On the Translation of Chao Hua's Works

Xia Rongbo, a person who loves ancient cultural relics, lives in seclusion on Qixi. Chen Jishi and Gao Xiaotong and I rented a boat to visit him and made an appointment to go to Chaoshan to enjoy plum blossoms. We changed a boat on the stream and sailed along the shallow stream flowing from the sand to the north of Chaoshan. Plum blossoms can already be seen along the coast. After walking for about a mile, I walked along the stream to Xianghai Mansion and watched the famous Song Mei. Plum trees are half withered and stand at the water's edge. The branches of old Gu Zhuo are winding, and the trees are covered with moss, which are arranged as neatly as fish scales. Because of the age, the moss has turned bronze. There are more than a dozen plum trees next to Song Mei, and Rong Bo told me that they all belong to the Ming Dynasty. I saw that the scenery around me was very cold and not very glorious, so I lost interest and was ready to return. Yung Wing led me forward through the Tang Yuqian Temple, just to see the magnificent plum blossom. Plum trees are staggered and white; Close planting on high and low slopes. Everyone strolled in Merlin Xue Hai. The fragrance of plum blossoms permeates the mountains, just like overlapping plain silks, piling up valleys. We walked about four miles out of Mui Wo, but we saw rows of gloomy pine trees, and we could hear the sound of streams at the foot of the mountain. It turned out that the small sampan we were riding had stopped on the water. We walked on the shore, the boatman rowed on the water, and everyone walked along the stream until the path came to an end. We went back to Qixi that night.

At dawn the next day, we still took a small sampan to the south of Chaoshan, where there were more plum blossoms than in the north. The stream is vast and remote, with dense branches and leaves of ancient trees. The path on the shore branches into eight or nine roads, extending to the edge of Meilin. We came to Gan Yuan Pass and visited the water tunnel. The water pool in the cave is crystal clear, and grotesque stones stand on the water. The water pool infiltrates Shi Gen, and those grotesque stones are cracked and covered with dark green moss. Judging from the texture of the stone, Ben and the dry hole are integrated. This dry cave is close to the Gan Yuan landscape and leans to the right. Climbing more than 30 stone steps, I reached the mouth of the cave. It was dark and deep, and only the sound of Feng Shui was heard. The brothers Chen and Chen Diliao, who came to play together, lit torches and went into the hole, but they didn't go to the bottom of the hole and came back. The rock beside the pool is engraved with three characters "Haiyun Cave", written by Zhao Bian, a calligrapher in the Song Dynasty. Looking for the stone statues of Ding and his son again, they have been mottled and fallen off, and only the poems on the stone tablets are still faintly visible. Rongbo invited me to Gan Yuan for lunch, and I couldn't help but raise my glass, because the plum blossoms I have seen in my life are not as dense and prosperous as here. However, Rong Bo said to me, "If the winter snow passes, the plum blossoms here will become more and more exotic and beautiful, far more prosperous than watching Xixi, a plum blossom resort." I have been to Xixi twice, but unfortunately the plum blossoms are not in full bloom. Now, all I have to do is write an article "Super Mountain Plum Blossoms", one for Rong Bo and one for my friend Chen Shouci in Fuzhou. Shouci is also a person who loves plum blossoms.