Talk:胡笳

Poem

Why does this English translation of this Du Fu poem translate 胡笳 as eggplant?

http://www.chinese-poems.com/d13.html

70.60.164.110 19:30, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

The translator of the poem made a mistake. The Chinese character for eggplant is 茄 (qié), not 笳 (jiā). In fact, 胡笳 actually refers to a type of reed instrument, similar to a flute, that was used by northern nomadic tribes in ancient times. A better translation might be, "The [sound of a] nomad flute [can be heard] coming from the upper story [of a building]." One famous reference to this instrument comes from Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute. -- A-cai 00:28, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I alerted the webmaster and he has fixed the translation. I think, though I'm not sure, that the instrument was probably a conical-bored double-reed shawm or oboe rather than a flute. I'd like to see a depiction of one. 71.66.97.228 08:16, 6 July 2010 (UTC)