Chinese Literature

A Poem by Poet and Philosopher Hongri Yuan

About the Poet

Hongri Yuan, born in China in 1962, is a poet and philosopher interested particularly in creation. Representative works include Platinum City, The City of Gold, Golden Paradise, Gold Sun and Golden Giant. His poetry has been more widely published in the UK, USA, India, New Zealand, Canada and Nigeria.

Golden Giant

Who is sitting in the heavens and staring at me?

Who is sitting in the golden palace of tomorrow?

Who is smiling?

Golden staff in his hand

Flashes a dazzling light

Ah, the flashes of lightning-

Interweave over my head…

I walked into the crystalline corridor of the time-

I want to open

The doors of gold

Lines of words in the sun-

Singing to me in the sky-

I want to find

The volumes of gold poems

On the shores of the new century

To build the city of gold!

Laozi with rosy cheek and white hair-

Smiles at me in the clouds,

A phoenix dances trippingly

And carries with it, a book of gold!

Lines of mysterious words

Made my eyes drunken,

Countless giant figures

Came towards me from the clouds!

Ages through seventy million years

Emerged leisurely before my eyes,

The cities of gold

Surrounded with crystalline gardens!

A sky of sapphire

Sent out a colorful miraculous brightness,

Onto green hills of jasper,

Dragons and phoenixes were flying

Exquisite pagoda-

With majestic palace of gold,

The airy pavilions and pagodas

Stood within the purple-red clouds

Laughing girls

Riding the colorful husbands and wives,

Propitious clouds

Sprinkling the colorful flowers!

I opened the door to a golden palace,

Saw the rows of scrolls of gold,

A giant who had the haloes all over his body-

There was a golden sun over his head.

Smiling, he picked up the books of gold

Recited the sacred verses-

Intoxicated with the miraculous wonderful words

I was enveloped with purple-gold flames.

A golden lotus

Bloomed beneath my feet,

Lifted up my body,

Wafting it up out of the golden palace

The red clouds

Drifted by my side,

In the far distance I saw

Another golden paradise

The leisurely bells

Calling to me

There- countless giants

Roamed in a golden garden,

With skies of ruby,

Rounds of sun

Like the golden lotus

Blooming in the sky

Intoxicating fragrances of flowers

Like sweet good wine,

Golden trees

Laden with the dazzling diamonds,

Wonderful flowers

In bloom for a thousand years,

This land of gold

Inlaid with the gems!

The pavilions of gold were

Strewn at random, clustered in multitude.

Someone was playing chess

Someone was chatting…

Quaint clothes

Colossal statures

Miraculous eyes-

Happy and comfortable!

White cranes

Flying in the sky,

Husbands and wives

Crowing leisurely!

Beside an old man I approached

As if he were waiting for me

In this golden pavilion!

He opened an ancient sword casket-

A glittering ancient sword

Engraved with abstruse words and expressions,

Which were clear and transparent, like lightning

Dimly glowed with purplish-red patterns!

He told me a metaphysical epic:

The sword came from nine billions years ago,

Made from hundreds of millions of suns!

It was a sacred sword of the sun-

It could pierce the rocks of time,

Open layer after layer of skies,

Let the sacred fires forge the heaven and the earth

Into golden paradises!

The old man’s eyes were deep, archaic, difficult to discern-

Dimly showing the joyful flames

He let me take this sword

To fly towards a new golden paradise

The huge golden lotus floated leisurely-

I flew among the skies, for a thousand miles.

Huge pyramids

Loomed impressively in front of my eyes

Mountainous figures of giants

Walked about in front of the pyramid,

The huge pyramids of gold

Far taller than the mountains!

The giant trees of gold

Like a forest

Stood in the sky

Laden with the stars!

The multi-colored propitious clouds

Were like a colossal bird

In a silvery sky,

Crowing joyfully!

I came to the front of a pyramid-

A door was opening wide for me,

A group of blond giants

Sat with smiles in the grand palace!

An old and great holy man

Recited in monotone

The temple was painted with the magical symbols

And giant portraits of Gods!

The palace was full of silvery white light

Blooming with magnificent flowers,

A peal of wonderful mellifluous bells

That made one suddenly forget all time

I heard an immemorial verse

That was written hundreds of millions of years past,

Relating countless eras of giants,

The creation of the holy kingdoms of heaven!

Their wisdom was sacred and great

Knowing, omniscently, the past and the future of the universe

They flew freely among the skies

Landed on the millions of planets in the universe!

They altered time per one’s pleasure,

Encompassed other powers, such as-

Turning stone into gold,

Making gold bloom into flowers!

They were like the bulbous sun,

That could erupt with sacred flames

Let all things blaze in raging flames..

Manifest imagination into reality..

They landed on planets

Establishing golden paradises

And with their magical, cryptic wisdom

Built platinum cities!

I saw the splendid words

Spied from the volume of gold

And the magical wonderful halos

Rotating like colorful lightning in the sky.

I came to another wonderful planet,

Saw a massive monumental edifice of platinum,

The whole city, an intricate work of art

Emanating, softly, a brilliant white light!

A huge round square

Encased unearthly works

Giants of great stature

Came and went leisurely in the street.

They wore Spartan, common clothing

Covering their bodies,

All with smiles upon their faces,

Both men and women looked beautiful.  

They spoke a wonderful language

Intriguing and pleasant as welcome music

Some of them travelled by spaceship

Flying around silently in the sky!

I walked into a towering edifice of platinum-

Saw a magnificent hall,

Its platinum walls were inlaid with gems,

Among which was a row of unusual instruments.

Their eyes were like bright springs

And they wore multi-colored clothes.

Some were operating the instruments.

Some were talking softly among themselves.

I saw a fascinating picture, a simulacrum that

Drew giant planets,

Arranged cities on those planets,

With crystal gardens!

I opened a crystal door-

Noticed a group of men and women, who were happily,

Singing softly,

With glittering books of gold in their hands!

Arrangements of flowers and glasses filled of golden wine

Sat on the huge round table

Golden walls were sparkling

Carved with all kinds of wonderful images!

I saw a demure girl,

With sparkling golden halo above her head,

Adorned in a lengthy purple-gold dress

Peerless in its quality!

Pages- were marked with cryptic glyphs

Or lines of ancient magic words or symbols,

Each of their books were made of gold

Inexplicably constructed in golden crystal!

I understood their euphonious songs-

They were singing the sacred love

They were singing great ancestors

They were recounting the civilization of the universe

Gardens filled their city, everywhere,

Surrounded with the sweet rivers

The whole earth was a piece of jade,

The clay, a translucent layer of golden sands!

I saw enormous bright, white spheres

Suspended high above the city,

Emanating outwards a dazzling light-

Illuminating the skies and earth- bright as the crystal

The towering, great buildings stood in great numbers

As if carved by a singular piece of platinum

Doves and colorful birds

Were flying among the heavens!

A mono-train was

Flying swiftly through the sky,

The streets were illuminated in bright white,

And any moving vehicle could not have been seen.

These people’s bodies were unusually strong.

Playing a wonderful game-

They piled up the pieces of great stones

Arranging into grotesque works!

Similar to giant eyes

And ancient totems,

There were strange birds

Covered with lightning feathers!

I saw a couple of tall lovers-

Aviators, riding in their spaceship

Their eyes were quiet and bright,

Colorful halo around their bodies!

This wonderful space was gyrating leisurely

Like a huge, resplendent crystal.

I said goodbye to the unusual city,

Towards a space of golden light!

The cities flashed in the sky.

I flew over the layers of the sky again

And I saw a new-fangled world:

The multi-colored city of crystal!

The high towers were exquisitely carved

Displaying multi-colored pearls,

Layers of its eave painted with dragon and phoenix,

Hung with singing golden bells!

The earth was a crystal garden,

The palaces were limpid and crystal,    

Huge mountains were like transparent gems

Lined with the golden trees!

I saw the tall giants-

Who wore their purple clothes

With heads of round suns,

Bodies enshrined with halos.

They sat up in the main halls 

Singing a mellifluous song

Some were roaming leisurely in the garden.

Some were summoning the birds in the sky.

The crystalline airy pavilions and pagodas

Were beset with jewels and agates,

A huge jewel on the spire,

Shining golden lights!

I saw a holy giant

Sitting in the middle of a main hall

The purple-gold flame, flashed around his body,

That filled with the whole majestic main hall!

Full-bodied fragrance filled the hall

Like a cup of refreshing wine.

Solemn expression was merciful and joyful,

A huge book was in his hand.

The hall was full of men and women

Listening quietly to the psalms of the saints,

The lotuses were floating in the sky

Where the smiling giants sat!

The golden light poured down from the sky

Bathing the whole of this crystal kingdom

The jewels above the giant towers-

The golden suns!

The golden walls of a golden tower

Were carved with the lines of golden words I had glimpsed-

Hovering around the dragons and phoenixes,

As if they were intonating the inspiring poems.

The smiling giants in the sky-

With wide halo flashing around their bodies,

Were each dignified and tranquil,

Floating in the golden translucent sky!

I flew over this crystal kingdom,

Saw a vast golden mountain in the distance

Sending out the brilliant lights in the sky

Where the propitious clouds were blossoming!

This was a golden giant

Sitting in the golden translucent sky

His body composed of thousands of millions of constellations

The golden sun rotating on his forehead!

He lit up the whole marvelous universe-

The kingdoms of heaven shone in the sky.

Here there was no the sky nor earth,

Lights of pure gold emanated in every direction.

The smiling giants were sitting

On the gold-engraved pavilions

The pavilions levitated in the translucent sky

Shining the layers of purple-gold light!

A scene of multi-colored translucent mountains,

Propitious clouds floating in the heavens,

Large wonderful flowers blooming in the mountain peaks,

Trees of pure light!

A river flowed from the sky

And with river bottom reflecting a layer of golden sand.

There were strange and beautiful birds and beasts

Some like aerial phantoms.

This was a world of light.

Everything was made of light.

The divine light formed all things

And the golden paradises!

The golden giant-

Shines the kingdoms of heaven within his body

The cities of gold-

Brilliant and fascinating in his bones!

I observed lines, words of incredible profundity

Arranged into a huge book in the sky

It seemed as if they were the bright stars

Constituting a wondrous drawing!

There was a golden pavilion in the sky

Guarded with behemoth dragons and phoenixes

An old man with a whisk

Waved to me and smiled in the pavilion!

I seem to be attracted by some sort of magic-

Leisurely came to his side.

He told me the golden giant

Was namely my great ancestor!

This was an eternal palace-

There’s no concept of time here.

Holy light- was exactly the God.

What I witnessed was better than the heavens.

He pointed to the huge book in the sky

Told me that it was the mystery of the universe

The book contained magical wisdom,

Created the countless worlds of gold!

He pointed to a pagoda in the sky,

Told me that it was the temple of words

The light turned into the sacred words,

And the words created the time of gold.

He held up a very large pearl

In which flashed the pictures (and all images).

He told me that it was the future time-

The embodiment of all the wonderful worlds!

He told me that it was another universe.

Still desiring to go to these paradises,

He gave me the magical pearl,

To let it be my future guide.

I said goodbye to the old holy man,

Set afoot onto a new road towards the heavens again.

I sat in a golden pavilion-

Lightly flew to the distant outer space…

_______________________

Translated from Chinese by Yuanbing Zhang

Yuanbing Zhang, born in China in 1974, is a poet and translator, works in a Middle School, Yanzhou District, Jining City, Shandong Province, China. He is interested particularly in researching and translating the works of Mr. Hongri Yuan. His poetry translations have been widely published in the UK, USA, India, New Zealand, Canada and Nigeria. Yuanbing Zhang can be reached at email:3112362909@qq.com

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