Changming Yuan: (Poetry and Video)

Poetry recitation by Changming Yuan
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Rain: an e.Pictographic Poem 

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Latest Lovelines: for Qi Hong

 

Stars make us feel like humble shadows on earth, where-

As love gives us a solid sunny sense of self-significance

 

We are surely created equal, & thus fated to

Be so, but only so in love as well as in death

 

Only in love can we perhaps find a

Little meaning out of our existence

 

Sunlight protects our bodies against winter cold

Love allows our hearts to stay in spring forever 

 

Love is the only force that can bring us Beauty

Good and Truth together right at the same time

 

When you find no worth in life

Go love; and love by all means

 

Love is the only thing that can keep our

Selves truly young, happy and beautiful

 

Love will afford us a renewed life as

Long as it’s deeply rooted in the heart

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My First & Last Love: Again, for Qi Hong

 

You may well have heard the classic Chinese

Romance about Liang Shanbo & Zhu Yingtai

 

Who were not able to marry each other alive until

They transformed into two butterflies upon death

 

Or you have probably heard the famous music

At least known of it as the best love solo. Well

 

I do not really intend to recall, retell or re-enact

The way they overcame all the obstructions &

 

Fulfilled their love eventually as mating butterflies

But my innermost being has become integrated with

 

That of Qi Hong as we live together happily

Within or without matrimony, which is but

 

An open cage, made of various human constructs

From which one can actually fly out in freedom

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Self-Addressing: A X-Cultural Poem

 

    In English, the speaker always uses

A proper pronoun to address self

In Chinese, the speaker calls self

More than one hundred different names

 

In English, there is a distinction between

The subject and object case of self

In Chinese, there is no change in writing

        Be it a subject or an object

 

In English, the writer spells self with one

Single straight capitalized letter

In Chinese, the writer adds to the character

‘Pursuit’ a stroke symbolizing something

 

In English, “I” ask for democracy, freedom

Individuality, rule of law, among others

In Chinese, “我” is habitually avoided in making

A reply, either in writing or in speaking

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Chopstick Commandments

 

1.    Avoid one chopstick longer than the other in a pair

That would recall what a coffin is made of

 

2.    Don’t plant them in the middle of bowel of rice

Or dish, like a scent burning for the dead

 

3.    Never use them to poke around in a dish

In the way a tomb raider works hard in dark

 

4.    Put them strictly parallel to each other; or you

Would have yourself crossed out as a deplorable error

 

5.    If you drop one or both of them on the ground, you

Will wake up and provoke your ancient ancestors

 

6.    If you use them to beat containers like a drum player

You are fated to live a low and poor beggar’s life

 

7.    When you make noises with them in your mouth

You betray your true self as a rude and rough pariah

 

8.    Never point them towards any one if you

Do not really mean to swear at a fellow diner

 

9.    Make sure not to pierce any food with them while eating

When you do not mean to raise your mid-finger to all around you

 

10. To use them in the wrong way is 

To make yourself looked down by others

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What Do You Chinse Teach Your Teenager Son?

 

Study well! Have great self-expectations! Grow to

Be someone! Be the First! Be the champion! Be a

Patriot like Yue Fei! Study to become an Official! Re-

Member books containing all the wealth & beauty

You can gain. Be a filial son! There are three ways

To be unfilial; having no son of your own is the worst!

You can rise above others only through hardships! Re-

Member a strong man shall win a good wife. Boys

Do have tears, but never flick them lightly! Nor do

They keel down easily! You can be poor, but remain

aspiring! Be kind, and ready to do good deeds. Re-

Member the winner always as the king, but the loser

As a thief! Most important, do whatever you can

To win honor for your parents! To bring glory to

The family and ancestors!

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 Homophonic Taboos in Chinese

 

1.    Pears梨 (leaving离) shall never be shared among family and friends, especially lovers, for the word means to leave each other forever

2.    A ‘clock’钟 (end终) is never to be sent or presented as a gift, especially to someone bedridden at home, or staying in a hospital ward

3.    Li He, the great Tang poet, was unable to sit for the imperial examination because his father’s middle name进 is the same as the title of the doctorate 进士

4.    On the Chinese New Year’s eve, make sure some fish 鱼 is left over 余 for the next if you hope for another harvest

5.    Avoid playing mahjong or gambling with a pregnant 孕woman if you do not want to lose to a someone in good luck 运

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Circulation of Prana & Blood: A TCM Theory

 

麻 (tingling):                    where the prana flows freely, but the blood is blocked

木 (numbness):      where both prana & blood are blocked

酸 (soreness):                  when meridians are clear, but prana & blood are weak

胀 (flatulence):      when there is more qi than needed, with body fully anger-loaded

痛 (pain):               where & when blood is stagnated, unable to flow

痒 (itching):           when & where both qi & blood are passing through

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Setu, December 2021