Can someone translate this Poem from Mandarin to English? (Picture in Details)?

2017-04-10 11:39 am
Hello All!

I got this dharma saying/ poem from a Buddhist temple but I have no idea what it says. I used google translate but it still doesnt make sense. It says something with Emperor, Dynasty, and Great Wall? Thank you very much for your time!

回答 (2)

2017-04-10 7:54 pm
✔ 最佳答案
This short, limerick-style poem has nothing to do with Buddhism. According to the Wiki source, it was written by a Qing dynasty official to his family in response to a property dispute they had with a neighbor when renovating. They wrote the official hoping he would use his influence to get a rule in their favor. Zhang Ying, the official responded with the slightly tongue-in-cheek poem:

千里送书只为墙,
A thousand-league letter for a mere wall,

让他三尺又何妨。
Giving up a few feet, would be best for all.

长城万里今尤在,
The great wall of a thousand leagues is still here today,

不见当年秦始皇。
But Emperor Qin* has long gone away.

The lesson: don't fuss over trifles and try to be more understanding with your neighbor--life is short, after all.

As a result--both parties moved their property borders back three meters, creating what is today called the "six-meter alley", which is currently a restored historical site.

It may be being *used* here as a good example of Buddhist principles (tolerance, kindness to one's fellow man are cornerstones of the religion), but it is not part of Buddhist teachings.

**the translation is very poor--I whipped it up just so you'd know what is being said. I don't know if this poem has been officially translated or not

**the units of measure are arbitrary, and picked because they are old-timey sounding and roughly the same idea miles/feet kilometers/meters etc. They are simply representative of very large and very small distances.

**Emperor Qin--the first Emperor of what is considered China today is credited with building the Great Wall.
2017-04-10 3:05 pm
萬里(10 thousand kilometers)投書(formal request to a court)只為(for the purpose of something)牆(wall):
Aiming for wall-border issues, it takes you lots of efforts writing a formal request asking the officers in the court to interfere with the border wall issues.
讓他(give him way for space)三尺(three meters )又何妨(why not):
You won’t suffer anything really bad by just giving up a small patch of land.
長城萬里(Great Wall – built by 秦始皇 )今(today)猶在(yet still there):
Somethings like Great Wall is eternal in existence
不見(gone, disappeared)當年(those years)秦始皇(The grand royal title of “皇帝”, which means emperor, was minted by 秦始皇):
Yet so powerful person as 秦始皇 doesn’t exist.
The main meaning of this poem is to suggest to have a harmonious relation with neighbors. Simply put, don’t make a tempest in a teapot.
Oh, I am an English learner here in Taiwan.


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