Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Su Shi Poem


The Yang Tze flows east
Washing away a thousand eras of great men
West of the ramparts --
People say --
Are the fabulous Red Cliffs of Chou
Rebellious rocks pierce the sky
Frightening waves rip the bank
The backwash churns vast snowy swells --
River and mountains like a painting
how many heroes passed them, once ...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

http://www.npm.gov.tw/exh98/redcliff/en_b5.html

Here is the original, in the author's hand, written 1000 years ago (same technology as used for writing Torah scrolls today). When the Nationalists fled to Taiwan, they took with them many boatloads of national treasures - there is more good stuff in Taipei than there is in Beijing.

K

Anonymous said...

It is amazing, and a gift, that the ink is still decipherable.

Anon.

J said...

I bought lots of old scrolls in the streets in China. How could I know if they are autentic?

Anonymous said...

Carbon dating.

Anon.