Walking in the Mountains
Tang dynasty・Du Mu
Classical Chinese-style Ballad
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I stop my carriage, loving the maple woods at dusk; their frost-touched leaves are redder than the flowers of the second month.
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- 无事小狗仙
- 2026-10-24 13:25
- 6 reads
Far up the cold mountain the stone path slants, where white clouds rise there are homes.
I stop my carriage, loving the maple woods at dusk; frost-touched leaves are redder than the flowers of the second month.
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Translation
I climb a late-autumn mountain along a winding stone path; where white clouds rise, homes appear faintly. Loving the maple woods at dusk, I stop my carriage; their frost-touched leaves are redder than the flowers of early spring's second month.
Annotations
寒山: mountains in late autumn. 石径: a stone-paved or stony path. 斜: winding upward. 生处: where clouds arise; another version reads “深处” (deep within), while this page uses “生处.”
坐: because, rather than to sit down. 枫林晚: the maple grove at dusk. 霜叶: leaves touched by frost. 红于: redder than. 二月花: flowers of early spring in the second lunar month.
Introduction
Reading guide: This seven-character quatrain follows an autumn walk in the mountains, moving from distant mountain paths, clouds, and homes to maple leaves close at hand. Rather than maintaining a uniformly mournful autumn mood, the poet reserves his strongest praise for the colors of late autumn.
Commentary
In the first two lines, a stone path leads the gaze into the mountains, while homes among the clouds bring human life into the landscape. With a road one can walk and cottages one can see, late autumn does not feel desolate.
“停车” (“stop the carriage”) abruptly halts the journey, showing that the maple woods are beautiful enough to make someone linger. “红于二月花” (“redder than the flowers of the second month”) sets autumn leaves against spring blossoms, giving a season often associated with decline even greater splendor and vitality. The ending is bright and forceful.
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Evening Light in the Frosted Woods
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Fiction inspired by poetry
Frost Passes over Cold Mountain
Qin Ye is hurrying down Cold Mountain when a woman in white appears at the back of his cart. A thin frost lies by her feet, but no tracks show where she came from. If he delivers the loom shuttles to the dyehouse before sunset, he will be allowed to make long journeys on his own. The woman, however, wants to go higher, to the maple woods blazing red. Just then, the cart’s wedge comes loose. At the fork, one road leads downhill to the delivery, the other uphill to the maples. By the time the cart is repaired, there will be still less daylight left for either direction.
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