Send Off Xingji to Guizhou
送 邢 桂 州
铙 吹 喧 京 口
风 波 下 洞 庭。
赭 圻 将 赤 岸
击 汰 复 扬 舲。
日 落 江 湖 白
潮 来 天 地 青。
明 珠 归 合 浦
应 逐 使 臣 星。
Song Xing Gui Zhou
Nao chui xuan jing kou
Feng bo xia dong ting.
Zhe qi jiang chi an
Ji tai fu yang ling.
Ri luo jiang hu bai
Chao lai tian di qing.
Ming zhu gui he pu
Ying zhu shi chen xing.
Send Off Xingji to Guizhou
Cymbal and wind instruments play in Jingkou
Wind and waves at lower Dongting Lake.
From Zheqi to Mt. Chi An
With repetitious, pacing drumbeats, the large riverboat flies forward.
Sunset light brightens river and lake
Tidal bore arrives, heaven and earth together blue-green.
Like the bright pearls coming back to He Pu
Your official government service will shine.
Notes:
Guizhou: Province in western China.
Dongting Lake: Major flood basin for the Changjiang (Yangzi River) located in northeastern Hunan Province. It is the second largest fresh-water lake in China.
He Pu: A place once famous for it’s pearl-bearing oysters. After an imperial request, the oyster population was almost eliminated by the people sending pearls to the Emperor. An enlightened local official had to step in and stop the practice, and to petition the central government for food relief, until the native oyster population could return.