The Three Kingdoms, divided, have been bound by his greatness.
The Eight-Sided Fortress is founded on his fame;
Beside the changing river, it stands stony as his grief
That he never conquered the Kingdom of Wu.
Original Poem:
「八阵图」
杜甫
功盖三分国， 名成八阵图。
江流石不转， 遗恨失吞吴。
Interpretation:
This poem was written in 766 A.D., when Du Fu first arrived in Fengjie, Chongqing, he composed a poem to lament the achievements of Zhuge Liang.
The first line says that Zhuge Liang assisted Liu Bei to create the state of Shu from scratch, forming the situation of Shu, Wei, and Wu standing on all three sides of the world, and that his superhuman talent and extraordinary political talent, which covered the time, could be compared with no one else in the Three Kingdoms. In the second sentence, he writes about his outstanding military skills.
Then write about the magical features of the Eight Formations. Zhuge small stone, ranks still, such as it is nearly six hundred years, so far immovable. The unshakable eight array map is Zhuge Liang on the Shu Han regime and the unification of the great cause of loyalty and firmness, such as the rock-like unshakeable symbol. Write Zhuge Liang’s “hate”, is Liu Bei for the revenge of Guan Yu, hundreds of thousands of troops to attack Wu, destroying the fundamental strategy of Zhuge Liang Wu against Wei, so that the unification of the great cause of the abortion, into a thousand years of hate!
This poem is a combination of narrative and discussion, the whole poem four lines of three turns, a metaphor for the passage of time and Zhuge Liang’s long-lasting achievements. Nostalgia for the past, discussion and lyricism, all in one.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Du Fu (杜甫), 712 – 770 AD, was a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, known as the “Sage of Poetry”. Born into a declining bureaucratic family, Du Fu had a rough life, and his turbulent and dislocated life made him keenly aware of the plight of the masses. Therefore, his poems were always closely related to the current affairs, reflecting the social life of that era in a more comprehensive way, with profound thoughts and a broad realm. In his poetic art, he was able to combine many styles, forming a unique style of “profound and thick”, and becoming a great realist poet in the history of China.
