赠丹华利斯
Zeng Danhua Lisi
presented to Danhua and Lisi

 甲申夏日
Jia3 chen1 xia4 ri4
in the summer of the year of the Monkey

志同道合誓海山，

zhi4 tong2 dao4 he2 shi4 hai3 shan1

The same goals and matched ways, swear the sea and mountains.

万里情缘一线牵，

wan4 li3 qing2 yuan2 yi2 xian4 qian1

A thread of love destined to stretch ten thousand li (5 thousand kilometers).

不选高门轻名利，

bu4 xuan3 gao1 men2 qing1 ming2 li4

Fame is not chosen, and fortune is ignored.

	....

贞爱永伴鸳鸯弦。

Zhen1 ai4 yong3 ban4 yuan1 yang2 xian2

True love harmoniously accompanies mandarin ducks forever.

Original Poem and Calligraphy

The poem illustrated above and pictured below was composed and calligraphed by
Mr. Xu Mingyuan, Scholar, Diplomat, former Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Fiji
and presented to Kuang Danhua and Ao Lisi August 2004

Mr. Xu explains :

注：鸳鸯弦。

Zhu4: yuan1 yang2 xian2

Note: rhythm of Mandarin duck  ( Mandarin duck strings)

典故出自李白《长相思》中的

Dian3 gu4 chu1 zi4 li3 bai2 <chang2 xiang1 si1> zhong1 de

This allusion/literary quotation was from the poem <Endless yearning/missing between lovers> written by Libai (he was a famous Chinese poet in Tang2 dynasty)

“ 赵瑟初停凤凰柱，蜀琴欲奏鸳鸯弦”。

“zhao4 se4 chu1 ting2 feng4huang2 zhu4, shu3 qin2 yu4 zou4 yuan1yang2 xian2”.

Zhaose just stopped playing the music/SE, (an instrument which was indicated by “fenghuangzhu”)

Shuqin started to play the music/the rhythm of mandarin duck (an instrument which was indicated by yuanyangxian)

赵瑟：相传是赵国的女子，善于弹瑟；

zhao4 se4: xiang1 chuan2 shi4 zhao4 guo2 de nǚ3 zi3, shan4 yu2 tan2 se4

Zhaose: according to the legend, zhaose was a woman in Zhao County who was very good at playing se (a Chinese instrument with strings)

凤凰柱指刻有凤凰形的瑟柱；

feng4huang4 zhu4 zhi3 ke4 you3 feng4huang2 xing2 de se4 zhu4

Fenghuan column refers to the column of the SE with carved phoenix on (I think that SE—Chinese instrument has wooden frame with carved pictures on) 

蜀琴：因为汉司马相如长于弹琴，

Shu3 qin2: yin1wei2 han4 si1 ma3 xiang4 ru2 chang4 yu2 tan2 qin2,

Shuqin: because Mr. Simaxiangru in Han Dynasty (a famous person in the Chinese history) was good at playing Qin (a Chinese instrument)

他是蜀人，故称蜀琴。

ta1 shi4 shu3 ren2, gu4 cheng1 shu3 qin2

He was from Shu (Shu is Sichuan), he was called “Shuqin”

李白的诗是说：瑟刚停弹，琴又奏了起来。

Li3 bai2 de shi1 shi4 shuo1: se4 gang1 ting2 tan2, qin2 you4 zou4 le4 qi3 lai2

What Libai’s poem said is: as soon as the woman just stopped playing, the man started to play.

并以凤凰柱和鸳鸯弦来隐喻夫妻之间的和谐气氛。

Bing4 yi3 feng4huang2 zhu4 he2 yuan1yang2 xian4 lai2 yin3 yu4 fu1 qi1 zhi1 jian1 de he2 xie2 qi4 fen4.

And Libai used “fenghuang column and mandarin strings/rhythm of mandarin duck to indicate/expressed indirectly the harmony atmosphere between the wife and the husband.

Pictures above showed “Qin”.  There are many kinds of Qins.

This is SE.  Here is the website I got the pictures.

http://barney.gonzaga.edu/~chongls/cclc/yueqi.htm

This is another “SE http://www.chinesewaytogo.org/waytogo/culture/deng/music/qin.htm