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The Ballad in Bagua (Or Eight Trigrams): A Mini Epic* by Yuan Changming
qua a: The Creative
hush! did you ever hear
in the very vastest void
a voice almost invisible
awakening Pan Gu
the great father of life
who had arisen
slowly but steadily
amidst all nothingness?
with his hands like a huge ax
Pan Gu clove the chaos into yin and yang
one floating high above
clear and clean
until it formed the heavens
the other sinking deep down
turbid and turbulent
until it solidified into the earth
even bigger than the entire universe
his mind in itself can create
a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven
just as his first manifesto
still echoes from soul to soul:
there is neither god, nor heaven
i am god and i am heaven
let there be a lightway, and here i come!
gua b: The Lake
soon after Pan Gu
there were more than
exploded as though
triggering a super-
whose tremendous
along the ever
that created cracks
across the boundless
put the universe in order
one thousand thunders
in a single big blast
scaled skyquake
tremors traveled
darkening lightning
and crevices
vault of the heavens
her newborns striving hard but hopeless to survive
the flood, the drought as well as the famine
Nuwa, the gracious mother of the human race
to whom power had been an eternal joy
ceased changing her forms and shapes
starting to rescue her young children
from the danger of being swallowed by death
without getting a chance to grow on their own
day in and day out
not knowing what was tiring
she filled, smoothed and ironed
every gap that needed to be treated
with the soft five-colored stones
she had defined and refined
in her first alchemist’s furnace
until the whole firmament was fully mended
gua c: The Clinging
in the south dominates Yan Di the Great
in the north rules Huang Di the Mighty
they are both Nuwa’s worthy offspring
but they never brother each other
followed by deities and humans alike
they fight fiercely and formidably
for women, for wealth or for war’s sake
the biggest battle
metal scales agape
chain mail glitters
banners fluttering
as thick and dark clouds
the whole city seems
even night is so much
it hides itself in
breaks out in Banchuan
with burning cold
over death’s shadows
against loud cries
keep whelming
ready to collapse
scared to death
or too exhausted to return to the heavens
gua d: The Thunder
to revenge on his captain’s
Chi You stages
by summoning
retrieving every rain
and enrolling each
like thousands of
stampeding at
against the defence
shame of defeat
an all-front or total war
every wind above earth
under the sky
fighter of ferocity
wild mammoths of horror
an unheard thunder
line of Huang Di
to meet Chi’s challenge
Yin Long his most valiant
who never holds a weapon
but on the wall of
hangs a sword that
readily leap forward
to cut off the head
even it is more than
Huang Di dispatches
and capable general
in his handsome hands
his courageous mind
can break from its case
like a flying dragon
of an arch-enemy
one hundred zhang away
seeing Yin Long’s legions fail to curb
the sweeping storms manipulated by Chi You
Ba the most talented and beautiful princess
offers to join in the half-fought battle
by stilling each violent wind and rain
to help destroy the most destructive forces
despite the puzzled eye of those who see her:
who is among us this extraordinary fair warrior?
gua e: The Receptive
the greatest
was not born
but wherever
there will be
this is
although it never has
like the law formulated
there is an equal
rebel of all time
to be a rebel
there is oppression
a timely rebellion
a universal truth
been hand-written
for every action
opposite reaction
the door for dogs and pigs
while the gate for humans
a loud voice is calling
come out, come out,
Xin Tian fondly
but he knows it
how can a human body
out of the desperate door
is widely open
is tightly closed
outside the prison
i will give you freedom
desires freedom
all too well
crawl his way
for animals?
his mind can
nor can his will
Xin Tian has
but the moment
he restarts to wave
his brave axe
trying to see
and roaring
never be enslaved
be walled
to be beheaded
his head is chopped off
with wonders
and unbending shield
with his nipples
with his naval instead
gua f: The Mountain
just like any other normal bird
Jing Wei has a beak sharp and hard
with which to peck around on the ground
and pursue her dream dropped while flying
she has a pair of wings of heavenly hope
plumed with feathers of despair
that empower her to fly long distance
and low enough to her father’s kingdom
but unlike any other
her calls and songs
who used
along a less trodden trail
until on a hot and
she ventured to swim
without a companion
and never returned
bird on earth
are her own name
to take a lonely walk
in the woods
humid summer day
in the East Sea
in her private quest
to the palace of Yan Di
ever since the rebirth
of the foamy peak
Jing Wei has been
in filling the vast
with fresh twigs
she collects and transports
one at a time
although it seems
she secured
of a huge wave
fully engaged
and violent sea
and stones
from Mount West
with her lonely beak
simple but impossible
gua g: The Dangerous
out of nowhere
torrents of rain
lakes overturn
mountains collapse
as young and old fight
humans and animals duel
the whole world seems
to perish
out of everywhere
all fall together
and rivers overflow
in muddy nightmares
against hunger
with plagues
to be doomed
in a single fierce flood
to tame the rivers and watercourses
Guen steals a seed of xi soil from heaven
but long before he can accomplish his task
Guen is killed at Tian Di’s heavenly order
and his body thrown in the wildness
where it refuses to decay for three years
until a yellow dragon is begotten
leaping out of his belly cut widely open
Yu quickly grows
for he never forgets
even though he has
nor any help
he gulps down
sucks up
chains every stream
to free the land
to be Guen’s great son
his father’s behest
no magic xi soil
from high above heaven
all the dark clouds
all the torrential rains
running mad
from the flood’s grips
gua h: The Wind
far beyond the vast east sea
Xi He gives birth to ten suns
playing happily in the heavens
like so many wantons who never stop
chasing one another unawares
their faces getting dirtier and dirtier
until summoned by their dear mother
bathing them in the depths of Sweet Pond
at an unseen moment of glaring sot
all the ten sons seem to turn wild
like mad fires sending out more heat than light
burning every green leaf in the field
when Hou Yi has to hold high
his red bow and white arrows
and shoot down the suns up to nine
leaving just one as Xi He’s only son
no one is sure
who never ceases
in an endless
from his comfort home
to the Yellow River flowing
whose water fails
to the wasteland
where he means
what Kua Fu is up to
seeking the traveling sun
and tireless chase
near the Wei River
down from heaven
to quench his thirst
beyond the North Sea
to stand to fall forever