Xia Ke Xing translation

[Ian Liew]

yep - it's Jin Yong's Ode to the Gallantry, or "Hap Hak Hang" in Cantonese.


Ian

[CrazyT]

Yay! Another translation to read! Great job Ian. This is the only Jin Yong's book that I don't have a clue about the "real" storyline so I'm looking forward to read it. Appreciate all the hard work you're putting into it.

[siryu]

Hi Ian,

Pls tell me the series adaption for this novel, I think I've seen the series but can't remember clearly.
Good translation!!

[Ian Liew]

It's the 1989 Hap Hak Hang from TVB starring Tony Leung as the twin brothers Shi Zhongyu and Shi Potian. "Adaptation" is a very strong word, so I'll just say that the TVB series borrowed some elements from the book - it's completely out in terms of story... I think even Yang Pei Pei would have to take her hat off to that 'adaptation'


Ian

[Han Solo]

Thanks for this Ian. Shi Poh Tin's relative prowess compared to all his other rivals at this stage of JY's era always interest me esp when he looms like a sweeper monk-like figure.

Thanks again for this translation.

P/S: If you want to skip the boring parts, go ahead. Just keep the story rolling... for readers like me.

[optimus]

Yippee... more translations .. to pass me boring time at the office.
Thanks for the effort Ian...

[junny]

Ian, just wondering if you got my PM? Well, if you don't need help with the names, that's fine too.

[Ian Liew]

Hi, junny!

I did yes, thanks so much for your help.. Min Rou... who would have thought a 'wen' in a 'men' could become Min... couldn't find it in my dictionary That Ke Wan something probably only appears in Chapter 2 - I think I skimmed too far ahead.

I appreciate the help, and if there's any other word I need help with I'll post it here. Thanks for the support!


Ian

[Omniflame]

Thanks, Ian Liew. These translations are great.

[Ian Liew]

This part of the chapter was probably a little bit vivid, and I did feel rather squeamish when I first read it.. but here goes..


The Black Steel Symbol
Chapter 1 (cont'd)

The boy tumbled across the ground as the corpse reached out, trying to grab him. The boy rolled to the side and the corpse lost balance, using its palms to steady itself. The corpse was tall, and its legs were long, and although it stumbled along like a drunkard, it managed to catch up with the boy in just over ten steps. Grabbing the boys neck from behind, it lifted the boy high into the air.

The corpse mumbled "Fried cake... you.... stole.. my... fried... cake?" In his current position, the boy could not even consider lying, and nodded his head. "You.... you ate it?" asked the corpse. The boy nodded again. The corpse then raised its right hand, and with a rip tore open the boy's shirt, revealing his throat and stomach. "I'll... tear.. open .. your.. stomach.. to get.. it.. back...." threatened the corpse. The boy was absolutely terrrified and squeaked "I.. I only took one bite!!!!"

When Wu Daotong was hit by Zhou Mu, and then subsequently stabbed by the tall man, he held his breath and feigned death. After a long while, he woke up. The stomach is a fatal area, but although the wound was very serious he managed to survive. He could only think of one thing, and when he woke up, seeing that the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp had departed, he ignored his injuries, and set out recovering the item which he had hidden in the fried cake.

He had pretended to be a humble cake seller, making his living in Hou Jian Ji. Although he managed to escape undetected for a while, he was unable to find the original owner of the item. When he heard the horns and saw over 200 horses bearing down upon the town, he knew that they were here for him. The situation was dire, and there was no place for him to hide the item, and as such he hid it in one of his fried cakes. When the tall man ordered him to "Hand it over" he decided to take a risk. He placed the item in the hands of the tall man, and as he expected, the tall man lost his temper and threw it away.

When Wu Daotong woke up from his injuries, he had no way of knowing which fried cake was the one in which he had hidden the item. He tore each one open, but none of them had it. At last he saw and caught the little beggar boy, and thinking that since the boy was so hungry, he must have eaten the entire cake with the item within. Immediately he decided that he was going to cut open the boy and retrieve the item, but he could not find a blade nearby. Gritting his teeth, he pulled out one of the hooked blades in his stomach, and turning the blade around, swung it at the boy's stomach.

As soon as the hooked blade was removed from the body, he felt a sharp pain, and blood started pouring out of his wound like a stream. The blade had almost reached the boy's stomach, but all of a sudden his left hand lost all strength, his fingers loosened and he dropped the boy. The hooked blade swung across, slicing through air, and Wu Daotong looked around, wobbled a bit, then his legs gave way and finally he fell to the ground. This time he was really dead.

The boy scrambled away from the corpse in a complete panic. The events which just happened had frightened him so severely that he could only take a few steps, at which point he fainted, his hands still clutching onto that fried cake from which he only taken one bite.

[Goofy]

too short, Ian. More, please.

thank you.

[Melanie]

I love this story so far, Ian. This is one Jin Yong novel that I know nothing about, since I haven't seen any adaptations of this story. But that only makes the story more exciting to me, because I have no idea what will happen next. Keep up the great work! I am looking forward to the next installment. Hurry up, please! I don't think I can hold the excitement any longer.

[JigSta]

this story is new to me. Thanks for translating Ian Liew. I very much want to know the storyline to this...err.....story Ive watched like one tape of an adaption (china?taiwan? dunno) but it didnt look too promising so i stopped watching. The guy playing the brothers had like curly girly hair..wierd.

[Laviathan]

Originally posted by Ian Liew
Notable missing bits are the beginning, when the author speaks about Li Bai and the poem Xia Ke Xing, which I haven't a clue how to even start translating.

Good job Ian!

The novel starts with the poem Ode to Gallantry, which I don't have time to translate at the moment. But the beginning of the story should be something like this:

This ancient style poem of Li Bai, "Ode to Gallantry", tells about the story of Hou Ying and Zhu Hai, the two warriors who assisted Lord Xinling of the Wei Kingdom during the Warring States Period. After thousand years, one can still feel the vigorous heroic spirit of the past when reading this poem. The city of Daliang which is mentioned, is situated near the Yellow River and was later renamed Bianliang, it is nowadays known as Kaifeng City in Henan Province. Although this city has been the capitol of numerous Chinese dynasties, the common social practice has remained plain and simple, the generosity and chivalry which are praised in the ancient tragedies did not ceased in later generations.

Hope this helps.

[Ian Liew]

Thanks a lot, Laviathan! It's much appreciated.

Chapter 1
The Black Steel Symbol (cont'd)

The moonlight shone on Wu Daotong's body, and slowly moved towards the little beggar boy as the sound of hoofbeats came from the southeast. This time the horses were approaching really fast - barely after the first sound of hoofbeats were heard the horses were already nearby. The peasants of Hou Jian Ji were already extremely ruffled, and now hearing these new hoofbeats made them panic even more, fearing the worst. This time, however, there were only two horses, and no horns blaring.

These two horses were extremely peculiar. One was black from its head all the way to its tail, but its four hooves were white - this horse was known as "Black Clouds Covering Snow". The other had black hooves, but the whole body was as white as snow - this species was known as "Black Hooved Jade Hare" - both horses were uncommon in the mainland.

The rider of the white horse was a woman dressed in white, apart from a red flower adorning her hair and a red belt around her waist. Hanging from the belt was a sword in a white scabbard. Riding the black horse was a middle-aged man, dressed completely in black. Hanging from his belt was a sword in a black scabbard.

Both riders saw Wu Daotong's dead body with the wreckage around him, and simultaneously let out a sigh. The man lashed out with his whip and caught hold of Wu Daotong's neck, and pulled it up a few feet, allowing the moonlight to shine on his face.

"It's Wu Daotong." said the woman. "It looks like the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp managed to get it." The man retrieved his whip, pulling the body around. "Wu Daotong hasn't been dead long - the blood hasn't even clotted. Let's give chase!" The woman nodded.

The two horses took off towards the west, eight hooves galloping across the ground, the sounds in perfect unison, as if there was only one horse. Both horses synchronised the movement of their front hooves and back hooves together, and looked a magnificent sight. Anybody seeing the horses will know that both were extremely well-trained and without blemish.

Both horses raced past Bianliang, and the road became narrow. The horses were unable to ride side by side, and the woman reined her horse, allowing the man to lead. The man smiled at her, and led on, the woman following close behind.

Both riders had deduced from Wu Daotong's wounds that he was slain by the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp, and that they should have caught up with them by now - but there was no trace of them. The two riders did not know that although Wu Daotong had died recently, the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp left a long time ago and had already gone very far away.

The horses ran non-stop for two hours, after which the riders dismounted for a rest, and carried on until almost dawn, before they saw campfires in the distance. The two riders exchanged smiles, and dismounted. The woman took the reins of the man's horse, and tied both horses to a tree nearby. The two riders then used their qinggong and approached the camp silently.

The camp didn't look that far, but in reality it was a few li away and the two figures raced across the open plains in silence like a wind. As they got closer they could see a large group of people seated around a few campfires, and judging from the sounds, they were having noodles. The two riders had originally intended to get closer to spy, but in the open plains there was nowhere to hide. They then slowed down about ten yards from the camp, and walked towards the group of people.

Somebody within the group cried out "Who is it? What do you want?"

The man walked forward, his hand clasped together in greeting, and answered with a smile "Is Camp Leader An around? Who am I speaking to?"

The short old man Zhou Mu focused his eyes, and by the light of the fire saw a man and a woman, one in black and one in white, both standing straight. Both were middle aged and the man looked dashing while the woman looked cultured, their clothing blowing in the wind and two swords hanging from their belts.

Zhou Mu thought of two people, and stood up and clasped his hands in greeting. "Oh, it's Master and Mrs Shi of Jiangnan's Xuan Su Mansion!" then yelled out "Hey, brothers, all come here and pay your respects! These two are Master and Mrs Shi, famous north and south of the great river!". The whole camp stood up, and bowed. Zhou Mu thought to himself "Shi Qing and Min Rou don't normally have any dealings with our Golden Sabre Bandit Camp. Here they are at this early hour.. I wonder what they want...... could they be here regarding the item?" He immediately glanced around the plains and saw nobody else, and thought "Even though the swordsmanship ability of these two are good, they can't possibly take all of us on at once, so what's there to fear?"

Mrs Shi, whose name was Min Rou, turned to her husband and said "Martial brother, this is Old Master Zhou, Zhou Mu of the Eagle Claw Clan". Although she had lowered her voice, Zhou Mu heard her, and found it curious that she would know him, thinking ""Icy Snow Heaven Sword" knows my background?" and said "You're too kind.. Zhou Mu of the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp greets Master Shi and Mrs Shi." and bowed while addressing them.

Shi Qing looked at the people around him and smiled. "Everybody seems to be having breakfast - I have intruded.. please be seated." and turning to Zhou Mu, added "Friend Zhou is too kind. We husband and wife had met "Flying through the skies" Brother Zhuang, Zhuang Zhen Zhong, from your clan, several times before, and that means we're not really complete strangers."

Zhou Mu replied ""Flying through the skies" is my martial uncle." and secretly thought "You're much younger than I am, and yet you refer to my martial uncle Zhuang as a 'brother' - it's obvious you're treating yourself as my senior." Having thought of this, he guessed that the visitors were probably not as benign as they seemed, and readied himself. In the martial world, the concept of "seniority" was a very important one. Juniors should always respect their seniors, and when seniors issue an order, the juniors will find it hard to disobey otherwise they risk being branded as "disrespectful".

Shi Qing saw the look on Zhou Mu's face, and guessed what he was thinking. He smiled and said "Oh, I'm sorry! When I met Brother Zhuang on Song Shan, he told me about the martial arts of your clan, and both of us were very impressed. I have a small favour to ask, and I hope young brother Zhou will forgive me." Having changed his address to "young brother Zhou" it became even more obvious that he was treating himself as a senior.

Zhou Mu replied "If it's something personal, I'll give face to the two of you, and as long as it's within my power whatever your orders are I'll do what I can. However, if it's something to do with the Bandit Camp, my rank is lowly, and I'm not in a position to make decisions."

[Ian Liew]

Sorry for the long break - it's been a bit hectic at office recently. Here goes..

Chapter 1
The Black Steel Symbol (cont'd)

Shi Qing thought to himself "This man is cunning - before even hearing what I had to say he has basically avoided all responsibility" and said "Then I'll be frank. I wish to check something with young brother Zhou. We husband and wife are searching for a man, his surname is Wu, his name Daotong. He uses a pair of iron brushes as his weapons, and is fairly tall. We heard that over the past few years he has been disguised as an old man and gone into hiding. He should be living around this area - would young brother Zhou have heard of this person?"

The moment he mentioned Wu Daotong, the entire Golden Sabre Bandit Camp fell silent, and some people put down their bowls of noodles immediately.

Zhou Mu thought to himself "You came from the east, so obviously you have seen Wu Daotong's corpse. If I deny anything, it will make me look like I have something to hide." He laughed and said "That's great! Master Shi, Mrs Shi, what a coincidence. Although my kungfu is lowly, I have managed to do you two a service! This Wu Daotong must have offended Master and Mrs Shi - our Golden Sabre Bandit Camp has already killed him." While speaking these words, his eyes were fixed on Shi Qing's face, gauging his reaction and trying to detect any traces of joy or anger.

Shi Qing smiled calmly. "We don't know this Wu Daotong, and actually, he hasn't really offended us in any way. This sounds funny, but the reason we're chasing this man is because of a certain item he has in his possession."

Zhou Mu's face twitched slightly, before he managed to control himself again. "You have done your research well. We have also heard this news. To be honest, I led the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp today mainly for this item as well." he then sighed and continued. "However, I don't know which bastard came up with this rumour. Iron Brush Wu Daotong died for nothing, and our entire journey seems to have been in vain. Even worse, big brother An might be upset with us for not doing a good job. Rumours have always travelled fast in the martial arts world. If everybody assumed that the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp had gotten possession of that item, and all turned their attentions to us, then it would be quite unfair. Brother Zhang, please give Master Shi and Mrs Shi the details of how we killed Wu and searched his entire fried cake shophouse."

A short man said to the couple "That Wu fellow's martial arts was pretty good, and our squad leader Li, Li Da Yuan, perished at his hands. Squad leader Zhou then attacked, and with two palms struck that Wu fellow from the roof. That strike shattered his bones, ruptured his internal organs..." This man was very eloquent, and dramatised and exaggerated certain details. He talked at length about how they searched the shop, tore down the walls, and dragged the tale on, leaving out only the bit about Zhou Mu getting hold of that small bundle.

Shi Qing nodded and thought to himself "From the moment Zhou Mu saw us, he has been uneasy. Xuan Su Mansion and the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp have never had any friction between each other - if he did not have the item in his possession, he would not need to be so defensive." He knew that whether the Camp had gotten the item notwithstanding, if it was with them then it would most definitely be in the hands of Zhou Mu. Looking around, he saw over 200 members of the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp, most of whom were decent fighters, and realised that it was going to be difficult to win this fight. Although Zhou Mu had spoken to them politely, his words contained various concealed motives, and were definitely not words of sincere friendship. Obviously Zhou Mu was secure in the knowledge that he had the advantage of numbers. He smiled and pointed at a small forest a small distance away to the left. "I have something private I wish to discuss with young brother Zhou. Could we adjourn to the forest to speak?"

Zhou Mu obviously wasn't going to, and said "All of us here are brothers and mates, there's nothing that.." the last three words "cannot be said" were not even spoken when his left wrist was suddenly grabbed by Shi Qing, and he could feel his whole body going numb while his right hand had no strength at all. Zhou Mu was furious, but also shocked. From the moment Shi Qing and Min Rou had appeared, he was completely on his guard, and on the lookout for any signs of aggression. He didn't expect Shi Qing to make his move so suddenly, though, and grab his hand just like that. The "Grabbing hand" technique was always the forte of the Eagle Claw Clan, but this time without even a single exchange of strokes he had already fallen prey to it. He tried to resist the effects with his internal energy, but all his strength had disappeared away. He realised that his important nerve points were being held and he could only sweat.

Shi Qing said "Since young brother Zhou is willing to go, that'd be great!" then turned to Min Rou and said "Martial sister, young brother Zhou and I are heading over there for a short chat, and will be back in a moment. Please wait here for us." He then turned towards the forest, and Min Rou said very politely "Martial brother, please go ahead." Although they were husband and wife, they still addressed each other as martial brother and sister.

The Golden Sabre Bandit Camp saw Shi Qing holding Zhou Mu's hand, laughing and talking along the way. His wife was staying behind amidst them, and no suspected anything. No one thought that a man of Zhou Mu's ability could have been captured without so much as a struggle.

[someguy44]

Just to let you know Ian, this is one of 6 or 7 stories I'm following so please do update.

[Melanie]

Please update soon, Ian! I really, really want to know what happens next!

[Ian Liew]

Sorry for another long break - I seem to having less free time than I expected (Spend too much time playing Jin Yong Online).

Chapter 1 (less than halfway through)
The Black Steel Symbol (cont'd)

Clinging onto Zhou Mu's wrist, Shi Qing kept walking faster and faster, and Zhou Mu was forced to keep up or risk being pulled to the ground. The distance between the campfires and the forest was about a li, and before they knew it they were in the forest.

Shi Qing smiled and released Zhou Mu's wrist. "Young brother Zhou...." Zhou Mu angrily interrupted "What on earth are you doing?", formed a claw with his right hand and, using the "Capturing Lion Hand", went mercilessly for Shi Qing's throat.

Shi Qing raised his left hand and lightly tapped the approaching claw, deflecting it to the left. With a claw stroke of his own, he managed to grab both of Zhou Mu's wrists and had them pinned behind his back. Zhou Mu was shocked and furious, and raised his right leg to kick behind him.

Shi Qing laughed and said "Young brother Zhou, why are you so angry?". Zhou Mu suddenly felt both his "Fu Tu" (Capture Rabbit) and "Huan Tiao" (Ring Jump) pressure points on his right leg go numb, and his right leg lost all strength to even kick, falling limply back to the ground. At this point, only his left leg was still firmly on the ground, and if he tried to kick backwards again, his entire body would fall forward. His face was flushed with anger and said "You..... you.... you.."

Shi Qing said "Young brother Zhou has got hold of the item which Wu Daotong had. I wish to borrow it and have a look, please bring it out." Zhou Mu replied "We did get the item, but it's not on me. If you want to see it, we'll have to go back there." He wanted to trick Shi Qing to head back to the campfires, then he could issue the order to attack. It wouldn't matter how skilled Shi Qing and his wife were, they'd never be able to win.

"I don't believe you - I need to search young brother Zhou, please forgive me." replied Shi Qing. Zhou Mu angrily replied "You want to search me? What sort of person do you take me for?" Shi Qing didn't answer and took off Zhou Mu's left boot. Zhou Mu gasped and watched as Shi Qing removed a small bundle from the boot - the bundle which was taken from Wu Daotong. Zhou Mu was shocked and angry, and stunned. "How... how did you know? You saw me put it in?" Actually, when Shi Qing mentioned that he was going to search Zhou Mu, he noticed that Zhou Mu's eyes involuntarily glanced at his left boot. He immediately shifted his eyes to somewhere far away, but Shi Qing guessed that the item might be hidden in his boot. He was indeed correct.

Shi Qing thought to himself "When that chap was describing the scene with Wu Daotong and his fried cake shop, it sounded very accurate and must have been the truth. Now that I've found the item on you, it seems you must have hidden it from even them, and wanted to keep it for yourself." Touching the bundle with three fingers from his left hand, his face suddenly changed colour.

Zhou Mu stood there, face flushed, and couldn't make up his mind whether he wanted to yell for help or not. Shi Qing said coldly "You betrayed Camp Leader An, do you really want to let everybody know this and get hacked to pieces as punishment?" Zhou Mu got shocked and involuntarily replied "How... How did you know?" Shi Qing replied "Of course I know." He then released Zhou Mu's wrists, saying "Golden Sabre An is a very intelligent man. You couldn't even hide it from me, what makes you think you can hide it from him?"

At this time, the sound of footsteps lightly approaching was heard, and some people had arrived just outside the forest. A loud hearty voice was laughing loudly, and said "Thank you for Master Shi's kind words!" Once the words had died down, three men entered the forest.

Zhou Mu had a look, and immediately his face went pale. These three men were the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp's Camp Leader An Fengri, Second Camp Leader Feng Zhenwu and Third Camp Leader Taoist Yuan Deng. When Zhou Mu recieved orders to pursue Wu Daotong, Camp Leader An never even mentioned anything about sending people out here to back him up or meet him. For some reason, he had now come here personally. Zhou Mu figured that his plan to keep the item for himself, and his failure to do so was now exposed, and his name was disgraced, perhaps even his life was forfeit. All he could say was "Brother An, he... he stole the item!"

An Fengri clasped his hands together respectfully towards Shi Qing, and said "Master Shi's name is famed throught the world. I have long admired you, but never had the chance to meet you. Our camp is nearby - would Master Shi and Mrs Shi be willing to join us at the camp, and let us play host for a while?"

Shi Qing looked at An Fengri, and saw that he had beady eyes, was of a short build and had a rough look, but when he spoke it was with good manners, without even mentioning his taking of the item, and even invited him back to his camp. However, if he did go to the camp, he didn't think he was going to leave the camp that easily, so he put his hands together in greeting, hiding the bundle in his belt and smiled "Thank you to Camp Leader An..."

All of a sudden, a green flash appeared and Taoist Yuan Deng's longsword had left its scabbard. The sword was thrusted towards Shi Qing's wrist, and he yelled "Put down that item first!" This thrust came very fast, but Shi Qing was faster - with a turn of his body he was beside Yuan Deng, taking the bundle from his belt and placing it in Yuan Deng's left hand, saying "For you!". Yuan Deng was excited with glee, didn't have time to think about Shi Qing's motives, and grabbed it. Suddenly his right hand went numb, and his sword fell to the ground.

Shi Qing picked up the sword and thrust it at Yuan Deng's left wrist, yelling "Put down that item first!". Yuan Deng was stunned, and seeing that the sword thrust was barely five inches away from his wrist, and that he had no time to dodge, could only drop the bundle.

Feng Zhenwu said "Good Kungfu!", and without waiting for Shi Qing to pick up the bundle, flashed his single sabre and charged low, hacking towards his leg. Shi Qing's longsword flashed out, this stroke was straightforward but effective - Feng Zhenwu's single sabre hadn't even reached Shi Qing's right leg, and the longsword was already going to pin Feng Zhenwu's brain to the ground.

An Fengri was concerned and shouted "Jian Xia..." (the first half of "Have mercy with the sword") Shi Qing's sword was thrusting straight and pierced his skin. Feng Zhenwu felt his heart grow cold, and closed his eyes waiting for death, but only felt the slight pain. Shi Qing's sword didn't thrust any further, and he did show mercy. The sword point had reached Feng Zhenwu's face, but stopped in time - the strength and direction timed perfectly without error. There was the sound of a slight stab as Shi Qing used the sword to pierce the bundle and retrieve it, before An Fengri's "...Liu Qing" (the second half of "Have mercy with the sword") was heard.

Shi Qing lowered the sword and said "My apologies for the offence" and took two steps back. Feng Zhenwu stood up, retrieved his sword, his face deathly pale. He retreated behind An Fengri, and mumbled a couple of sentences. Whether he was thanking Shi Qing for showing mercy, or scolding him for being too ruthless with his stroke, only he himself knew.

An Fengri unlocked the bronze button on his chest, and from his back, removed a single sabre, unsheathing it. It was already dawn, and the rays of the sun had already started to pierce through the trees. The golden sabre flashed in the sunlight and gleamed around the edges - this was most definitely a very sharp weapon. An Fengri raised his golden sabre and said "Master Shi truly is amazing, and I respect you. I wish to exchange a few strokes with you!"

Shi Qing smiled "Today I feel fortunate to be able to meet a great opponent." He then threw the bundle away. Between the four men, all that was heard was a whistle as Yuan Deng's sword in Shi Qing's hand was thrown. As the bundle hit one of the trees opposite the sword followed and pinned the bundle to the tree, piercing only a small corner and not harming the item within. The speed of the stroke and the smoothness of the execution were not inferior to the two masterful strokes he used to defeat Taoist Yuan Deng and Feng Zhenwu.

(sorry to leave at a cliffhanger again - but suddenly I have a short meeting!)

[Ren Wo Xing]

Xia Ke Xing the poem has always been one of my favorites, though parts of it are -extremely- hard to understand. A few lines in it are great though, such as...

Ying an zhao bai ma,
Beng ta ru liu xing,
Shi bu sha yi ren,
Qian li bu liu xin.

One of the reasons I'm studying Chinese as one of my classes in college is so that I can improve my Chinese to where I can read some of the great Chinese poems of the past (especially Li Bai's, who I love; poems like Jiang Jing Jiu are -really- good).