Passing the Sanlü Temple
Tang dynasty・Dai Shulun
古风抒情
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At dusk the autumn wind rises, rustling through the maple woods.
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- 无事小狗仙
- 2024-11-03 17:37
- 45 reads
The Yuan and Xiang flow without end, how deep was Master Qu's sorrow.
At dusk the autumn wind rises, rustling through the maple woods.
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Translation
The Yuan and Xiang rivers flow without end; how deep was the grief and indignation in Qu Yuan's heart. At dusk the autumn wind rises, and a rustling fills the maple woods.
Annotations
三闾庙: a temple honoring Qu Yuan, who once served as Chu’s Sanlü minister. 沅湘: the Yuan and Xiang rivers in Hunan, also broadly referring to the waterways of Chu.
屈子: an honorific for Qu Yuan. 怨: grief and indignation at slander, exile, and frustrated ideals, rather than ordinary resentment. 萧萧: the sound of wind through trees.
Introduction
Reading guide: Passing a shrine dedicated to Qu Yuan, Dai Shulun is moved by the river’s flow to reflect on the past. In just twenty characters, the poem touches only on Qu Yuan’s “怨,” his grievance, without recounting his life, leaving the landscape to carry the lingering remembrance.
Commentary
The opening phrase “不尽,” “without end,” first describes the flowing water; the second line's “何深,” “how deep,” then links human sorrow and indignation to its current. Spatial depth and temporal length reinforce each other, giving substance to the reflection on history.
The final two lines cease commenting and leave us with autumn wind at dusk and the sound of maple woods. The reader seems to hear an echo in the silence before the temple, so Qu Yuan's spirit is not exhausted by a single judgment.
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Keeping the Lamp on the Maple Bank
As Uncle Qin counts the twenty-ninth incense stick, he suddenly notices the bruises on the wrist of the boy chosen for the river sacrifice. The clan head says the boy volunteered to consult the waters, and they need only wait for the auspicious hour to launch the boat; yet through all these years, Uncle Qin has never dared look again at the whirlpool beneath the maple grove. There is no one in the temple who can stop the boat, and the sun keeps sinking. He heads to the dock to find the boatwoman who has refused to ferry the temple’s pilgrims ever since her elder brother died.
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