Ascending Stork Tower
Tang dynasty・Wang Zhihuan
Classical Chinese-style Ballad
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The sun sinks behind the mountains; the Yellow River flows into the sea.
To see a thousand miles to the farthest reach, climb one more story.
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Translation
The setting sun sinks slowly against the mountains, while the Yellow River rushes away toward the sea. To take in scenery farther still, climb one more story of the tower.
Annotations
鹳雀楼: an ancient tower in the area of present-day Yongji, Shanxi; its name is also written “鹳鹊楼,” Stork Tower. 白日: the sun. 依: against or beside. 尽: to sink completely or disappear.
穷: to exhaust or see to the limit. 千里目: an extremely far-reaching view; “a thousand li” is hyperbole. 更: further or again.
“入海流” (“flows into the sea”) describes the Yellow River’s overall course toward the ocean; it does not mean its mouth can be seen directly from the tower. The work is commonly attributed to Wang Zhihuan, though the early anthology Collection of the Finest Poems of the Realm also preserves an alternative attribution to Zhu Bin.
Introduction
Reading guide: The first two lines of this poem about ascending a tower unfold a landscape of mountains and river; the last two turn the view into a wish to climb higher. This page uses the common title and attribution, while noting differences among transmitted versions in the annotations.
Commentary
The sun sinks behind the mountains, and the river flows into the distance: one is light gradually drawing inward, the other an endlessly unfolding current. In just ten characters, the vastness of heaven and earth emerges.
The insight in the last two lines grows from the actual act of climbing the tower: the original position limits the view, and only by climbing higher can one see farther. It is both a concrete experience of looking at scenery and a natural invitation to think about learning and striving, without stepping outside the scene to preach.
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Distant Light on the Long River
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A High Tower toward Dusk
A-Jian replaces the new nails with scrap half an inch shorter, setting aside half a bag to sell so he can redeem the robe he lost at the gambling table. The river keeps rising, and his master says only that they will settle the matter once the top floor has been dismantled. Before sunset, A-Jian sees another surge of water crossing the mountain pass and rushing toward the back of the town. He must get the warning to the townspeople before dark, while the half-inch he saved on the old ladder waits for someone to step on it.
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