American diplomat in Hong Kong reciting a Tang poem in Cantonese
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王維 (699-761
鳥鳴澗
人閒桂花落
夜靜春山空
月出驚山鳥
時鳴春澗中
wong4 wai4
niu5 ming4 gaan3
yan4 haan4 gwai3 fa1 lok6
ye6 jing6 cheun1 saan1 hung1
yut6 cheut1 geng1 saan1 niu5
si4 ming4 cheun1 gaan3 jung1
Wang Wei
The Warble Ravine
At peace, the osmanthus is shedding,
the vernal hills at night are void around.
At times the birds are startled by the moon,
that chirp at times by verdant rivers.
(The English translation is adopted from the video)
Excellent pronunciation and recitation.
Selected readings
- "Stream of consciousness blather" (4/4/12
- "The (alleged) untranslatability of Chinese poetry" (9/26/20)
- "'Arrival is a tree that is still to come'" (10/10/16)
- "Meryl Streep reciting a 'Mandarin poem'" (12/9/20)
[Thanks to rit malors]
John Swindle said,
March 21, 2025 @ 11:25 pm
I notice that he tips his head up and down to get the tones.
Victor Mair said,
March 22, 2025 @ 6:35 am
I know lots of people who wag their finger when speaking Chinese languages to indicate the tones.
Migarusta said,
March 22, 2025 @ 9:07 am
Following the tradition of citing poems to convey something subtle, is CG Greg trying to express something via this poem?
Any implications behind?
katarina said,
March 22, 2025 @ 10:48 am
CG Greg is U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong Gregory May.
Victor Mair said,
March 22, 2025 @ 12:03 pm
I've been told that his Chinese surname is Méi 梅 ("plum"), same as mine.
Dhaman said,
March 22, 2025 @ 1:25 pm
CG Greg has a Chinese name: 梅儒瑞 méi rú ruì
According to some reports, he is fluent in Mandarin.
His wife is from Taiwan.
katarina said,
March 22, 2025 @ 3:32 pm
Years ago, when I read an article in _Early China_ and saw the author's name "Victor H. Mair 梅維恆“ （Mei Weiheng) I thought he was Chinese.
Chinese can make their surnames sound English. For example,
Antony Marr 馬敬鵬, late head of Princeton's Gest Oriental Library (now East Asian Library and the Gest Collection) was a Chinese graduate of Taiwan University with surname 馬 (Ma)。
ardj said,
March 23, 2025 @ 4:55 am
What Migarusta said.
And for us barbarians with not a shred of Sinitic, is it a good poem, and if so is there a , translation somewhere to hand, and did he read it well, &c. (It looked and sounded competent to me.)
John Swindle said,
March 25, 2025 @ 8:47 am
@ardj: Yes, most or all of Wang Wei's poetry has been translated to English many times, this one for example by Professor Mair in his post and by others at https://chinesepoemsinenglish.blogspot.com/2018/09/wang-wei-birdsong-brook.html and elsewhere.