By An Anonymous Author

Original Poem, Lyrics of the Song in Chinese and Pronunciations

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一望二三里 - Yī wàng èr sān lǐ

无名氏 - Wú Míng Shì

一望二三里 - Yī wàng èr sān lǐ，
烟村四五家 - Yān cūn sì wǔ jiā，
亭台六七座 - Tíngtái liù qī zuò，
八九十枝花 - Bā jiǔ shí zhī huā。

一望二三里 - Yī wàng èr sān lǐ，
烟村四五家 - Yān cūn sì wǔ jiā，
亭台六七座 - Tíngtái liù   qī zuò，
八九十枝花 - Bā jiǔ shí zhī huā。
八九十枝花 - Bā jiǔ shí zhī huā。


一望二三里 - Yī wàng èr sān lǐ，
烟村四五家 - Yān cūn sì wǔ jiā，
亭台六七座 - Tíngtái liù qī zuò，
八九十枝花 - bā jiǔ shí zhī huā。

一望二三里 - Yī wàng èr sān lǐ，
烟村四五家 - Yān cūn sì wǔ jiā，
亭台六七座 - Tíngtái liù qī zuò，
八九十枝花 - Bā jiǔ shí zhī huā。
八九十枝花 - Bā jiǔ shí zhī huā。

八九十枝花 - Bā jiǔ shí zhī huā。

The Main Meaning of the Poem and the Lyrics of the Song in English

Have A Look Over, Two, Three Miles
By An Anonymous Author

Have a look over, two, three miles,
Four, five houses in the village with smoking chimneys.
Six, seven pavilions in the mountains,
Eight, nine, ten flowers by the road.
Eight, nine, ten flowers by the road.

Have a look over, two, three miles,
Four, five houses in the village with smoking chimneys.
Six, seven pavilions in the mountains,
Eight, nine, ten flowers by the road.
Eight, nine, ten flowers by the road.

Have a look over, two, three miles,
Four, five houses in the village with smoking chimneys.
Six, seven pavilions in the mountains,
Eight, nine, ten flowers by the road.
Eight, nine, ten flowers by the road.

Have a look over, two, three miles,
Four, five houses in the village with smoking chimneys.
Six, seven pavilions in the mountains,
Eight, nine, ten flowers by the road.
Eight, nine, ten flowers by the road.

Eight, nine, ten flowers by the road.

About the Poet

This is a quite interesting Chinese classical poem which consists of numbers. However, there are several theories about its author or the dynasty in which it was created, they are uncertain. therefore we do not need to discuss it here.

Enjoy the Poem

There are only four lines and twenty Chinese characters in this little poem, but it includes all the numbers from one to ten, and with so few characters and so many numbers, it still "paints out" a beautiful landscape, including several little views for us.

Now let us learn it line by line:

The first line: 一望二三里 - Yī wàng èr sān lǐ. 一 yī, num. means one; 望wàng , v. wàng means look over, gaze into the distance; 二 èr, num. means two; 三 sān means three；里 lǐ, here is a Chinese unit of length ( = 1/2 kilometer ), to help you remember, here I've just translated it as “mile”. This line means, when I have a look, I can see the view over two or three miles away. In this short line with five words, there are three numbers: One, Two, and Three.

The second line: 烟村四五家 - yān cūn sì wǔ jiā. 烟yān, n. means smoke, here it means the smoke from kitchen chimneys; 村cūn, n. means village; 烟村 yā cūn, the phrase means: the village in the smoke from the kitchen chimneys. 四 sì, num. means four; 五wǔ, num. means five; 家jiā, n. means house, family. This line means there are four or five houses in the village which is covered by the smoke from the kitchen chimneys.

In this line, you can find another two numbers: Four and Five.

The third line: 亭台六七座 - Tíngtái liù qī zuò. 亭tíng, n. means pavilion; 台tái, n. means tower, platform; 六liù, num. means six; 七qī, num. means seven; 座zuò, n. seat, place, here it is used as a measure word for mountains, buildings, and other similar immovable objects. This line means there are six or seven pavilions and towers over there or in the mountains.

In this line, there are two numbers: Six and Seven.

The fourth line: 八九十枝花 - bā jiǔ shí zhī huā。八 bā, num. means eight; 九 jiǔ, num. means nine,   十 shí, num. means ten; 枝 zhī, n. branch, twig; here it is used as a measure word for long, thin, inflexible objects, for example a gun, a flower, three pencils. This line means there are eight, nine or ten flowers here and there, I imagine by the road. :- )

In this line, there are another three numbers: Eight, Nine, and Ten.

When we learn this poem, we can feel its very clear characteristics. That is the author has skillfully used numbers to create a big beautiful landscape (including several small scenes) or prospects.

Therefore, it has been included in books for Chinese children and the textbooks of Chinese elementary schools. Many Chinese children can recite it as soon as they can speak. :-)

Inspiration:

1. Sometimes, if we can organize things in a simple way, they become clearer, cleaner and more beautiful. So, no matter whether one is a manager, an artist or a writer, no matter whether we are studying or working, we have to try to train ourselves to have the ability to make complicated things simple and then we can manage a company, design a painting or write an article more efficiently, beautifully or wonderfully.

2. The combination of something rational and emotional can sometimes help things to be more perfect, mellow and full. Usually, numbers are something more rational and a poem is something more emotional, but here, when both of them are combined together cleverly, they interact to create a special artistic result. This is similar to the situation when we use a cold color and we mix a little bit of a warm color into it. Although it is still cold color, the affect on painting is much better. Also, when we want to cook a dish with a salty taste, we often add a little sugar, the dish is still salty, but the taste is more delicious.

I guess this is just the reason why a smart manager or a president likes his or her company or even a country to be multi-cultural instead of a pure or a single culture.

I created my first music to match this poem in 2005 and then I created three paintings to match both the painting and the music in 2007. In Feb, 2016, as soon as I came back from the USA, I had the idea on creating a new painting and writing a new article for it. So, I did the painting, music, translation, articles and so on. I thought this “product” had been done already. But in Sep, 2016, when I was practicing an ancient painting by Mr. Shi Tao (1630一1724) in Qing Dynasty (1616 --1911), suddenly I realized this painting maybe one of the best to match this poem and its music which I had created. So, I tried to write the poem and the English translation on it.

I do hope what I have done will be of some help with your Chinese culture and language study.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please write to shirley@ebridge.cn. You are also welcome to publish your opinions in Message Board as well.

Shirley Yiping Zhang

Nov 4, 2016 in the USA
Sep 2, 2016
March 6, 2016
July 12, 2010
Nov 4, 2005