Crop top Tuxedo

Despite being such an important work in Japanese literary canon, it somehow completely slipped by English Orientalists.

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

As previously stated, the phrase that comes up in the MDZS text is 雪月風花 setsugetsufuuka (the beauty of nature). Other variations I have found on it trying to track this phrase down are 風花雪月 fuukasetsugetsu, and 花鳥風月 kachoufuugetsu which seems to mean the same thing in Japanese, but in Chinese hua1 niao3 feng1 yue4 means “flowery language and empty prose”, according to Kotobank. The assumed origin of that extra character is that Japanese literati decided they wanted to extend it to all four seasons to round it out: the snow for winter, the moon for autumn, wind for summer, and flowers for spring.

Before I get to the poem, I need to mention a weird tangent that Wikipedia insists we all know as a side bar. The same sequence of “snow, moon and flowers” can be found in a poem composed by Ootomo no Yakamochi 大伴家持 (718-785) (Man'youshuu vol 18 poem 4134). Ootomo no Yakamochi predates Bai Juyi 白居易 (772–846) by nearly a century.

Some sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow,_moon_and_flowers https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%9B%AA%E6%9C%88%E8%8A%B1 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A2%A8%E8%8A%B1%E9%9B%AA%E6%9C%88 https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E9%9B%AA%E6%9C%88%E9%A2%A8%E8%8A%B1/ https://japanese.china.com/hanyu/poetry/20002181/20170906/25507999.html https://skawa68.com/2021/09/28/post-56876/

Standard procedure with Classical Chinese prose and poetry (漢文 kanbun and 漢詩 kanshi respectively) is to first translate the Classical Chinese into Classical Japanese (書き下ろし kakioroshi), and then translate the kakioroshi into Modern Japanese. If I were doing this in my college Classical Chinese class, we'd just skip that intermediate step. There's no good reason for a ladder translation, and I will get to that shortly.

A really cool thing about Chinese poetry is that it rhymes. Japanese poetry, unfortunately, is physically incapable of such feats.The above china.com has all three versions in a jpeg. Transcribed below:

Classical Chinese

《寄殷協律》　白居易 五歳優遊同過日　一朝消散似浮雲 琴詩酒伴皆抛我　雪月花時最憶君 幾度聽鶏歌白日　亦曾騎馬詠紅裙 呉娘暮雨蕭蕭曲　自別江南更不聞

(Traditional Chinese text copied from Japanese wiki)

Hanyu Pinyin of the above

“ji4 yin 1 xie2 lv4” bai2 ju1 yi4 wu3 sui4 you1you2 tong2 guo4 ri4 yi1 zhao1 xiao1san4 si4 fu2yun2 qin2 shi1 jiu3 ban4 jie1 pao1 wo3 xue3 yue4 hua1 shi2 zui4 yi4 jun1 ji3 du4 ting1 ji1 ge1 bai2ri4 yi4 ceng2 qi2ma3 yong3 hong2 qun2 wu2 niang2 mu4 yu3 xiao1xiao1 qu3 zi4 bie2 jiang1nan2 geng4 bu4 wen2

English translation from Classical Chinese

“TO: Yin Xielü” Five years of carefree days we’ve passed together/ Dissipated one morning like floating clouds./ Comrades for qin, poetry and liquor have all cast me aside/ In the seasons of the snow, moon, and flowers, I remember you the most./ How many times did we listen to “chicken” and sing “daylight”?/ Also [you] rode a horse and sung about a red qun/ The Wu girl’s tune “chilling evening rain”/ I myself departed Jiangnan and have not heard since.

Classical Japanese

「殷協律（いんけいりつ）に寄す」　白居易 五歳の優游（ゆうよう）同（と）もに日を過ごし 一朝消散して浮雲に似たり 琴詩酒（きんししゅ）の伴（とも）皆我を抛（なげう）ち 雪月花の時　最も君を憶う 幾たびか鶏（けい）を聴き白日を歌い 亦（また）曾（かつ）て馬を騎（の）り紅裙を詠（えい）ず 呉娘（ごじょう）の暮雨蕭蕭（ぼうしょうしょう）の曲 江南（こうなん）に別れてより更（さら）に聞かず

Translation from Classical Japanese

Entrusted to: In Kyouritsu Together we have passed five years of leisurely days/ One morning they dissipated, and resemble floating clouds./ My companions for koto, poetry, and sake all abandon me, and/ In the times of the snow, moon, and flowers, I recollect you the most./ How many times did we listen to “chicken” and sing “daylight”/ Also, long ago, you composed a poem about a [someone wearing] a crimson waist-robe riding a horse./ That songstress’ rendition of “desolate in the evening rain”/ After parting in Kounan I have not heard again.

Modern Japanese

五年の歳月、君と過ごした楽しい日々は、 ある朝、浮雲のように消え散ってしまった。 共に琴を弾き、詩を詠み、酒を飲んだ友は、皆私のもとを去り、 雪月花の美しい景色に触れると、君のことを最も懐かしく思い出す。 幾たび「黄鶏」の歌を聴き、「白日」の曲を歌っただろうか。 馬にまたがり、紅い裙の衣を着た美人を詠じたこともあったね。 呉娘の「暮雨蕭々」の曲は江南で君と別れてから、 一度も聞いていない。

Translation from Modern vernacular Japanese

The fun days I’ve passed together with you over the past five years/ One morning, vanished and scattered like floating clouds./ The friends together with whom I played koto, composed poetry, and drank liquor have all left my side/ And whenever I am touched by the beautiful scenery of the snow, moon, and flowers, I remember you most nostalgically./ How many times did we listen to the song “chicken”, or sing “daylight”, I wonder?/ And there was that one time where you composed a poem about a beautiful lady wearing a crimson kun robe sitting astride a horse, wasn’t there. That songstress’ rendition of “desolate in the evening rain”/ I have not heard a single time after parting with you in Kounan.

An alternative kakioroshi and modern Japanese translation

五年の間、君と過ごした楽しい日々は、 或る朝、浮雲のように消え散ってしまった。 琴を弾き、詩を詠み、酒を交わした友は、皆私のもとを去り、 雪・月・花の美しい折につけ、最も懐かしく思い出すのは君のことだ。 幾たび「黄鶏」の歌を聴き、「白日」の曲を歌ったろう。 馬にまたがり、紅衣を着た美人を詠じたこともあった。 呉娘の「暮雨蕭々」の曲は 江南に君と別れて以後、二度と聞いていない。

Alternate English translation

The fun days I’ve passed together with you over the past five years/ One morning, vanished and scattered like floating clouds./ The friends I played koto with, composed poems with, and exchanged liquor with have all left my side/ And at every beautiful encounter with the snow, moon, and flowers, the thing I remember most nostalgically is you./ How many times did we listen to the song “chicken”, or sing “daylight”, I wonder?/ And there was that one time where you composed a poem about a beautiful lady wearing a crimson robe sitting astride a horse./ That songstress’ rendition of “desolate in the evening rain”/ I have not heard again since parting with you in Kounan.

Some Translation Notes

Note 1: 琴 (qin2/koto) is often translated as “zither” or “floor harp”. They’re different instruments. In a quick scan of this article, it appears that the Japanese koto was developed from the Chinese zheng1 箏, which is a larger type of qin. 箏 is still read koto in Japanese.

Note 2: 酒 is alcohol in general in both Japanese and Chinese. In most Chinese poetry, we’re looking at bai2jiu3 白酒. For some reason, this gets translated as “wine” if you look at other poetry collections. I don’t know why–maybe it’s the ABV. Sake 酒 has different base grains and a different fermentation process. If I’m reading my wiki pages correctly, baijiu is actually closer to shochu. Booze is booze, whatever you call it. Cheers!

Note 3: While I’m pulling out the crayon box, the base colors between Japanese and Chinese solidified differently. 紅 is default red in modern Mandarin, “crimson” in Japanese; 赤 is default red in Japanese, “scarlet” in Mandarin. This was an interesting color website to stumble across… We can compromise on Karakurenai (“Tang crimson”).

Note 4: 裙 qun2 is a pleated, wrap skirt-adjacent hanfu garment. While a ton of pre-modern Japanese clothing was heavily inspired by Chinese fashion, kunsu 裙子 didn’t make the cut. We got mo 裳 (=chang2 which is kind of like a skirt for imperial court ladies, but in Chinese is just kind of general below the waist garments [e.g. skirt, petticoat]), and we got hakama 袴 (=ku4, JP variant of 褲, trousers) for upper class folks in general. Denshi Jisho says “waist-robe,” so that’s what I’m going with instead of “skirt.” I know it’s clunky; using this term makes it clearer how the modern vernacular Japanese translation wound up with generic “robe” instead of specifically skirt. Without being too heavy handed, “red skirt” subtext is “attractive lady.”

Note 5: 雞/鶏 ji1 is a chicken. One of these Japanese translations notes that it’s 黄鶏 (kawashi, “yellow”+”chicken”), either “a type of chicken with reddish brown coloration (and probably yellow tipped wings)” or “chicken meat.” “Chicken meat” appears to be the primary definition nowadays—finding a picture of an actual chicken has not been easy. An article on the word’s origin. Most of the time I just find pictures of fried chicken. That sounds like it would go well with all the booze.

Note 6: Kounan = Jiang1nan2. Place names don’t get glossed.

Note 7: according to the notes on one of these Japanese translations, 呉娘 wu2niang2 “Wu Girl” is a regional term for “songstress” (JP: 歌姫 utahime) in the Jiangnan (“South of the Yangtze River”) part of China at the time of composition. This is where the Wu Chinese are.

Note 8: I tried to see if I could find any of the songs mentioned but turned up goose egg.

Bonus! Manyoushuu poem translation

Note: the transliteration from the Manyoushuu poetry archive site linked above is from the Classical Japanese values for each character, which differ from their modern readings.

雪の上に照れる月夜に梅の花折りて送らむはしき子もがも

Translation

It’s snowing, and I just might break off some plum blossoms glittering in the moonlit night as a gift, if only I had a lovely lady to give them to.

These flowers I saw one late winter evening would make a great gift for the girlfriend I don’t have!

https://botanica-media.jp/49 says Japanese plum blossoms generally bloom between late January and late March, so this waka is perfectly in season!

Also notice how this “modern translation” and OP disagree about whether the snow is “in addition to” the scene or specifying a “location” within the scene. There’s insufficient text to clarify whether to translate 上 uhe as “moreover” or “on top of” so either is valid.