Translation of the complete poem "Mountain Journey"
The rocky path is winding and sloping far up the mountain top, and there are a few families faintly visible where the white clouds grow. I stopped the carriage just because I loved the evening view of the maple forest. The frost-stained maple leaves were better than the bright February flowers.
The complete poem of "Mountain Journey"
Du Mu
Dynasty: Tang
Far up the Hanshan Mountain, the stone path is sloping, and there are people living in the white clouds.
I park my car and sit in the maple forest at night, the leaves are as red as the flowers in February due to frost.
Notes
1. Mountain walking: walking in the mountains.
2. Hanshan: refers to the mountains in late autumn.
3. Path: small road.
4. Where white clouds arise: White clouds rising, swirling and floating also indicate that the mountain is very high.
5. skew: This character is pronounced xiá, which means stretching.
6. Sit: Because.
Appreciation
This poem depicts the colors of autumn, showing a moving picture of autumn colors in mountains and forests. The poem describes mountain roads, people's houses, white clouds, and red leaves, forming a harmonious and unified picture. These scenes are not juxtaposed with equal status, but are organically connected, with some masters and some slaves, some in the center of the picture, and some in a foil position. To put it simply, the first three sentences are objects, and the fourth sentence is subject. The first three sentences describe the background, create the atmosphere, and pave the way for the fourth sentence.
"The stone path is sloping up the cold mountain in the distance", writing about mountains and mountain roads. A winding path stretches towards the top of the mountain. The word "yuan" expresses the length of the mountain road, while the word "slant" echoes the word "up" and expresses the high and gentle shape of the mountain.
"Baiyun was born in a family", writing about clouds and people. The poet looked up along this mountain road. Where the white clouds floated, there were several stone houses and stone walls made of mountain rocks. The "people" here correspond to the "stone path" in the previous sentence - this mountain path is the passage up and down for those families, right? This organically links the two scenery together. There are white clouds hanging around, indicating that the mountain is very high. The poet uses the technique of crossing the clouds and breaking the mountains to block the readers' sight with these white clouds, but leaves room for imagination: above the white clouds, if there are mountains outside the clouds, there must be another kind of scenery, right?
The poet is only making objective descriptions of these scenery. Although the word "cold" is used, it is only to tease out the word "late" and "frost" below, and does not express the poet's emotional tendency. After all, it is just preparing for the subsequent description - outlining the environment where Maple Forest is located.
"Parking, sitting and loving Maple Forest Evening" is different. The tendency is already very clear and strong. The mountain road, white clouds, and people did not move the poet's heart, but the evening view of the maple forest made him unable to suppress his surprise. In order to stop and enjoy the scenery of the mountains and forests, I didn't even bother to drive. The scenery written in the first two sentences is already very beautiful, but what the poet loves is the maple forest. Through the contrast between the front and back, the ground has been laid for the description of the maple forest, and the momentum is sufficient, so it is a matter of course, leading to the fourth sentence, which points out the reason for loving the maple forest.
"Frost leaves are as red as February flowers", completes the third sentence, and the beautiful scenery of a late autumn maple forest is concretely displayed in front of us. The poet was pleasantly surprised to find that under the evening light of the setting sun, the maple leaves were flowing red, and the forests were dyed. The mountains were covered with brocade clouds, like shimmering clouds. It was redder and more gorgeous than the spring flowers in February in the south of the Yangtze River! What is commendable is that through this piece of red, the poet saw that the vitality of autumn like spring makes the autumn mountains and forests present a warm and vibrant scene.
The poet did not sigh sadly when autumn came like other feudal literati. He praised the beauty of nature’s autumn colors, which reflected a bold and upward spirit and a kind of heroic spirit. The brushing of the pen shows the poet's talent and insight. This is a hymn to autumn colors.
The fourth sentence is the center of the whole poem. It was written by the poet with strong ink and color and concentrated writing power. Not only the sparse scenery in the first two sentences serves as a foil for this gorgeous autumn scenery, but even the sentence "stop and sit in the maple forest at night" seems to be a lyrical narrative, but actually plays the role of setting off the scenery: the parking and looking, intoxicated and intoxicated. The poet has also become part of the scenery. With this scene, the charm of autumn colors is even more apparent. But after one rewrite, it stops abruptly and becomes full of melodious charm and endless aftertaste.
Creative background:
This poem describes a trip to the mountains, and its specific creation time is difficult to confirm. The author climbed a cold mountain in autumn and made a poetic discovery, so he wrote this poem to remember it.
About the author
Du Mu (803-853), a poet of the Tang Dynasty. His courtesy name was Muzhi, a native of Jingzhao Wannian (now Xi'an, Shaanxi Province), and the grandson of Prime Minister Du You. During the Yamato period (827-835), he became a Jinshi and was awarded the title of Secretary of Hongwenkan. He served as a staff member in other places for many years, and later served as supervisory censor, editor of the History Museum, Shanbubu, Bibu, Si Xunyuanwailang, Huangzhou, Chizhou, Muzhou governor, etc., and finally became a Zhongshu Sheren. The poem is famous for its seven-character quatrains, and other writers in the late Tang Dynasty left Qu alone. People call him Xiao Du, and together with Li Shangyin, they are called "Xiao Li Du" to distinguish him from Li Bai and Du Fu. He was good at poetry, and his "Afang Palace Fu" was passed down to future generations. Paying attention to military affairs, he wrote many military papers and also commented on "Sun Tzu". There are twenty volumes of "Collected Works of Fan Chuan" handed down to the world, compiled by his nephew Pei Yanhan, including four volumes of poems. There are also one volume each of "Fan Chuan Wai Ji" and "Fan Chuan Bie Ji" supplemented by the Song Dynasty. "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty" contains eight volumes of Du Mu's poems.