bluemerlin

Hi Folks ,

Have recently acquired this stamp with Chinese characters and want to use it for a project . Could some kind folks advise me as to what the characters represent so that I have some idea and do not make a fool of myself saying the wrong thing :-)

Thanks /Regards

Attached Thumbnails

 

Gabrielle33

This is only a part of "Former Ode on Red Cliff", a very famous ode written in the 11th century. I find the following link for your reference, where you can find the background of this ode and its author, Su Shi, who is one of the most famous scholar in the Chinese history.

A Thousand, Thousand Churning Waves: The Legendary Red Cliff Heritage_Reminiscences: the Artistic Narratives

The first picture on the webpage is the original copy of this ode and you can click on it to see the whole work

bluemerlin

Hi Gabrielle ,

This is wonderful and I thank you so much for responding. Much appreciated . :-)

I love the calligraphy on this stamp and wanted to know the individual meaning of the characters as well in case I wanted to use them in isolation or in a combination of 2 or more characters . I was able to work out a couple of them like the number 1 and Sky
but not the others .

Gabrielle33

Well, it is not easy to translate character by character because sometimes, when you break them down, their meaning are no longer what they mean in the context.

Is the picture you post here all you have? Then this is only a small part of this ode.

The following is the complete ode and the part in Bold is what is shown in your picture.

p.s. You have to read the text in your picture from right to left, column by column

前赤壁赋
　　　　　　　　　　　　苏轼
壬戌之秋，
七月既望，
苏子与客泛舟游于赤壁之下。
清风徐来，
水波不兴。
举酒属客，
诵明月之诗，
歌窈窕之章。
少焉，
月出于东山之上，
徘徊于斗牛之间。
白露横江，
水光接天。
纵一苇之所如，
凌万顷之茫然。
浩浩乎如冯虚御风，
而不知其所止；
飘飘乎如遗世独立，
羽化而登仙。

于是饮酒乐甚，
扣舷而歌之。
歌曰：
“桂棹兮兰桨，
击空明兮溯流光。
渺渺兮于怀，
望美人兮天一方。”
客有吹洞萧者，
倚歌而和之，
其声呜呜然：
如怨如慕，
如泣如诉；
余音袅袅，
不绝如缕；
舞幽壑之潜蛟，
泣孤舟之嫠妇。

苏子愀然，
正襟危坐，
而问客曰：
“何为其然也？”
客曰：
“月明星稀，
乌鹊南飞，
此非曹孟德之诗乎？
西望夏口，
东望武昌。
山川相缪，
郁乎苍苍；
此非孟德之困于周郎者乎？
方其破荆州，
下江陵，
顺流而东也，
舳舻千里，
旌旗蔽空，
酾酒临江，
横槊赋诗；
固一世之雄也，
而今安在哉？
况吾与子，
渔樵于江渚之上，
侣鱼虾而友糜鹿，
驾一叶之扁舟，
举匏樽以相属；
寄蜉蝣与天地，
渺沧海之一粟。
哀吾生之须臾，
羡长江之无穷；
挟飞仙以遨游，
抱明月而长终；
知不可乎骤得，
托遗响于悲风。”

苏子曰：
“客亦知夫水与月乎？
逝者如斯，
而未尝往也；
盈虚者如彼，
而卒莫消长也。
盖将自其变者而观之，
而天地曾不能一瞬；
自其不变者而观之，
则物于我皆无尽也。
而又何羡乎？
且夫天地之间，
物各有主。
苟非吾之所有，
虽一毫而莫取。
惟江上之清风，
与山间之明月，
耳得之而为声，
目遇之而成色。
取之无禁，
用之不竭。
是造物者之无尽藏也，
而吾与子之所共适。”

客喜而笑，
洗盏更酌，
肴核既尽，
杯盘狼藉。
相与枕藉乎舟中，
不知东方之既白。

bluemerlin

Hi Gabrielle ,

Yes , the pic part is all that I have :-( . So it has to be read right to left and top to bottom ?

I thank you again for taking the time . you have been most helpful :-)

Gabrielle33

Yes, right to left and top to bottom. If you want to know the meaning of any character in particular, just let me know.

bluemerlin

Thanks Gabrielle :-)