Mountain Songs

Evening Crossing of South Pass

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Zhennanguan viewed from Vietnam side.

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Evening Crossing of South Pass

        Ho Si Dong

Clouds embrace South Pass
        up to its peak,
From here
        I will navigate the ascension
                to revolve around the sphere.
At the border station
        I am suddenly startled
                at the closeness
                        of imposing awe,
When entertained
        I become nervous
                at the preferential treatment
                        I received.
Loyalty and trust
        will be my remedy against
                the pestilential mountain mists,
And poetry my relief
        against the worries of travel.
My life will gain in abundance
        from the rivers and mountains I pass,
I am truly elated
        to embark on this journey
                of a myriad leagues.

Nánguān Wǎn Dù

Hú Shìdòng

Yún yōng Nánguān zuì shàng tōu,
Tīháng cóngcǐ dá gǒng qiú.
Tíng lú hū yà wēiyán jìn,
Xiàoláo jīng chéng lǐshù yōu.
Zhōngxìn dìngwéi lán zhàng yào,
Fēngsāo piān jiě lǚrén chóu.
Píngshēng yú zì jiāng shān yǔ,
Zhèng xǐ jīn féng wánlǐ yóu.

Translator: Liam Kelley 翻譯者

Notes:
Written as Ho Si Dong, a scholar-official in the service of the Le dynasty, was crossing the Zhennanguan into Guangxi, China, at the start of his long arduous trip to Peking.

From Liam Kelley's great book, Beyond The Bronze Pillars, Envoy Poetry and the Sino-Vietnamese Relationship, U of Hawaii Press.