Beside the Temple of the Great Premier stands an ancient cypress
With a trunk of green bronze and a root of stone.
The girth of its white bark would be the reach of forty men
And its tip of kingfish-blue is two thousand feet in heaven.
Dating from the days of a great ruler's great statesman,
Their very tree is loved now and honoured by the people.
Clouds come to it from far away, from the Wu cliffs,
And the cold moon glistens on its peak of snow.
...East of the Silk Pavilion yesterday I found
The ancient ruler and wise statesman both worshipped in one temple,
Whose tree, with curious branches, ages the whole landscape
In spite of the fresh colours of the windows and the doors.
And so firm is the deep root, so established underground,
That its lone lofty boughs can dare the weight of winds,
Its only protection the Heavenly Power,
Its only endurance the art of its Creator.
Though oxen sway ten thousand heads, they cannot move a mountain.
...When beams are required to restore a great house,
Though a tree writes no memorial, yet people understand
That not unless they fell it can use be made of it....
Its bitter heart may be tenanted now by black and white ants,
But its odorous leaves were once the nest of phoenixes and pheasants.
...Let wise and hopeful men harbour no complaint.
The greater the timber, the tougher it is to use.
Original Poem:
「古柏行」
杜甫
孔明庙前有老柏， 柯如青铜根如石；
双皮溜雨四十围， 黛色参天二千尺。
君臣已与时际会， 树木犹为人爱惜。
云来气接巫峡长， 月出寒通雪山白。
忆昨路绕锦亭东， 先主武侯同閟宫。
崔嵬枝干郊原古， 窈窕丹青户牖空。
落落盘踞虽得地， 冥冥孤高多烈风。
扶持自是神明力， 正直元因造化功。
大厦如倾要梁栋， 万牛回首丘山重。
不露文章世已惊， 未辞剪伐谁能送？
苦心岂免容蝼蚁？ 香叶终经宿鸾凤。
志士幽人莫怨嗟， 古来材大难为用。
Interpretation:
It was written by Du Fu in 766 A.D. when he was in Fengjie, Chongqing. The poet depicted the lonely and firm image of the ancient cypress in front of the Wuhou Temple in that place, showing his admiration for Zhuge Liang’s loyalty and chastity, and also expressing his own indignation at the difficulty of utilizing the material.
Liu Bei, the first lord of Shu Han, asked him to come out of the mountain, Zhuge Liang sensed his sincerity, and began to come out to support the first emperor to become the emperor, as the prime minister. Later, he assisted Liu Chan, the later lord of Shu Han, and was named Marquis of Wuxiang. Zhuge Liang’s ambition in the restoration of the Central Plains, often out of the division of the Northern Expedition, died of illness in the army, posthumously Zhongwu, the temple in Fengjie under the eight array of Figure. The whole poem rhymes with every eight lines, forming three sections.
The first paragraph writes the image of the cypress in front of Kongming Temple. Its branches are like bronze and its roots are like rocks. It is very sturdy, erect and majestic, covering the sun and the sky. Because of Kong Ming and Liu Bei’s friendship and admiration, the cypress tree has also been cherished by the descendants. Nowadays, it is connected to the Wu Gorge and the snow-covered mountains in western Sichuan. Here, the tallness of the cypress is a metaphor for Kong Ming’s outstanding talent among the heroes of the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The second stanza further depicts the divine character of the cypress. When Du Fu wrote this poem, he had been away from Chengdu for a year, so he was “remembering yesterday”. The Wuhou Ancestral Hall in Chengdu is attached to the Temple of the First Lord, and the cypresses in the temple are rooted in the ancient countryside, with branches and trunks that have survived for a long time; however, the interior of the temple is dimly painted and silent, so it is already very quiet. Only this Kui state cypress is perched on a high mountain, the gale does not shake, upright growth, indeed power in the power of God’s creation.
In the third paragraph, the cypress of the lonely and upright to express the feelings of unrecognized talent. From the front of the Kong Ming to show its talent in the “wistful”, associated with today’s talent useless “ironic”. It means that the building is about to fall, the country is in danger, and we need people who are capable of building a pillar of strength. These pillars of talent never show off, but also willing to dedicate themselves to the country, but no one recommended. Although they can be used as luan and phoenix lodging, but in vain by the mole cricket rotten, really sad and lamentable!
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.
