222. Climbing Stork Tower | Wang Zhihuan
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
白日依山尽，黄河入海流。
English translation
The white sun sinks against the mountains; the Yellow River flows onward into the sea.
The white sun is the sun itself, and comes to an end describes its disappearance from sight. The first line closes against the nearby mountains; the second opens into distance along the river.
Original Chinese text
欲穷千里目，更上一层楼。
English translation
If you wish to extend your gaze across a thousand miles, climb one story higher.
To exhaust the view means to see it to its furthest reach. The line states a desire and then gives a direct action; its later figurative meanings grow from this simple spatial relation.
赏析 · Commentary
二十个字里的远近与高低 · Near and Far, Low and High, in Twenty Characters
前两句横向展开：山在眼前，河流通向海。后两句改成纵向动作：人从这一层走向更高一层。视线先被山挡住，又因登楼获得新的范围。诗的开阔感不是靠形容词堆出来的，而是由山、河、海、楼四个位置共同建立。
The first couplet spreads horizontally: mountains nearby, a river running toward the sea. The second turns vertical as the viewer climbs from one level to the next. The mountains first limit the eye; height then gives it a wider field. The poem's spaciousness comes not from a heap of adjectives but from the relation among mountain, river, sea, and tower.
名句先是一条具体经验 · The Famous Saying Begins as Physical Experience
“更上一层楼”后来常用来勉励进步，但在诗中，它首先是登楼看景的实际动作。站得高一些，地平线确实会向外延伸。保留这个具体场景，句子的力量才不会只剩口号：想看得更多，需要付出再走一层的行动。
Climb one story higher later became a general encouragement to improve, but within the poem it is first a physical act performed to see farther. Greater height really does extend the horizon. Keeping that scene in view prevents the line from becoming a slogan: a wider prospect requires the effort of another climb.