ChineseStudy

56. Visiting the Temple of Mount Heng, Then Lodging at the Mountain Temple and Writing on the Gate Tower | Han Yu

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English translation

The five sacred peaks are sacrificed to at the rank of the three ducal offices; each quarter has its guardian peak, with Song at the center.

The opening gives the system first — the rank of the five peaks and where the guardians sit. It places Mount Heng on a map.

The fire quarter is a wild land, full of goblins; Heaven lends it the divine sceptre, and it holds its own in majesty.

The fire quarter is the old name for the south. Mount Heng stands in the south, so he writes its local temper first.

It spouts cloud and leaks mist, hiding half its belly; even if the summit is there, who can reach the end of it?

Half the mountain is hidden in cloud. Who can reach the end of it lowers the man first, setting up the actual climb later.

I came right in the season of autumn rain; the air was dark and dull, not a breath of clear wind.

The cloud is the mountain's affair, the rain the man's. The two lines join, and man and mountain are set against each other.

I quiet my heart and pray in silence, and it seems there is an answer; is it not that uprightness can reach the divine?

Quieting the heart and praying in silence is Han Yu's way: no ritual display, first set his own mind straight. This line is the bone of the poem.

In a moment the clouds are swept clean and the peaks come out; looking up, I see them thrust up, propping the blue void.

From dark dull air to the peaks swept clear, the turn is quick. Rain gone, cloud open, the oppression of the first four lines is released.

Purple Canopy runs on and joins Heaven's Pillar; Stone Granary leaps and piles into Zhurong.

Several peaks are named in one breath. Place-name after place-name, like walking along a ridge.

Awe stirs my soul, and I dismount and bow; a single path of pines and cypresses leads to the spirit hall.

Dismount and bow is a concrete action, bringing reverence down into the body.

Whitewashed walls and vermilion pillars move with light; paintings of spirits fill the walls in green and red.

He writes the colors inside the temple. The word fill shows the density of the murals.

I climb the steps, stooping, and offer dried meat and wine, wanting to show my inner heart by these poor things.

Poor things is set against shows my heart. The offering is light, the intent heavy.

The old temple keeper knows the god's mind; wide-eyed he watches for signs, and is good at bowing.

Wide-eyed and watches for signs describe a man reading faces, with a touch of irony.

He holds the divining blocks and guides me to throw, saying this is the most auspicious, that no other can match.

Temple divination enters here. This is the most auspicious is what the keeper says; Han Yu does not take it up.

Exiled to the savage wilds, lucky to be alive; with food and clothing just enough, I am content to end my days here.

Lucky to be alive and content to end my days are the poem's confession. He prayed to the god before; here he states his own floor.

Hope of rank and title died long ago; even if the god wished to bless me, there is no way to do it.

This line shows Han Yu at his hardest. Saying the god cannot help is really saying he expects nothing.

At night I lodge in a Buddhist temple and climb the high pavilion; stars and moon screen each other, the cloud dim and blurring.

From the shrine to the temple. Night light should not be sharp, and the line's rhythm softens to match.

A gibbon cries, a bell moves, and without noticing it is dawn; a bright cold sun rises in the east.

The close ends on sunrise. Last night's gloom and this morning's clear sky answer the autumn rain at the beginning.

赏析 · Commentary

「潜心默祷」：先正心，再求神 · Praying in Silence: Set the Heart Straight, Then Ask

韩愈到衡岳求神，用的不是香火，是「潜心默祷」。他把应验归给「正直能感通」，不是神的有求必应。这一句把祭祀的意思改了：不是用祭品换取吉凶，而是以自己的心是否正，来判断该不该有所求。正因如此，后面庙祝掷出「最吉」的卦，他才不接。全诗写神，落点在人。

Han Yu asks a favor of Mount Heng's god, but not with incense — with a quiet heart and a silent prayer. He credits the answer to uprightness reaching the divine, not to a god granting requests. That rewrites what sacrifice means: not trading offerings for good or ill, but judging by whether one's own heart is straight whether to ask at all. This is why he does not take up the keeper's throw of the most auspicious. The poem is about a god, and lands on a man.

从地图写到脚下 · From the Map Down to the Feet

诗的前六句几乎不写登山。先给五岳的制度、方位，再说火维妖怪、云藏半腹，一直隔着一层。到「须臾静扫众峰出」，山才真正出现；到「下马拜」「升阶伛偻」，人才走进画面。这种由远及近的推进，与秋雨忽晴的转折是同一件事：云开之前，山是名分上的山；云开之后，山是可以爬、可以拜的山。近与远之间，隔的就是那阵雨。

Six lines go by with almost no climbing. First the system and bearings of the five peaks, then the fire quarter's goblins and the clouded belly — always one layer away. Only at in a moment the clouds are swept clean and the peaks come out does the mountain truly appear; only at dismount and bow and climb the steps, stooping does the man enter the frame. This push from far to near is the same event as the rain clearing: before the cloud opens, the mountain is a mountain of rank and title; after, it is one you can climb and bow to. Between far and near lies that single rain.

「神纵欲福难为功」：末四句的硬 · Even If the God Wished to Bless: The Hardness of the Last Four Lines

全诗的重量在结尾四句。韩愈先说「幸不死」「甘长终」，把期望压到最低；再说「神纵欲福难为功」，连神来都没有办法。这不是抱怨，是把自己认清了。写登山求神，最后落在不指望神，这种收法在同时代的作品里少见。第二天早晨「杲杲寒日生于东」，日子照旧开始，没留下任何奇迹。

The weight of the poem is in the last four lines. First he says lucky to be alive and content to end my days, lowering his expectations as far as they go; then even if the god wished to bless me, there is no way, and not even a god can help. This is not complaint but self-knowledge. To write a climb and a prayer and end on expecting nothing from the god is rare among his contemporaries. Next morning a bright cold sun rises in the east; the day starts as usual, with no miracle left behind.

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