Literature

Notes on a Spring Day in Anzhou

Poetry from China

nasiraijaz July 30, 2025

0 29 4 minutes read

Pear, peach, and plum blossoms along the banks of the Anchang River,

On the slow-flowing river surface, there is a flowing narrative of spring.

Yutian, a seasoned poet from China, shares his poetry

Yutian was born in Mianyang, Sichuan in 1956. After graduating from middle school, he served in the military. He began writing poetry in 1972 and founded the Pure Land Youth Poetry Society in 1985, acting as the editor-in-chief of the Pure Land Poetry News. His works have been mainly published in journals such as People’s Literature, Poetry, Contemporary, and Chinese Writers. Since the 1980s, with his writing of independent significance, he has become an important poet in the Bashu modern poetry group. He joined the Feifei School in 1992 and is one of the representative poets of post-Feifei writing. He has published poetry collections and prose collections including Monologue in Autumn, The Last Flowers and Pure Poems, Memories in the Snow, Selected Long Poems of Yutian, The Crow Empire, In Memory: Crows and Snow, The Four Winds, and the prose work The Marks of Time on the Earth, etc. Some of his works have been included in more than 400 anthologies at home and abroad and translated into many languages. He has won awards such as the Taiwan Genesis 40th Anniversary Poetry Award, the Liulian Poetry Award, and the Sichuan Literature Award.

雨田，1956年生于四川绵阳，中学毕业后到军队服兵役。1972年开始诗歌创作，1985年创办净地青年诗社，主编《净地》诗报。主要在《人民文学》、《诗刊》、《当代》、《中国作家》等刊物发表作品。20世纪80年代以后，以其独立的意义写作成为巴蜀现代诗群中的重要诗人。1992年加盟非非主义，为后非非写作代表诗人之一。已出诗集、散文集《秋天里的独白》、《最后的花朵与纯洁的诗》、《雪地中的回忆》、《雨田长诗选集》、《乌鸦帝国》、《纪念：乌鸦与雪》、《东南西北风》、散文《大地的时光之痕》等。部分作品入选国内外400多种选本，并被译成多国文字。曾获台湾创世纪40年诗歌奖，刘丽安诗歌奖、四川文学奖等。

Translated by Yongbo Ma

Notes on a Spring Day in Anzhou

Pear, peach, and plum blossoms along the banks of the Anchang River,

On the slow-flowing river surface, there is a flowing narrative of spring.

When flowers bloom and fade, my heart trembles a little, and there is a touch of sadness,

For between the blooming and falling, more white hairs have sprouted on my head,

Now that I am past middle age, my beard is like pear blossoms in the dark night.

On this land beneath my feet, is spring coming too fast?

I feel as if I am also invited, hurrying to a long-awaited appointment.

Passing through patches of golden rapeseed flowers, the joy in my heart

Bursts through the troubles. Bees and butterflies are vying for their territory.

Who imagines themselves as a rapeseed flower? It is like this:

The Anchang River flows like annual rings, apart from the helpless pangs,

Every day brings new patterns to greet the sun. In Huida Courtyard,

A golden winter jasmine tells me that the soul of Sichuan cuisine lies in rapeseed and soybeans,

At this moment, a chill settles in my heart, I know that life is like a mirror.

[Note: Anzhou is a district in Mianyang City where the poet currently lives. Huida is a famous brand of rapeseed oil, and Huida Courtyard is the factory area.]

***

安州春日偶记

安昌河两岸的梨花 桃花和李花都开了

缓缓的河面满是流动的春之物语 我看见

花开花落时 心灵有些颤动 也有些伤感

因为在花开落间 我头上的白发又多了起来

过了中年的我 胡须就像黑夜里绽放的梨花

在脚下的这片地上是 春天来得太快了吗

我仿佛也是应邀赶着要去赴一场久违的约会

路过一片一片金灿灿的油菜花时 心中的喜悦

冲破了烦恼 那些蜜蜂和蝴蝶在抢争着领域

谁把自己想象成一朵油菜花的模样 是这样的

安昌河就像年轮一样流淌着 除了无奈的心酸外

每天都是崭新的纹路在迎接着太阳 辉达院里

一株金色的迎春花告诉我 川菜王的灵魂是菜籽和大豆

此时我的内心落下了寒霜 我知道生活就是一面镜子

***

A Chance Encounter with Dai Lake

Beyond time, through misty rain, I stroll along the flowers blooming banks of Dai Lake,

Until I walk myself into a withered vine by the lakeside, the cicada’s song is faint,

So faint it hovers above my head, while my blood surges up and down.

When strolling by the lake, never dwell on the past, and you will make a discovery:

The plants growing here are all cycles of life. What is most unforgettable

Is still to live one’s true self, and entrust soul and thoughts to poetry.

Sometimes it’s really like this: in order to think of a word to express,

I, often trapped in exhaustion, suffer immensely, my heart a blank,

Falling into despair is common; in fact, poets live no more than this.

Looking back at the vastness of Dai Lake, no one can tell how much pain there is in the world.

When I squat by the clear Dai Lake, recalling my own life of suffering,

I can say with justified pride: Dai Lake is a pocket-sized sea in the human world.

[Note: Dai, dark green]

***

偶遇黛湖

越过时光 透过烟雨 我漫步在花花湖畔的黛湖

直到把自己走成湖边的一根枯藤 蝉声很低

低得在我的头上盘旋起来 而我的血液也此起彼伏

湖边漫步时千万不要去回想往事 你就会有所发现

这里长出的植物都是生命的轮回 令人最难忘的

还是要活出自己的模样 把灵魂与思想交给诗歌

有时候真的就是这样 为了想到一个表达的词语

常常陷入枯竭之中的我痛苦无比 内心一片空白

陷入绝望是常有的事 其实诗人也活得不过如此

回首黛湖的苍茫 谁都说不清楚人间有多疼

当我蹲在清澈的黛湖边 回想起自己的苦难人生

我可以理直气壮说 黛湖就是人间一朵袖珍的海

***

Thoughts at Yuntai Temple

Truly, truly as breathtaking as ever, as I gaze up at the ornamental columns here,

The square is filled with tranquility, and somehow the shadows in my heart have vanished.

Walking across the Immortal-Welcoming Bridge, a few sparrows chirp incessantly.

Then what of the delusional crow? Does it also know that peace in the dark can ease pain?

Stepping past the archway of “Yuntai’s Sacred Realm,” beneath the tall cypresses and pines

I search for forgetfulness, and see an ant climbing up a century-old cypress.

Standing in the Hall of the Spiritual Official, I turn again and bow three times to the statue,

After letting go of so much suffering, I doubt the meaning of what I persist in.

I understand that beauty is abstract, but beauty in the dark is a ray of light,

Whose eyes have recorded the moments of flowers blooming and fading in reality,

And measured all things, letting stones be stones, and humans be humans?

While waiting for the bells to ring, pilgrims retain their original freehand writing and chanting.

[Note: Yuntai Temple is located in Santai County under the jurisdiction of Mianyang City. Du Fu stayed there for one year and eight months and wrote nearly 200 poems.]

***