On the Road Through Xin Ding
新 定 途 中
无 端 偶 效 张 文 纪
下 杜 乡 园 别 五 秋。
重 过 江 南 更 千 里
万 山 深 处 一 孤 舟。
Xin Ding Tu Zhong
Wu duan ou xiao zhang wen ji
Xia du xiang yuan bie wu qiu. Chong guo jiang nan geng qian li
Wan shan shen chu yi gu zhou.
On the Road Through Xin Ding
Without a plan, I appear to have been a follower of Zhang Ji
Departed from Xia Du, south and near to Chang’an for five autumns now. Again passed through Jiangnan, traveling three hundred miles at a time
One small-man boat to dwell deep among innumerable mountains.
Notes:
Xin Ding: A county where Du Mu stopped on his way to a new assignment in Muzhou.
Zhang Ji: Also known as Zhang Dong (108-143 AD). He lived during the Eastern Han dynasty. Famous for writing a letter to petition the government, complaining about the amount of crime and corruption in some of the court and military insiders. For this he was exiled.
Jiangnan: Areas around the mouth of the Changjiang. Portions of modern day Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.