255. Downstream to Jiangling | Li Bai
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
朝辞白帝彩云间，千里江陵一日还。
English translation
At dawn I leave White Emperor City amid the colored clouds; Jiangling, a thousand li away, is reached within a single day.
The poem is also commonly titled Early Departure from White Emperor City. Return here conveys reaching a former destination, while the contrast between a thousand li and one day magnifies the speed of the downstream journey.
Original Chinese text
两岸猿声啼不住，轻舟已过万重山。
English translation
The cries of gibbons continue from both banks, yet the light boat has already passed ten thousand folds of mountains.
The calls seem to follow the boat, one rising before another has faded. Already passed makes the motion swifter than a plain description of travel: the ear still lingers on the banks while the boat has moved beyond mountain after mountain.
赏析 · Commentary
速度是怎样写出来的 · How the Poem Creates Speed
诗没有计算水速，也没有反复写船行，只用三组距离对比：白帝到江陵的千里，一日便到；猿声还在耳边，船已越山；山不是一座，而是“万重”。空间越大，时间越短，轻舟的速度就越鲜明。读者像坐在船上，景物来不及停留。
The poem calculates no current and repeatedly describes no rowing. Instead it sets three distances against compressed time: a thousand li to Jiangling within one day, gibbon calls still in the ear while the boat is already beyond, not one mountain but ten thousand folds. The greater the space and the shorter the time, the faster the light craft feels. The reader rides with scenery that cannot pause.
轻快不只来自顺流 · A Lightness Beyond the Current
白帝城到江陵本来就是顺江而下，但“轻舟”还带着人的感受。李白经历流放途中遇赦而返，这一背景常被用来理解诗中的畅快；不过正文没有交代遭遇，只让彩云、急流、猿声和群山共同说话。即使不借助传记，四句的释放感也很清楚。
The route from White Emperor City to Jiangling naturally follows the river downstream, but light boat also carries a human feeling. The poem is often read against Li Bai's return after receiving a pardon during exile. The verse itself does not recount that history; clouds, current, calls, and mountains do the work. Even without biography, its sense of release is unmistakable.