To Zhang Gongcao on the Night of the Mid-Autumn Festival
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
清风吹空月舒波。
沙平水息声影绝，
一杯相属君当歌。
君歌声酸辞且苦，
不能听终泪如雨。
洞庭连天九疑高，
蛟龙出没猩鼯号。
十生九死到官所，
幽居默默如藏逃。
下床畏蛇食畏药，
海气湿蛰熏腥臊。
昨者州前捶大鼓，
嗣皇继圣登夔皋。
赦书一日行万里，
罪从大辟皆除死。
迁者追回流者还，
涤瑕荡垢清朝班。
州家申名使家抑，
坎轲只得移荆蛮。
判司卑官不堪说，
未免捶楚尘埃间。
同时辈流多上道，
天路幽险难追攀。
君歌且休听我歌，
我歌今与君殊科。
一年明月今宵多，
人生由命非由他。
有酒不饮奈明何。
English translation
Thin clouds roll away on every side, no Milky Way in the sky; a clear wind sweeps the void, the moon spreads out her waves.
The sands lie level, the waters are still, all sound and shadow gone; one cup pledged to you — you must sing.
Your song's voice is bitter and its words full of sorrow; I cannot hear it to the end before my tears fall like rain.
Dongting merges with the sky, Jiuyi towers high; dragons rise and sink, gibbons and flying squirrels cry.
Through nine deaths out of ten lives I came to my place of office; I live hidden and silent, like one in hiding from the world.
Getting out of bed I fear snakes, at meals I fear poison; the sea's damp, torpid air reeks with a fishy stench.
Yesterday before the prefecture they beat the great drum: the successor to the sage throne has risen, raising men like Kui and Gao.
The writ of pardon travels ten thousand leagues in a day; crimes even of death are all spared from dying.
The banished are recalled, the exiled return; flaws washed away, filth purged, the court's ranks swept clean.
The prefecture sent up my name, but the commissioner blocked it; thwarted, I could only be shifted to the Jing barbarians.
A petty clerk's post — too wretched to speak of; I could not escape the beatings amid the dust.
Many of my contemporaries are on the road back to the capital; the way to heaven is dark and perilous, hard to climb.
Rest your song a while and hear mine — my song tonight is of a different order from yours.
Of all the year's bright moons, tonight's is the fullest; life is ruled by fate, and not by anything else.
With wine before me and not to drink it — what shall I do about the moon?
Meaning
Thin clouds scatter on every side; no trace of the Milky Way in the sky. The clear wind parts the mist, and moonlight like water spreads all around.
The sandbar is level, the ripples still, sound and shadow both gone; I raise my cup and urge you to drink, and beg you to sing aloud.
Your song is bitter, your words mournful; before I could hear it out, my tears fall like rain.
Dongting Lake joins the edge of the sky, the Jiuyi Mountains rise into the clouds; dragons surface in the water, gibbons and flying squirrels wail in the hills.
Through nine chances of death in ten did we reach the place of our posting, only to live in silent seclusion, like fugitives in hiding.
Getting out of bed I fear meeting venomous snakes, at meals I fear swallowing poison; in the damp southern air there lurks a rank and fishy reek.
Yesterday the great drum was beaten before the prefectural gate: the new emperor has taken the throne and employs worthy men as Shun employed Kui and Gao Yao.
The edict of amnesty travels ten thousand li in a single day; even those sentenced to death have their sentences remitted.
Background
Read the background
This poem was written at Chenzhou at mid-autumn in 805 (the first year of the Yongzhen era). The Zhang Gongcao of the title is Zhang Shu. In 803 (the nineteenth year of the Zhenyuan era of Emperor Dezong of Tang), Han Yu and Zhang Shu had spoken to Emperor Dezong on the subject of the drought, arguing vehemently against the abuses of the palace market; Han Yu was demoted to be magistrate of Yangshan, and when two general amnesties followed, someone obstructed matters each time, so that he was never recalled to the capital but merely transferred to Jiangling. On learning the news of this transfer, Han Yu wrote this poem and presented it to Zhang Shu, whose fate had been the same.