=== 1 ===
Earlier this year, Uncle Wah died. Uncle Wah was not my real uncle, but a prominent politician in Hong Kong. He founded a teachers' union in the 70s, helped draft the Basic Law in the 80s, and pushed for democracy in China and Hong Kong, most notably after June 4, 1989. Browsing memorial sites, I came across some of his short articles [0], published every third day in a respected Hong Kong newspaper. These short pieces cover a large number of topics - from poetry to politics, from meetings with his students to meetings with powerful world leaders - I find them to be a great read. To help me read, I pulled the articles to my Kindle.
If you read Chinese, feel free to ask me for a copy. If you don't, I hope to translate some snippets as time allows. Feedback/comments/alternate translations are most welcome. Below are two snippets from an article published 2003/12/31, titled "Couplets by Mr. Sun Yat-Sen" [1].
=== 2 ====
On a visit to Cheung Chi-Tung, governor of a southern province, the young Sun sent in a name card, with the following note:
"Dear Brother Tung, Student Sun-Wen requests an audience." [2]
Cheung was unhappy with that, and sent back these words on the card:
"Three lines of scribble for
One powerful duke
How dare a school boy claim to be my equal" [3]
This was obviously a Ping Pong Rhyme challenge [4]. Sun read it with a slight smile, and quickly wrote back:
"Ten thousand books read and
One thousand miles walked
More proud could be a peasant than a noble" [5]
Chung realized the visitor was no ordinary Joe, and hurriedly welcomed him in as if he were an important official.
---
In 1915, Yuan Shikai abolished the new Republic of China, and made himself King. Meanwhile, Sun married Soong Ching-ling in Japan, at the same time actively making plans against Yuan. One day, as the Suns took a stroll in a garden, their conversation turned to Yuan. Soong came up with an opening of a Ping Pong Rhyme for Sun to complete:
"To the Garden we go
To drive out the King
And revive our Home" [6]
This opening rhyme plays a neat trick with the way the words are written: word 3 (園 - garden) becomes word 11 (國 - country) by replacing word 8 (袁 - yuan) with word 1 (或 - perhaps/by chance).
Sun thought for a while, then said:
"On this path I walk
No turning back
No idle talk" [7]
Not only is this response a good match in sound and meaning, it also plays the same trick with word composition: word 3 (道 - road) becomes word 11 (途 - path) by replacing word 8 (首 - head) with word 1 (余 - first person reference: "I")
=== 3 ====
To check my translation, I sent English versions of the Ping Pong Rhymes to a few friends. My brother wrote back with another famous rhyme that I might have read a long time ago:
Among the rocks in the mountains is an old tree - this tree is firewood;
Besides the white splashes of the river stream is a good lady - young ladies are wonderful. [8]
There are neat word tricks for both lines: putting word 1 above word 2 becomes word 3, word 5 next to word 6 gets word 7, words 8 and 9 form word 11.
Isn't this amazing? Are there examples of anagrams in poetry?
In any case, I thought writing this up would be a good way to remember Uncle Wah, as well as the Centenary of the Xinhai Revolution of 1911.
[0] http://www.hkptu.org/szetowah/
[1] http://www.hkptu.org/szetowah/?p=1402
[2] Chinese people back in the day have many names - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen
[3] 持三字帖，見一品官，儒生妄敢稱兄弟
[4] ping pong rhyme is my translation for duilian, also known as couplets. words (in all positions) have to match in sound and meaning.
[5] 讀萬卷書，行千里路，布衣亦可傲王侯
[6] 或入園中，逐出老袁還我國
[7] 余行道上，義無回首瞻前途
[8] 山石岩下古木枯，此木是柴; 白水泉邊女子好，少女最妙
