Yang Wanli: Pass By Tranquil Guazhou

Pass By Tranquil Guazhou

过 瓜 洲 镇

夜 愁 风 浪 不 成 眠
晓 渡 清 平 却 宴 然。
数 棒 金 钲 到 江 步
一 樯 霜 日 上 淮 船。

佛 貍 马 死 无 遗 骨
阿 亮 台 倾 只 野 田。
南 北 休 兵 三 十 载
桑 畴 麦 垅 正 连 天。

Guo Gua Zhou Zhen

Ye chou feng lang bu cheng mian
Xiao du qing ping que yan ran.
Shu bang jin zheng dao jiang bu
Yi qiang shuang ru shang huai chuan.

Fo li ma si wu yi gu
E liang tai qing zhi ye tian.
Nan bei xiu bing san shi zai
Sang chou mai long zheng lian tian.

Pass By Tranquil Guazhou

Could not sleep during a nighttime of anxiety with the winds and waves
Dawn clearing, go across calm water to safety.
Marching parade of drummers and martial music to the river
River boat with the sun upon one frosty mast.

Wei Bei horses escaped death, emperor’s buried bones somewhere
The E Liang lost their leader, the people scattered and disappeared into the open county.
For thirty years we have had peace from north to south
Now mulberry trees and grain farmlands from horizon to horizon.

Notes:

Wei Bei: Probably referring to the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-535 AD) and roughly the areas of Hebei and Henan provinces of today.

E Liang: A small ethnic group or clan in northern China embedded within the Jin Dynasty.