Listen to this article[The first poem in a series of three written in 757 by Du Fu (杜甫) at the age of 45. The setting is a Qiang village (羌村) in the far western Sichuan province. Du Fu and his family took refuge here during the early years of the An Lushan Rebellion (755-763).]
Qiang Village 1
In the west the mountains are high and steep, the sky is red,
In a peaceful valley the sun sets.
At the wicker gate a sparrow sings,
As I come home from a long, long trip.
My wife and children are surprised,
But calm themselves and wipe their tears.
Through this chaotic life I have drifted,
By chance surviving all ordeals.
Over the wall our neighbors lean,
They cry too and weep.
Late at night by candlelight,
We two face each other dreamlike.
Tang China 757
Under threat by the rebellious General An Lushan in 756, the Imperial court fled the capital of Chang’an for Sichuan. In January of 757 AD, An Lushan was killed by his own son An Qingxu. At the fortress of Suiyang, the Tang forces fought to the death. Though the rebels won, the tide had turned in the war against the rebels.
Du Fu like other poets of the period was caught up in the troubles of the An Lushan Rebellion. At the time the rebels captured Chang’an, Du Fu had luckily been away, but he was subsequently captured and taken to the rebel held Chang’an. In 757, he escaped and made his way south to the court in exile. In September he was granted leave to see his family and his new son, Du Zongwu (Baby Bear).
Qiang Village
Du Fu does not identify the Qiang village where his family lived. The Qiang people (羌族) generally refers to a small ethnic minority that lived in a mountainous region in northwestern Sichuan at the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau.
“Above the lofty mountains the western sky is red.” To the common people, red symbolizes good fortune and, it is believed, red lanterns ward off evil. Thus, our tiny Qiang village has the good fortune of being far from the war, but, as we shall see in poem 2, also suffers pain that accompanies war.
Chinese and Pinyin
qiāng cūn (yī)
zhēng róng chì yún xī
rì jiǎo xià píng dì
chái mén niǎo què zào
guī kè qiān lǐ zhì
qī nú guài wǒ zài
jīng dìng hái shì lèi
shì luàn zāo piāo dàng
shēng huán ǒu rán suì
lín rén mǎn qiáng tóu
gǎn tàn yì xū xī
yè lán gèng bǐng zhú
xiāng duì rú mèng mèi
羌村 (一)
峥嵘赤云西
日脚下平地
柴门鸟雀噪
归客千里至
妻孥怪我在
惊定还拭泪
世乱遭飘荡
生还偶然遂
邻人满墙头
感叹亦歔欷
夜阑更秉烛
相对如梦寐
