At the Foot of Mt. Beigu

[Note. 次 ci means “at rest.” 山 shan can be translated as either mountain or hill. The poet is making his way by boat through green mountains and resting at the base of Mt. Beigu (or Beigu Hill), an historically important place in Chinese history.]

次北固山下.
Cì Běigù shānxià
At the Foot of Mt. Beigu
…

客路青山外，
Kè lù qīngshān wài
The Way is through green mountains,
.
行舟绿水前。
Xíng zhōu lǜ shuǐ qián.
Sailing by boat on green waters.
.

潮平两岸阔，
Cháopíng liǎng’àn kuò,
The tide is full and the river is wide,
.
风正一帆悬。
Fēng zhèng yī fān xuán.
A gentle breeze and the sail is slack.
.

海日生残夜，
Hǎi rìshēng cán yè,
The sun rises on the ocean by day and wanes by night.
.
江春入旧年。
Jiāng chūn rù jiù nián.
In Spring, the river flows with the old year.
.

乡书何处达,
Xiāng shū hé chù dá,
How do I send a letter home,
.
归雁洛阳边。
Guī yàn luòyáng biān.
A wild goose returns to Luoyang’s border.
.

–Wang Wan 王湾 (693 – 751)

Mt. Beigu

If you have arrived at Mt. Beigu then you are in southern Jiangsu province at the city of Zhenjiang, about 200 miles from where the Yangtze River meets the East China Sea.

A local website claims the area has “the best landscape under heaven.” There are several sites to see including two well known mountains: Jinshan and Jiaoshan, as well as Beigu Hill, along on the Yangtze River. Buddhist temples, pavilions, and towering pagodas abound. Whether you call Beigu a mountain or a hill matters little. Its location, surrounded on three sides by the Yangtze River, is spectacular. It is also famous as a castle stronghold during the Three Kingdoms Period (3rd century).

Notes on Translation

江春入旧年。
Jiāng chūn rù jiù nián.
In Spring, the river flows with the old year.

The poet looks at the water flowing on the Yangtze and imagines that this water was once (last year) in Luoyang. A beautiful metaphor for time flowing on.

归雁洛阳边。
Guī yàn luòyáng biān.
A wild goose returns to Luoyang’s border.

The poet, of course, is the wild goose wishing to return to his home in Luoyang.

Trivia

At about the same time an exchange student from Japan, Abé no Nakamaro 阿倍仲麻呂, was in China serving the Emperor Xuanzong. In 753, two years after Wang Wan’s death, he composed this poem at Beigu Hill.

天の原
Amano hara
Gazing far away

.
furisake mireba
ふりさけ見れば
across Heaven’s plains
.
Kasuga Naru
春日なる
to Kasuga in Naru

.
三笠の山に
Mikasa no yama ni
on Mt. Mikasa

.
出でし月かも
ideshi tsuki ka mo
Seeing the same moon as here