Watching a Disciple of Lady Gongsun Dance with Swords
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
夔府别驾元持宅，
见临颍李十二娘舞剑器，
壮其蔚跂，
问其所师，
曰：“余公孙大娘弟子也。
”开元五载，
余尚童稚，
记于郾城观公孙氏，
舞剑器浑脱，
浏漓顿挫，
独出冠时，
自高头宜春梨园二伎坊内人洎外供奉舞女，
晓是舞者，
圣文神武皇帝初，
公孙一人而已。
玉貌锦衣，
况余白首，
今兹弟子，
亦非盛颜。
既辨其由来，
知波澜莫二，
抚事慷慨，
聊为《剑器行》。
昔者吴人张旭，
善草书帖，
数常于邺县见公孙大娘舞西河剑器，
自此草书长进，
豪荡感激，
即公孙可知矣。
昔有佳人公孙氏，
一舞剑器动四方。
观者如山色沮丧，
天地为之久低昂。
㸌如羿射九日落，
矫如群帝骖龙翔。
来如雷霆收震怒，
罢如江海凝清光。
绛唇珠袖两寂寞，
晚有弟子传芬芳。
临颍美人在白帝，
妙舞此曲神扬扬。
与余问答既有以，
感时抚事增惋伤。
先帝侍女八千人，
公孙剑器初第一。
五十年间似反掌，
风尘澒洞昏王室。
梨园弟子散如烟，
女乐余姿映寒日。
金粟堆前木已拱，
瞿唐石城草萧瑟。
玳筵急管曲复终，
乐极哀来月东出。
老夫不知其所往，
足茧荒山转愁疾。
English translation
On the nineteenth day of the tenth month of the second year of the Dali era, at the house of Yuan Chi, Vice-Prefect of Kuizhou, I saw Li Shierniang of Linying dance the Sword Dance, and was struck by its splendor and vigor. I asked who her teacher had been, and she said, I am a disciple of the elder Lady Gongsun. In the fifth year of the Kaiyuan era, when I was still a child, I remember watching Lady Gongsun at Yingcheng dance the Sword Dance and Huntuo, flowing and glittering, with pauses and turns, unique and surpassing all her time. Of those who knew this dance, from the court performers of the Yichun and Pear Garden companies down to the dancers in attendance from outside, in the early years of the Sage and Martial Emperor there was only Gongsun. Hers was a jade-like face and brocade robes; I am white-haired now, and this disciple of hers is no longer in her prime. Having traced its origin and knowing that the waves are none other than the same, I was stirred by these events, and for the moment made The Song of the Sword Dance. Long ago Zhang Xu of Wu excelled at cursive script; he several times saw Lady Gongsun dance the West River Sword Dance at Ye county, and from then his cursive script greatly improved, becoming bold and impassioned, from which one may know what Gongsun was.
There was once a fair lady of the Gongsun family, one dance with the sword, and the four quarters were moved.
The watchers stood like hills, their faces fallen, heaven and earth for a long while sank and rose.
It flashed, as when Yi shot down the nine suns, it soared, as when the gods rode dragons in flight.
It came like thunder gathering in its fury, it ended like river and sea congealing in clear light.
The crimson lips and pearly sleeves are both now silent, in later years a disciple carries on the fragrance.
The beauty of Linying, here at Baidi, dances this air divinely, in radiant spirits.
Our questions and answers had their reason, and moved by these times, my sorrow deepens.
Of the eight thousand waiting women of the late emperor, Lady Gongsun in the Sword Dance was first of all.
Fifty years have passed like turning over one's hand, wind and dust have darkened the royal house.
The players of the Pear Garden are scattered like smoke, the last grace of the women's music shines in the cold sun.
Before the Golden Millet Mound the trees are full grown, at Qutang's stone city the grass is desolate.
The feast of tortoise-shell, the shrill pipes, the tune ends again, joy reaches its height and sorrow follows, the moon comes out in the east.
I, an old man, know not where to go, my feet gone hard on these barren hills, my grief turns ever sharper.
Meaning
On the nineteenth day of the tenth month of the second year of the Dali era of the Tang, at the house of Yuan Chi, the vice-prefect of Kuifu, I watched Li Shierniang of Linying perform the sword dance. I found her movements vigorous and varied, most splendid to behold, and asked her from whom she had learned it. She said, I am a pupil of the Elder Lady Gongsun. In the fifth year of Kaiyuan, in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, when I was still a child, I remember watching the Elder Lady Gongsun perform the Sword Dance and the Huntuo Dance at Yancheng: flowing and buoyant, with a clear and lively rhythm, surpassing all others, the finest of the age. Among the players of Yichun and of the Pear Garden within the palace and the dancers who served without, in the early years of Emperor Xuanzong only the Elder Lady Gongsun knew this dance. In those days she was richly apparelled and lovely to look upon; now I am a white-haired old man, and her pupil before me, Li Shierniang, is no longer young either. Now that I know the source of her art, it is plain that the art of mistress and pupil comes down in one line; musing on the past in the light of the present, my heart is stirred beyond measure, and I have written this poem, Song of the Sword Dance. I have heard that in former days Zhang Xu of Wu was skilled in writing
Background
Read the background
This poem was written by the author in 767 (the second year of the Dali era) at Kuizhou. "Jianqi" is a dance performed with a sword, and Gongsun Daniang was a famous dancer of the Tang dynasty. In his boyhood Du Fu had watched her dance at Yancheng; in the second year of the Dali era he saw her disciple Li Shiniang perform the "Jianqi" dance at Kuizhou. Recalling how he had watched Gongsun Daniang during the Kaiyuan era — fifty years before, when the world had changed beyond all recognition — the poet wrote this poem out of a sense of the rise and fall of fortunes.