Sunday, December 31, 2017

燕丹子

燕丹子
全篇
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唐人街书店买了本三民书局硬皮版“燕丹子”。 所记燕丹子请荆轲刺秦王之事,确是美文,导读中写此书应作于前汉, 是谓早于史记,战国,汉书,俺读后并不相信,就列出以下几项:

1) 整篇文词优美,精炼,生动,过于史记和战国。前汉人,西汉人较淳朴,文词简约,非东汉后汉晋隋之风
2) 成语堆积罗列,所作者应熟通多种经史。非前人。
3) 其中有句: "後日,轲从容曰:「轲侍太子,三年於斯矣,而太子遇轲甚厚,黄金投龟,千里马肝,姬人好手,盛以玉槃。凡庸人当之,犹尚乐出尺寸之长,当犬马之用。今轲常侍君子之侧,闻烈士之节,死有重於太山,有轻於鸿毛者,但问用之所在耳。太子幸教之。」"

'当犬马之用', 犬马之用, 出处: 南梁 章昭达对日:“当效犬马之用.以尽臣节,自馀无以奉偿。”
犬马之劳‘ 《汉书·孔光传》:“臣光智谋浅短,犬马齿臷诚恐一旦颠仆,无以报称。
《晋书·段灼传》:“愿陛下思子方之仁;念犬马之劳;思帷盖之报;发仁惠之诏;广开养老之制。”
 
泰山鸿毛‘ 出处:
汉·司马迁报任少卿书》:“人固有一死,或重于泰山,或轻于鸿毛,用之所趋异也。”
太史公泰山鸿毛之比应是原创,书信文辞是言谈,古朴直接,不修饰。 文如其人。还有,为李陵死谏的品德如闻荆轲泰山鸿毛之辞不会在刺客傳中省去。
在就此篇文章‘燕丹子’ 荆轲从容曰: “。。。闻烈士之节,死有重於太山,有轻於鸿毛者,但问用之所在耳。。。”
‘燕丹子‘作者的句法,意思相同,但把对话的写法加工成了作文章,反倒不真实,应是抄袭。
更重要的一点是: 太史公此对比是指生命,燕丹子作者把它变成意指烈士之节的死,如读者细想就发现这改法是病语。因烈士之节的死都是重若泰山,没有轻如鸿毛者,不然也不称之为烈士。
李白 诗 《结袜子》燕南壮士吴门豪,筑中置铅鱼隐刀,感君恩重许君命泰山一掷轻鸿毛
可能太白这首诗尾句灵感从‘燕丹子’得来容易过取之太史公。
太史公,王充之论衡记有: 馬生角,乌白首之说 , 见燕丹子篇首。

以下选出篇中几个成语来证‘燕丹子’作者书包功夫,前汉人应不会读到多种典籍,并文章叙述更像辞赋,作文精神和审美与左传上半部,国语,战国,史记不相符, 还有,前汉人的君子士人的礼节言辞简单的多。
痛入骨髓:
《戰國策·燕策三》:“樊將軍仰天太息流涕曰:‘吾每念常痛于骨髓,顧計不知所出耳!’
不毛之地 :
《公羊传·宣公十二年》
庄王伐郑,胜乎皇门,放乎路渠。郑伯肉袒,左执茅旌,右执鸾刀,以逆庄王。曰:“寡人无良边垂之臣,以干天祸,是以使君王沛焉,辱到敝邑。君若矝此丧人,锡(赐)之不毛之地,使帅一二耋老而妥焉,请唯君王之命。”
立人达人:
《论语·雍也》:“夫仁者,己欲立而立人,己欲达而达人。能近取譬,可谓仁之方也已!”
糜軀碎首:
戰國策·燕·婅武《報燕太子書》:“今太子欲滅悁悁之恥,除久久之恨,此實臣所當糜軀碎首而不避也。”
一毛不拔:
《孟子·尽心上》:“杨子取为我,拔一毛而利天下,不为也。”;以及出自《列子·杨朱篇》:“损一毫利天下,不与也。”



Sunday, December 24, 2017

The Superman


The Superman
Laijon Liu 20171224

The Earth’s gravity never feels right
it’s kind of weightless
it’s kind of unsteady
and all things down here moving slow

Being able to travel in lightspeed
from galaxy to galaxy
but have you found habitable planets
and the natives there are hospitable?

Your super powers to save lives
but can you also fix broken hearts?
Or I’m asking too much
that you also have your limits

Your indestructible physique
young, firm, wrinkleless, scratchless
never know what pain feel like
or that’s your genetic disorder

You don't age, is that a blessing or a curse?
Earthian life is fragile and short
you watch your love ones aging and gone
how you cope with the loss?

No liquor can knock you out
no drug can make you forget
can you be strong again, to start anew?
live with new partner(s) and ghosts?

Time is eternal, the memory is eternal
the Space is eternal
and you are also eternal
you be the Superman, you must!

- The Superman feels super lonely, super powerless, super sad.-

超人超情超忘我
天外来客是同乡
救得世人恩爱丧
孤心永对满天星



Saturday, December 23, 2017

Kleptocracy


Kleptocracy
Laijon Liu 20171222

bandits call themselves a party
robbers hijack a country
highwaymen set their toll booth on the highway
and every rape case they call it a love affair
they compose their high note anthem
they rewrite the history of their crimes
they set their own rules of the game
to foresure their win of the pots
the hero roles they’ve always played
and their happy endings they direct
like their law book they uphold
a false authority to legitimize
yes, they’ve got guns and now gangster rich
but they can never dictate the truth


Zhuangzi quote: a man manipulates a country becomes the king; a man who steals pearl is beheaded. I guess his quote fits the word. but usually there never one man can rule a country, he needs a party.





Tuesday, December 19, 2017

An Ant



An Ant
Laijon Liu 20171219

- You live for the system -

You either a worker or a soldier
you don’t have other choice
this system and culture makes sure that
you crawl, you dig and you wrestle
like your life got nothing else meaningful

How often you wake up in the morning
you feel the headache, vanity and back pain?
Yet, you will never question yourself
why you do this? And why can’t you stop?
Because you are an ant, that simple.

Complex underground network tunnels
surround your sunless world and ideology
you’ve together designed and maintained
and every boulder you’ve pushed a marathon length
to extend your ant-kind colonies everywhere

Mighty you are, you march together
like cancer cells spilling out into blood stream
bring down elephants, river dams, and deforest
yet so fragile you are, the tiniest six-leg
insect in all animal kingdoms that eye can see

Chemistry programmed in your brain and body
that only serves basic function of survival
Your existence, and whatever you do
is Nothing but a number, a numbers game
number dominance over the living and the corpses.














Friday, December 15, 2017

Krill and Sardines

Krill and Sardines
Laijon Liu 20171216

Coalesce into dense patches
Tightly packed to form spheral shoals
That’s how krill and sardines
Come together, be safe in numbers

Millions years evolution wisdom
Teaches them synchrony of reflex
That joy of harmony, of one mind
The wonder of spinning disco ball

Hypes, trends, shouts and the likes
Like infinite silver bubbles of myriad
Sizes, rising from the bottom deep
All disappears in a gigantic jaw


Source:
BBC the Hunt episode 4 "hunger at sea" sardines, blue whale hunts krill
BBC the Hunt episode 6 " race against time" humpback whale hunts capelin

 

Monday, December 11, 2017

O Please God, Me!


O Please God, Me!
Laijon Liu 20171211

There’s so much fear
to be true, to share
that men created God
for themselves they care

There’s so much greed
to be righteous to take
that everyone calls himself
he is the chosen one

God don’t care about you
you are one of His countless
(or you don't really suffer)
and never truly that unique
as you think you’re privileged

God will not save us
If we don’t save ourselves
God will never help us
if we choose to help each other not

There’s no heaven in the sky
no hell under the ground
Only our Earth, if God ever created anything
it’s for us to make this home Heaven or Hell.

Note:
many times I prayed in the past I heard an inner voice saying above rhymed lines to me, it's been years. many times I thought about putting it down on paper, 1st it's not really a poem. 2nd its spiritual sickness that really bothering me. because prayer poem should be most about others, not Me. but any way, it's some kind of spiritual experience. I've got to take the good with the bad.









Thursday, December 7, 2017

The Gazelle


The Gazelle
Laijon Liu 20171207

Streamline built for speed
your elegant pose and graceful stride
born to run, how you exist
away from danger, away from troubles

your brain is delicate wired
to sense the slightest change in the air
your wide eyes and antenna ears
to observe the ripples, the rustle and dewdrops

your heart is fit to a bow nock
or a bait hook, to bear the tremor
to echo the beats, to amplify
ambiance, noise and subtle patterns to your soul

a sudden burst of pain, of asphyxiation
you are clamped by the fate
as the weight of the world crash on you
you still kicking, kicking for the home stretch

Source: 
BBC The Hunt episode 1 "the hardest challenge"  leopard hunts Impala
BBC The Hunt episode 3 "hide and seek" tiger hunts deer
 







Sunday, December 3, 2017

Reflection on Shadow Play


Reflection on Shadow Play
Laijon Liu 20171203

my book lamp casted my shadow onto the wall:
a dark human figure moving on a pale screen.

I stared at my shadow for a while
and I felt its blankness staring back at me

probably the wall found me and my shadow
more interesting than itself and its empty realm

I tried not to speak a word to the wall
and tried thinking of many other things as I stared

I tried not to move, not to disturb the stillness
but my momentary efforts could only last for so long

so I turned off the lamplight, the darkness swallowed
the pale wall, my shadow and my appearance

I turned on the lamplight again, and I said:
Let there be light.” and there my shadow on the wall.

I sat lotus-sutra, a shadow of meditating Buddha
appeared, folding his palms and praying

then I suddenly raised up my open hands
a dark monster with two claws was born

then I held my hands, formed a shape of heart
as the heart bloomed, it turned into a head of cobra

then a peacock appeared, walking, looking around
for a mate, and suddenly turned into a wolf with fangs

a dove like bird hovering on the screen
no, it was a hawk disguising, scanning for prey

and I looked around for a crown and a microphone
to empower my shadow, and I pulled out some bills

one dollar, one hundred dollar were same size
then I held my phone, my shadow shot itself a selfie

at that flashing moment, my shadow vanished
everything was blank, the world and the wall

I also thought about woman, a woman’s silhouette:
her floating tresses, plump hanging breasts, round hips

her infinite shapes and mine on the pale screen
totally made the wall sexy and alive

dancing pair figures, drama, fighting figures
like those ancient Egyptian and Greek wall art

and the kissing scene: shapes of two branch rivers
converge, join into each other, form a continent...

and I was tired of my hand shadow performance
my right hand swiftly turned into a pistol, pointed to

the head of lonely shadow figure.