Du Fu: This Song For Feng Xian City Official Liu

This Song For Feng Xian City Official Liu and His New Landscape Painting Done on Several Panels

奉 先 刘 少 府 新 画 山 水 障 歌
堂 上 不 合 生 枫 树
怪 底 江 山 起 烟 雾?
闻 君 扫 却 赤 县 图
乘 兴 遣 画 沧 洲 趣。
画 师 亦 无 数
好 手 不 可 遇。
对 此 融 心 神
知 君 重 毫 素
岂 但 祁 岳 与 郑 虔
笔 迹 远 过 杨 契 丹。
得 非 悬 圃 裂
无 乃 潇 湘 翻?
悄 然 坐 我 天 姥 下
耳 边 已 似 闻 清 猿。
反 思 前 夜 风 雨 急
乃 是 蒲 城 鬼 神 入。
元 气 淋 漓 障 犹 湿
真 宰 上 诉 天 应 泣。
野 亭 春 还 杂 花 远
渔 翁 暝 踏 孤 舟 立。
沧 浪 水 深 青 溟 阔
欹 岸 侧 岛 秋 毫 末。
不 见 相 妃 鼓 瑟 时
至 今 斑 竹 临 江 活。
刘 侯 天 机 精
爱 画 久 骨 髓。
自 有 两 儿 郎
挥 洒 亦 莫 比。
大 儿 聪 明 到
能 添 老 树 巅 崖 里;
小 儿 心 孔 开
貌 得 山 僧 及 童 子。
若 耶 溪,云 门 寺
吾 独 胡 为 在 泥 滓?
青 鞋 布 袜 从 此 始!
Feng Xian Liu Shao Fu Xin Hua Shan Shui Zhang Ge

Tang shang bu he sheng feng shu
Guai di jiang shan qi yan wu?
Wen jun sao que chi xian tu
Cheng xing qian hua cang zhou qu.

Hua shi yi wu shu
Hao shou bu ke yu.
Dui ci rong xin shen
Zhi jun zhong hao su.

Qi dan qi yue yu zheng qian
Bi ji yuan guo yang qi dan.
De fei xuan pu lie
Wu nai xiao xiang fan?

Qiao ran zuo wo tian mu xia
Er bian yi si wen qing yuan.
Fan si qian ye feng yu ji
Nai shi pu cheng gui shen ru.

Yuan qi lin li zhang you shi
Zhen zai shang su tian ying qi.
Ye ting chun huan za hua yuan
Yu weng ming ta gu zhou li.

Cang lang shui shen qing ming kuo
Qi an ce dao qiu hao mo.
Bu jian xiang fei gu se shi
Zhi jin ban zhu lin jiang huo.

Liu hou tian ji jing
Ai hua jiu gu sui.
Zi you liang er lang
Hui sa yi mo bi.

Da er cong ming dao
Neng tian lao shu dian ya li;
Xiao er xin kong kai
Mao de shan seng ji tong zi.

Ruo ye xi, yun men si
Wu du hu wei zai ni zi?
Qing xie bu wa cong ci shi!

 

This Song For Feng Xian City Official Liu and His New Landscape Painting Done on Several Panels

The main hall not conducive to the growing of maple trees
Strange river bottoms and foothills seem to have real rising mists and fog?
Heard of your regional fame for painting a whole county
Your painting of Cangzhou produces such delight, the hermits want to visit there.

Also there are so many painting masters in this area
Difficult to see their hands while they work.
I can become one with the divine heart-mind of a painter
Aware of your ability to finely paint nature’s details.

Even Qi Yue and Zheng Qian cannot match you
Your painted clarity is finer than the poplar trees in a remote mountain pass done by Qi Dan.
Your painting of rain does not require a heavenly garden to break open
Could your deep and clear Xiang River flow without end?

Feels like I am sitting below Mt. Tianmu
One ear can listen clearly to the sounds of monkeys.
Think again of yesterday and the early evening’s anxiety
Perhaps the city’s ghosts and deities are about.

Vitality and vigor pouring down can impede like humidity
Truly the gods and goddesses cry rain when they speak out.
Another painted panel has a distant springtime pavilion in an open country of various flowers
Old fisherman at dusk, alone with his boat.

Vast deep blue ocean with waves
Slanted seashore, far into the horizon, an island painted with the small details of autumn.
Do not see the Xiang River goddess, yet can hear the drum and se music
Your spotted bamboo overlooking the river so real one can hear the crying of tears. (spotted bamboo from an immortal’s tears)

Senior official Liu has an elegant divine plan
Your love of painting comes from your bone marrow.
Naturally you have two upcoming young officials
Their writing also flows without comparison.

Older son very clever and bright
He is able to paint your treetops and inside the mountain cliffs;
The toddler’s heart-mind just beginning to appreciate these arts
Even this young boy’s appearance like a Buddhist mountain monk.

Mt. Ruoye and its small streams at Cloud Gate Temple
The whole family can live here, away from the mud of the world?
I should leave behind my cloth socks and blue shoes to begin again inside this environment!

 

Notes:

Feng Xian city: Located near the modern city of Shanghai.

Cangzhou: Located in eastern Hebei Province.

Xiang River: Largest river in Hunan Province. It drains into Dongting Lake.

Mt. Tianmu: Located west of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.

Se music: The se is a multi-stringed musical instrument played like a zither.

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