View into the Chinese portion of the South Holding Pass

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South Holding Pass

Nguyen Du 1765-1820 The old affairs of Ly and Tran         are distant and hard to find, Three hundred years have past         from then to now. The two kindoms evenly divide         at this lone rampart, A single pass pressing valiently         on the heart of a thousand peaks. This area is remote         and often there are                  misleading rumors about, But it is close to the Celestial         so one can finally understand                 the depth of benevolence                          we receive. From the Emperor's Palace          looking down                 this place                          is as if beyond                                  the scattered clouds, Yet by my ears         I can still make out                  a bit of the Imperial Tune.

Zhènnánguān

Nguyen Du 1765-1820 Lǐ chénjiù shì yǎo nán xún, Sānbáinián lái zhídào jīn. Liǎng guó píngfēn gū dié miàn, Yī guān xióngzhèn wàn shān xīn. Dì piān měi wèi chuánwén wù, Tiān jìn cái zhī jiàng zé shēn. Dìquè huítóu bì yúnbiǎo, Jūn Sháo ěr pàn yǒu yúyín.

Translator:

Liam Kelley 翻譯者

Notes: This poem was writtten as Nguyen Du crossed the 鎮南關 Zhènnánguān, the South Holding Frontier Post, between Vietnam and China, as he started out on a two year round trip tributary mission to the Chinese court in Peking. Presently the pass is named 友誼關 Yǒuyiguān,Friendship Pass in Chinese. For furthur dicussion of this poem read Liam Kelley's Beyond The Bronze Pillars, Envoy Poetry and the Sino-Vietnamese Relationship, U of Hawaii Press.

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