劉永之《送吳德基赴安化令》“Seeing off Wu Deji, who was going to take office as Prefect of Anhua” by Liu Yongzhi (fl. 14th century)

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春江望不極，

芳草綠江潯。

千里長沙道，

孤帆去客心。

縣城依水國，

吏語帶蠻音。

到日應無事，

華亭自鼓琴。

A gaze along the spring river cannot reach its end

As fragrant plants turn green along the riverside.

A thousand miles is the journey from Changsha,[1]

And the lone sail the heart of a departing traveller.

The county walls sit by a watery land;

Local officers speak with a barbarian accent.[2]

On the day of arrival, probably no duties awaiting,

[You’ll] play the zither alone in a fine pavilion.[3]

* From Zhu Yizun 朱彝尊 (1629-1709) ed., Ming shi zong 明詩綜, Yingyin Wenyuange Siku quanshu 景印文淵閣四庫全書 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1987) edition, vol. 1459, 8.21a.

[1] Anhua lies to the west of Changsha, the capital city of today’s Hunan Province. The place name Changsha literally reads “long sand” and therefore runs parallel to the phrase quke 去客 (a departing traveller) in the next line.

[2] “A watery land” refers to the fact that Anhua spreads along the Zishui River. Man 蠻 is a generic term for non-Han people beyond what is traditionally deemed the Chinese state, typically in southeastern and southern regions. Wu Deji’s reassignment is clearly considered a demotion.

[3] The word huating 華亭 (fine pavilion) is also a place name referring to Lu Ji’s 陸機 (261-303) hometown near today’s Shanghai. Before his execution following a military defeat, Lu Ji lamented that he would no longer hear the crying of cranes in Huating, which later became a literary symbol for regret about the current situation and longing for one’s hometown.