Autumn Meditations (7)
Du Fu
Du Fu
秋兴八首 (七)
昆明池水汉时功
武帝旌旗在眼中
织女机丝虚月夜
石鲸鳞甲动秋风
波漂菰米沈云黑
露冷莲房坠粉红
关塞极天唯鸟道
江湖满地一渔翁
昆明池水汉时功
武帝旌旗在眼中
织女机丝虚月夜
石鲸鳞甲动秋风
波漂菰米沈云黑
露冷莲房坠粉红
关塞极天唯鸟道
江湖满地一渔翁
qiū xìng bā shǒu (qī)
kūn míng chí shuǐ hàn shí gōng
wǔ dì jīng qí zài yǎn zhōng
zhī nǚ jī sī xū yuè yè
shí jīng lín jiǎ dòng qiū fēng
bō piāo gū mǐ chén yún hēi
lù lěng lián fáng zhuì fěn hóng
guān sài jí tiān wéi niǎo dào
jiāng hú mǎn dì yī yú wēng
kūn míng chí shuǐ hàn shí gōng
wǔ dì jīng qí zài yǎn zhōng
zhī nǚ jī sī xū yuè yè
shí jīng lín jiǎ dòng qiū fēng
bō piāo gū mǐ chén yún hēi
lù lěng lián fáng zhuì fěn hóng
guān sài jí tiān wéi niǎo dào
jiāng hú mǎn dì yī yú wēng
Kunming lake water Han time achievement
Martial emperor banners flags at eye in
Weaver girl loom thread empty moon night
Stone whale scale armour move autumn wind
Wave toss wild rice seed sink cloud black
Dew cold lotus pod fall powder red
Pass fortified limit sky but bird road
River lake fill earth one fisher old man
Martial emperor banners flags at eye in
Weaver girl loom thread empty moon night
Stone whale scale armour move autumn wind
Wave toss wild rice seed sink cloud black
Dew cold lotus pod fall powder red
Pass fortified limit sky but bird road
River lake fill earth one fisher old man
The waters of the Kunming Lake were made in the time of Han,
Banners and flags of the martial emperor are still in my mind's eye.
The weaver girl's loom and thread are idle beneath the night's moon,
The stone whale's scales and armour move in the autumn wind.
Waves toss the wild rice seeds, black clouds sink,
Dew chills the lotus pod, red powder falls.
Between the passes at the end of the sky only birds can travel,
Rivers and lakes fill this land; there's one old fisherman.
Banners and flags of the martial emperor are still in my mind's eye.
The weaver girl's loom and thread are idle beneath the night's moon,
The stone whale's scales and armour move in the autumn wind.
Waves toss the wild rice seeds, black clouds sink,
Dew chills the lotus pod, red powder falls.
Between the passes at the end of the sky only birds can travel,
Rivers and lakes fill this land; there's one old fisherman.
View Chinese text in traditional characters.
Other Chinese poems about Autumn.
Notes: This poem dates from 766 (Watson p. 129). Kunming Lake was created near Chang'an for emperor Wu of the Han dynasty, known as the martial emperor; beside it was a statue of the weaver girl of myth. The whale in the lake was said to move its fins in strong winds; as Watson comments, "The whale seems to have been of a somewhat peculiar kind" (all notes Watson p. 139). Hinton states that the moving scales augured disaster (p. 156).
This poem is volume (juàn) 230, no. 2 in the Complete Tang Poems (quán táng shī). It is translated on p. 438 of Owen and pp. 83-4 of Hinton, and as poem 115 in Watson, pp. 137-8 and poem CCLXXXVII in Hung, p. 235.
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.
