Humalit

After researching about the topic, I was able to learn many things about ancient China, the Han and Tang dynasties in particular, and how important research is when reading literature. Since this poem is dated between these dynasties, what I did was to research about Zhou Yu and her relationship with Xiao Qiao. I initially thought that the musician was some other person who was trying to get the attention of Zhou Yu but after a reading Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, both made by Hays (2008), I was able to learn that the poem was trying to capture the courtship between the two. Xiao Qiao, knowing that Zhou Yu was sensitive to mistakes when playing instruments, would touch the wrong note to catch the attention of Zhou Yu. Another thing was the setting during that time. I really had a hard time trying to imagine the place since I thought that by just placing dragons and by painting the palace red and yellow would already make it Chinese. I learned in this exercise that history is critical when trying to get a context of not only a poem, but also different types of literature. When I was in the library, I was able to find mural paintings from the Han to Tang dynasty and this was able to help me visualize the palace better. Also, the other websites now gave me an idea of what were the valuable items and decorations of their time, jade and ceramics to name a few. I was also able to find out why the reason why the poem did not rhyme or was somewhat plain in my opinion. According to Mazanec (2007), the rhymes of the poem have been lost but it still has maintained the number of lines as well as the physical details of the poem. This just goes to show how critical research is when trying to study literature. With limited research, I was able to expand my schema on ancient China, specifically the Han and Tang dynasties, and I was able to find out some repercussions of trying to translate poems from different languages.

References
Hays, J. (2008). Han dynasty (206 b.c.-a.d. 220): emperors, life, jade suits, pollution, and the a.d. 185 supernova. Retrieved from http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=39
Hays, J. (2008). Tang dynasty (a.d. 690-907): empresses, openess, buddhism, and tang horses. Retrieved from http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=38&catid=2&subcatid=2
Shou, C. (300). Records of the three kingdoms. (Vol. 54). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Records_of_the_Three_Kingdoms
Jianying, H. (2001, November). The tang dynasty (618-907). Retrieved from http://www.chinavoc.com/history/tang/women.htm
Murals from han to tang dynasty.
Mazanec, T. J. (2007). To know the tone: Analyses and experimental translations of li duan 's poetic experiments. (Master 's thesis, University of Colorado)Retrieved from http://tommazanec.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/To-Know-the-Tone.pdf

References: Hays, J. (2008). Han dynasty (206 b.c.-a.d. 220): emperors, life, jade suits, pollution, and the a.d. 185 supernova. Retrieved from http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=39 Hays, J. (2008). Tang dynasty (a.d. 690-907): empresses, openess, buddhism, and tang horses. Retrieved from http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=38&catid=2&subcatid=2 Shou, C. (300). Records of the three kingdoms. (Vol. 54). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Records_of_the_Three_Kingdoms Jianying, H. (2001, November). The tang dynasty (618-907). Retrieved from http://www.chinavoc.com/history/tang/women.htm Murals from han to tang dynasty. Mazanec, T. J. (2007). To know the tone: Analyses and experimental translations of li duan 's poetic experiments. (Master 's thesis, University of Colorado)Retrieved from http://tommazanec.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/To-Know-the-Tone.pdf