Zhang Tingyu's Beyond This Single Tree Ailing, Myriad Woods Thrive Without Failing! 张廷玉 沉舟侧畔轻帆过, 病树前头万木春! Poem by Frank Yue

"Along The Thousand-Miles Great Wall,
Now. Where Gone Have The Soldiers All? "
- by ZHANG TINGYU (1672 - 1755)
- Translated by Frank C Yue

Going to the South and the North,
From East and West people come forth.
Like a mary-go-round -day in,
Day out -labouring they are seen.
From the start, empty were the Earth
And Skies: How many owners at birth?
In the still of the night deep,
The clear third-watch drum I hear;
Turning about, trying to sleep,
Sounds of the fifth-watch bell are near.

In a mood for meditation,
Pondering how we first began -
Everything is just illusion,
An elaborate dream in vain.
After all the toil and suffering,
Nothing to show for one's offering.
After death, all of us must
Return to the earth as dust.
When buried is our body
Gone with the wind our energy.

Our large stretch of thin skin naughty
Becomes pungent goo in potty.
You could have bought fine fields and mines,
Before you own final demise.
When the Great Leveller comes along
Your plot is only three-strides long!
In the end, all people must die;
Bury bones in fertile land -Why?
Live life to the full, it's advice sound;
Everywhere green hills may be found.

Along the thousand-miles Great Wall,
Now, where gone have the soldiers all?
For hundreds of generation,
The Hero's dream is mere delusion.
Of the sunken boat, by the side,
Many other sails lightly glide.
Beyond this single tree ailing,
Myriad woods thrive without failing!


《万里长城万里空》清 • 张廷玉


南来北往走西东, 人生杳杳在其中；

天也来空地也空, 换了多少主人公。

夜静听得三更鼓, 翻身不觉五更钟；

从头仔细思量起, 便是南柯一梦中。

一场辛苦一场空, 死后还归泥土中。


身归泥土气随风, 一片顽皮化臭胧；

在身置得万倾田, 死后只得三步地。

埋骨何须桑梓地, 人生无处不青山。

万里长城万里空, 百世英雄百世梦；

沉舟侧畔轻帆过, 病树前头万木春!(沉舟側畔千帆過)