On the night when the moon is at its roundest…..

I came across a poem by the famous Chinese poet, Su Dong Po (aka Su Shi) who wrote it on the night of The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival in 1076. The poem was translated into English to be shared with those who could not read Mandarin:-

Thinking of You

When will the moon be clear and bright?
With a cup of wine in my hand, I ask the blue sky
I don’t know what season it would be
In the heavens on this night
I’d like to ride the wind to fly home
Yet I fear the crystal and jade mansions are
Much too high and cold for me
Dancing with my moon-lit shadow
It does not seem like the human world

The moon rounds the red mansion
Stoops to silk-pad doors
Shines upon the sleepless
Bearing no grudge
Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart?
People may have sorrow or joy, be near or far apart
The moon may be dim or bright, wax or wane
This has been going on since the beginning of time
May we all be blessed with longevity
Though far apart, we are still able to
share the beauty
of the moon together.

On the Mid Autumn Moon Festival of the year 1076,
I drank happily till dawn
and wrote this in my cups
while thinking of my brother Ziyou.

About the author :  Su Dong Po (Su Shi) is considered to be one of the greatest Chinese poets and probably the foremost all-around genius of the “later” imperial ages. His given name was Su Dong Po and he lived from 1037-1101 during the Song Dynasty. He was a master of prose, poetry, and calligraphy and was a connoisseur of art, cooking, and wines. And as if that wasn’t enough, he was an engineer who supervised the water projects of Hangzhou and West Lake (which many consider to be among the most beautiful places in all of China). He wrote this poem sitting by West Lake on the night of the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival in 1076 A.D.

The poem was made into a song and sang by Faye Wong.