View of Chiangjiang from Baidicheng

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White Emperor City, Brooding On The Past

Chen Zi-ang  661-702 Sunset on Blue River..Late, Rest the oars, ask about local legends. Baidicheng towers over Lord Ba's country, Terrace empty, Han Emperor's palace gone. Desolate now, once Zhou Dyansty domain, Deep mountains over Yu's exploits. Crags jut out, green cliffs sundered, Menacing land, dark river flows on. Hoary trees thrive at cloud's edge, Returning sail cleaves the mist. River route flows on relentless, Rambler sits brooding without end.

Báidìchéng Huáigǔ

Chén Zǐáng 661-702 Rí luò cāng jiāng wǎn, Tíng ráo wèn tǔfēng. Chéng lín Bā zǐ guō, Tái méi Hàn Wáng gōng. Huāng fú réng Zhōu diàn, Shēnshān shàng Yǔ gōng. Yán xuán qīng bì duàn, Dì xiǎn bì liútōng. Gǔ mù shēng yún jì, Guī fān chū wù zhōng. Chuān tú qù wú xiàn, Kè sī zuò hé qióng.

Translator:

Dongbo東波

Notes: 白帝城 Baidicheng, White Emperor City sits high above the Changjiang at the modern city of Guizhou in the Three Gorges, Chongqing. It is a city steeped in history, founded in the Han Dynasty by Shu Gongsun (died 36) who called himself the White Emperor. During the Zhou 1121-256 BC. this area was called Ba and was the domain of the Lord of Ba. The Han Wang in line four is the famous Liu Bei, founder of the state of Han during the Three Kingdoms period 220-280. Liu Bei built his palace here. Yu is the mythical founder of the Xia Dynasty 2205-1766 BC, the pioneer who harnesed the flow of the Changjiang by building the weir at Dujiang further upriver in Sichuan.

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