登(dēnɡ)鹳(ɡuàn)雀(què)楼(lóu)

王(wánɡ)之(zhī)涣(huàn)〔唐(tánɡ)代(dài)〕

白(bái)日(rì)依(yī)山(shān)尽(jìn)，

黄(huánɡ)河(hé)入(rù)海(hǎi)流(liú)。

欲(yù)穷(qiónɡ)千(qiān)里(lǐ)目(mù)，

更(ɡènɡ)上(shànɡ)一(yì)层(cénɡ)楼(lóu)。

Explanation of Ancient Chinese Poetry

Standing on a tall building, I see the setting sun slowly descending beside the mountains, while the mighty Yellow River flows turbulently towards the sea. To catch a glimpse of scenery a thousand miles away, one must ascend to an even higher floor.

Annotations

  • 鹳雀楼 (Guànquè lóu): The ancient site is located in Yongji City, Shanxi Province. It faces Mount Zhongtiao in the front and overlooks the Yellow River below. It is named so because it is said that storks and sparrows often rest here.
  • 白日 (Bái rì): The sun.
  • 依 (Yī): To lean against.
  • 尽 (Jìn): To disappear. This phrase means the sun sets leaning against the mountains.
  • 欲 (Yù): The desire to obtain something or achieve a certain goal, but also means hope or want.
  • 穷 (Qióng): To reach the extreme or end.
  • 千里目 (Qiānlǐ mù): Wide vision.
  • 更 (Gèng): Again.

Creation Backgrounds

This poem is one of the six quatrains that have survived from Wang Zhihuan, a poet of the Tang Dynasty. Some say that Wang Zhihuan passed the imperial examination in his early years and served as the clerk of the county magistrate’s office in Hengshui, Jizhou (now Hengshui, Hebei Province).

Soon after, he was dismissed from his office due to false accusations and led a life of visiting friends and traveling. Wang Zhihuan was only 35 years old when he wrote this poem. Scholar Li Ximi speculated that the Guanque Tower was located in Puzhou, Pingyang Prefecture (now Pu County, Shanxi Province), which belonged to the same southern Shanxi region as Wang Zhihuan’s hometown of Jiangzhou.

Therefore, this poem might have been written by Wang Zhihuan when he returned to his hometown after being dismissed from his office, roughly between the fifteenth year (727) and the twenty-ninth year (741) of Emperor Tang玄宗’s reign, known as the Kaiyuan period.