336 t He y uan, m i ng, anD q i ng Dy na s t i e s
8 Dynasties rise,
The common folk suffer;
10 Dynasties fall,
The common folk suffer.
[QYSQ 1:437]【中呂】山坡羊 潼關懷古
([zhōng lǚ] shān pō yáng tóng guān huái gŭ)
peak mountain like congest 峰巒如聚 ▲
(fēng luán rú jù)
wave billow like angry 波濤如怒 ▲
(bō tāo rú nù)
mountain river outside inside Tong Pass Road 山河表裡潼關路 ▲
(shān hé biăo lĭ tóng guān lù)
gaze West Capital 望西都 △
(wàng xī dū)
mind hesitate — 意躊躇 △
(yì chóu-chú)
hurt heart Qin Han pass walk place 傷心秦漢經行處 ▲
(shāng xīn qín hàn jīng xíng chù)
palace terrace ten thousand room all become already dirt 宮闕萬間都做了土 ▲
(gōng què wàn jiān dōu zuò liăo tŭ)
rise 興^
(xīng)
hundred clan suffer 百姓苦 ▲
(băi xìng kŭ)
fall 亡^
(wáng)
hundred clan suffer 百姓苦 ▲
(băi xìng kŭ)
The poet begins the song by directing the reader’s eye to the road that runs
through Tong Pass, which guards the passage to the ancient Western Capital and
has witnessed numerous bloody battles. Two verbs—“press” and “rage”—are used
in lines 1 and 2 to personify the ruggedness of the geography. The static mountains
are thus set in motion, and the irresistible force of the running river is vividly
brought forth, suggesting the fierceness of the military conflicts staged in this
locale in ancient times. The personification also lends feelings to the mountain
ridges and the river waves, so much so that it seems as though they are responding
to the poet’s thoughtful gaze. The phrase “between the mountains and the river”
in line 3 is a quote from the classic Zuo zhuan (Zuo Commentary on the “Spring and
Autumn Annals” ), in which a military strategist uses the phrase to illustrate the