Autumn Meditations (5)
Du Fu
Du Fu
秋興八首 (五)
蓬萊宮闕對南山
承露金莖霄漢間
西望瑤池降王母
東來紫氣滿函關
雲移雉尾開宮扇
日繞龍鱗識聖顏
一臥滄江驚歲晚
幾回青瑣照朝班
蓬萊宮闕對南山
承露金莖霄漢間
西望瑤池降王母
東來紫氣滿函關
雲移雉尾開宮扇
日繞龍鱗識聖顏
一臥滄江驚歲晚
幾回青瑣照朝班
qiū xìng bā shǒu (wǔ)
péng lái gōng què duì nán shān
chéng lù jīn jīng xiāo hàn jiān
xī wàng yáo chí jiàng wáng mǔ
dōng lái zǐ qì mǎn hán guān
yún yí zhì wěi kāi gōng shàn
rì rào lóng lín shí shèng yán
yī wò cāng jiāng jīng suì wǎn
jǐ huí qīng suǒ zhào cháo bān
péng lái gōng què duì nán shān
chéng lù jīn jīng xiāo hàn jiān
xī wàng yáo chí jiàng wáng mǔ
dōng lái zǐ qì mǎn hán guān
yún yí zhì wěi kāi gōng shàn
rì rào lóng lín shí shèng yán
yī wò cāng jiāng jīng suì wǎn
jǐ huí qīng suǒ zhào cháo bān
Peng lai palace imperial palace face south hill
Receive dew gold stem sky amid
West gaze jade pond descend Queen Mother of the West
East come purple vapour fill Han pass
Cloud shift pheasant tail open palace door
Sun surround dragon scales recognise holy face
One lie cold river startle year late
Number times blue chain shine morning group
Receive dew gold stem sky amid
West gaze jade pond descend Queen Mother of the West
East come purple vapour fill Han pass
Cloud shift pheasant tail open palace door
Sun surround dragon scales recognise holy face
One lie cold river startle year late
Number times blue chain shine morning group
Penglai imperial palace faces the southern hill,
A golden stem to catch the dew is high up in the sky.
Gazing west, the Queen Mother descends at the Jade Lake,
From the east, Han pass is filled with purple vapour.
Like shifting cloud, the pheasant tail screens of the palace open,
Bathed in sun of dragon scales, I know the holy face.
Now I lie by this cold river, amazed the year's so late,
How many times by the blue chains was I there in the morning court?
A golden stem to catch the dew is high up in the sky.
Gazing west, the Queen Mother descends at the Jade Lake,
From the east, Han pass is filled with purple vapour.
Like shifting cloud, the pheasant tail screens of the palace open,
Bathed in sun of dragon scales, I know the holy face.
Now I lie by this cold river, amazed the year's so late,
How many times by the blue chains was I there in the morning court?
View Chinese text in simplified characters.
Other Chinese poems about Autumn.
Notes: This poem dates from 766 (Watson p. 129). Penglai was the imperial palace of the Han dyasty, named after the island of the gods. The golden stem was erected by emperor Wu (the Martial Emperor) of that dynasty, to collect dew believed to confer immortality. The Queen Mother of the West was a goddess said to have instructed emperor Wu. Laozi passed west through Han pass on achieving immortality; his arrival was signalled by purple vapour. The pheasant tail screens and blue chains were decorations of the Tang imperial palace (all notes Watson pp. 135-6).
This poem is volume (juàn) 230, no. 2 in the Complete Tang Poems (quán táng shī). It is translated on pp. 436-7 of Owen and p. 83 of Hinton, and as poem 113 in Watson, pp. 135-6 and poem CCLXXXV in Hung, pp. 234-5.
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.
