Stay Overnight at the Feng Qiao Temple
宿 枫 桥
七 年 不 到 枫 桥 寺
客 枕 依 然 半 夜 钟。
风 月 未 须 轻 感 慨
巴 山 此 去 尚 千 重。
Su Feng Qiao
Qi nian bu dao feng qiao si
Ke zhen yi ran ban ye zhong. Feng yue wei xu qing gan kai
Ba shan ci qu shang qian shi.
Stay Overnight at the Feng Qiao Temple
Have not been here at Feng Qiao for seven years
This visitor’s pillow and clothes hear the evening bells.
Not yet the months of wind with their sighs of emotions and feelings
Past Mt. Ba, go through layers and layers of one thousand events.
Notes:
Written in June 1170 AD while traveling to his new position in Bianzhou. Staying overnight in a Buddhist temple was very common when government officials and others were traveling throughout ancient China.
Feng Qiao: Literally means Maple Wood Bridge.
Mt. Ba: Part of the Qinling mountain range that touches parts of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Hubei provinces.