Ten thousand ranges and valleys approach the Jing Gate
And the village in which the Lady of Light was born and bred.
She went out from the purple palace into the desertland;
She has now become a green grave in the yellow dusk.
Her face ! Can you picture a wind of the spring?
Her spirit by moonlight returns with a tinkling
Song of the Tartars on her jade guitar,
Telling her eternal sorrow.
Original Poem:
「咏怀古迹 · 其三」
杜甫
群山万壑赴荆门， 生长明妃尚有村。
一去紫台连朔漠， 独留青冢向黄昏。
画图省识春风面， 环佩空归月下魂。
千载琵琶作胡语， 分明怨恨曲中论。
Interpretation:
At this time the poet was living in Kui Zhou, looking at the village of Zhaojun at Xiangxi, hundreds of miles away from Zigui, and was touched by Zhaojun’s fate and wrote this poem.
The poet stood at the west end of the Three Gorges, above the high mountains of Kui Zhou, looking at the east end of the Three Gorges, the terrain of the Xiangxi, only to see the mountains and ravines, such as the great river running to the Jingmen Mountain, Zhaojun grew up in the village of Zhaojun in the mountains on the banks of the Xiangxi. This couplet starts with an abrupt and majestic brush, highlighting the peculiar environment in which Zhaojun grows. The implication is that only such a place of exquisite feng shui can produce such a strange woman as Zhaojun, and also indicates that people will never forget her over the centuries.
Poet by Zhaojun village naturally think of Zhaojun life tragedy and its resentment. She left the Han Palace, married in the desert, died buried in the desert, failed to return home, a wisp of lonely soul alone to the desert dusk, this is how sad the scene. This is a sad sight. The world is really heartless, and the green mound is hateful!
Then the poet closely Zhaoren’s life, further pointed out that the cause of its tragedy is the emperor’s mediocrity. Because he only know Zhaojun from the picture, which caused Zhaojun buried outside the plug. But Zhaojun’s heart is unchanged by the thought of her homeland, although her bones are buried in the green mound, her soul will return to her parents’ country on the moonlit night in vain. This is not only the condemnation of the mediocre king, but also the sympathy and mourning of Zhaojun.
In the last line, the poet borrows the sound of pipa to show that Zhaojun’s thousands of years of resentment can only be entrusted to the pipa music to pour out! These words of sorrow highlight the theme of “hatred”.
This poem is written from the image, all about Zhaojun, no discussion, but the poet’s love and hatred are all in it. Zhaojun holds the most beautiful color and is not appreciated by the king, and she married far away from the desert, implicitly implying the poet’s high talent and indignation. The melody of the whole poem is sorrowful, leaving people with the legacy of “this hatred has no expiration date”, which makes people’s heart fluctuate.
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.
