Translation: My friend, if my relatives and friends in Luoyang ask about me, just say that I am still a jade pot with a heart of ice and stick to my faith!

Part 1 of "Two Poems of Farewell to Xin Jian at the Furong Tower"

Wang Changling of the Tang Dynasty

I entered Wu at night in the cold rain and saw off my guest Chu Shangu in the clear day.

When relatives and friends in Luoyang ask each other, their hearts are filled with ice in a jade pot.

Translation:

I came to Wudi at night when the cold rain filled the river sky. After seeing off my friends at dawn, only the lonely shadow of Chushan Mountain was left.

When you arrive in Luoyang, if any relatives or friends ask you about me, please tell them that my heart is still as pure as the ice in a jade pot, untainted by fame, wealth and other worldly sentiments.

Extended information:

"Two Poems for Farewell to Xin Jian at the Furong Tower" is a collection of poems by Wang Changling, a poet of the Tang Dynasty. It was written when the author was demoted to the county magistrate of Jiangning (now Nanjing, Jiangsu) . This poem is written about the scene where the author bid farewell to Xin Jian by the river the next morning. The whole poem is inspired by the scene, embodying the mood in the scene, with implicit meaning and endless charm.

This group of poems was probably written in the first year of Tianbao (742) when Wang Changling came out as the county magistrate of Jiangning (now Nanjing). Wang Changling passed the imperial examination in the fifteenth year of Kaiyuan (727); he was relegated to Lingnan in the twenty-seventh year of Kaiyuan (739); he returned to the north the following year and served as Jiangning Cheng from the end of the year, still a relegated eunuch. Xin Jian was a friend of Wang Changling. This time he planned to cross the river from Runzhou (now Zhenjiang), via Yangzhou, and go north to Luoyang. Wang Changling may have accompanied him from Jiangning to Runzhou and then parted ways here. These two poems were written at this time.

Wang Changling had close contacts with Li Bai, Gao Shi, Wang Wei, Wang Zhihuan, Cen Shen and others. His poems are famous for his seven unique poems, especially the frontier fortress poems he wrote when he went to the northwest frontier fortress before ascending to the throne. He is known as the "poet master Wang Jiangning" and is also known as the "sage of seven unique poems" by future generations. Wang Changling's poems are dense and clear in thought. He is as famous as Gao Shi and Wang Zhihuan. He was called Wang Jiangning at that time. There are six volumes of collected works and four volumes of poems today.

Wang Changling's frontier fortress poems are good at capturing typical scenes, with a high degree of generalization and rich expressive power. It not only reflects the main theme of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, but also provides detailed descriptions of the scenery of the frontier fortress and border battlefield scenes. At the same time, it can capture the delicate inner world of the soldiers. The artistic conception of his poetry is broad, the language is mellow and subtle, the tone is gentle and harmonious, and it is thought-provoking. He has high attainments in estrus, landscaping, and freehand brushwork.

Wang Changling's palace resentment poems can compete with Li Bai's, and his poems are unique in their profound meaning, wonderful description of scenery, keen comparison and strange language. Wang Changling's poems about concubines and mourners use a spirit of compassion to describe the sorrow and sorrow of those concubines who have been in the palace for a long time. They use delicate brushwork to show their lives and emotional world in many aspects, and reveal what they encountered under the cruel palace funeral system. The tragic fate objectively criticizes the evil of feudal society that destroys women.

Reference material: Baidu Encyclopedia - Farewell to Xin Jian at Furong Tower