Ghost Gate Pass in Lang Son, a venomous Place even for Vietnamese!

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On Ghost Gate Road

Nguyen Du 1765-1820 Ghost Gate Pass is a rocky road         source of rising mists, This traveler heads back south         sad, cut off from friends.. An east wind moans through the forest         blows the horses onward, Mountain after mountain         in the waning moon                 the gibbons howl. Feeling old         too lazy to make new friends, On this frigid road          I warm some wine. When the sun's still high         mountain villages                  go to sleep early, Hidden behind their brush gates.

Guǐmén Dàozhōng

Ruǎn Yōu 1765-1820 Guǐmén shíjìng chú yún gēn, Zhēngkè nán guī yù duàn ??? Shùshù dōngfēng chuī sòng mǎ, Shānshān luòyuè yètí yuán. Zhōngxún lǎotài féng rén lǎn, Yīlù hánwēi zhàng jiǔ wēn. Shānwù hé jiā dà tānshuì, Rì gāo yóu zì yǎn cháimén.

Translator:

Dongbo 東波

Notes: Nguyen Du is on the return leg of his one year journey to Peking and he is obviously worn out. By ghost Gate Pass he is already near to his home, yet there is no sign of exhilaration in this poem. And Ghost Gate Pass is a dark and forbidding spot! From Liam Kelley's fascinating study of Vietnamese envoy poetry, Beyond the Bronze Pillars, Envoy Poetry And The Sino-Vietnamese Relationship, University of Hawaii Press, 2005

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