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guan- guan- ju- jiu` shi- jing- zhou- nan Guan, guan! Go the Fish Hawks From The Book of Poetry, Songs from Southern Zhou English Translation by Feng Xin-ming Dec. 2008 ( Simplified Chinese Script,/Literary/Guan_Guan_Simp.pdf) (For Complicated Chinese Script see: /Literary/Guan_Guan_Comp.pdf) [Note: this is the famous first poem of the classic Book of Poetry, which dates from the 600s B.C.E. and the first part of which is a collection of songs from each of the areas of China. This poem is one of the songs from Southern Zhou. It appears to be a love song pure and simple, but has been traditionally interpreted by Confucian scholars as, like the other love songs in The Book of Poetry, another allegorical allusion to the desire of the sovereign (the male party) for virtuous ministers (the female party).] TEXT ( 4 tones in Pinyin denoted as 1: di-, 2: di’, 3: di^, 4: di`) guan- guan- ju- jiu` zai` he zhi- zhou- Guan, guan! go the fish hawks, on an islet in the river. yao^ tiao^ shu- nv^ jun- zi^ hao` qiu The elegant virtuous maiden - the noble person would love to marry her. can- ci- xing` cai` zuo^ you` liu zhi- The uneven water spinach1 - the water flows to the left and right.                                                          1 this is Limnanthemum nymphoides, a wild water plant with yellow flowers and  round leaves.  In ancient China this plant is picked from the water and eaten as a vegetable.  See  /cgi‐bin/wordlook.pl.   yao^ tiao^ shu- nv^ wu` mei` qiu zhi- The elegant virtuous maiden - day and night seek her. qiu zhi- bu` de wu` mei` si- fu You seek but cannot get her; you think2 day and night about her. you- zai- you- zai- zhan^ zhuan` fan^ zhai` Long, O long is the time; lying down y