Golden Crane Tower
[A tsu to the melody of The Pusaman Amazons, Pusa Man.]
[Translated by Nancy Lin]
Nine streams course majestic through the Land;
One trunk-line, north to south, silently binds.
Misty drizzle spreads a haze of blue;
Tortoise and Snake guard over the Yangtse.
Gone is the Golden Crane – none knows whither,
Leaving this site to chance visitors.
A bowl of libation to the rushing surge below,
The tide in my heart mounts as the waves foam.
Notes [by Nancy Lin]
Golden Crane Tower: Situated on the Golden Crane Cliff west of Wuchang, Hupei, the tower was first erected in the time of the Three Kingdoms (220-280 AD) in commemoration of a Taoist immortal who, as the legend has it, rode past the site on a golden crane’s back. It has since been a popular place of pilgrimage, made especially famous by Tang poets, among them Tsui Hao and Li Po.
Nine streams: the various tributaries of the Yangtse river in Hupei and Kiangsi Provinces.
One trunk-line: the Peking-Hankow-Canton Railway, the sole line of railroad communication between north and south China before liberation.
Tortoise and Snake: two hills at Hanyang and Wuchang respectively, which directly face each other from opposite banks of the Yangtse. On them now stand the bridge heads of the Yangtse Bridge at Wuhan, completed in October 1957. Wuhan is the name of the well-known tri-city, consisting of Wuchang, Hankow and Hanyang.
Written in Spring 1927 on the eve of the collapse of the Great Revolution, the poem reveals a foreboding feeling and a silent resolve to fight on. In summer, on August 7, the Emergency Session of the CPC decided on armed struggle. With this, the Chinese Revolution entered on a new stage – the build-up of rural revolts.