Send Off Zhao Du Du to Daizhou With the Given Rhyming Word of “Qing”
送 赵 都 督 赴 代 州 得 青 字
天 官 动 将 星
汉 地 柳 条 青。
万 里 鸣 刁 斗
三 军 出 井 陉。
忘 身 辞 凤 阙
报 国 取 龙 庭。
岂 学 书 生 辈
窗 间 老 一 经！
Song Zhao Du Du Fu Dai Zhou De Qing Zi
Tian guan dong jiang xing
Han di liu tiao qing.
Wan li ming diao dou
San jun chu jing xing.
Wang shen ci feng que
Bao guo qu long ting.
Qi xue shu sheng bei
Chuang jian lao yi jing !
Send Off Zhao Du Du to Daizhou With the Given Rhyming Word as “Qing”
Astrological signs, the stars move creating a challenge
Throughout the country, willow branches are green.
For thousands of miles the ringing sounds of the diao dou
Three armed bodies file out of the village to the mountain passes.
Forget your life as you leave the imperial palace gate
Dedicated to the service of one’s country by capturing the dragon courtyard.
Why not study books, to nurture a certain kind of person
At the light of an open window, until death reading just one canon.
Notes:
Zhao Du Du: A Han Dynasty general
Daizhou: A town in Shaanxi province
“Qing”: A poetry convention where one word is given, then a group of poets take turns creating lines that are required to use this word as the poem’s rhyming word throughout.
Astrological signs: In ancient China, common beliefs that large stars were directly connected to very important people doing very important things. So when the stars move into a certain position, the time for a general to lead an army into battle is given.
Diao dou: A bronze pan of one decaliter dry measure, used to carry food during the day, and then as a drum when empty at night.
