The best of my
colleagues
has been snatched away, 16 swept afar, to inspect a fortress.
Du Fu - 5
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Unauthenticated Download Date | 10/1/17 7:36 AM Seeing Off Attendant Censor Zhangsun (9) 301 Luckily there is nothing wrong with Xiong?
er,1 but Jizi is the one I dote on most.
2 Approaching old age, my loneliness in travel is extreme, 8 pained by these times, the chance to meet is remote.
With graying hair I scurry in the tent palace, appointed, I attend on the phoenix-belled palanquin.
The north palace towers are filled with demon vapors,3 12 but on the western meadows the white dew begins.
4 A cool wind, wild geese newly passing, with autumn rains fish will be born.
Farming in those deserted mountains?
16 in reflection on what has happened, at last I?
ll shoulder a hoe.
5.
10 Seeing Off Attendant Censor Zhangsun (9), Setting Off for a Position as Administrative Assistant in Wuwei The hooves of the dappled gray have recently been nailed,5 it has been covered well with a silver saddle.
In brocade robes, a lad with seals yellow and white,6 4 rides off on the Cross Rivers Road.
7 For this journey of ten thousand leagues I ask why do you take leave so hurriedly?
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The Son of Heaven worries about Liangzhou, 8 on a strict schedule I should arrive as soon as I can.
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1 Xiong?
er, ?
Bear-cub,?
was the child name of his son Zongwen.
2 Jizi, ?
Courser,?
was the child name of his son Zongwu.
3 That is, Chang?
an is still occupied by rebels.
4 The sign that autumn is coming.
5 A dappled gray was conventionally associated with an office in the censorate.
6 The brocade robe was a mark of Zhangsun?
s office.
The ?
yellow and white?
are gold and silver, the seals of Zhangsun?
s office.
7 Cross Rivers ( Yarkhoto) was in the northwestern frontier region; Wuwei (Liangzhou), where Zhangsun is headed, was north of Fengxiang.
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Unauthenticated Download Date | 10/1/17 7:36 AM Seeing Off Attendant Censor Zhangsun (9) 303 Last autumn the Hu horde rebelled,1 you cannot fail to sweep them away like lightning.
On this journey you will gather the remaining peasants,2 12 and will then revive the customs there.
My great uncle is the high commander,3 his reputation is as a senior of the realm.
The best of my colleagues has been snatched away, 16 swept afar, to inspect a fortress. This makes me unable to eat, and causes me unpleasant feelings. Such a man? s talented thoughts are vast, 20 a dark sea inundating the most remote isles. In drinking I have lost one of the poets, while the frontier has gotten a jewel of the realm. August Heaven grieves sending him so far, 24 clouds and rain are white and flooding. Beacon fires are still on the Eastern Meadow,4 people look gaunt and distressed in court and wilderness. If even the pillar of the furthest west collapses,5 28 how will it be possible to set aright the vault of sky? 1 The ? Hu? here refers to the Tibetans. 2 Presumably the Han Chinese farming population. 3 Du Hongjian. 4 That is, Chang? an. 5 That is, the fall of much of Wuwei Commandery. Unauthenticated Download Date | 10/1/17 7:36 AM 304 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 5. 11 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 4 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 8 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 12 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 16 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 20 ? ? ? ? ? ? Unauthenticated Download Date | 10/1/17 7:36 AM Seeing Off My Cousin Ya on His Way to His Post 305 5. 11 Seeing Off My Cousin Ya on His Way to His Post as Administrative Assistant in Anxi The south wind makes sounds of autumn,1 the atmosphere of destruction presses the blazing heat. 2 High summer, the bird of prey strikes, 4 when times are perilous, a rare person arrives. My fine cousin comes from the countryside, graying, you asked to discuss matters. A summons drew you into the palace, 8 where, plying your tongue, you stirred the ruler? s mind. Fifty military treatises find storage in your belly. You answered questions as smoothly as a rolling ball, 12 you explained, giving the gist of the texts. You always said new things about managing affairs, which could set the crown aright. The ancestral temples are still in ashes, 16 ruler and ministers all shed tears. The earth at Kongtong has lost its axis, in Qinghai the heavens are topsy-turvy. 3 The far west suffers the worst wounds, 20 linked mountains darken beacon fires night and day. 1 The south wind is the summer wind. 2 The ? atmosphere of destruction? here is the coming autumn, though it also suggests the violence of the times. 3 Both Mount Kongdong and Qinghai (Kokonor and the surrounding area)�were the territory of the military commissioner of Hexi. Presumably Du Fu is referring to the loss of Tang Central Asia territories to Tibet. Unauthenticated Download Date | 10/1/17 7:36 AM 306 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 24 ?
The best of my colleagues has been snatched away, 16 swept afar, to inspect a fortress. This makes me unable to eat, and causes me unpleasant feelings. Such a man? s talented thoughts are vast, 20 a dark sea inundating the most remote isles. In drinking I have lost one of the poets, while the frontier has gotten a jewel of the realm. August Heaven grieves sending him so far, 24 clouds and rain are white and flooding. Beacon fires are still on the Eastern Meadow,4 people look gaunt and distressed in court and wilderness. If even the pillar of the furthest west collapses,5 28 how will it be possible to set aright the vault of sky? 1 The ? Hu? here refers to the Tibetans. 2 Presumably the Han Chinese farming population. 3 Du Hongjian. 4 That is, Chang? an. 5 That is, the fall of much of Wuwei Commandery. Unauthenticated Download Date | 10/1/17 7:36 AM 304 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 5. 11 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 4 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 8 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 12 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 16 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 20 ? ? ? ? ? ? Unauthenticated Download Date | 10/1/17 7:36 AM Seeing Off My Cousin Ya on His Way to His Post 305 5. 11 Seeing Off My Cousin Ya on His Way to His Post as Administrative Assistant in Anxi The south wind makes sounds of autumn,1 the atmosphere of destruction presses the blazing heat. 2 High summer, the bird of prey strikes, 4 when times are perilous, a rare person arrives. My fine cousin comes from the countryside, graying, you asked to discuss matters. A summons drew you into the palace, 8 where, plying your tongue, you stirred the ruler? s mind. Fifty military treatises find storage in your belly. You answered questions as smoothly as a rolling ball, 12 you explained, giving the gist of the texts. You always said new things about managing affairs, which could set the crown aright. The ancestral temples are still in ashes, 16 ruler and ministers all shed tears. The earth at Kongtong has lost its axis, in Qinghai the heavens are topsy-turvy. 3 The far west suffers the worst wounds, 20 linked mountains darken beacon fires night and day. 1 The south wind is the summer wind. 2 The ? atmosphere of destruction? here is the coming autumn, though it also suggests the violence of the times. 3 Both Mount Kongdong and Qinghai (Kokonor and the surrounding area)�were the territory of the military commissioner of Hexi. Presumably Du Fu is referring to the loss of Tang Central Asia territories to Tibet. Unauthenticated Download Date | 10/1/17 7:36 AM 306 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 24 ?
