seal BM-1998-0122.1-2

Period:Qing dynasty Production date:1696
Materials:soapstone
Technique:carved
Subjects:animal
Dimensions:Height: 17.80 centimetres

Description:
Two soapstone seals with pillar bases, each surmounted by a lion with a cub on its back, the sides of the pillar carved with poem and bases with six-character inscriptions each, one carved in intaglio and the other in relief ; signed and dated.
IMG


Comments:Translation of the original version of Cui Hao’s poem, provided by Mr. He Yubin and Dr T M McClellan of the University of Edinburgh, Department of East Asian Studies on 28 June, 1994:”The Ballad of the Youths of Wei” by Cui Hao (Tang dyn., ?-754 AD)[1]In the Third Month at Luoyang, the petals of pear blossom fly,Spring beckons the traveller homewards to Qin,Urging his horse along the road south of town,At dawn he meets a messenger, another Qin man on the road.The messenger[2], not long since dispatched from Zhangtai, […had set out for Z. some days before?]Had [Having] heard tell that the springs had come early to Chang’an[3],The first swallows had lit upon Peartree Palace,And in the Vineyard Hall the flowers were in full bloom.These words had made the messenger mor eager than ever for home,And thus he’d reached the Chang’an road as early as The Third Month.On the Chang’an road, the vernal views catch their hearts[4],By the winding River sways the wind, dances the sun.The balconies of a thousand mansions overlook the River Wei,The flowers and willows of the imperial lands bedlock the Valley of Qin,Now in the spring, the Qin Valley teemingly flourishes,Full a year since the youths last saw their families.[variant: Now in the spring the youths are eager to see the flowers.-prostitutes?]Like fighting-cocks entering the ring they kick up quite a dust,As they ride onto Zhangtai Street towards the sunset,Zhangtai is known in the capital as Aristo Mile,At dusk, form the gay quarters rise sounds of music and song.And here they are the Aristos astride their steeds so fine,But our youths are no strangers [to the area] and they give as good as they get,Bristling [with arms], they gallop together through the downtown,Cracking their whips as one they clatter over the bridge [over the Wei].Freshly-warmed wine awaits them on the other side,Saddles of gold, mounts of white, where will they bed down tonight?Enchanted by the lute, zither and fine-wrought dulcimer,Over a jade jar of pure wine they settle in to a favourite haunt.The singsong girl is unbashful, opening herself to SpringAs she sings her enticing “Willow Floss, Poplar Aments” air.____________________[1] Cui Hao is a relatively minor early-High Tang poet, known for youthful poetry on themes of love and whoring and for a later period said to have been influential on Li Po (Li Bai). “March of the Youths of Wei” is one of his lesser known works, to our knowledge untranslated until now and presumably from the earlier period.[2] This and the next five lines paraphrase the messenger’s account of his journey so far to the traveller he has just met and with whom the journey to the metropolis is continued.[3] Chang’an was the name of capitals of both the Han (206BC – 220AD) and Tang (618-907) dynasties. It was situated at present-day Xi’an.[4] We are now talking about the Luoyang-Chang’an leg of the journey: traveller and messenger ride together.