[updated October 2022]
From Chang’an Send Off Traveling Friends to Hunan
长 安 送 友 人 游 湖 南
子 性 剧 弘 和
愚 衷 深 褊 狷。
相 舍 嚣 譊 中
吾 过 何 由 鲜。
楚 南 饶 风 烟
湘 岸 苦 萦 宛。
山 密 夕 阳 多
人 稀 芳 草 远。
青 梅 繁 枝 低
斑 笋 新 梢 短。
莫 哭 葬 鱼 人
酒 醒 且 眠 饭。
Chang An Song You Ren You Hu Nan
Zi xing ju hong huo
Yu zhong shen bian juan
Xiang she xiao nao zhong
Wu guo he you xian.
Chu nan rao feng yan
Xiang an ku ying wan.
Shan mi xi yang duo
Ren xi fang cao yuan.
Qing mei fan zhi di
Ban sun xin shao duan.
Mo ku zang yu ren
Jiu xing qie mian fan.
From Chang’an Send Off Traveling Friends to Hunan
Their temperament intense and expansive
My internal integrity straight and narrow.
Our departures amid noise and clamor
I have passed by this Hunan place before.
Southern Hunan has plenty of wind and mists
Xiang River banks suffer from being twisted and circuitous.
Dense mountain tops have many setting suns
People few and scattered among fragrant grasses.
Numerous green plum buds on drooping branches
Fresh and new bamboo shoots tender.
Do not cry about Qu Yuan drowning in the river
For now, sober up from wine, sleep and eat a meal.
Notes:
Xiang River: Large tributary to the Changjiang (Yangzi River) near Dongting Lake.
Qu Yuan : (c. 340-278 BC) Poet and politician famous for drowning himself in the Miluo River after the nation’s capital fell. Modern day Dragon Boat Festivals are held in his honor.