[updated October 2022]
In Xuanzhou, Kai Yuan Temple River Pavilion
题 宣 州 开 元 寺 水 阁
六 朝 文 物 草 连 空
天 澹 云 闲 今 古 同。
鸟 去 鸟 来 山 色 里
人 歌 人 哭 水 声 中。
深 秋 帘 幕 千 家 雨
落 日 楼 台 一 笛 风。
惆 怅 无 因 见 范 蠡
参 差 烟 树 五 湖 东。
Ti Xuan Zhou Kai Yuan Si Shui Ge
Liu zhao wen wu cao lian kong
Tian dan yun xian jin gu tong
Niao qu niao lai shan se li
Ren ge ren ku shui sheng zhong.
Shen qiu lian mu qian jia yu
Luo ri lou tai yi di feng.
Chou chang wu yin jian fan li
Can cha yan shu wu hu dong.
In Xuanzhou, Kai Yuan Temple River Pavilion
After six dynasties, cultural relics empty of grass and lotus
Today’s sky tranquil, clouds at leisure, ancient and current times
share these feelings.
Inside birds depart to and arrive from the mountain colors
Amid these river sounds, people sing and people cry.
Late autumn curtains and screens of rain upon one thousand houses
Setting sun, towers and terraces with one flute sound.
Melancholy not because of seeing Fandi
Misty trees east of Five Lakes on different levels.
Notes:
Xuanzhou: Now a district of the city Xuancheng in Anhui Province. Built in 109 BC, west of the larger and more famous city of Suzhou.
Kai Yuan Temple: Buddhist temple located in Quanzhou, Fujian Province. Built in 685-686 during the Tang Dynasty.
Fandi: (b. 517 BC) Statesman, military planner, diplomat, economist and Daoist considered by many to have been the richest person in Chinese history. Famous for living in a fishing boat on Lake Tai with the beauty Xi Shi.
Five Lakes: Five freshwater lakes in the east and central China. They are the Tai, Hongze, Chao, Poyang and Dongting Lakes.