The Road to Shu is Difficult·Part Two
Southern and Northern Dynasties: Xiao Gang
Wushan is seven hundred miles away, and Bashui has three turns.
The sound of the flute rises and rises again, and the cry of the ape continues.
Translation
Wushan is seven hundred miles long, and the water flow of Ba River has many twists and turns. While walking on the Ba River, melodious flute sounds kept coming, with the tone rising and falling, and the apes on both sides of the bank kept crying, intermittent and continuous.
Comments
Bashui: refers to Badi, in today’s Sichuan Province.
Triple loops: The water flow is curved, and the Yangtze River has many twists and turns in Sichuan. Three is not an exact number, but an approximation, which means a lot.
Brief analysis
Since the Han and Wei dynasties, literati of all dynasties have described and exaggerated it in their works about Shu Dao. Xiao Gang's "The Difficult Road to Shu" describes the steep terrain in the Wushan area, and the poem is short and concise.