Series of Fine Readings on Chinese Classical Poetry: Du Fu (Traditional Chinese)

Author: Chen Caizhi / Country:
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-10-01
Features: War chariots rumble, horses neigh, archers draw their bows at their waists. Fathers and mothers, wives and children walk to bid farewell, dust obscuring the sight of the Xianyang Bridge. Tugging clothes, stamping feet, blocking the road in tears, their cries reach the heavens. Passersby by the roadside ask the traveler, but the traveler only says, "The draft is frequent." Some were sent north at fifteen to defend the river, and by forty were sent west to farm the fields. When they left, the local officials drove them away, but upon returning, they were white-haired and still guarding the frontier. The frontier bleeds like a sea of blood, yet the Emperor's desire to expand the borders has not ceased. Have you not heard? In the two hundred states of Shandong in the Han Dynasty, a thousand villages are desolate, overgrown with thorns and wild plants. Even if there are strong women wielding hoes, the fields are still barren, with no east or west. The Qin soldiers are tough and endure hardship, yet they are driven away like dogs and chickens. Even the elders ask, but the laborers dare not express their grievances? Take this winter, for example, the soldiers from Guanxi have not been rested. The officials urgently demand taxes, where will the revenue come from? It is known that having a son is bad, but having a daughter is better. A daughter may at least marry into a wealthy family, but a son is buried and lost among the grass. Have you not seen at the head of Qinghai Lake, the bones of the ancient dead, uncollected. The new ghosts are filled with grievances, crying in the gloom, their voices chirping in the damp rain. P19