[updated September 2022]
Memories of Red Cliff
赤 壁 怀 古
大 江 东 去 ， 浪 淘 尽
千 古 风 流 人 物。
故 垒 西 边， 人 道 是
三 国 周 郎 赤 壁。
乱 石 穿 空， 惊 涛 拍 岸
卷 起 千 堆 雪。
江 山 如 画
一 时 多 少 豪 杰！
遥 想 公 瑾 当 年
小 乔 初 嫁 了
雄 姿 英 发。
羽 扇 纶 巾， 谈 笑 间
樯 橹 灰 飞 烟 灭。
故 国 神 游， 多 情 应 笑 我
早 生 华 发 。
人 生 如 梦
一 樽 还 酹 江 月。
Chi Bi Huai Gu
Da jiang dong qu, lang tao jin
Qian gu feng liu ren wu.
Gu lei xi bian, ren dao shi
San guo zhou lang chi bi.
Luan shi chuan kong, jing tao pai an
Juan qi qian dui xue.
Jiang shan ru hua
Yi shi duo shao hao jie !
Yao xiang gong jin dang nian
Xiao qiao chu jia le
Xiong zi ying fa.
Yu shan guan jin, tan xiao jian,
Qiang lu hui fei yan mie.
Gu guo shen you, duo qing ying xiao wo
Zao sheng hua fa.
Ren sheng ru meng
Yi zun hai lei jiang yue.
Memories of Red Cliff
Large river turns to the east
Waves have dredged most of this area of the Changjiang.
For one thousand years back into antiquity
No traces of all of the battles and their heroes.
People say that during the Three Kingdoms period
Location of the fort on the western riverbank.
Wu general, Zhou Lang was at Red Cliff
Where disordered rocks penetrate the sky.
And waves explode against the shoreline
Foam rolls up, then accumulates like a thousand-layered snowdrift.
River and mountains like a painting At this one battle, many powerful heroes came forward.
Reflecting upon this time
General Zhou Lang handsome and at the height of his power.
Xiao Qiao at the beginning of her marriage to him
He was a man of valor, trusted by the king.
Fights with no armor: only wears a blue-ribboned silk scarf
Relaxed with feathered fans.
Talking and laughing while the enemy’s fleet burns
Enemy boats all tied together
Ashes fly, smoke billows away.
Personally visiting this place of ancient countries
So many emotions, excessively sentimental.
Early in my life white hair appeared
The human condition like a dream
One wine vessel, offer back a drink to the river-reflected moon.
Notes:
San Guo period: (220-280) Literally the Three Kingdoms period. The three nation states of Wu, Han and Chu.
Zhou Lang: (175-210) General and frontline commander during the Battle of Red Cliff.
Red Cliff: (winter of 208-209) Major battle at the end of the Han Dynasty on the Changjiang (Yangzi River) southwest of present day city of Wuhan.
Commentary:
In 208 AD, just before the Three Kingdoms period, the famous battle at Red Cliff, took place on the Changjiang in Sichuan. The nations of Wu and Han were allied against the much larger and stronger forces of Chu, because of two sisters, one of which was Xiao Qiao. A Wu spy entered the Chu camp to convince their general to tie up all their riverboats together to mitigate the soldier’s seasickness. But the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, from the west, making their destruction too difficult. The Wu general, Zhou Lang, prays to Heaven for an east wind. Three hours later it arrives, and Zhou Lang issues the order to light the boats along the eastern edge of the armada. He talks and laughs while they burn. The nations of Wu and Han are saved from extinction.