Book XI 649
Nowadays, the four seas [the world] share the same culture, and
The best thing is to see the greatness of the superior nation.Sailing Laizhou Bay
Large grain vessels with tall masts
And the vast blue ocean under the clear sky.
The stars sparkle on the waves,
And the waves keep rolling until they touch the Milky Way.
As my boat approaches midocean, I mourn the death of ancient
w a r r i o r s.^19
Why should I seek Daoist immortals of the faraway Three
Islands?^20
Lying in the boat and looking up at the sky, I am excited
Because my boat floating on the sea sails toward heaven.Ancient King of the Eastern Barbarians
As I have heard, at the dawn of history,
Tan’gun descended from heaven and alighted on a tree.
When he descended to found this Eastern Kingdom,
It was the same age as that of Tang Yao.
How many generations since Tan’gun?
The years exceed a thousand.
Later, even in the reign of Jizi,
The kingdom was still called Chosŏn.however, threw the pass away. Later, the man became a chamberlain serving the emperor. He
passed through the palace gate to carry out the imperial order, and the gate guard instantly
recognized him, saying, “This is the scholar who threw away the pass.”
- Tian Heng (?–202 BC) was enfeoffed as the king of Qi by Xiang Yu. As Liu Bang
defeated Xiang Yu, Tian Heng escaped to an island on the sea with five hundred men who
were his followers. Liu Bang, now Emperor Gaozu, summoned Heng to his court in Luoyang.
Heng had no choice but to comply. However, when he had almost arrived at his destination,
Heng committed suicide. His five hundred followers, who heard of his death, also committed
suicide. - “Three Islands” here refers to the Three Divine Mountains (Mt. Sanshen), which are
allegedly located in the Boahi Sea: Penlai, Fanzhang, and Yingzhou. These mountains were
known to be the home of immortals. Legend has it that Qin Shi Huang dispatched thousands
of virgin boys and girls to these mountains to seek the elixir of immortality, without success.