I am the madman of the Ch'u country
Who sang a mad song disputing Confucius.
...Holding in my hand a staff of green jade,
I have crossed, since morning at the Yellow Crane Terrace,
All five Holy Mountains, without a thought of distance,
According to the one constant habit of my life .
...Lu Mountain stands beside the Southern Dipper
In clouds reaching silken like a nine-panelled screen,
\Vith its shadows in a crystal lake deepening the green water.
The Golden Gate opens into two mountain-ranges.
A silver stream is hanging down to three stone bridges
Within sight of the mighty Tripod Falls.
Ledges of cliff and winding trails lead to blue sky
And a flush of cloud in the morning sun,
Whence no flight of birds could be blown into Wu .
...I climb to the top. I survey the whole world.
I see the long river that runs beyond return,
Yellow clouds that winds have driven hundreds of miles
And a snow-peak whitely circled by the swirl of a ninefold stream.
And so I am singing a song of Lu Mountain,
A song that is born of the breath of Lu Mountain.
...Where the Stone Mirror makes the heart's purity purer
And green moss has buried the footsteps of Hsieh,
I have eaten the immortal pellet and, rid of the world's troubles,
Before the lute's third playing have achieved my element.
Far away I watch the angels riding coloured clouds
Toward heaven's Jade City, with hibiscus in their hands.
And so, when I have traversed the nine sections of the world,
I will follow Saint Lu-ao up the Great Purity.
Original Poem:
「梦游天姥吟留别」
李白
海客谈瀛洲，烟涛微茫信难求；
越人语天姥，云霞明灭或可睹。
天姥连天向天横，势拔五岳掩赤城。
天台四万八千丈，对此欲倒东南倾。
我欲因之梦吴越，一夜飞度镜湖月。
湖月照我影，送我至剡溪。
谢公宿处今尚在，渌水荡漾清猿啼。
脚著谢公屐，身登青云梯。
半壁见海日，空中闻天鸡。
千岩万转路不定，迷花倚石忽已暝。
熊咆龙吟殷岩泉，栗深林兮惊层巅。
云青青兮欲雨，水澹澹兮生烟。
列缺霹雳，丘峦崩摧。
洞天石扉，訇然中开。
青冥浩荡不见底，日月照耀金银台。
霓为衣兮风为马，云之君兮纷纷而来下。
虎鼓瑟兮鸾回车，仙之人兮列如麻。
忽魂悸以魄动，恍惊起而长嗟。
惟觉时之枕席，失向来之烟霞。
世间行乐亦如此，古来万事东流水。
别君去兮何时还？且放白鹿青崖间，须行即骑访名山。
安能摧眉折腰事权贵，使我不得开心颜！
Interpretation:
This is a famous poem of Li Bai, which was written in 745 AD when Li Bai went to Wuyue.
In the first part of the poem, the poet talks about Yingzhou, where the immortals live, with people travelling to and from the sea, thus bringing out Tianmu Mountain and describing the momentum of Tianmu, which is a peculiar writing. In the poet’s writing, Tianmu Mountain towers over the clouds, connecting to the sky and going horizontally beyond the sky. The height of the mountain exceeds the five mountains and covers Mount Chih Cheng. Tiantai Mountain is 48,000 feet high, and it seems to be tilted to the east and west to pay homage to Tianmu Mountain. Therefore, the poet wanted to dream of travelling to Wu-Yue. One night, really flew across the bright moon reflecting the mirror lake, from the yearning for sleepwalking and into the real sleepwalking.
In the latter part of the poem, he describes the circumstances of his dream trip to Tianmu Mountain: The moonlight of the Mirror Lake shone on my shadow and sent me all the way to the river Hepai. The place where Xie Ling Yun lived is still there today, with blue waves rippling and apes and monkeys crying. The poet put on the wooden shoes specially made by Lord Xie in those days and climbed the stone staircase as treacherous as the Green Cloud Ladder. Halfway up the mountain, he saw the sunrise over the sea, and the cries of the celestial rooster were heard in the air. On the winding and curving mountain road, the poet was leaning against the rock to appreciate the gorgeous wildflowers, suddenly the sky darkened, the bears roared and dragons roared, the dense forests trembled, and the layers of peaks trembled. The clouds were dark and heavy, as if it was going to rain, and the water turbulence gave rise to smoke. Accompanied by flashes of lightning and booms of thunder, the mountain peaks seemed as if they were about to be collapsed. At that moment, the stone door of the Immortal’s Cave split in the middle with a loud bang. Although the bottom of the cave could not be seen in the darkness of the sky, the sun and moon shone on the gold and silver platform. The tiger played the zither, the luan and phoenix pulled the cart, and the gods and goddesses wearing clothes made of rainbows, with the wind as their horses, came down from the clouds in procession ……
In the end, the poet woke up and realised that everything was just like the smoke and haze in a dream, and he was more unwilling to submit to the power and nobility, and longed to seek immortality and learn the way of Taoism.
The poet in this poem played a rich imagination, the use of hyperbole and other romantic techniques, image describes the twists and turns of the scenario, thrilling the strange dream, expresses the passionate yearning for the famous mountain fairyland, showing contempt for the powerful and the dissatisfaction with the reality of the situation. The style is high, the writing force is thousands of pounds, and the momentum is magnificent.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Li Bai (李白), 701 ~ 762 A.D., whose ancestral home was in Gansu, was preceded by Li Guang, a general of the Han Dynasty. Tang poetry is one of the brightest constellations in the history of Chinese literature, and one of the brightest stars is Li Bai.
