Huanxisha · Mountains Drip with Misty Light, Water Laps the Embankment
Yuan dynasty・Jiang Yu
Classical Chinese-style Ballad
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Peach blossoms on both banks glow around the rising sun; tall willows all around trail down from the sky.
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- 无事小狗仙
- 2025-02-20 09:22
- 40 reads
The mountains drip with misty light, the water laps the bank; grass is fragrant, sand is warm, and all is clean of mud. I almost think I have strayed into Wulin Stream.
Peach blossoms on both banks glow around the rising sun; tall willows on every side reach where the sky hangs low. Into one cup I pour my heart, with hopes for a lifetime.
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Translation
The mountain haze glows so freshly it seems about to drip, and the stream softly laps the banks. The grass is fragrant, the sand warm and clean, with no mud; one could almost believe one had strayed into a secluded, beautiful realm like Wulin Stream. Peach blossoms on both banks reflect the rising sun, their red glow heightening its light; all around, tall willows droop as though joining the sky. I entrust all my feelings to this cup of wine, wishing to make a lifelong pledge with such mountains and waters.
Annotations
岚 (lán) 光: the hues of mountain mist illuminated by light. 滴: describes a moist, richly saturated appearance. 武林溪: the wording of the transmitted text used on this page; it serves as a comparison with a secluded, beautiful landscape of streams and mountains, and does not establish that the work was written in Hangzhou.
烘: To set off or suffuse with color. 尊: The same as “樽,” a wine cup. 百年: A human lifetime, not necessarily an exact hundred years. 期: To make an appointment or place hopes in.
This lyric belongs to the works about visiting Jinci Shrine. Surviving related title notes can be found among the materials collected in the Complete Jin and Yuan Lyrics; the lyric chiefly describes the landscape outside the shrine.
Introduction
Reading guide: Visiting Jinci, Jiang Yu wrote this ci poem about the landscape before him, emphasizing the clear, gentle warmth of spring. Rather than describing the buildings directly, he lets the pleasure of the excursion emerge naturally through luminous mountain haze, flowing water, warm sand, peach blossoms, and willows.
Commentary
“滴” (drip), “拍” (lap), “烘” (bathe in warmth), and “垂” (hang down) successively give the scenery different kinds of movement. Color is not applied as a static coating: it follows flowing water, the rising sun, and stretching branches, forming a spring landscape that seems to breathe.
The final line suddenly turns to raising a cup and making a future promise, showing that viewing the scene has become more than a brief visit. The beauty of the landscape awakens a wish for lasting closeness, giving the preceding vivid descriptions a human response.
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A Lamplit Crossing on Peach Blossom Stream
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The Ferryman of Peach Creek
At Peach Creek, no one inspects salt or cloth, and no customs duties are collected. Liu Wenzhou almost believes he has found a trade route to see him through old age. At night, however, Sang Ning carries two sacks of stones aboard his boat to test whether it can carry her and her two children. He says he carries only goods, not people; the village head says only that she is ill. When he reaches the creek’s mouth again, the wooden barrier has already been lowered, and this cheap waterway begins to demand its price.
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