Song of the Yue Boatman
The Song of the Yue Boatman (Chinese: 越人歌; pinyin: Yuèrén Gē; lit. 'Song of the man of Yue') is a short song in an unknown language of southern China said to have been recorded around 528 BC. A transcription using Chinese characters, together with a Chinese version, is preserved in the Garden of Stories compiled by Liu Xiang five centuries later.[1]
Setting[]
The song appears in a story within a story in the Shànshuō (善說) chapter of the Garden of Stories. A minister of the state of Chu, who is infatuated with an attractive nobleman, the Lord of Xiangcheng, relates to him an incident in which the 6th-century BC prince Zixi (子晳), the Lord of È (鄂), on an excursion on his state barge, was intrigued by the singing of his Yue boatman,[a] and asked for an interpreter to translate it.[3][4] It was a song of praise of the rural life, expressing the boatman's secret pleasure at knowing the prince:[1]
Chinese version of the song Text English translation by Stevenson and Wu 今夕何夕兮， What evening is this 搴舟中流。 that I take a boat into the stream? 今日何日兮， What day is this 得與王子同舟。 that I share a boat with my prince? 蒙羞被好兮， Shy am I for having taken to you, 不訾詬恥。 I fear not the shame of denunciation. 心幾頑而不絕兮， My longing is intense and without let, 得知王子。 with thoughts only for my prince. 山有木兮木有枝， The mountains have trees, the trees branches, 心悅君兮君不知。 my heart has spoken to my lord, my lord does not understand.
On hearing this, the prince embraced the boatman and covered him with his embroidered coverlet.[3] The minister/narrator goes on to remark: "Zixi, Duke of E, was a brother of the Chu king by the same mother, his administrative position was that of prime minister, his peerage was that of a prince, yet a Yue boatman was able to enjoy intercourse with him to his satisfaction".[4] Thus, the minister convinces Lord of Xiangcheng to let him hold his hand, which he had previously refused upon noticing the minister's feelings.
The story became an emblem of same-sex love in imperial China.[4] For example, it was included in the chapter on love between men in Feng Menglong's anthology Qing Shi (情史, 'History of Love', c. 1628–1630).[5]
Old Yue text[]
The words of the original song were transcribed in 32 Chinese characters, each representing the sound of a foreign syllable:[1]
- 濫兮抃草濫予昌枑澤予昌州州