Translation of Yue Fei’s ancient poems at Chizhou Cuiweiting

Chizhou Cuiweiting Yue Fei's ancient poem translation: Years of dust covered the military uniforms, and I rode to Cuiweiting to look for the beautiful scenery. Before I could appreciate the good water and mountains enough, the sound of horse hooves already urged me to return quickly.

"Chizhou Cuiwei Pavilion" is a seven-character quatrain composed by the Southern Song Dynasty poet Yue Fei. Yue Fei spent his whole life fighting in the army, aiming to recover, and rarely had leisure time. This poem was written in Chizhou. Contrary to the passionate and tragic nature of the poem, it expresses his sincere love for the great rivers and mountains of the motherland with fresh and bright writing style, and embodies the characteristics of horseback poetry.

Chizhou was a state on Jiangnan East Road in the Song Dynasty. The state capital was located in Qiupu at that time, which is now Guichi District, Chizhou City, Anhui Province. Here the author refers to the name of the state capital by the name of the state. "Cuiwei Pavilion" is located on Qishan Mountain south of Guichi, Anhui today. It was built by Du Mu, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, when he was the governor of Chizhou during the Huichang period of Wuzong.

This is a travel poem, which mainly describes the psychological state and travel situation of visiting the scenic spots in Chizhou Cuiwei Pavilion. It shows the author's infinite love for the mountains and rivers of the motherland. The first two sentences describe the joy of traveling. The sentence "Years of dusty clothes" describes the long and tense military life.

After the poet joined the army, he has been living a tense military life, especially during the anti-golden struggle. In order to protect half of the remaining rivers and mountains of the Southern Song Dynasty and then restore the Central Plains, he wore armor and led the army, charged into battle, and moved to war. He traveled north and south for a long time and devoted all his energy to the great cause of defending the country.

About the author

Yue Fei (1103-1142), courtesy name Pengju, was born in Tangyin, Xiangzhou (now Tangyin County, Anyang, Henan). He was born into a poor family, and his mother taught him how to read and write when he was young. Yue Fei is very ambitious, studies diligently, and is determined to serve the motherland when he grows up. In the fourth year of the Xuanhe reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty (1122), 19-year-old Yue Fei joined the army and began to contribute to the defense of the country.

After that, in the struggle against Jin Dynasty, he experienced hundreds of battles and made extraordinary achievements many times, becoming a famous general and outstanding national hero in the fight against Jin Dynasty. Yue Fei's strong determination to defend the motherland and his outstanding military talents enabled him to be continuously promoted from an ordinary soldier to serve as the Qingyuan Army's Jiedu Envoy, Henan's Recruitment Envoy, and Privy Deputy Envoy.