On the Meaning of Ancient Poetry from Lushan Waterfall

The incense burner peak produces purple mist under the sunlight, and a waterfall hangs in front of the mountain like a white silk from a distance. There seem to be several waterfalls in thousands of feet on the high cliff, which makes people suspect that the Milky Way fell from the sky to the ground.

Source: Wanglushan Waterfall-Tang Dynasty: Li Bai

The purple mist is illuminated by sunlight, and the waterfall hangs in front of the mountain.

On the high cliff, it seems to be thousands of feet high, which makes people think that the Milky Way has fallen from heaven to earth.

Extended data

1, see the creative background of Lushan Waterfall.

This poem is generally believed to have been written by Li Bai when he visited Lushan Mountain for the first time on his way to Jinling around 725 AD (13th year of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty).

2. Appreciation of Lushan Waterfall

This is a landscape poem written by the poet Li Bai when he lived in seclusion in Lushan Mountain at the age of about fifty. This poem vividly depicts the magnificent scenery of Lushan Waterfall and reflects the poet's infinite love for the great rivers and mountains of the motherland.

In poetry, "incense burner" refers to the incense burner peak of Lushan Mountain. This peak is in the northwest of Lushan Mountain, with a sharp and round shape, like a censer. Because of the waterfall, water vapor transpiration, in the bright sunshine, as if there is an indomitable spirit incense burner, purple smoke rises in Ran Ran. A word "life" brings the scene of smoke rising to life. This sentence set a magnificent background for the waterfall, and also rendered the atmosphere for the following direct description of the waterfall.