Chinese poetry

In Chinese poetry, the word 君 is commonly used by female speakers as "you" when referring to their male lovers. In modern Chinese, I think it may be gender-neutral to an extent, but also may more easily refer to a prince or lord. I believe in modern Japanese it's used in the same way it is in those poems though.

My question is, in Chinese poetry, what would be the opposite? That is, a word a male speaker would use for "you" when referring to his female lover. In those few poems I have annotated translations for where it's a male speaker talking about a woman, she's referred to in a roundabout way, never with a personal pronoun.

I've been trying my damnedest to research this, but sadly my Chinese has fallen to the point where I can't really read the dictionaries without using a translator for the definitions. I was fixated on 汝 (which is rendered 女 in older poems) for awhile, but I'm not so sure that it implies the target is female, rather than simply of lower social standing.

Any leads would be helpful, by the way... I don't need the exact answer, but I've racked my brain and checked every character I can think of.

If there's a modern Japanese equivalent, that might be helpful. I just don't know where to look.

Pronouns are uncommon enough in Chinese poetry. I'd go with 汝. I don't remember, isn't that what's used in 愚公移山 when he's talking to his wife? Or is she not addressed directly?
Though if I weren't lazy I could ask my classical teacher...

Also, 君 has no gender connotation. It's frequently used in reference to men. Far more than with respect to women, given how marginalized women are in classical Chinese texts. It's a class thing, not about dicks/ovaries.

I've never studied 愚公移山 as far as I know. I see 汝 getting used in there... I'll have to translate it later.

The anthology I learned from had specifically mentioned in the case of 有所思 that you can't tell the sex of the speaker until the third line when she uses 君. Though perhaps if there were other contextual clues indicating the speaker was male maybe it would still work.

One other possibility, but that doesn't lend itself to straight substitution, is 夫人 as seen in the paired poems 湘君 and 湘夫人. Yet another possibility in 湘夫人 is the use of 佳.

But I'm starting to feel better about 汝 if only because of the class thing you mention. I had picked it up from 靜女 by the way, though I know it refers to the reed sprout.

I really miss taking classical. I wish I'd been able to get more than a year of it.

http://vocaroo.com/?media=vW40pGE95gEVhRRTX

Classic chinese poetry read by me.

>>6

You molested my ears. What the fuck was that supposed to be?

>>6
The fuck?

>>6
What can I say?
地道的口音
*thumbs up*