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Guò Líng Dīng YángCrossing the Lingding Sea 过零丁洋
Wen Tianxiang's defiant poem as a Mongol prisoner.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
辛苦遭逢起一经
xīn kǔ zāo féng qǐ yī jīng
干戈寥落四周星
gān gē liáo luò sì zhōu xīng
山河破碎风飘絮
shān hé pò suì fēng piāo xù
身世浮沉雨打萍
shēn shì fú chén yǔ dǎ píng
惶恐滩头说惶恐
huáng kǒng tān tóu shuō huáng kǒng
零丁洋里叹零丁
líng dīng yáng lǐ tàn líng dīng
人生自古谁无死
rén shēng zì gǔ shuí wú sǐ
留取丹心照汗青
liú qǔ dān xīn zhào hàn qīng
Simplified characters; traditional title: 過零丁洋.
English translation
Delving in the Book of Change, I rose through hardship's years;
Four years of war have left me in ruins and tears.
Mountains and rivers shattered like wind-blown willow down;
My life drifts like duckweed beaten in rain of the town.
At Fearful Shoals I spoke of fear;
On Lonely Ocean I sigh alone.
Since olden days who could leave no death behind?
Leave a loyal heart to shine in history's annals of mind.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
The poem moves from his career (the examinations) to four years of war, then to two parallel images of collapse: the country like willow catkins in the wind, himself like duckweed in the rain. The third couplet plays on two place names, Fear Rapids and Lonely Sea, to describe his feelings. The final couplet is among the most famous lines in Chinese patriotism: everyone dies, but a loyal heart can shine forever in history.
Background
Written in 1279 when the captured Wen Tianxiang was taken by ship across the Lingding Sea (near the Pearl River mouth). The Yuan general asked him to write to the last Song loyalists urging surrender; he wrote this instead.
Key words
- 干戈 gān gē
- shield and spear; war
- 惶恐滩 Huángkǒng Tān
- the Rapids of Fear
- 零丁 líng dīng
- alone, forlorn
- 汗青 hàn qīng
- historical records (bamboo slips)
About the poet: Wen Tianxiang
Wen Tianxiang was a top examination graduate and chief minister who led resistance to the Mongol conquest. Captured, he refused every offer to serve the Yuan and was executed; he is China's model of loyalty.
Lifetime: 1236–1283. Other famous works: Song of Righteousness (正气歌); Crossing the Lingding Sea (过零丁洋).