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To The Tune Saphire Jade Plate

Xin Qiji 1140-1207 In east wind darkness          fireworks blossom                  like a thousand trees, Then scatter down as star-like rain. Fragrance from          stallion drawn vulture carriage                   fills the road, Notes from a Phoenix flute           hover in the air. The moon          a jade winecup                   moves on, As for one night           lanterns dance in the breeze. Her soft moth eyebrows          like snowflakes                  on golden earings, She chatters happily         I sense her light perfume. In this crowd         I've searched for her                 a hundred times, Then suddenly         I wheel around                 and here she is! At this very spot         where lanterns fade.

Yuánxī Qīngyùàn

Xīn Qìjí 1140-1207 Dōngfēng Yè Fànghuā Qiānshù Gèng chuī luò Xīng rú yǔ. Bǎo mǎdiāochē xiāng mǎn lù Fèngxiāo shēng dòng. Yùhú guāng zhuǎn Yī yè yúlóng wǔ. Éér xuěliǔ huángjīn lǚ Xiàoyǔyíngyíng ànxiāng qù. Zhòng lǐ xún tā qiānbǎidù Mòránhuíshǒu Nà rén què zài! Dēnghuǒ lánshān chù.

Translator:

Dongbo 東波

Notes: This is Xin Qiji's most famous 詞 ci or lyric poem. It recounts the persitant search for a lover on the closing night of the Spring Festival when people whent out in a moon and lantern lit night and danced together. Perhaps the feeling was somewhat like a restrained Confucian Mardi Gras. It is no longer the custon today to dance at the end of the Spring Festival. 百度 Baidu, the famous Chinese internet company takes its name from this 12th century lyric and the poem is displayed on their website. Jack Ma, the Founder and CEO of Baidu comments; "Many people have asked about the meaning of our name. "Baidu" was inspired by a poem written more than 800 years ago during the Song Dynasty. The poem compares the search for a retreating beauty amid chaotic glamour with the search for one's dream while confronted by life's many obstacles. ".hundreds and thousands of times, for her I searched in chaos, suddenly, I turned by chance, to where the lights were waning, and there she stood." Baidu, whose literal meaning is hundreds of times, represents persistent search for the ideal."

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