[updated October 2022]
North Wind Travels
北 风 行
烛 龙 栖 寒 门
光 耀 犹 旦 开。
日 月 照 之 何 不 及 此
唯 有 北 风 号 怒 天 上 来。
燕 山 雪 花 大 如 席
片 片 吹 落 轩 辕 台。
幽 州 思 妇 十 二 月
停 歌 罢 笑 双 蛾 摧。
倚 门 望 行 人
念 君 长 城 苦 寒 良 可 哀。
别 时 提 剑 救 边 去
遣 此 虎 文 金 鞞 钗。
中 有 一 双 白 羽 箭
蜘 蛛 结 网 生 尘 埃。
箭 空 在，人 今 战 死 不 复 回。
不 忍 见 此 物
焚 之 已 成 灰。
黄 河 捧 土 尚 可 塞
北 风 雨 雪 恨 难 载！
Bei Feng Xing
Zhu long qi han men
Guang yao you dan kai.
Ri yue fan zhi he bu ji ci
Wei you bei feng hao nu tian shang lai.
Yan shan xue hua da ru xi
Pian pian chui luo xuan yuan tai.
You zhou si fu shi er yue.
Ting ge ba xiao shuang e cui.
Yi men wang xing ren
Nian jun chang cheng ku han liang ke ai.
Bie shi di jian jiu bian qu.
Qian ci hu wen jin bing chai.
Zhong you yi shuang bai yu jian
Zhi zhu jie wang sheng chen ai.
Jian kong zai ren jin zhan si bu fu hui.
Bu ren jian ci wu
Fen zhi yi cheng hui.
Huang he peng tu ke sai
Bei feng yu xue hen nan zai!
North Wind Travels
Lit-up zhu dragon lives in Humen
Opens his eyes, the landscape glows like daybreak.
Sun and moonlight cannot attain this
Start of cold weather when he exhales like the North Wind.
Mt.Yan snowflakes like a large banquet tablecloth
And shards of ice fall down on the Xuanyuan Tower.
In December, Youzhou women worry for their men
Pavilion songs and merriment stop, eyebrows frown.
Leaning against their doorways, look into the distance for any travelers
Thinking of them on the Great Wall, suffering in the cold and sorrow
At departure time, they stood on the levee with their swords, sworn to rescue the northern frontiers.
Having received their imperial orders, carried in golden scabbards Women hold one of a pair of white-feathered arrows.
Spider webs have formed in the dusty corners
Arrows from the sky, battle deaths never to return.
They cannot bear to see these objects
So they have them burned into ashes and dust.
Maybe we can dam the Yellow River to protect our strategic border strongholds
Difficult to control the North Wind, or resent the dragon’s rain and snow.
Notes:
Zhu dragon: A giant red solar deity that creates day and night by opening and closing his eyes, and the seasonal winds by breathing. See the link for Zhulong.
Mt. Yan: Located in northern Hebei Province.
Youzhou: One of the original Chinese provinces. A northern prefecture from the Western Han Dynasty.