Autumn Meditations (4)

秋兴八首 (四)

闻道长安似弈棋
百年世事不胜悲
王侯第宅皆新主
文武衣冠异昔时
直北关山金鼓振
征西车马羽书迟
鱼龙寂寞秋江冷
故国平居有所思

qiū xìng bā shǒu (sì)

wén dào cháng ān sì yì qí
bǎi nián shì shì bú shèng bēi
wáng hóu dì zhái jiē xīn zhǔ
wén wǔ yī guān yì xī shí
zhí běi guān shān jīn gǔ zhèn
zhēng xī chē mǎ yǔ shū chí
yú lóng jì mò qiū jiāng lěng
gù guó píng jū yǒu suǒ sī

Hear say Chang'an resemble Chinese chess
Hundred years world affairs not bear sorrow
Nobility degree dwelling all new master
Civil military clothes cap different former time
Straight north pass mountain gold drum arouse
Invade west cart horse feather document hurry
Fish dragon still silent autumn river cold
Motherland peace live have thing think

I've heard them say that Chang'an seems like in a game of chess,
A hundred years of world events have caused unbearable pain.
The palaces of the noblemen all have their new masters,
Civil and military dress and caps are not like those before.
Straight north over mountain passes, gongs and drums ring out,
Conquering the west, carts and horses, feather-hurried dispatches.
The fish and dragons are still and silent, the autumn river cold,
A peaceful life in my homeland always in my thoughts.

View Chinese text in traditional characters.

Other Chinese poems about Autumn.

Notes: This poem dates from 766 (Watson p. 129). Chang'an had been taken and retaken by opposing forces several times; it was laid out in a chessboard-like grid (Hinton p. 153). Gongs and drums were used to signal retreat and attack respectively during battles (Hinton p. 153). Feathers on dispatches indicated urgency (Watson p. 134).

This poem is volume (juàn) 230, no. 2 in the Complete Tang Poems (quán táng shī). It is translated on p. 436 of Owen and p. 82 of Hinton, and as poem 112 in Watson, p. 134 and poem CCLXXXIV in Hung, p. 234.

Hinton, D. (1990) The Selected Poems of Tu Fu. London, Anvil Press Poetry.
Hung, W. (1952) Tu Fu: China's Greatest Poet. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press.
Owen, S. (1996) An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911. New York/London, W. W. Norton.
Watson, B. (2002) The Selected Poems of Du Fu. New York, Columbia University Press.