In Hanzhong the Han enterprise began, I ask of this place, is it so, or not. I imagine swords pointing toward the Three Qin, the king triumphant, returning east after one battle. The pursuit of the fleeing man, such deeds are seen no more, only mountains and rivers fill my gaze as tears wet my robe. At sunset the enemy's dust still hangs, in the west wind frontier horses grow fat in vain.

One book made him a teacher of emperors. You go west on campaign to put your gifts to a small test. Again, a hastily arranged farewell feast, a hurried road ahead, sorrow filling the banners. When you think of me and turn your head, the river will hold autumn's reflection as the geese begin to fly. If only carriage wheels had four corners; I cannot bear my belt growing loose around my waist.

The Han dynasty’s enterprise began in Hanzhong; I ask, is this place today still the Hanzhong of old? I imagine Liu Bang advancing into the Three Qin territories, high-spirited, then sweeping east to contend for the realm. Today one rarely sees anyone pursue a fleeing talent, bring him back, and entrust him with great responsibility; faced with mountains and rivers filling my view, I can only soak my clothes with tears. In the setting sun, the enemy threat persists, while in the west wind the frontier warhorses are merely fed fat in vain.

You are like Zhang Liang, who received a book of military strategy and was fit to instruct an emperor; your departure to oversee military and civil affairs in the west is merely a small trial of your talents. Yet the farewell banquet is rushed, the journey hurried, as though even the banners accompanying you are laden with parting sorrow. When you look back and think of me, the river will be reflecting autumn light and the first geese taking flight. How could I make your wheels grow four corners and keep your carriage here? I truly cannot bear to grow thinner day by day from the sorrow of parting.

张仲固: Zhang Jian, courtesy name Zhonggu. 帅兴元: to take charge of military and civil affairs in Xingyuan, in the area of present-day Hanzhong, Shaanxi.

三秦: the three territories into which Guanzhong was divided after the fall of Qin. The lyric invokes Liu Bang’s reconquest of these territories. 追亡: the story of Xiao He pursuing the departing Han Xin and recommending him as a great general.

胡尘: a figurative reference to warfare and enemy threats from the north. 塞马空肥: “frontier horses grow fat in vain”; 空 conveys regret that military strength lies idle and achieves nothing.

一编书、帝王师: “one book” and “teacher of emperors,” alluding to Zhang Liang receiving a military treatise from Huangshi Gong. 旌旗: banners, representing the friend's traveling ceremonial escort. 江涵秋影雁初飞: “the river holds autumn's reflection as geese first take flight,” adapted from Du Mu's “Climbing Qi Mountain on the Ninth Day.”

车轮四角: draws on the poetic wish that carriage wheels might grow corners, preventing the traveler from leaving. 带减腰围: a waist grown thinner from sorrow.

Reading guide: Xin Qiji bids farewell to Zhang Zhonggu as he leaves to take office in Xingyuan, linking Hanzhong’s history with the realities of the Southern Song. The lyric praises his friend’s abilities while lamenting that talent and military strength have not been fully employed; the second stanza turns from affairs of state to personal sorrow at parting.

The opening “是耶非,” is it so or not, does not indicate failure to recognize a place name. It uses the same mountains and rivers to ask why the character of past and present differs so greatly. Allusions to Liu Bang, Han Xin, and Zhang Liang center on employing talent and achieving great deeds, giving the farewell a clear political expectation.

After “空肥” (“growing fat in vain”), the regret over thwarted ambition is already unmistakable. Yet the ending avoids grand declarations, expressing reluctance to part through wheels sprouting horns and a gradually shrinking waist. Concern for the country and affection for friends coexist within the lyric.