Celestial River

Celestial Bridge《鵲橋》– Lan Tung (2015), lyrics by Qin, Shaoyou (1049—1100)
纖云弄巧，               Skillfully weaving the clouds
飛星傳恨，               Shooting stars deliver my sadness
銀漢迢迢暗度。        Travel discreetly from far away across the Celestial River
金風玉露一相逢，    We meet again, accompanied by golden wind and jade dew
便胜卻人間無數。    This moment is more precious than hundreds of years on earth
柔情似水，               Gentle love like water
佳期如夢，               Our short time together is like a dream
忍顧鵲橋歸路？        How can I bare to look back at the Magpie Bridge as we part again?
兩情若是久長時，    True love lasts for the eternity
又豈在朝朝暮暮。    Even if we can not be together everyday

~ 宋代秦少游《鵲橋仙》

Celestial River 《天河》－ Lan Tung (2015), lyrics by Fan, Yun (451-503)
盈盈一水邊，   Next to the shimmering water
夜夜空自憐。   Embrace my loneliness every night 
不辭精衛苦，   I am not afraid of Jingwei’s hardship 
河流未可填。   But the Celestial River can never be filled with stones
寸情百重结，   Tying hundreds of knots in my heart 
一心萬處懸。   A heart hung over ten thousand places
願作双青鳥，   Wishing us to be a pair of Green Birds
共舒明鏡前。   Seeing our reflections in the clear mirror
~ 南朝范雲《望織女詩》

Set to a haunting melody, this poem expresses the deepest sorrow of the Weaver Woman, separated from her lover by the Celestial River or Milky Way. The poem made references to a number of ancient legends to express her loneliness: A bird named Jingwei 精衛 was once a little boy. One day he drowned in the ocean. His soul turned into a bird and was forever dropping stones to fill the ocean in revenue of his death. The Green Bird appeared from heaven on a mid summer night is a symbol for love in a story of the Han Wu Emperor (156-87 BC). The final sentence came from another story. A king captured a beautiful bird. Three years has passed, the bird never sang. The queen suggested to place the bird in front of a mirror, expecting it to sing when it sees a companion. The bird made the saddest cry and died.
– voice, cello, percussion (2015)
– voice, zheng, percussion (2016)

 

Lan Tung sets original melodies to two ancient Chinese classical poems about the Weaver Woman. A popular myth in Asia, the story of Weaver Woman and the Cowherd has inspired hundreds of poems. They are two gods/lovers represented by two constellations that move closer to each other once a year in the mid summer night. The legends said that their love is forbidden in the Heaven, and they are only allowed to meet one night every year for the eternity.