Ballad of the Peach Blossom Spring
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
两岸桃花夹古津。
坐看红树不知远，
行尽青溪不见人。
山口潜行始隈隩，
山开旷望旋平陆。
遥看一处攒云树，
近入千家散花竹。
樵客初传汉姓名，
居人未改秦衣服。
居人共住武陵源，
还从物外起田园。
月明松下房栊静，
日出云中鸡犬喧。
惊闻俗客争来集，
竞引还家问都邑。
平明闾巷扫花开，
薄暮渔樵乘水入。
初因避地去人间，
及至成仙遂不还。
峡里谁知有人事，
世中遥望空云山。
不疑灵境难闻见，
尘心未尽思乡县。
出洞无论隔山水，
辞家终拟长游衍。
自谓经过旧不迷，
安知峰壑今来变。
当时只记入山深，
青溪几度到云林。
春来遍是桃花水，
不辨仙源何处寻。
English translation
The fishing boat follows the water, loving the spring in the hills; peach blossoms crowd both banks by the old ford.
Gazing at the red trees, he does not notice how far he has gone; he follows the blue stream to its end — and no one is in sight.
At the mountain mouth he creeps along the winding gorge; the mountain opens, the view widens, and soon there is level ground.
Far off he sees a place where cloud-like trees cluster; drawing near, he enters a thousand households scattered among flowering bamboo.
The woodcutters first passed on the names of Han; the dwellers have not changed their Qin clothing.
The dwellers all live at the source of Wuling; beyond the world they have raised their fields and gardens.
The moon is bright beneath the pines, the houses still; the sun rises in the clouds, and chickens and dogs are noisy.
Startled to hear a stranger from the common world, they come crowding, vying to lead him home and ask about their towns.
At dawn they sweep the lanes for the fallen blossoms; at dusk the fishermen and woodcutters come in by water.
At first they left the world of men to flee; and having become immortals, they never returned.
Who would know, within the gorge, that there are human affairs? From the world one gazes afar at empty cloud and hills.
He did not doubt that the fairyland is hard to hear of or see; but his mortal heart not yet cleansed, he thought of his home district.
Leaving the cave, whatever hills and streams lie between, he resolved at last to leave home and roam forever.
He thought that, having been there once, he could not miss the way; how could he know that the peaks and ravines have now changed?
Then he only remembered going deep into the mountains; how many times the blue stream carried him to the cloud-forest.
Spring comes again, and everywhere are the peach-blossom waters — he cannot tell where to look for the immortal source.
Meaning
The fishing boat drifts down the stream, pursuing that lovely spring scene; peach blossoms on either bank redden the old ferry crossing. Flowering trees in profusion make him forget whether the way is long or short; where the blue stream ends, suddenly he seems to glimpse human dwellings. He passes into a deep and winding mountain mouth; going on, it opens abruptly onto a broad plain. Seen from afar, the clustering green trees gather like rosy clouds; entering the village, he sees fresh bamboo and flowers shading every gate. For the first time they hear tell of the dynasties after the Han; the villagers still wear the dress of Qin. Generation after generation they have lived together at Wulingyuan, building here a world apart from the rest. The bright moon shines; beneath the pines the chambers are still. The sun rises; in the village cocks crow and dogs bark. The villagers greet the stranger in wonder, vying to invite him in and asking news of the world outside. In the morning the lanes and every household sweep their flower paths; at evening by the stream, fishermen and woodcutters come home by boat. Long ago they fled the troubles of the age and left the mortal realm; having found this peach-blossom haven they never went back. From then on they lived hidden in the valley, heeding nothing of the changes outside; men of the world who seek that strange land only gaze in vain at the cloudy mountains. The fisherman
Background
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The subject of this poem is taken from Tao Yuanming's narrative prose "The Peach Blossom Spring." It is an early work of Wang Wei, written when he was nineteen and living at Chang'an in Jingzhao, in about 719 (the seventh year of the Kaiyuan era of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang).