Sending Off Qian Qi From His Official Residence to Lantian
送 钱 少 府 还 蓝 田
草 色 日 向 好
桃 源 人 去 稀。
手 持 平 子 赋
目 送 老 莱 衣。
每 候 山 樱 发
时 同 浩 燕 归。
今 年 寒 食 酒
应 得 返 柴 扉。
Song Qian Shao Fu Huan Lan Tian
Cao se ri xiang hao
Tao yuan ren qu xi.
Shou chi ping zi fu
Mu song lao lai yi.
Mei hou shan ying fa
Shi tong hai yan gui.
Jin nian han shi jiu
Ying de fan chai fei.
Sending Off Qian Qi From His Official Residence to Lantian
Grass colors get greener day by day
Peach Blossom River Source people are few and far between.
Holding the poem Pingzi Fu in my hand
Watching you go, your family can depend on you as a filial son.
Every time the mountain cherry trees bloom
At the same time the swallows return.
This year on Qing Ming day
You should be in your home town.
Notes:
Lantian: Region and modern-day county about thirty-five miles southeast of the capital city of Chang’an. Location of Wang Wei’s vacation home.
Peach Blossom River Source: Literary allusion to a famous poem by Tao Yuanming (365-427). Specifically it means a time and place of paradise. The poem and biographical data can also be found on this website.
Qing Ming: The fifteenth day after the Spring Equinox, and observed for over 2,500 years in eastern Asia. Also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, it is a day to go to the tombs of one’s ancestors to light incense, tidy up around their tomb, and to revere their contributions to the generations.
