Since Wang Jun brought his towering ships down from Yizhou,
The royal ghost has pined in the city of Nanjing.
Ten thousand feet of iron chain were sunk here to the bottom --
And then came the flag of surrender on the Wall of Stone....
Cycles of change have moved into the past,
While still this mountain dignity has commanded the cold river;
And now comes the day of the Chinese world united,
And the old forts fill with ruin and with autumn reeds.
Original Poem:
「西塞山怀古」
刘禹锡
王濬楼船下益州， 金陵王气黯然收。
千寻铁锁沈江底， 一片降旛出石头。
人世几回伤往事， 山形依旧枕寒流。
从今四海为家日， 故垒萧萧芦荻秋。
Interpretation:
In 824 A.D., Liu Yuxi, who was transferred from the post of Assassin of Kui Prefecture to the post of Assassin of Wazhou Prefecture, traveled eastward along the river and passed by Xisai Mountain, where he expressed his feelings and wrote this poem.
West Fort Mountain: It is on the Yangtze River to the east of Huangshi in present-day Hubei Province. It is a famous military fortress in the Six Dynasties, with its steep situation, such as the Arashi crossing the Autumn Plateau and the mountain locking the flooded river.
Sun Hao, the late king of Eastern Wu, thought he had a foolproof plan by virtue of the danger of the Yangtze River and the iron cones secretly placed in the river and the thousands of iron chains across the river, but Wang Sol used dozens of big rafts to wash away the iron cones, burned the chains with torches, and seized Jinling straight away.
Then write to Xisai Mountain, seems to be off-topic, in fact, it is not. The reason why Xisai Mountain has become a famous military fortress, because in its side of the rendition of those colorful, recorded in the history of the “living drama”, is to the North-South split, the existence of the Southern regime as a condition. Therefore, in front of the rise and fall of the six dynasties, it is in order to lead from a broad historical background of Xise Mountain, thus greatly expanding the realm of the poem. The poet does not depict how magnificent and steep Xisai Mountain is in front of his eyes, but highlights the word “still”, which reveals the changes in personnel.
Finally, the former military fortress is now deserted in a piece of autumn wind and reed. This broken and desolate remains, is the witness of the destruction of the six dynasties, the symbol of the failure of the split, but also the result of the unification of the river and mountain. The poet concludes the poem with nostalgia for the past and sadness for the present.
In this poem, Liu Yuxi directs his mockery at the rulers who once occupied one side in history but finally fell. The poem is a collection of thoughts in a sweeping and hearty style. The poet seems to be objectively recounting the past and depicting the monuments, but in fact, it is a blow to the head of the reemerging cutthroat forces at that time.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Liu Yuxi(刘禹锡), 772 – 842 AD, was a native of Hebei. He was a progressive statesman and thinker in the middle of the Tang Dynasty, and a poet with unique achievements in this period. In his compositions, there is no lack of poems reflecting current affairs and the plight of the people.
