On the Xiang River, the boat struggles upstream against the current,
No wine, no meat. His frail frame stands firm, bearing a stance of unbroken resolve.
Tang Honghui (1975), Member of the Poetry Committee of the China Society of Popular Literature and Art, and Member of the Hunan Federation of Literary and Art Circles. His works have been published in eight major poetry journals including Poetry Periodical, Stars, Poetry Tide, Green Wind and Yangtze River Poetry Journal, as well as literary periodicals such as Chinese Artists, Lotus, Hunan Literature and Xiangjiang Literature, alongside numerous poetry anthologies. He is the recipient of multiple honors including the 4th National Qu Yuan Cup Poetry Competition Award, the inaugural Annual Poetry Award of European Poets, and the Annual Poetry Award of Chinese Poets. He has published a poetry collection titled Moonlight Flows Through the World.
汤红辉（1975-），中国通俗文艺研究会诗歌委员会委员、湖南省文联委员。作品散见于《诗刊》《星星》《诗潮》《绿风》《扬子江诗刊》等八大诗刊及《中国文艺家》《芙蓉》《湖南文学》《湘江文艺》等文学期刊和多种诗歌选本。曾获第四届“屈原杯”全国诗歌大赛奖、首届《欧洲诗人》年度诗歌奖、《中国诗人》年度诗歌奖等荣誉。出版有诗集《月光流过人间》。
Translated by Ma Yongbo
A Tribute to Liu Zongyuan (Poem Suite)
Epigraph
In 805, Liu Zongyuan was demoted to Sima of Yongzhou after the failure of the Yongzhen Reform. He received the imperial edict to return to the capital in 815. During his ten years in Yongzhou, he roamed mountains and rivers and composed the Eight Records of Yongzhou. Through depicting landscapes and natural scenes, he poured forth his inner aspirations and sentiments, pioneering a distinctive school of landscape prose.
致敬柳宗元（组诗）
题记：805年，因永贞革新失败，柳宗元被贬为永州司马，至815年诏书回京。永州10年中，他游历山水，写下《永州八记》，写景状物，多所寄托，开创山水散文一派。
A Cold Moon of the Tang Dynasty
Inside taverns along Chang’an’s streets, goblets clink and cups overflow,
Liu Zongyuan helps his aged mother climb the carriage bound for Shaozhou,
Mid-journey, hooves thunder fast, an imperial edict sends him straight to Yongzhou,
He looks back, above Chang’an hangs one cold, solitary moon.
On the Xiang River, the boat struggles upstream against the current,
No wine, no meat. His frail frame stands firm, bearing a stance of unbroken resolve.
An old fisherman burns bamboo to cook meal on Western Hills; fragrance drifts into the cabin,
In a daze, a fisher’s oar cry echoes, and mountains and rivers burst into full green.
The Xiang, the Xiao, the Foolish Stream
Though three thousand waters flow, he chooses only the Foolish Stream to keep him company.
From then on, the imperial court fades far away, the folk hinterlands
And mortal hearts are separated only by the thin blue robe of a prefectural Sima.
《唐朝一片冷月》
长安街，酒肆内觥筹交错
柳宗元搀扶老母登上前往邵州的马车
半路马蹄声急，一纸御旨直指永州
回望长安一片冷月
湘江之上，逆水行舟
无酒无肉，瘦弱的身影站立成一个逆袭姿势
渔翁在西山烧竹煮饭，清香直达船舱
恍惚间欸乃一声山水全绿了
湘水、潇水、愚溪
弱水三千，独选愚溪作伴
从此庙堂渐远
而江湖和人心只隔着司马薄薄的青衫
***
The Sima Brushes the Old Dust from His Robes
Snow falls ceaselessly, drifting all the way from the imperial capital,
Past the Hengyue Mountains, it blankets the whole land of Xiao and Xiang,
This flawless white carpet stretches straight from Chang’an to Yongzhou.
Liu Zongyuan straightens his official headwear and robes,
Then mounts the stone steps of Longxing Temple with head held high,
The sight transports him back to the Daming Palace at morning court.
Leaning lightly against the northern window, he holds palm-leaf scriptures in hand,
He pictures Jiang Ziya angling by the Wei River,
Who waited long enough to meet King Wen at last.
Outside the window, an old fisherman sits with his rod,
His immense loneliness stirs every thread of his straw raincoat,
Resounding with the trembling note of an entire age,
So he takes up his brush and pens lines of verse at will.
At that hour, venomous serpents slumber deep within frozen soil;
Banana leaves outside Green Heaven Nunnery chant Buddhist sutras together amid bitter wind.
Crackers pop in the distance, must the New Year be drawing near?
The Sima brushes the old dust from his robes,
Setting aside all thoughts of the imperial court for a while.
《司马掸了掸衣上的旧尘》
雪一直下，自京师而来
经衡岳，覆盖整个潇湘
这洁白无瑕的地毯从长安径直铺到永州
柳宗元扶正衣冠，昂首踏上龙兴寺的台阶
这让他想起早朝的大明宫
轻倚北窗，手持贝叶书
他看见姜子牙渭水垂钓，终是等来了文王
窗外渔翁垂钓，千万孤独感动蓑衣上每根神经
发出时代的颤音
于是他随手写下了一些诗句
其时，异蛇仍深眠于冻土
蕉叶在绿天庵外寒风中齐诵梵音
爆竹声起，该是过年了吧
司马掸了掸衣上的旧尘
把庙堂暂且放了下来
***
Every Stretch of folk hinterlands is a Temple for Spiritual Cultivation
Which flurries of snow drift down from the northern lands,
Which snowflakes take shape amid Xiao and Xiang’s expanse,
After swirling endlessly, they sink into Foolish Stream, yielding calmly to the fate of water.
He builds his hut by the brook, learning to reconcile and make peace with a river,
He learns from barnyard grass to bow low, and restrains the stubborn white-headed reeds,
Every stretch of rivers and lakes is a temple for spiritual cultivation,
It is his own mortal body that sits upon the lotus dais at last.
The first autumn leaf of the Tang Dynasty traces a graceful arc through the woods
Has anyone heard its soft sound as it touches the ground?
A startled elk stirs the Sima’s boundless melancholy.
Chang’an, where horse hooves thunder in urgent haste,
The Sima steps down from his lotus seat.
《每一处江湖都是修行的庙宇》
哪一片雪来自北方
哪一些雪花产自潇湘
纷纷扰扰之后，落入愚溪安然接受水的命运
结庐在溪畔，学会与一条河流握手言欢
学稗子弯腰，也隐敛芦苇白头的执着
每一处江湖都是一座修行的庙宇
端坐莲台的终是自己的肉身
大唐的第一片秋叶在林间划着美丽弧线
可曾听见落地的声响
一只麋鹿惊起司马的怅然若失
长安，马蹄声疾
司马，走下莲台
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Read: Sweeping Snow – Poetry from China
