1. Farewell to Zhou Shangshu
The author Yu Xin’s work comes from "Twenty-seven Songs of Love"
Thousands of miles of Yangguan Road, but no one has returned.
Only the geese by the river fly south in autumn.
Vernacular translation
Yangguan is thousands of miles away from the motherland. I look forward to it every year but still cannot return south. Only the geese from the south along the banks of the Yellow River can still fly south freely in autumn.
2. Ode to Wild Geese in Nanzhong
Wei Chengqing, a poet in the early Tang Dynasty (first written by Ji Zi)
Thousands of miles of people go south, while wild geese fly north in spring.
I don’t know how long it will take for me to return home with you?
Vernacular translation
I was exiled to the south, thousands of miles away, where the land was barren. When spring was warm and the flowers were blooming, I saw wild geese flying north on the road. I wonder in which year and month I will be able to return to the north with you?
3. The charcoal seller
The author is Bai Juyi? Tang Dynasty
The charcoal seller cut firewood and burned charcoal in the southern mountains.
The face is dusty and smoky, and the temples are gray and the fingers are black.
Where do you get money from selling charcoal? The clothes on your body and the food in your mouth.
Poor, I am wearing only the right clothes, and I am worried about the cold weather.
At night, there is a foot of snow outside the city, and at dawn, the charcoal cart rolls over the ice tracks.
The cows were trapped and the people were hungry. The sun was getting high and they rested in the mud outside the south gate of the city.
Who is Pian Pian riding here? The messenger in yellow is in white.
He holds the document in his hand and pronounces the edict, returns to the carriage and scolds the oxen to lead them north.
A cart of charcoal weighs more than a thousand kilograms, and the palace envoy will regret it.
Half a piece of red gauze and one foot of silk ribbon are tied directly to the cow's head and filled with charcoal.
Vernacular translation
There was an old charcoal seller who spent the whole year cutting firewood and burning charcoal in the Nanshan Mountains. His face was covered with dust and looked burnt by smoke, his hair on his temples was gray, and his ten fingers were blackened by charcoal. What do you use the money you get from selling charcoal? Buy the clothes you wear and the food you eat. Unfortunately, he was only wearing thin clothes, but he was worried that he would not be able to sell the charcoal, and he also hoped that the weather would be colder.
A foot of heavy snow fell outside the city at night. In the early morning, the old man drove his charcoal cart over the frozen wheel tracks to the market. The cows were tired and the people were hungry, but the sun was already high, so they rested in the mud outside the south gate of the market. Who is that proud man riding two horses? They were the eunuchs and eunuch's subordinates in the palace.
The eunuch held the document in his hand, but said it was the emperor's order, and shouted at the ox to pull it towards the palace. A cart of charcoal weighed more than a thousand kilograms, and the eunuchs and servants insisted on driving it away. The old man was reluctant to give it up, but he had no choice. Those people hung half a piece of red yarn and a foot of silk on the cow's head and used it as the price of charcoal.
4. Farewell to Nanpu
The author is Bai Juyi? Tang Dynasty
Farewell to Nanpu is desolate, the west wind curls up in autumn.
My heart is broken at the sight of it, so don’t look back.
Vernacular translation
The desolate and sad farewell in Nanpu, the autumn wind is desolate and gloomy. Looking back once will break your heart, leave well and don't look back again.
5. Viewing the harvesting of wheat
The author is Bai Juyi? Tang Dynasty
The Tian family has few free months, but in May people are twice as busy.
At night the south wind blows, and the wheat is covered with yellow.
The women and aunts carry baskets of food, and the children carry pots of pulp.
They go with them to the salary fields, and the young men and women are in Nangang.
It is full of heat and rustic weather, and the sky is scorching on my back.
I am exhausted and don’t know how hot it is, but it is a pity that the summer is long.
There is a poor woman with a child beside her.
She is holding an earring in her right hand and a basket hanging on her left arm.
Hearing his words of care makes those who hear them feel sad.
My family’s farmland has been exhausted, so I’ll just throw it away to satisfy my hunger.
What merit do I have now? I have never been involved in farming and mulberry trees.
The official salary is three hundred stones, and there is more than enough food every year.
I feel ashamed when I think of this, and I will never forget it.
Vernacular translation
Farmers rarely have free months, and people are even busier in May. A southerly wind blew during the night, and the wheat covering the field ridges had matured and turned yellow. Women carry meals in bamboo baskets, and children carry water in pots. They follow each other to the fields to deliver meals. The men harvesting wheat are all in Nangang. Their feet were fumigated by the heat from the ground, and their spines were basking in the hot sun.
Exhausted, it seems that I don’t know the hot weather, but just cherish the long summer. I also saw a poor woman standing next to the wheat cutter with her child in her arms, picking up the fallen ears of wheat in her right hand, and a broken basket hanging on her left arm. Listening to her talk while looking at others, everyone who heard her felt sad for her. Because of the rent and taxes, all the farmland in the family was sold, so they had to pick up some ears of wheat to satisfy their hunger.
Now that I have any merits and virtues, I don’t have to engage in farming and sericulture. He received a salary of 300 shi meters a year, and at the end of the year there was still some food left. I feel ashamed when I think of these things, and I can't forget them all day long.