Please could someone translate / explain what this means? It is on the side of a teapot from Hong Kong. I understand that it may be explaining it's origin and not mean anything by itself, but any help would be fantastic.
1 Answer
綠衣初發江南春
綠衣(green clothes)
初發 (first start)
江南春 (Jiangnan's spring)
The land begin to put on green clothes (refers to the landscape is starting to cover with spring plants) indicates it is Jiangnan's early spring
遠浦輕帆萬里程
遠浦 (faraway port)
輕帆 (light sail = small boat)
萬里程 (ten thousand miles journey = very long journey)
At a faraway port, in a small boat, embark on a long journey
If it was a 七言绝句 (seven-character quatrains), there would be two more verses in it. It looks more like a 對聯 (couplet) as it is now
Note: a small boat is not capable of long-distance sea-going. This long journey is most likely on a river
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Definitely NOT a couplet 對聯. The parts of speech do not match.– monalisaCommented Sep 24, 2021 at 21:36
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Sorry to be picky, but 江南 / 故國 there's still some room for improvement. Also, 遲慕? 遲暮？– monalisaCommented Sep 25, 2021 at 1:00
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1平仄不叶。Not to be picky but, among others,「春」and「秋」have the same tone. It doesn't follow the rule, which is 仄起平落. According to the rule, 春 can only be used in the second half, not the first half, of the couplet. So, as it is, there is no way you can make a couplet out of it.– joehuaCommented Sep 25, 2021 at 2:49