Oh, but it is high and very dangerous!
Such travelling is harder than scaling the blue sky.
...Until two rulers of this region
Pushed their way through in the misty ages,
Forty-eight thousand years had passed
With nobody arriving across the Ch'in border.
And the Great White Mountain, westward, still has only a bird's path
Up to the summit of O-mei Peak -
Which was broken once by an earthquake and there were brave men lost,
Just finishing the stone rungs of their ladder toward heaven.
...High, as on a tall flag, six dragons drive the sun,
While the river, far below, lashes its twisted course.
Such height would be hard going for even a yellow crane,
So pity the poor monkeys who have only paws to use.
The Mountain of Green Clay is formed of many circles -
Each hundred steps, we have to turn nine turns among its mounds.
Panting, we brush Orion and pass the Well Star,
Then, holding our chests with our hands and sinking to the ground with a groan,
We wonder if this westward trail will never have an end.
The formidable path ahead grows darker, darker still,
With nothing heard but the call of birds hemmed in by the ancient forest,
Male birds smoothly wheeling, following the females;
And there come to us the melancholy voices of the cuckoos
Out on the empty mountain, under the lonely moon
Such travelling is harder than scaling the blue sky.
Even to hear of it turns the cheek pale,
With the highest crag barely a foot below heaven.
Dry pines hang, head down, from the face of the cliffs,
And a thousand plunging cataracts outroar one another
And send through ten thousand valleys a thunder of spinning stones.
With all this danger upon danger,
Why do people come here who live at a safe distance?
...Though Dagger-Tower Pass be firm and grim,
And while one man guards it
Ten thousand cannot force it,
What if he be not loyal,
But a wolf toward his fellows?
...There are ravenous tigers to fear in the day
And venomous reptiles in the night
With their teeth and their fangs ready
To cut people down like hemp .
...Though the City of Silk be delectable, I would rather turn home quickly.
Such travelling is harder than scaling the blue sky
But I still face westward with a dreary moan.
Original Poem
「蜀道难」
李白
噫吁嚱，危乎高哉！
蜀道之难，难于上青天！
蚕丛及鱼凫，开国何茫然！
尔来四万八千岁，不与秦塞通人烟。
西当太白有鸟道，可以横绝峨眉巅。
地崩山摧壮士死，然后天梯石栈相钩连。
上有六龙回日之高标，下有冲波逆折之回川。
黄鹤之飞尚不得过，猿猱欲度愁攀援。
青泥何盘盘，百步九折萦岩峦。
扪参历井仰胁息，以手抚膺坐长叹。
问君西游何时还？畏途巉岩不可攀。
但见悲鸟号古木，雄飞雌从绕林间。
又闻子规啼夜月，愁空山。
蜀道之难，难于上青天，使人听此凋朱颜！
连峰去天不盈尺，枯松倒挂倚绝壁。
飞湍瀑流争喧豗，砯崖转石万壑雷。
其险也如此，嗟尔远道之人胡为乎来哉！
剑阁峥嵘而崔嵬，一夫当关，万夫莫开。
所守或匪亲，化为狼与豺。
朝避猛虎，夕避长蛇，磨牙吮血，杀人如麻。
锦城虽云乐，不如早还家。
蜀道之难，难于上青天，侧身西望长咨嗟！
Interpretation
"Hard Roads in Shu" is an ancient Yuefu theme that literati throughout history have used to depict the treacherous paths to Sichuan, though their specific geographical references varied. This poem was likely composed around 742 AD during Emperor Xuanzong's Tianbao era, when Li Bai first arrived in Chang'an filled with ambition. Despite his extraordinary talent, he found himself surrounded by powerful court officials, making his political career fraught with obstacles. Born in Sichuan but having left at age twenty-five never to return, Li Bai had no personal experience of these mountain roads, making this work entirely a product of artistic imagination.
The poet uses the perilous Shu roads to express his anxieties about contemporary society. Through hyperbolic descriptions of their towering dangers contrasted with life's hardships and the uncertainties of officialdom, the poem reveals his concerns about Tang politics and his own career prospects. The entire work pulses with intense emotion and romanticism, blending vivid landscape descriptions with profound social commentary.
First Couplet: "噫吁嚱，危乎高哉！蜀道之难，难于上青天！"
Yī xū xī, wēi hū gāo zāi! Shǔ dào zhī nán, nán yú shàng qīng tiān!
Ah, perilous! How towering high! The road to Shu's more hard than climbing the sky!
This dramatic opening establishes the road's danger through exclamations and hyperbole, immediately gripping readers while setting the poem's impassioned tone.
Second Couplet: "蚕丛及鱼凫，开国何茫然！"
Cán cóng jí yú fú, kāi guó hé máng rán!
Can Cong and Yu Fu founded this realm - how dim those beginnings!
Invoking Sichuan's mythical founders, the poet blends legend with history to suggest the region's eternal isolation, enhancing its mystique.
Third Couplet: "尔来四万八千岁，不与秦塞通人烟。"
Ěr lái sì wàn bā qiān suì, bù yǔ qín sài tōng rén yān.
For forty-eight thousand years since, no smoke from Qin's passes reached here.
This wildly exaggerated timeline underscores Sichuan's geographical seclusion, intensifying the sense of the road's impassability.
Fourth Couplet: "西当太白有鸟道，可以横绝峨眉巅。"
Xī dāng tài bái yǒu niǎo dào, kě yǐ héng jué é méi diān.
Westward, Great White Mountain's bird-paths wind, cutting across Emei's peaks.
The "bird-path" metaphor conveys such narrow passageways that only birds could traverse them.
Fifth Couplet: "地崩山摧壮士死，然后天梯石栈相钩连。"
Dì bēng shān cuī zhuàng shì sǐ, rán hòu tiān tī shí zhàn xiāng gōu lián.
When earth split and mountains crumbled, heroes died, then stone ladders and cliff roads linked.
This mythical reference to road-building sacrifices adds legendary quality while emphasizing the path's dangers.
Sixth Couplet: "黄鹤之飞尚不得过，猿猱欲度愁攀援。"
Huáng hè zhī fēi shàng bù dé guò, yuán náo yù dù chóu pān yuán.
Even golden cranes can't fly across, gibbons despair to climb its face.
Extreme exaggeration portrays the road's steepness as insurmountable even for skilled climbers.
Seventh Couplet: "青泥何盘盘，百步九折萦岩峦。"
Qīng ní hé pán pán, bǎi bù jiǔ zhé yíng yán luán.
Blue Clay Ridge's winding turns - nine bends each hundred steps around cliffs.
Numerical exaggeration ("nine bends per hundred steps") vividly conveys the path's tortuousness.
Eighth Couplet: "扪参历井仰胁息，以手抚膺坐长叹。"
Mén shēn lì jǐng yǎng xié xī, yǐ shǒu fǔ yīng zuò cháng tàn.
Groping stars, I gasp for air, hand on pounding heart, sit and sigh.
Astronomical imagery ("groping stars") hyperbolically suggests the road's impossible height.
Ninth Couplet: "剑阁峥嵘而崔嵬，一夫当关，万夫莫开。"
Jiàn gé zhēng róng ér cuī wéi, yī fū dāng guān, wàn fū mò kāi.
Jianmen Pass towers fierce and steep - one guard could hold against ten thousand.
Military imagery transforms the landscape into an impregnable fortress.
Tenth Couplet: "朝避猛虎，夕避长蛇，磨牙吮血，杀人如麻。"
Zhāo bì měng hǔ, xī bì cháng shé, mó yá shǔn xuè, shā rén rú má.
Dodge tigers at dawn, evade serpents at dusk; fangs grind, blood drinks, slaughter thick as hemp.
These predatory images metaphorically represent the dangers of political life.
Eleventh Couplet: "锦城虽云乐，不如早还家。"
Jǐn chéng suī yún lè, bù rú zǎo huán jiā.
Though Brocade City's pleasures sing, better to seek home's safety.
The poet's advice to return home suggests the region's underlying dangers.
Closing Couplet: "蜀道之难，难于上青天，侧身西望长咨嗟！"
Shǔ dào zhī nán, nán yú shàng qīng tiān, cè shēn xī wàng cháng zī jiē!
The road to Shu's more hard than climbing the sky - turning west, I heave long sighs!
This refrain-like conclusion circles back to the opening theme with deepened emotion.
Critical Appreciation
This romantic masterpiece paints Sichuan's mountain roads through extreme exaggeration and rich imagination. Structured methodically - from historical background to terrifying landscapes to personal reflection - it mirrors natural grandeur with social reality. Beyond physical descriptions, the poem metaphorically represents Li Bai's treacherous political journey in Chang'an's corridors of power.
Stylistic Features
- Hyperbolic imagery magnifies the roads' dangers beyond earthly limits
- Mythological allusions to Can Cong and road-building legends enhance mystique
- Irregular rhythms with prose-like varied line lengths create dramatic cadences
Insights
The poem transcends topography to meditate on life's arduous journeys. Like the Shu roads, human paths present formidable challenges that forge resilience and wisdom. Li Bai's warning against political dangers remains timeless - while ambition drives us forward, prudence must guide our steps. The most magnificent views, the poet suggests, often lie beyond the most treacherous climbs.
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.
