Question and Answer in the Mountains | Ask me why I reside on Bi Mountain

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by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762)

Translation © by Jasmine Wiese

山中问答

Language: Chinese (中文)

Our translations: ENG

问余何意栖碧山，
笑而不答心自闲。
桃花流水杳然去，
别有天地非人间。

Text Authorship:

by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762), "山中问答" [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

[ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in Finnish (Suomi), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [an adaptation] ; composed by Seppo Nummi.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Jasmine Wiese) , "Question and Answer in the Mountains", subtitle: "In the Mountains", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Fan Yang

This text was added to the website: 2008-08-02
Line count: 4
Word count: 4

Question and Answer in the Mountains

Language: English after the Chinese (中文)

Ask me why I reside on Bi Mountain,
[and] I will smile without replying [for I am] at peace.
Peach blossoms float downstream,
[This is] a paradise without people.

Subtitle: "In the Mountains"

Translator's notes:
Title Line: Literally: In the Mountains, Asking [and] Answering
Line 1: Bi can be literally translated as “verdant,” but “Bi Shan” refers to the mountain where Li Tai Po (Li Bai, Li Bo) studied/lived (in seclusion) and wrote poems; It is now called Bai Zhao Mountain near Yandian (town), Hubei (province), China.
Line 4: More literally, the magnificent space where the poet resides, untouched by humanity

Text Authorship:

Translation from Chinese (中文) to English copyright © 2020 by Jasmine Wiese, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:

a text in Chinese (中文) by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762), "山中问答"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2020-01-07
Line count: 4
Word count: 29