English Rendering
Breaking Mount Heaven's Gate，the great River rolls through,
Is east-lowing green billows, hurled back here, turn north.
From the two river banks thrust out the mountains blue,
Leaving the sun behind,a lonely sail comes forth.
Mount Heaven's Gate Viewed from Afar
- Poetry of Li Bai (Li Po)
《望天门山》
Original Text (中文原文)
天门中断楚江开，碧水东流至此回。
两岸青山相对出，孤帆一片日边来。
Analysis & Context
Composed around 725 CE when the young Li Bai first left his homeland in Sichuan and sailed east past Tianmen Mountain, this work captures the poet's inaugural encounter with the Wu-Chu region's majestic landscape. The breathtaking rivers and mountains resonated deeply with his ambitious spirit, producing this masterpiece hailed as "divine work of landscape poetry." The poem not only depicts natural wonders but also achieves perfect fusion between the poet's spirit and cosmic grandeur.
Reader's Companion
The Essence of the Verse
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
Reading Between the Lines
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
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