Imperial Edict to Bestow Numerous Emperor-Owned Cherries
敕 赐 百 官 樱 桃
芙 蓉 阙 下 会 千 官
紫 禁 朱 樱 出 上 兰。
才 是 寝 园 春 荐 后
非 关 御 苑 鸟 衔 残。
归 鞍 竞 带 青 丝 笼
中 使 频 倾 赤 玉 盘。
饱 食 不 须 愁 内 热
大 官 还 有 蔗 浆 寒。
Chi Ci Bai Guan Ying Tao
Fu rong que xia hui qian guan
Zi jin zhu ying chu shang lan.
Cai shi qin yuan chun jian hou
Fei guan yu yuan niao xian can.
Gui an jing dai qing shi long
Zhong shi pin qing chi yu pan.
Bao shi bu xu chou nei re
Da guan huan you zhe jiang han.
Imperial Edict to Bestow Numerous Emperor-Owned Cherries
Below the cottonrose hibiscus door, a thousand government officials meet
At the Forbidden City, bright red cherries produced in the palace garden.
After the earliest cherries, a spring sacrifice made at the imperial cemetery
With the not-yet bird eaten ones in the enclosed palace small grove.
Returning on saddles, workers compete to bring up filled blue silk baskets
Food servants repeatedly serve from red-stained jade dishes.
Eat one’s fill, do not have to worry about the internal organs becoming hot
The imperial food manager still has cooling sugarcane syrup.
Notes:
Cottonrose hibiscus door: A meeting place inside the imperial palace.
The not-yet bird eaten ones: First cherries of the season brought to the emperor from afar and very precious by birds carrying them in their mouths. From these first few seeds, the imperial grove grew.
Imperial food manager: Chinese concerned about balancing the yin and yang energies in the food they eat.