Visiting the Temple of Mount Heng and Lodging There
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
四方环镇嵩当中。
火维地荒足妖怪，
天假神柄专其雄。
喷云泄雾藏半腹，
虽有绝顶谁能穷？
我来正逢秋雨节，
阴气晦昧无清风。
潜心默祷若有应，
岂非正直能感通！
须臾静扫众峰出，
仰见突兀撑青空。
紫盖连延接天柱，
石廪腾掷堆祝融。
森然魄动下马拜，
松柏一径趋灵宫。
粉墙丹柱动光彩，
鬼物图画填青红。
升阶伛偻荐脯酒，
欲以菲薄明其衷。
庙令老人识神意，
睢盱侦伺能鞠躬。
手持杯珓导我掷，
云此最吉余难同。
窜逐蛮荒幸不死，
衣食才足甘长终。
侯王将相望久绝，
神纵欲福难为功。
夜投佛寺上高阁，
星月掩映云曈昽。
猿鸣钟动不知曙，
杲杲寒日生于东。
English translation
The five sacred peaks receive the rites due the Three Dukes; they guard the four quarters, with Song in the center.
In the fiery region the land is wild and full of demons; Heaven lends the god its authority, that he alone be mighty there.
It spouts cloud and spills mist, hiding its mid-slopes; though it has a summit, who can reach the end of it?
I come just at the season of autumn rains; the yin air is murky, no clear wind stirring.
I pray in the silence of my heart, and it seems to answer — is it not that uprightness can move the spirits?
In an instant all is swept clean and still, and the many peaks appear; I look up and see them towering, propping the blue sky.
Zigai stretches on to join Tianzhu; Shilin leaps and tosses, heaped against Zhurong.
In awe, my soul shaken, I dismount and bow; a path of pines and cypresses leads to the spirit palace.
White walls and vermilion pillars glow with light; pictures of ghosts and spirits fill them with blue and red.
I mount the steps, bending low, and offer dried meat and wine, wishing with these poor gifts to make my heart known.
The old temple keeper knows the god's mind; with wide eyes he watches and waits, and knows how to bow.
He holds the divining blocks and guides me to cast them, saying this is the most auspicious — nothing else compares.
Banished to the barbarous south, I am lucky to be alive; with food and clothes barely sufficient, I am content to end my days here.
All hope of marquis or prince, of general or minister, was cut off long ago; though the god wished to bless me, he could do little.
At night I lodge in the Buddha temple, mounting the high pavilion; stars and moon half-hidden in the dimming clouds.
Gibbons cry, the bell rings, I do not know that dawn has come; then bright and cold, the sun is born in the east.
Meaning
The rites paid to the Five Sacred Peaks are as solemn as those paid to the Three Dukes; among the five peaks, four mountains ring about, and only Mount Song holds the central place.
Mount Heng lies in a remote region where demons and goblins abound; Heaven gives the god of the Southern Peak majestic power, letting him wield sole and awful sway here.
Clouds and mist spew out from the mountainside and spread in boundless haze; though there are sheer and towering summits, who can climb to the very peak?
When I came, it happened to be a time of unending autumn rain; the sky was dark and gloomy, without a breath of wind.
I prayed silently in my heart, and it seemed answered at once; is it not because a man is upright that he can commune with the gods?
In an instant the clouds were swept clean away and the peaks opened into view; looking up, the mountains jut abruptly, piercing the blue sky.
Mount Zigai stretches unbroken, closely linked with Mount Tianzhu; Mount Shilin rises and falls, taking up the grandeur of Mount Zhurong.
Background
Read the background
This poem was written in 805 (the first year of the Yongzhen era). In 803 (the nineteenth year of the Zhenyuan era) a great drought gripped the region within the passes and the bodies of the starving lay everywhere. Han Yu submitted a memorial asking the emperor to lighten the people's labor burdens, thereby offending Emperor Dezong and the powerful, and was demoted to be magistrate of Yangshan. In 805 (the twenty-first year of Zhenyuan), when Emperor Xianzong ascended the throne and a further amnesty was debated, Han Yu was transferred from Chenzhou to the post of judicial secretary (facao canjun) at Jiangling Prefecture, and wrote this poem while visiting Mount Heng on the way.