Surrounded by hills, this old capital, its environs still in place---
Flood-tides still storm the empty city, and ebb, and quiet befalls.
East of the waters of Qinhuai River, that same old ancient moon,
Deep in the night, still climbs across the jagged battlement walls.
Translated by Andrew W.F. Wong (Huang Hongfa)
山围故国周遭在，潮打空城寂寞回。
淮水东边旧时月，夜深还过女墙来。
Liu Yuxi, a Tang dynasty poet, composed Five Poems of Jinling in 826 CE during the second year of Emperor Jingzong’s Baoli reign. At that time, Liu was returning to Luoyang after completing his term as governor of Hezhou. Passing through Jinling (present-day Nanjing), he was filled with deep emotion for the once-glorious yet now-abandoned capital of the Six Dynasties. This poem, inspired by the scenery of Shitou City, reflects his profound lament for the rise and fall of dynasties and the transience of human affairs.
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