39. Wu Songs of Ziye: The Spring Song

A poem by Li Bai, translated by Hyun Woo Kim, and an announcement

In the land of Qin, a woman called Luofu

Was picking mulberry leaves, near the green waters.

Her white hand on the top of the branches;

Her red makeup vivid in the white sunlight.

"The silkworms are hungry, and I should go;

You should not hesitate to leave, governor."

「子夜吳歌-春歌」

秦地羅敷女

采桑綠水邊

素手靑條上

紅粧白日鮮

蠶飢妾欲去

五馬莫留連

From Hyun Woo:

Today’s poem is another yuefu by Li Bai. (If you are wondering what a yuefu is, please read last week’s newsletter.) Ziye is known to have composed songs about women missing their husbands and she lived in the region Wu. This is where the title of Li Bai’s yuefus comes from. We will be reading a Wu Song of Ziye by him each week until Christmas.

It seems Luofu was plucking mulberry leaves to feed the silkworms and a local governor tried to seduce her. Considering the common theme of Ziye’s songs, her husband must have been away. Still, is she really saying no? Within the cultural context of East Asia, mulberry leaves imply certain sexual tension. It is a joy of the readers to imagine what could have happened later.

Announcement:

As most of you may already know, President Yoon of South Korea declared emergency martial law. The parliament voted against it, and Yoon accepted that the martial law should be lifted. However, at this very moment when I am writing this in a hotel room in St. Petersburg, nothing is certain. We will have to see how the Korean army reacts.

I have rather refrained from talking about my personal life in this newsletter so far, but now might be the fitting time to talk about my past: I have criminal records for socialist activism. As Yoon mentioned that he was declaring the martial law to “protect liberal democracy” and crack down on “North Korean sympathizers”, it is not impossible that I may be in danger if I go back to South Korea. It has been customary for South Korean authorities to call anyone against them a “North Korean sympathizer”.

If something that I do not wish for should happen, I will have to stay in Europe longer than I thought, without any stable source of income. (God forbid.) Thus, if you have been considering supporting my newsletter financially, this might be the best time to do so. I feel rather terrible that I am now writing so, but we never know what the future may bring to South Korea.

I really hope that I will be able to return to South Korea safely. Everything will become clearer tomorrow, or next week. Time will tell.

If you enjoyed my work, you can buy me a cup of tea. I am not a coffee person, by the way.