'楊萬里 舟過揚子橋遠望 translation: Looking Afar from a Boat Passing a Bridge on the Yangzi, by Yang Wanli'

This is a very rough annotation / translation of the poem 舟過揚子橋遠望 (Zhōu Guò Yángzǐ Qiáo Yuǎnwàng), ‘Looking Afar from a Boat Passing a Bridge on the Yangzi’, by the Song Dynasty Chinese poet 楊萬里 (Yáng Wànlǐ).

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舟過揚子橋遠望 Zhōu Guò Yángzǐ Qiáo Yuǎnwàng [boat] [pass] [Yang] [Zi] [bridge] [far] [look] Looking Afar from a Boat Passing a Bridge on the Yangzi

此日淮號堧西北， Cǐ rì Huái hào ruán xīběi, [this] [day] [Huai] [call] [adjoin] [west] [north] These days the banks of the River Huai are called the north-west border;

舊時南服紀淮堧。 jiùshí nán fú jì Huái ruán. [old] [time] [south] [report] [record] [Huai] [adjoin] in old times the southern reports recorded the banks of the Huai.

平蕪盡處渾無壁， Píng wú jǐn chù hún wú bì, [flat] [overgrown] [fully] [place] [mix] [not have] [wall] Open grasslands are everywhere, nowhere are there walls;

遠樹梢頭便是天。 yuǎn shù shāotóu biàn shì tiān. [far] [tree] [branch tip] [head] [just] [is] [Heaven] The tips of branches on faraway trees just touch the Heavens.

今古戰場誰勝負， Jīn gǔ zhànchǎng shéi shèng fù, [today] [old] [war] [field] [who] [win] [lose] Today as in antiquity, on the battlefield there are winners and losers;

華夷險要豈山川？ huá yí xiǎnyào qǐ shānchuān? [China] [barbarian] [rugged] [vital] [how] [mountain] [river] the strategic strongholds of the Chinese and the barbarians - how could they be the mountains and rivers?

六朝未可輕嘲謗， Liùcháo wèi kě qīng cháo bàng, [six] [dynasty] [not yet] [can] [light] [mock] [defame] The Six Dynasties can never be defamed too easily;

王謝諸賢不偶然！ Wáng Xiè zhū xián bù ǒurán! [Wang] [Xie] [various] [virtuous] [not] [accidental] [-ly] Wang, Xie and the other worthies - they were no accident!

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