Member Poem

Liu Changqin (709-785)

Autumn—The Sun Rises Over General Wu Terrace:

I Gaze into the Distance

The ancient tower

swings, fallen to decay,

Joining the autumn as my heart

gazes toward my hometown.

Few people come

to this wilderness temple,

Clouds about the mountain peak,

far off, parted by the water deep.

The sun at dusk

sets into this ancient rampart

While a cold chime stone

fills the empty forest.

Distressed, discontented

with the affairs of the Southern Dynasties,

This long, timeless river

arrives today alone.

Liú cháng qīng

Qiū rì dēng wú gōng tái shàng sì yuǎn tiào

古臺搖落後，

Gǔ tái yáo luò hòu，

秋入望鄉心。

野寺來人少，

雲峰隔水深。

夕陽依舊壘，

寒磬滿空林。

惆悵南朝事，

惆怅南朝事，

Chóu chàng nán cháo shì，

長江獨至今。

Kill Forever High-person [= Liu Changqin (709-785)]

Autumn sun rise Wu public tower above temple distance gaze-at

[Note: under the title of this poem, the author

annotated: “this temple was the battlefield of general Wu Mingche”], [Wu public tower = General Wu Terrace. It is now located in Jiangdu county, Jiangsu province. It was originally built by Shen Qing as a crossbow terrace (a terrace on which people stand and fire crossbow arrows) in the Liu Song Dynasty. Afterwards, when general Wu Mingche besieged Jiangdu county, he strengthened the terrace and used it to launch crossbow arrows into Jiangdu county. So the terrace was named General Wu Terrace. ], [Wu public tower above temple = the temple on General Wu Terrace]

Ancient/old tower swing fall after/descendents

[swing fall = allusion to autumn. Song Yu is a writer who lived in the Warring States Period. In the rhymed prose of Jiu Bian, Song Yu wrote the verse, “So desolate is the autumn, grass and bushes swing, fall, and decay” (swing means swing in the autumn wind, “fall” means withered leaves fall). Here, the author may want to use the allusion to create a desolate atmosphere.]

Autumn enter/join look-at village/hometown heart/mind

Wilderness temple come people few

Clouds mountain-peaks partition/separate water/river deep

[Clouds mountain-peaks = the high mountain peaks which are surrounded by clouds]

Evening/dusk light/sun set-in ancient rampart/military-wall

[ancient rampart = General Wu Terrace]

Cold chime-stone fills empty/deserted forest

[chime stone = a percussion musical instrument made of stone. In Buddhist temple, it is often used when monks recite or chant scriptures. Cold chime-stone means the desolate sounds of chime stone.]

Distressed/sad disappointed/dissatisfied Southern Dynasties affairs

[Southern Dynasties lasted from 420 to 589 AD; they comprise the Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang Dynasty and Chen Dynasty, ]

Long/always river alone/solitary reach/arrive now/today

[As General Wu lived in the Southern Dynasties, mounting  General Wu Terrace made the author think of the history of the Southern Dynasties and sigh with emotion about vicissitudes of life. Time is irresistible: whatever a man has accomplished, he cannot escape the final death. Even the prosperity of Southern Dynasties had gone with the wind, so one person’s ups and downs may be still more insignificant. All people will become history, only the Yangtze River still exists]