STUDY IN CHINA GLOBAL (SCG)Yue Yang Watchtower
岳 阳 楼
八 月 湖 水 平
含 虚 混 太 清。
气 蒸 云 梦 泽
波 动 岳 阳 城。
欲 济 无 舟 楫
端 居 耻 圣 明。
坐 观 垂 钓 者
空 有 羡 鱼 情。
Yue Yang Lou
Ba yue hu shui ping
Han xu hun tai qing.
Qi zheng yun meng ze
Bo dong yue yang cheng.
Yu ji wu zhou ji
Duan ju chi sheng ming
Zuo guan chui diao zhe
Kong you xian yu qing.
Yue Yang Watchtower
Lake water in August is calm
So clear and transparent, the whole sky mixes and shares the light.
Rising morning mists over the surrounding marshes and wetlands
Moving like waves over Yue Yang city.
I yearn to move across, but the boat is without oars
During this time of Enlightenment, my humiliation for being so inactive.
Here I sit watching the fishermen
In vain, with jealousy admire their circumstances.
Notes:
Yue Yang: City in the northeast corner of Hunan Province, on the southern shores of Dongting Lake. This tower is a multistoried structure dedicated to the drinking of tea. Before the Tang dynasty, it was a watchtower, or guard tower, on one of the city’s outer walls. Since earlier times, the wall has fallen down, but the watchtower remains. The local mayor had written over 100 poems about it.
To move across, but has no oars: He wants to go work for the emperor, but lacks the inside connections to obtain his goal.
Time of Enlightenment: Tang dynasty considered the Chinese Age of
Enlightenment by many, including Meng Haoren.
Watching the fishermen: An old Han dynasty story where one needs to go home and make your own fishing net. You do not have to passively watch while others fish. Along with the woodcutters, fishermen are symbolic of those who follow the Way (Dao).
