Ci

During a casual lunch time discussion, my friend WY sighed, "I used to think the teaching of Chinese language in secondary schools has deteriorated a lot over the years, but it is really not the case - not even for international school!"

She was talking about her elder daughter, who is studying class 8 in an international school. I smiled and asked, "What's up?"

"You know, the recent poem that she studied in the class was Shui diao ge tou (水調歌頭) of Su Shi (蘇軾)."

"Alas, that's not too bad. Although it may not be too easy a piece for a 14-year-old girl, the poem is very well known and I believe entirely reasonable to include in the syllabus."

"Yes, but the problem is her homework," my friend went on, "She was asked to prepare another poem, or Cí (詞), about moon for presentation and explanation in the class - and A Quiet Night Thought (静夜思) of Li Bai (李白) is not allowed!"

PS. The proper name of Su's Cí should be Mid-autumn of the Bing Chen Year (丙辰中秋). Shui diao ge tou is the name of the melody.