Each culture is embedded with words, customs, literature, music or other patterns of expression to reflect its history. This is true about Chinese culture as well. With a history of more than 5,000 years, Chinese poetry has provided a format and a forum for both public and private expressions of deep emotions.
The series "Mastering Chinese Poetry" prepares a list of Chinese poems that offer clues to Chinese history and culture through ancient expressions. In the first episode, we look at one of the classic poems in the history of Chinese literature: On the Stork Tower.
At the beginning, the poet describes a beautiful view:
一开始，诗人描述了一幅美丽的景色：
bái rì yī shān jìn
白日依山尽
huáng hé rù hǎi liú
黄河入海流
The sun along the mountain bows;
The Yellow River seawards flows.
(Translated by Xu Yuanchong, Chinese translator)
（译者：许渊冲）
These ten characters describe a beautiful panoramic scene as the poet climbs the Stork Tower. The sun is about to set behind the mountain, and the Yellow River rushes into the ocean.
这十个汉字描绘了一个美丽的全景场景：当诗人登上鹳雀楼时，太阳即将落山，黄河汇入大海。
The Stork Tower, which served as a military look-out post, is located in Yongji City, north China’s Shanxi Province.
鹳雀楼古代最初是一个军事观察哨所，位于中国北方山西省永济市。
The Yellow River, one of the major rivers in China, was named after its color.
黄河是中国的主要河流之一，以其河水颜色得名。
The astonishing and vast view has given the poet an idea:
这一壮观和广阔的画面令诗人不由感叹：
yù qióng qiān lǐ mù
欲穷千里目
gèng shàng yì céng lóu
更上一层楼
You will enjoy a grander sight,
if you climb to a greater height.
(Translated by Xu Yuanchong, Chinese translator)
（译者：许渊冲）
After seeing the great view of the mountain and the river, the poet desires to see as far as he can. The last two lines indicate that the poet wishes to climb higher in the Stork Tower so as to see more and achieve more. The poem shows that the poet is broad-minded, with visionary ambition to reach the goal through hard work. He looks far ahead and aims high.
The poem was written by Chinese poet Wang Zhihuan during the glorious age of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). In modern times, Chinese people love to use these lines to encourage young people to work harder to have a better life, or to describe relationships in which cooperation among countries is vivid and broad like the panoramic scene pictured in the first line, while enhancing mutual development with a farsighted view.
Chinese people love to use poems to express their deep emotions. The glamour of Chinese culture and words is embodied by several words while comprising many messages. And you will find out more about Chinese poems at Mastering Chinese Poetry!
中国人喜欢用诗来表达他们深刻的情感。中国文化和文字的魅力正是体现在精妙的几个词中蕴含着许多信息。关注我们的节目，你会了解更多中国诗词！作者: yanting 时间: 2019-7-28 11:28
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