Send Off Palace Scribe Xin Youan Back to the Court
送 辛 幼 安 殿 撰 造 朝
稼 轩 落 笔 凌 鮑 谢
退 避 声 名 称 学 稼。
十 年 高 卧 不 出 门
参 透 南 宗 牧 牛 话。
功 名 固 是 券 内 事
且 葺 园 庐 了 婚 嫁。
千 篇 昌 谷 诗 满 囊
万 卷 邺 侯 书 插 架。
忽 然 起 冠 东 诸 侯
黄 旗 皂 纛 从 天 下。
圣 朝 仄 席 意 未 快
尺 一 东 来 烦 促 驾。
大 材 小 用 古 所 叹
管 仲 萧 何 实 流 亚。
天 山 挂 旆 或 少 须
先 换 银 河 洗 嵩 华。
中 原 麟 凤 争 自 奋
残 虏 犬 羊 何 足 吓。
但 令 小 试 出 绪 余
青 史 英 豪 可 雄 跨。
古 来 立 事 戒 轻 发
往 往 谗 夫 出 乘 罅。
深 仇 积 愤 在 逆 胡
不 用 追 思 灞 亭 夜。
Song Xin You An Dian Huan Zao Chao
Jia xuan luo bi ling bao xie
Tui bi sheng ming chen xue jia.
Shi nian gao wo bu chu men
Can tou nan zong mu niu hua.
Gong ming gu shi quan nei shi
Qie qi yuan lu liao hun jia.
Qian pian chang gu shi man nang
Wan juan ye hou shu cha jia.
Hu ran qi guan dong zhu hou
Huang qi zao dao cong tian xia.
Sheng zhao ze xi yi wei kuai
Chi yi dong lai fan cu jia.
Da cai xiao yong gu suo tan
Guan zhong xiao he shi liu ya.
Tian shan gua pei huo shao xu
Xian huan yin he xi song hua.
Zhong yuan lin feng zheng zi fen
Can lu quan yang he zu xia.
Dan ling xiao shi chu xu yu
Qing shi ying hao ke xiong kua.
Gu lai li shi jie qing fa
Wang wang chan fu chu cheng xia.
Shen chou ji fen zai ni hu
Bu yong zhui si ba ting ye.
Send Off Palace Scribe Xin Youan Returning to the Court
When Jia Xuan lowers his writing brush, he exceeds Bao and Xie
In rural seclusion now, he avoids the spotlight to learn how to sow.
For ten years under the radar, but it is not to hide but to awaken
His spiritual understanding from the southern sect of Buddhism where the ox is lead by a rope and is able to listen to human talk.
Called back for imperial service, your official rank will be high
Then you will have the resources to repair your gardens and house, maybe even to marry and start a family.
Li He carried a full travel bag of a thousand poems
Ye Hou had thousands of scrolls tucked away in his library.
Suddenly called back to work, you will protect the eastern lands of the nobility
Your travel retinue carries the yellow imperial flags and the black banners of your rank to reclaim our lost territories.
You will sit close to the emperor and talk slowly of new plans
Received a written imperial edict, urgently take your carriage back to the capital.
Your previous assignments a waste of talent, now a big supporting post
You are like Guan Zhong and Xiao He to help our country.
Mt. Tian area needs to be retaken, even if it takes a while
First with the help from Milky Way stars, wash away the outsiders from around Mt. Song and Mt. Hua.
Naturally people of the Central Plains are strong enough to fight these invaders
Our northern enemies have grown weak and scared like dogs and sheep.
We need just small-scale operations to prevail
Powerful enough to enter written history as great heroes.
However, guard against easy methods that can deplete your power
Frequently take advantage of the weaknesses of those who back-bite you.
Save you anger to use against our northern nomadic enemies
Like Li Guang you may encounter locals who are ignorant and drunk.
Notes:
Bao: Bao Zhao (414-466 AD) Eastern Jin Dynasty poet. Famous for developing the seven-character line, and for his prose poems. About 200 of his poems still exist.
Xie: Xie Lingyuan: (link) (385-433 AD) Considered the father of “mountains and streams” poetry. Also known for nature and/or landscape poems.
Li He: (ca. 790-817 AD) Mid-Tang Dynasty poet famous as a child prodigy and for his travel poetry. He biography and poems will appear on this website in the coming months.
Ye Hou: (aka Li Bi) (722-789 AD) Advisor to three emperors and holder of many government positions, including Grand Chancellor (Prime Minister). He was a literary child prodigy who wrote about his travels to Mt. Song and Mt. Hua.
Guan Zhong: (ca. 720-645 BC) Philosopher and politician who served as an imperial tutor and as a Grand Chancellor. Known for his political reforms which included a state-sponsored monopoly on the salt and iron industries, and in putting together a uniform tax code.
Xiao He (257-193 BC) Politician in the early Western Han Dynasty. He served the first Han emperor Liu Bang as Grand Chancellor. Also known as one of the “Three Heroes of Early Han”.
Mt. Tian: Located in the northwest province of Xinjiang.
Mt. Song: Located on the southern banks of Yellow River in Henan Province. One of the Five Great Mountains of China.
Mt. Hua: Located east of the capital city of Chang’an (Xi’an) in the Shaanxi Province. Also known as the western mountain of the Five Great Mountain of China, as well as home to many Daoist temples.
Central Plains: An area this includes the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River between the cities of Luoyang and Kaifeng. Considered to be the cradle of the Chinese civilization.
Li Guang: (Bating Ye): (184-119 BC) Western Han Dynasty army general famous for his campaigns against the Xionnu (northern nomadic confederation of tribes). His nicknames included “Flying General” and “On the Frontier”.