[updated September 2022]
Got My Brother’s Letter, Heard You Will Pass Through the Gorges
得 行 简 书，闻 欲 下 峡，先 以 此 寄
朝 来 又 得 东 川 信
欲 取 春 初 发 梓 州。
书 报 九 江 闻 暂 喜
路 经 三 峡 想 还 想。
潇 湘 瘴 雾 加 餐 饭
滟 滪 惊 波 稳 泊 舟。
欲 寄 两 行 迎 尔 泪
长 江 不 肯 向 西 流。
Dei Xing Jian Shu, Wen Yu Xia Xia, Xian Yi Ci Ji
Zhao lai you dei dong chuan xin
Yu qu chun chu fa zi zhou.
Shu bao jiu jiang wen zan xi
Lu jing san xia xiang huan chou.
Xiao xiang zhang wu jia can fan
Yan yu jing bo wen bo .
Yu ji liang xing ying er lei
Chang jiang bu ken xiang xi liu.
Got My Young Brother’s Letter, Heard You Will Pass Through the Gorges
At dawn, I got your letter from Dong Chuan
Expect you to set out for Zizhou in the early spring.
In Nine Rivers, your letter has brought me brief joy
Concerned about your trip through the three gorges.
You need good nutrition to endure the miasma fogs of the Xiao River
You may have to survive the mooring of your boat in the windless swamps.
Both of us have already shed some tears
Not listening to me, the Changjiang always flows from the west.
Notes:
Dong Chuan: City in the province of Guangdong.
Zihou: County inside Shaanxi Province.
Nine Rivers: Known as Jiujiang, it is a city on the southern shores of the Changjiang in northwest Jiangxi Province.
Xiao River: In the upper watershed of the Xiang River in Hunan Province.