nobody can stay on top of the world forever)

analysis: i didn't quite catch the full significance of this one until i googled it and realised it's a poem about a real historical figure: wei zifu, a song-and-dance girl serving the princess pingyang, who wins the favour of pingyang’s brother, emperor wu of the han dynasty, eventually becoming his second empress (the second-longest serving empress in chinese history!).

wei zifu's story is essentially about a young woman of humble origins who survives numerous palace intrigues and eventually manages to ascend to the position of empress, trusted by the emperor to the extent that she was allowed to rule in his absence. however, after maintaining her position for over three decades, she eventually fell afoul of a conspiracy against her and her son, and committed suicide rather than allowing herself to be deposed.

i mean… the way this links to jiang xuening's first life is so obvious i don't even feel the need to explain it.

[ourlittleuluru]

Oh no... my wallet is gonna cry again tmr noon and war on Paper's TB store...!

CNY merch be up early and... I can't even??? They're so cute???! 😭

They even got an alternate chibi art for the spring festival couplets...!

And the calendar merch is the most unique!

It's got the blobbu for the mood of the day, the rotating perpetual calendar, a clip, some kinda tag thing for the weather... (⁠๑⁠•⁠﹏⁠•⁠) There's so much...!

But the most important thing (to me) to note is...

XAVIER...! He keeps sneaking a bite off the food...!!! This man, seriously 😂 i love him, your honour.

[cutestdarkwritings]

“Alone”—Edgar Allan Poe DRAFT analysis:

Hello!! Below the cut is the start of my analysis of “Alone,” I just wanted to post what I had so far so no one thought I had forgotten about it!

Once I complete this, I’ll post again! In the meantime; I have lines 1–4 below the cut!

“Alone” is a poem written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1829 shortly after the death of his foster mother. Originally, this poem was unpublished by the poet himself; but in 1875 the poem was published posthumously.

The poem in question is pretty obviously a poem about grief, and how that changes and isolates the human psyche; how it morphs us into something that is unrecognizable—something that is completely taboo that we ourselves can’t possibly begin to relate to.

But, what are we grieving? Are we grieving a loss of societal normalcy, a loss of community? Both, perhaps? I argue that this poem, in all of it’s 24 lines; can be used to describe and validate the potential feelings of isolation specifically the LGBTQ+ and disabled community feel on the daily in todays world.

Let’s break the poem down; lines 1-4 are written as:

From childhood’s hour I have not been

As others were—I have not seen

As others saw—I could not bring

My passions from a common spring.

“Alone” begins with a speaker rehashing the loneliness and isolation that they felt in the years of their youth. From the very beginning of this speakers lifetime, they knew that they were, and will probably always be, different. This difference seems to stem from how the speaker views the world.

Parallelism is a poetic device that is expertly used in lines 1-3. This is what helped me pick up on this particular point. The similarly shaped lines suggest that the way the speaker is and how they see the world are very closely related.

I struggle with something that is described as “black and white” thinking. For example, a common thought for me is: “If X is not X, then X must be Y.” There is very rarely any room for negotiation in my brain. To me, the speaker is saying something to the effect of: “If I am unable to see how you see, or exist exactly as you are; there must be something wrong with me.”

Which, as those who either grew up or are growing up in a community where people must conform to the white man’s beliefs; and cannot do so, this is a very common thought.

Furthermore, the caesurae here—strong dashes—make it sound as if this is a hard topic for the speaker to talk about. It looks as if they are breaking off mid thought with trying to express the extremes of their feelings—but unsure, even now, that they’ll be understood.

Though, life can’t always be depressing; right? The moon waxes and wanes, and the tides ride low and high; so life can’t always be dark and gloomy, right?

I believe that the speaker, even though the topic itself that they are speaking of is difficult; has managed to find some sport of comfort in this.

These lines are ever so subtly musical; they use rhymed couplets and harmonious “n” and “m” consonance. As seen in line four:

“My passions from a common spring.”

These gentle, musical sounds might suggest that the speaker has found their very own silver lining hidden within their loneliness and difference. Their unique way of viewing the world around them might be exactly what makes them special as well as different; this might have, in fact, made them a poet!

Maybe they’re physically unable to draw their passions from that metaphorical “common spring,” that they believe most others could do; but as the poem will show, their passions (and strength) might be coming from an even deeper and wilder source.

[imoosgnaj]

[CHINESE NEW YEAR SPECIAL] Celebrate Chinese New Year with SKZ 🎆

genre: fluff (some funny scenes)

a/n: I started writing this back in January lmao. The whole ff is written in first person point of view. Anyway Happy Chinese New Year!

warning: none? however, there are members from Aespa, NCT and Seventeen appearing in this fanfic

A few days before New Year, your team members heared you and Chenle's conversation, and they used their phone to translate live--

Chenle: "Can you go home for New Year?"

You: "WAIT YOU CAN GO HOME??? Bro this is so not fait! Ugh, it's been so long time..."

Chenle: "Then how are you gonna celebrate it? You wanna come and have dinner with the Chinese line?"

You: "I'd love to but, I still gonna record Kingdom that day, and it'll be too late for food when I'm done."

Chenle: "Okay superstar, in that case I will just go have fun with the Ningning The 8 and Jun, but I will send you picture so don't worry!"

You: "Ugh ok, bye"

Chan opened his phone to check the calender: "Yea, it's Chinese New Year soon."

"Kingdom starts that day," Says Lee Know, "We sure don't know when we will be back."

"But this holiday must be very important for her!" Hyunjin searched it up, "It's the biggest holiday in China, look!"

"Clench your fist, get up early and sleep late, I mean, it's for her right?" Changbin says to everyone.

Everyone agreed, so now they are doing the 'missions' again.

"New Year requires..." Because Chinese has different traditions than Korean, Chan needs to search it up and read them one by one: "Eat dumplings, spring couplets, fireworks, red envelopes..."

"Red envelopes?" Felix scratcher his head, "What are those?"

Felix immediately took out his phone: "Let me ask Chenle."

Chenle picked up his phone after one second.

Chenle: "What's up Yongbogi?"

Felix: "Heyyyyy, long time no see buddy! So since Soomi can't celebrate New Year with yall, we are worried that she will feel sad, and we wanna celebrate it with her! But we don't know that much about the traditions, can you explain them?"

Chenle: "Ah of course! I promise I won't tell Soomi. Let me tell you..."

About the traditions, uh yes, it went on for at least one hour.

After this one hour, you were told about the plans (by Chenle of course)

"Everyone's so good to you," Chenle is just chatting with you, but he doesn't know that you are so touched that you have tears in your eyes.

"Yea," You sneezed, "But why you told me early! I'm worried that I can't take it by then."

"Hey don't tell them about this!"

"Fine!" You ended the call.

Busy days always fly past, it's New Year's Eve in a blink. Because you were busy rehearsing for the stage the day before, you barely had any rest, you are so tired after the shooting today and even forgot how special today is! You started sleeping once you got on car.

"Are the red envelopes ready?" Chan talked quietly on the car.

"Yes they are!" Lee Know took out an envelope with 'luck' on it from his pocket.

"What about the spring couplets?" Chan nods, and then kept on checking.

"I wrote together with Seungminnie, I asked Yao Chen to check it, it's on the table." Felix tapped Chan's shoulder and told him no worries.

"Dumplings?"

"Yea I made them together with Jeogin and Changbin hyung," Hyunjin went on, "and fish too."

"Okay!" Chan pretended to clap, "The fireworks are also ready, Minho should also be checking on the other car, we just need to make sure to being Soomi up the building later, don't wake her up."

The cars soon arrived at the dorm. You had absolutely no idea because you were sleeping so well. Chan picked you up carefully, Felix protected your head, moved you out the car and successfully carried you back to dorm.

It's even harder to let the kids quiet down when cooking than sscend to heaven. Lee Know clenched his fist because Hyunjin accidently hit a bowl and it fell on the floor; Jeogin needed to watch Jisung's mouth just in case he randomly started singing; about Changbin, Chan taped his mouth because his mouth is literally a weapon.

You got woken up by the great smell of food. The air is filled with sweet smells, the type of sweet smell that are rare in Korean foods.

You rubbed your sleepy eyes, opened your bedroom door and walked out. Although you already knew that they are going to give you a surprise, but when seeing all the Chinese food on the table, you were still shocked. I mean, who doesn't love food right?"

Chan, who just put the last dish on the table, saw you coming out and said to you: "Heyyyy, I was just about to let Felix call you! Come sit down!"

Before Chan finished, Felix and Han already grabbed your hands and took you to your seat.

'It must be the water vapor...' You thought, teary in your eyes.

"Ahw why are you crying?" Lee Know denied your thoughts, took a napkin and wiped your tears.

"I......" You still wanted to argue, but started crying once you opened your mouth: "You guys are so nice, I'm so touched..."

The other members took their seats soon after, Lee Know patted your head: "You know why we are so nice to you? Because we think you are so nice to us too!"

Changbin counldn't help it, he ate a dumping first and it was so hot he grinned. "YES SOOMI, you are so good to us you know? C'mon, the food will get cold if you don't eat them now."

Seungmin, who sat next to you, put some vegetables in your bowl and handed you a pair of chopsticks: "Try them! We learned one dish each."

You still couldn't help but sob. You picked up a piece of fish and was about to eat, but you were blocked by Seungmin: "No, sobbing and eating at the same time will make you choke." He said, his other hand patted your back gently.

After seeing you moving your chopticks, Changbin started calling everyone and began to eat: "Eat quick! We have bigger surprises waiting for you!" You smiled when watching him like this.

After pouring drinks, Chan raised his cup: "In the past year, we all did great, especiall our maknae! As the only girl in our team, she has taken off a lot of pressure. In the next year we will also be moving forward, and get better and better."

"CHEERS!" Everyone shouted, your happy faces are reflected on the cups.

"Following the Chinese traditions, we put 3 coins in the dumplings! Now eat" Lee Know handed you some dumplings.

You took a bit: "Hey I got it!" You spited out the coin, "Not every dumplings have a coin right?"

"How's that possible?" Even with that being said, Jeogin still thought it's magical, "Our maknae will become rich next year hehe."

However, Lee Know and Chan are acting calm: because the first dumpling you ate was marked by us.

It's just a little trick used by the oldest members, but it can truly bring you happiness. This is surely the best meal you've had ever since you came to South Korea.

Tag: @mynameisnotlaura @hyunmikim

[sixminutestoriesblog]

Chinese New Year

What's better than one new year's celebration?

TWO new year's celebrations!

While most of the Western world marked the beginning of the new year on January 1st, most of Asia celebrates the the Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year, that can fall anywhere from January 21st to February 20th. The reason the new year falls on different days is because it uses the lunar calendar that marks holidays not by set days but by stages of the moon. This year the new year will fall on the 10th of February. An estimated quarter of the world's population celebrates this new year. Are you ready to celebrate too?

The first thing to know is that, if you're celebrating the new year traditionally, most businesses will be shut down, usually for at least a week, sometimes more. Not only does this give everyone plenty of time to prepare and celebrate the days of the new year, it also gives people time to go home to visit their relatives. The Lunar New Year is the cause of the largest annual migration of humanity each year. Family is a large part of the celebration and that includes the dead as well as the living. Graves are visited, offerings are made, memories are shared. On New Year's Eve a family reunion dinner is held, with family coming from far and wide to gather together to welcome in the new year. There's plenty to do for people who can't visit family as well because visiting friends is an important part of the holiday. And lets not forget the festivals themselves with delicious treats, fireworks, dragon and lion dances and floating lanterns. This is the biggest celebration of the year and there's no doing things by halves.

Let's talk about some of the traditions and folklore of the celebration.

First off, the legend is that the new year is celebrated the way it is because, long ago, there was a monster called the Nian that would come out every new year's eve to hunt and devour helpless villagers, creating destruction wherever it went. The Nian had a special fondness for the taste of children too. Finally, one year, everyone decided to hide from the beast. As they were gathering to leave, an old man approached them and said that he would stay behind while they hid and he would get their revenge on the monster when it came. While they were away, the old man hung up red papers in the windows of the village and set off firecrackers during the night. When the villagers returned, their village was unharmed but the old man had disappeared. Realizing that he was a deity that had come to help them and show them the way to defeat the Nian, the grateful villagers followed his example and hence the tradition of firecrackers and the brilliant color red became a tradition.

In some stories, its a brave boy that sets off firecrackers to drive away the Nian instead of an old man. In others, its an old beggar that a poor woman gives shelter to for the night.

No matter the story, firecrackers are still set off during the new year's festival, their loud sounds thought to drive off evil and to welcome in good luck. They're set off again during the Lantern Festival that ends the New Year festivities.

Red is still used everywhere too. It's the color of prosperity and energy, driving off the negative. Evenly paired couplets like:

Yīfānfēngshùn niánnián hǎo, wànshìrúyì bùbù gāo

"Smooth sailing with each year; success with each step."

are hung or painted on double doors or to either side of them in red as even numbers (the characters of the couplet that match length on both sides of the divide) are considered lucky as well as warding off evil spirits. Sometimes pictures of gods or heroes are hung in pairs on doors for the same reason. Red lanterns get hung up and much like some people cut snowflakes out of paper, symbols for luck, prosperity and health in the new year are cut out of red paper and hung on windows. There are even red diamond paper decorations with the Chinese character 福 (fú /foo) hung so the symbol is upside down. This is because 福 means luck and when it is upside down over a door the luck pours out over the entire household.

If you want to keep that luck in your house, make sure you do a full spring cleaning just before the new year. This will sweep all the bad fortune out and have your house ready for new blessings to come in. Once the new year arrives though, don't wash yourself the first day. You don't want to wash all that good luck down the drain. For the same reason, there's no cleaning, and especially no sweeping or throwing out trash, until after the fifth day of the celebration. You want to start the new year the way you want it to go on. As such, don't get into fights, say negative words, swear or try to rush people around. Don't use sharp objects like scissors because it will cut off your good luck; for the same reason, don't cut your hair either. Treat yourself to new clothes for the festival, red is best, avoid black and white which have unlucky connotations. Don't buy shoes as the word for shoes sounds a lot like 'evil' or 'bad luck'.

Don't forget the red pockets either! These are red envelopes with money in them. Elderly family give them to the younger generation as a way to symbolically pass on their wealth and blessing and the younger generation gives them to their elders to show appreciation and wish them prosperity and longevity. These are so standard that there are even phone apps these days so you can give them electronically. Remember, an even amount of money is lucky so don't give out an odd one.

And let's not forget the Chinese zodiac. The upcoming new year will be the Year of the Green Wood Dragon. The dragon represents power, success, honor and luck and will bring a creative and auspicious year of progress. People who were born in the year of the dragon however should be careful to wear red underwear every day of the year to keep bad luck from settling on them. And, if you can, be sure to watch the dragon (and lion!) dances as these too chase away the bad and bring in the good with them!

[leahsfiction]

Composed on the Occasion of Our Imperial Visit to Jiangdu

Emperor Yang of Sui (Yang Guang)

we beseech: return, you cannot go; the thing is done, and here's accurséd spring.

does the birdsong quench my thirst for wine? do the plum blossoms smile more than you?

--

幸江都作诗

杨广

求归不得去，真成遭个���。 鸟声争劝酒，梅花笑杀人。

--

Happy Gushiwensday! I know it's been a long while, due to life and translating Yuan Zhen's very long poem ("The meeting of immortals"?) from "The Tale of Yingying" -- it was so long and complex and fascinating that by the end, we simply decided to put it up on the shelf for a while longer. Maybe we'll return to it and have something to post from it one day.

ANYWAY, this week garden-ghoul picked out a completely new, short poem, by a poet neither of us had read before, who turned out to be the second emperor of the Sui dynasty and quite a guy.

unfortunately we didn't find any further reading about this specific poem this evening, which is a shame because it's really interesting despite its brevity!

the first couplet is almost devoid of concrete nouns (except for "spring" at the end), and has no pronouns. your translator is vexed and bedevilled by the matter of the pronouns.

the second couplet contains some of your typical "la-la-la the beauty of spring" imagery, but it's paired with something unsettling (and I don't just mean the 笑杀人 at the end). there's overall this sour, petulant edge to everything, the sense that something has SPOILED the emperor's lovely spring. and a dissatisfied emperor is dangerous to have around you.

quench my thirst for wine: kind of a loose interpretation of the line, adding a bit of synesthesia? the verb in the original is 争 which can be interpreted as "to argue against" or "to encourage" [the drinking of wine].

[scarletlich]

华夏 (hua2 xia4) that I wrote on my spring couplets this year

Huaxia is the ancient term for China and an alternative name to describe the Han people, the term has over 5000 years of history.