[updated September 2022]
At Yuezhong, Send Off Zhang Xiao Fu, Returning to the Qin Region
越 中 送 长 府 蕭 復 归 秦 串
试 登 秦 岭 望 秦 川
遥 忆 箐 门 春 可 怜。
仲 月 送 君 从 此 去
瓜 时 须 及 绍 平 田。
Yue Zhong Song Zhang Xiao Fu Gui Qin Chuan
Shi deng qin ling wang qin chaun
Yao yi qing men chun ke lian.
Zhong ye song jun cong ci qu
Gua shi xu ji shao ping tian.
At Yuezhong, Send Off Zhang Xiao Fu, Returning to the Qin Region
Try to climb Qin mountain ridges, and gaze into the distance to see the Qin region
Faraway, recall with sympathy, springtime in Qingmen, the arid west.
Second month of spring, sent you off this time last year
Melon season, must be time to reach Shao Ping’s fields.
Notes:
Qin mountains: Located to the south of the ancient capital Chang’an (Xi’an).
Xiao Fu: (732-788) Tang Dynasty Chancellor during the reign of emperor Dezong.
Shao Ping fields: Original story about a commoner who lived during the Han Dynasty, Dongling Hou, and grew melons outside and east of the capital city’s southern gate. Cited many times by poets in the their poems both before and after this one by Meng Haoran, including Tao Yuanming, Wang Wei, Ruan Ji, Du Fu, and Su Dongpo. Used as a metaphor for the life of rural seclusion after an official has abandoned his time in the capital.