Home › Poems › Gazing at Mount Tai
Wàng YuèGazing at Mount Tai 望岳
Young Du Fu looks up at Mount Tai and vows to stand above the lesser peaks.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
岱宗夫如何
dài zōng fū rú hé
齐鲁青未了
qí lǔ qīng wèi liǎo
造化钟神秀
zào huà zhōng shén xiù
阴阳割昏晓
yīn yáng gē hūn xiǎo
荡胸生曾云
dàng xiōng shēng céng yún
决眦入归鸟
jué zì rù guī niǎo
会当凌绝顶
huì dāng líng jué dǐng
一览众山小
yī lǎn zhòng shān xiǎo
Simplified characters; traditional title: 望嶽.
English translation
How is Mount Dai, the ancestral peak?
Across Qi and Lu its blue goes on and on.
Creation has gathered its divine beauty here;
yin and yang split dusk from dawn.
Cloud layers rise and swell the breast;
eyes wide, I take in the homebound birds.
One day I shall stand on the summit,
and see the surrounding mountains small.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
How is Dai Zong?—clouds born from it, birds returning. Someday I will stand on the summit and see the surrounding mountains small. Young Du Fu's ambition matches the peak.
Background
Du Fu, young, gazing at Mount Tai and resolving to climb to its top.
Key words
- 岱宗 dài zōng
- key word in the poem
- 造化 zào huà
- key word in the poem
- 会当 huì dāng
- key word in the poem
About the poet: Du Fu
Du Fu (also romanized Tu Fu) lived through the An Lushan Rebellion, which tore apart the Tang empire and his own family life. His precise, compassionate poems record war, poverty and loyalty, earning him the titles "Sage of Poetry" and "poet-historian."
Lifetime: 712–770. Other famous works: Happy Rain on a Spring Night (春夜喜雨); The Prime Minister of Shu (蜀相); The Officer at Shihao Village (石壕吏); Thoughts While Traveling at Night (旅夜书怀); Qujiang (曲江); Meeting Li Guinian in Jiangnan (江南逢李龟年); Ballad of the Army Carts (兵车行); Moonlit Night (月夜); Spring View (春望); Climbing High (登高); Quatrain: Two Orioles (绝句·两个黄鹂鸣翠柳); On Yueyang Tower (登岳阳楼); My Thatched Hut Torn by the Autumn Wind (茅屋为秋风所破歌); Gazing at Mount Tai (望岳); A Guest Arrives (客至); Strolling by the River V (江畔独步寻花 其五); Strolling Alone by the River in Search of Flowers (江畔独步寻花); River Village (江村); Winter Solstice Eve (小至); Thinking of Li Bai on a Spring Day (春日忆李白); Easing the Heart by the Water Rail (水槛遣心); Quatrain (绝句); Casual Quatrain (绝句漫兴); For General Hua (赠花卿).
More by Du Fu
- Spring View春望
- Quatrain (The River Blue)绝句
- Climbing High登高
- On Yueyang Tower登岳阳楼
- Moonlit Night月夜
- Happy Rain on a Spring Night春夜喜雨
- Meeting Li Guinian in Jiangnan江南逢李龟年
- Qujiang曲江