Bell tower of the 棲霞寺 Cloud Lodging Temple in Nanjing

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Spring South of the River

Du Mu 803-852 For miles and miles         warblers twitter                 flickering red                          in green trees, While by riverside villages         and on mountain walls                 wineshop flags flap. Four hundred and eighty temples         from the Southern Dynasties, A bell toll         in the misty rain                 floating                         over their coutyards.

Jiāngnán Chūn Juéjù

Dù Mù 803-852 Qiānlǐ yīng tí lǜ yìnghóng, Shuǐ cūn shān guō jiǔqí fēng. Nánqiáo xìbǎibāshí sì, Duōshao lóu tái yānyǔ zhōng.

Translator:

Dongbo 東波

Notes: This poem was written while Du Mu was traveling in 金陵 Jinling, present day 南京 Nanjing. During the 南朝 Nanchao, Southern Dynasties, 420-589, 400 years before Du Mu's visit, many many temples were built there, some say 480! Some still remained in Du Mu's time but the misty rain had swallowed up most of them in the preceeding 400 years. Today, in early May, 2008, only a few remain, and all of these have been rebuilt many times since the Tang.

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