Mount Tianmu (Tianlao)

Overview

“A Dream of Roaming Tianmu: A Farewell Song” by Li Bai

Sea travellers speak of Yingzhou, lost in mist and waves, hard to find; the men of Yue speak of Tianmu, which may be glimpsed as the clouds part. Tianmu stretches to the sky and across it, outtopping the Five Sacred Mountains and dwarfing Chicheng; Tiantai, forty-eight thousand feet, seems to lean south-east before it. Because of it I dreamed of Wu and Yue: in one night I flew across the moonlit Mirror Lake; the lake moon lit my shadow and carried me to the Shan Stream. Master Xie’s lodging is still there, the green water rippling, the gibbons calling clear. I put on Master Xie’s clogs and climbed the ladder of blue clouds; halfway up I saw the sun rise from the sea and heard the cock of heaven crow. A thousand crags, ten thousand turns, the path uncertain; dazzled by flowers, leaning on rocks, suddenly it was dark. Bears roared, dragons sang in the cliff springs; the deep woods shuddered, the layered peaks shook. Clouds darkened as if to rain, water shimmered into mist; lightning cracked, hills and ridges crumbled. The stone doors of the grotto heaven opened with a crash: a blue-black vastness without a floor, sun and moon shining on terraces of gold and silver. Rainbows for robes, wind for horses, the lords of the clouds came down one after another; tigers played zithers, phoenixes drew carriages, the immortals stood thick as hemp. Suddenly my soul started, my spirit stirred; I woke with a long sigh. Only the pillow and mat remained; the mists and glow of a moment ago were gone. The pleasures of this world are just so; since ancient times all things flow east like water. I leave you now; when shall I return? Let me loose a white deer among the green cliffs and ride it to visit famous mountains when I must go. How could I bow my brow and bend my waist to serve the powerful, and never let my heart and face be glad!