"Climbing the Guanyin Tower and Looking at the City"

Tang Dynasty: Bai Juyi

Thousands of houses are like chess boards, and the twelve streets are like vegetable beds.

Looking slightly into the morning fire, there is a star with five doors to the west.

Translation of "Climbing the Guanyintai and Looking at the City"

The hundreds of thousands of houses in Chang'an City are distributed like a Go board, and the twelve streets divide the city like neat vegetable borders.

From a distance, you can make out the lights held by hundreds of officials when they went to court in the morning, like stars in the sky reaching directly to the Daming Palace.

Avalokitesvara, one of the Mahayana Bodhisattvas of Buddhism, was translated from Sanskrit as "Avalokitesvara". To avoid the name taboo of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty, he was shortened to "Avalokitesvara".

Game: chessboard.

Caiteng (qí): a square area divided into vegetable fields.

Entering the court fire: the light held by officials in the early morning.

A star (xiù): describes the lights held by hundreds of officials, like a star in the sky.

Five gates: refers to the Danfeng Gate, the main entrance of Daming Palace in Chang'an.

Appreciation of "Climbing the Guanyintai and Looking at the City"

The first two sentences of this poem use "Go game" and "vegetable border" as metaphors to describe the neat and well-proportioned layout of Chang'an City, with straight and spacious Street; the last two sentences turn to the Daming Palace, the center of political activities in the Tang Dynasty, to describe the scene of the early dynasty, using "a star" as a metaphor to describe the many torches, the number of officials, and the prosperity of rituals. The description of this poem is specific and vivid, the words are simple but the meaning is rich.

"Hundreds of houses are like a chess game, and twelve streets are like vegetable beds." The two first wrote about what they saw after dawn, and wrote about the overall appearance and characteristics of Chang'an from a bird's-eye view. Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, was one of the most magnificent cities in the world at that time. It was constructed according to a pre-designed plan and divided the city into three parts: the palace city, the imperial city, and the square (i.e. residential area). The palace city is where the imperial palace is located; the imperial city is where the officials of the imperial court work. The seven north and south streets and the five east and west streets in the city are lined with official offices at all levels such as the Shangshu Province and the Yushitai; surrounding the palace city and the imperial city, there are 114 Fang, bounded by Chengtianmen, has half on each side from east to west. Fourteen streets from north to south and eleven streets from east to west intersect in the middle of Fang City, dividing the city into small squares. Thousands of residents are distributed within the squares. , residents. The metaphors of "Go game" and "Vegetable garden" vividly depict the criss-crossing and uniform architectural pattern of Chang'an City. The reason why the author does not describe in chronological order is to highlight the uniqueness and majesty of Chang'an architecture from an overall perspective, so that it can leave a deep impression on readers.

"Looking far away into the morning fire, there is a star with five gates to the west." Two sentences are written about what was seen before dawn, and a scene of hundreds of officials on their way to court was chosen to reflect the unique style of the capital. In ancient times, when officials went to court in the morning, they had to rush to the palace gate before dawn to wait for the emperor to enter the palace. After Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, the place where national ceremonies were held and officials were received was moved from Taiji Palace to Daming Palace. The author saw on the stage that in the distance the lanterns and torches of the officials attending the morning court were like a winding star in the sky, moving and stretching towards the south gate of the Daming Palace. These tiny, flickering firelights complement each other in the dark night with the stars in the sky, adding to the mystery and tranquility of the capital. The metaphor of the stars is somewhat related to the heavenly court (i.e. the imperial court) on earth, showing the capital's dignity. Morning and night, one total and one point, all the various features of Chang'an City are gathered together.

This poem describes the regular layout of the palace offices and citizen residences in Chang'an City, which are not mixed.

Creative background of "Climbing the Guanyintai and Looking at the City"

This poem was written in 827 AD (the first year of Yamato by Emperor Wenzong of the Tang Dynasty). When the poet was in Chang'an, he climbed up to the Guanyin Tower on Leyouyuan and looked at the Chang'an City in the distance. The poet was full of thoughts and wrote the poem "Climbing the Guanyin Tower to Look at the City".

Introduction to the author of "Climbing the Guanyin Tower to Look at the City"

Bai Juyi (772-846), also known as Letian, also known as Xiangshan Jushi, also known as Mr. Zuiyin, was originally from Taiyuan, and passed away to his great-grandfather. He moved to Xiagui and was born in Xinzheng, Henan. He was a great realist poet in the Tang Dynasty and one of the three major poets in the Tang Dynasty. Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen jointly advocated the New Yuefu Movement, known as "Yuan Bai" in the world, and "Liu Bai" together with Liu Yuxi.

Bai Juyi's poetry has a wide range of themes, diverse forms, and simple and popular language. He is known as the "Poetry Demon" and the "Poetry King". He became a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy and a doctor of Zuo Zanshan. In 846 AD, Bai Juyi died in Luoyang and was buried in Xiangshan. There is "Bai's Changqing Collection" handed down from generation to generation, and his representative poems include "Song of Everlasting Sorrow", "Charcoal Seller", "Pipa Play" and so on.