[updated September 2022]
Send Off Friends to the Capital
送 友 人 之 京
君 登 青 云 去
佘 望 青 山 归。 云 山 从 此 别
泪 湿 薜 萝 衣。
Song You Ren Zhi Jing
Jun deng qing yun qu
She wang qing shan gui. Yun shan cong ci bie
Lei shi bi luo yi.
Send Off Friends to the Capital
You leave, to climb up the bureaucratic ladder to a high position
I go back into the green mountains. After you go to the capital, will probably never see you again
Tears moisten the climbing vines and my simple clothes.
Notes:
Simple clothes: Literal meaning refers to flowered vines climbing up to cover walls (like morning glories), and these flowers are used to make the clothes of people living in rural seclusion. Also used to make clothes of those to make the ascent to Penglai.
Penglai: Mythological island in the East China Sea. Home to the immortals, like Mt. Olympus for the Greeks.