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魚玄機

by Mori Ōgai

The Tang poet Yu Xuanji is jailed for murder, shocking Chang’an.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Advanced979 characters · ≈ 4 minSource: 青空文库

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Sample: three-line reading

Each word has its meaning in this sentence underneath, and each sentence has a full translation. Read the original and glance down only when you need to.

魚玄機Yu Xuanji (a person's name)がsubject marker人a personをobject marker殺してkilled and (then)獄prisonにto (direction/target)下ったwas sent down (to prison); past tense
Yu Xuanji killed a person and went to prison.
風説はthe rumor (topic)忽ちquickly / suddenly長安人士の間にamong the people of Chang'an流伝せられてwas spread, and一人としてnot a single person (with として) / anyone事の意表に出でたthe matter went beyond expectation / was unexpectedのにat (the fact that)驚かぬdid not feel surprisedものはなかったthere was no one (who)
The rumor quickly spread among the people of Chang'an, and no one was not surprised that the matter was unexpected.
唐の代the Tang dynastyにはin (topic marker)道教Daoismが(subject marker)盛であったwas flourishing
In the Tang dynasty, Daoism was widespread.
それはthat / this道士等がthe Daoist priests (and others)王室の李姓であるのをthat the royal family's surname was Li奇貨としてtaking advantage of (as a rare opportunity)老子を先祖だとthat Laozi was their ancestor言い做しclaimed / made out老君に仕うることserving Laozi宗廟に仕うるが如くlike serving the ancestral templeならしめたmade (it) becomeためであるwas because
This was because the Daoist priests took advantage of the royal family's surname Li, claimed that Laozi was their ancestor, and made serving Laozi like serving the ancestral temple.

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About the book

The text recounts the uproar in Chang'an after the Tang dynasty poetess Yu Xuanji was imprisoned for killing someone, then traces her childhood as a clever girl who learned poetry early. It reads like the opening of a historical novel, with a plain tone that sets out the incident before laying in background on Daoism and the city.

Cultural notes (selection)

Background a translation can’t carry: social roles, history and allusions. While reading, tap “Note” at the end of a sentence to see them all.

太清宮 History

The Tang imperial house honoured Laozi (Li Er), the founder of Daoism, as its ancestor, posthumously granting him the title 'Supreme Mysterious Primordial Emperor'. During the Tianbao era under Emperor Xuanzong, the Taiqing Palace was built in Chang'an and the Taiwei Palace in Luoyang for his worship. Buildings mentioned in the text, such as the Louguan and the Ziji Palace, were all state-established Daoist temples.

趙痩と云わむよりは、むしろ楊肥 Allusion

This alludes to the saying 'Yan was slender, Huan was plump': Zhao Feiyan, empress of Emperor Cheng of Han, was famed for her graceful, slender figure, while Yang Yuhuan, precious consort of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, was celebrated for her fullness. Later generations used this phrase to mean that each has her own kind of beauty. Here it suggests that Yuanki's beauty was closer to the plump loveliness of Yang Guifei.

About the author

Mori Ōgai (February 17, 1862 – July 8, 1922), born Mori Rintarō, was a Japanese Army Surgeon general officer, translator, novelist and poet, and father of the writer Mari Mori. He obtained his medical license at a young age, introduced translated German literary works to Japanese readers, and is considered a leading figure who modernized Japanese literature; his major work is The Wild Geese (1911–1913).

How the glosses are made

Word glosses and sentence translations are generated in context by AI models (DeepSeek and Zhipu GLM), and every word is checked to have a gloss. AI can make mistakes; you can report problems from the book page.

FAQ

Is this the original text?

Yes. The library holds the opening section of the public-domain original, taken from 青空文库.

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What level is it?

This one is marked “Advanced”. Every word is glossed, so you can keep reading even with a small vocabulary.

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English and Chinese glosses are prepared in advance; signed-in readers can generate other languages.

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