>The confusion arises because the character qing [or >ch'ing according to the Wade Giles phonetic system], >(?) especially as it is used in classical >Chinese does not have a ready equivalent in English. A >direct translations of blue into Chinese would be lan >? , a direct translation of green would be lu >? , and a direct translation of black would be >hei ?. Qing can be any of these colors, so all >the translations are correct. > >For example qingtian ?? means blue sky, >but qingcai ?? means green vegetables, >and qingwa ?? means frog (all the same >qing). A cliche in the language of landscapes, >qingshan lushui ????, >means "blue mountains green water," but the qing here >suggests instead of a topaz blue that >blackish-verdant color of rocks and trees. Qingnian >??(green years) means youth, and >qingchun ??(green spring) means >puberty/"youthful vigour,"--in Li Bo's version the >overtone of youthful vigor is probably implied, >especially because plum blossoms flower in the >winter/early spring, and are symbolic of beauty that >blossoms out of difficult conditions, likewise, alas, >the beauty of the Merchant wife's address. > >I'm not sure whether Pound knew all this or not, but I >think there is an intentionality to the "blue" which >is disjuntive of his audience's expectations. More >importantly, the connotation of qing to youth in >Chinese is used optimistically as a potentiality >through which the more mundane seasons of life can be >realized. In English "green" in the same context >negatively suggests an inexperienced hack; and I think >the "blue plums" are emblematic of the way that Pound >tightly reins in connotation to control tone and >subjectivity. > >JMcD >Graduate Assistant >University of Florida >Department of English >[log in to unmask]