Red Cliff
A broken halberd lies in sand, its iron not yet worn away;
I polish and wash it, recognising an earlier age.
Had the east wind not favoured young Zhou Yu,
The two Qiaos might have been confined in Copper Sparrow Tower.
Notes
A ji is an ancient weapon. The east wind recalls conditions associated with the Battle of Red Cliffs; Zhou Lang is Zhou Yu. Copper Sparrow Tower was built by Cao Cao, and the two Qiaos were wives of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu. The last line imagines an alternative outcome, not a recorded event.
Meaning
An old weapon prompts an imagined alternative to the Battle of Red Cliffs if the east wind had not favoured Zhou Yu.
Appreciation
A broken weapon in sand gives the historical reflection a concrete beginning.
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The act of cleaning and recognising it leads the speaker toward an earlier conflict.
The final couplet imagines what might have happened without a favourable east wind.
The imagined captivity of the Qiao sisters is a poetic counterfactual, not a historical report.
About the poet
Du Mu (803–852), courtesy name Muzhi, was a Tang poet and official from the area of present-day Xi’an. His works include Mountain Journey, Spring in Jiangnan and the prose-poem Efang Palace.
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Life: Du Mu held posts in the Yangzhou area and later served in regional offices, including Huangzhou and Chizhou.
Works: Alongside Qingming, his well-known writing includes Mountain Journey, Spring in Jiangnan and Efang Palace.