To the Tune Nian Nu Jiao: Remembering Red Cliff
The great river flows east; its waves have washed away all the gallant men of a thousand ages.
West of the old ramparts, they say, lies the Red Cliff of Zhou of the Three Kingdoms.
Jagged rocks pierce the sky, startling waves beat upon the shore, rolling up a thousand heaps of snow.
The land is like a painting — how many heroes there were in that one time!
I think back upon Gongjin in his day, when Xiao Qiao had just been wed to him, so proud and splendid in his prime.
Feather fan and silk head-band: in the midst of talk and laughter, the masted warships turned to ash and smoke.
In spirit I roam the old battlefield; surely I should be laughed at for such sentiment — my hair has turned grey too soon.
Life is like a dream — let me pour one cup to the moon upon the river.
Reading notes
Variants include 崩云 for 穿空, 强虏 for 樯橹, and 人间 for 人生; 尊 also appears as 樽. The image of Xiao Qiao newly married is poetic recollection, rather than a claim that her wedding and the battle occurred in the same year. 多情应笑我 has differing grammatical interpretations; this translation follows the speaker’s self-mockery. This page retains the older reading huán for 还; hái is also used in modern reading when it means “rather” or “still.”