Departing from Baidi in the Morning

Departing from Baidi in the Morning by Li Bai, translated by Wikisource

In 755, An Lushan led 200,000 troops in rebellion against the Tang government. Emperor Xuanzong was forced to flee the capital. The emperor had been spending all of his time with his favorite concubine, the Lady Yang, and had ceased to pay attention to matters of state. Lady Yang was executed, and Xuanzong decided to step down. The emperor's 16th son, Prince Lin, decided to make a grab for power. An itinerant poet named Li Bai decided to join forces with Prince Lin. Unfortunately for Li Bai, Lin's brother Heng had already ascended throne. In the ensuing battles, Lin was defeated, captured and executed. Li Bai was to be executed as well, but for the great efforts General Guo Ziyi who is credited with restoring the Tang Dynasty by leading the battle against the rebels. Instead, Li Bai was exiled to Yelang (present day Guizhou). In 756, Emperor Xuanzong died and Li Bai was pardoned. This poem was written while he was sailing back down the Yangtze River, through the Three Gorges, on his way home. He was suddenly a free man again, and decided to express his joy in verse. This is the poem that he wrote.

"Departing from Baidi in the Morning (早發白帝城)," by Li Bai

Traditional Chinese	Simplified Chinese	Pinyin
朝辭白帝彩雲間	朝辞白帝彩云间	zhāo cí Báidì cǎiyún jiān
千里江陵一日還	千里江陵一日还	qiānlǐ Jiānglíng yīrì huán
兩岸猿聲啼不住	两岸猿声啼不住	liǎng àn yuán shēng tí bùzhù
輕舟已過萬重山	轻舟已过万重山	qīngzhōu yǐ guò wàn chóngshān

This morning, I depart the town of Baidi, engulfed by vibrant clouds.

I return to far away Jiangling within a single day!

From both banks, the steady sound of shrieking monkeys fills the air.

Our little boat has already carried me past thousands of hilltops.

"Departing from Baidi in the Morning" in Mao Zedong's calligraphy

Licensing

This is a translation and has a separate copyright status from the original text. The license for the translation applies to this edition only.
Original:	This work published before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
Translation:	This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.