八声甘州.寄参寥子 Farewell to my Friend Canliao

八声甘州.寄参寥子

原作: 苏轼（字子瞻, 号东坡居士; 11世纪北宋）

英译: 闵晓红(2024.02)

有情风万里卷潮来，无情送潮归。

问钱塘江上，西兴浦口，几度斜晖？

不用思量古今，俯仰昔人非。

谁似东坡老，白首忘机。

记起西湖西畔，正暮山好处，空翠烟霏。

算诗人相得，如我与君稀。

约它年、东还海道，愿谢公、雅志莫相违。

西州路，不应回首，为我沾衣。

Farewell to my Friend Canliao

- to the tune “The Eight-Line Ganzhou”

Chinese original by Su Shi

English version by Julia Min (Feb. 2024)

The wind arrives with such delight,

Racing the roaring waves from ocean wide.

With regret, it departs,

Taking back to sea heart the receding tides.

I recall our good times at Xixin Port,                  

Watching sunset clouds at Qiantang River mouth.

Even for the greatest men of all time,

A human life is but a twinkling of an eye.

Yet Dongpo, too slow, did not know to let it go, 

Not till this late, not till this old.

In poetry, our friendship budded and blossomed—

Such a precious gift of life, such a blessing!

We love West Lake, the misty views of West Hills,

And the sunrays streaming through young leaves.

Life is a humorous seesaw ride—

Who knows where tomorrow leads?  

I shall return on the waves down the Yangtze River,

A deal sealed, as Lord Xie’s vow to retire in the east.

Just let it be if things ran against our desire.

Even at Xizhou Gate, don’t weep for the old me.

Notes:

1.     Canliao – the social name of the monk Daoqian, a lifelong friend of Su Shi (Dongpo). A man exceptionally versed in Buddhist scriptures and gifted in poetry, he followed Dongpo into exile in Huangzhou and helped him endure his first banishment. They were not merely friends but soulmates—each finding in the other a rare companion for exploring the nature of existence and savouring the quiet joy of verse.

2.     Xixin Port – a place south of the Qiantang River near its mouth, now the Xilin community in Hangzhou. It was likely a favoured retreat where Dongpo and Canliao often wandered together, watching the sun set over the tidal bore—a panorama vast enough to hold both friendship and the fleetingness of glory.

3.     Qiantang River Mouth – still renowned today for its majestic tidal bore, where roaring waters swallow the river as it flows into the sea. This scene has inspired countless works of art across Chinese history, and here it becomes a natural mirror for the ceaseless passage of time.

4.     Lord Xie (Xie An, 320–385 CE) – a distinguished statesman of the Jin Dynasty. According to the Book of Jin, he twice refused high court positions, preferring a life of seclusion at East Hill in Kuaiji (present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang). The Chinese phrases “the will of East Hill” and “rising again from East Hill” originate from him. Only when imperial displeasure threatened his family did he accept the role of Sima (a title comparable to that of a prime minister) and achieve great success. Yet even at the height of power, he never abandoned his longing for a quiet return to the hills. To later generations of the gentry, Xie An became an icon of the detached spirit—a man who moved through the world’s clamour without being moved by it. The Jin Dynasty is also remembered for the elegance and eloquence of its scholar-official class.

5.     Xizhou Gate – a city gate in what is now Nanjing. According to the Book of Jin, Xie An had a beloved nephew who could not bear to pass by this gate, for it was there that his uncle had met his end. Even the sight of it would bring tears to his eyes. Dongpo invokes this poignant image to ask his friend: “ Do not weep for me.

Appreciation:

The year was 1091. Dongpo had been promoted once again—from Governor of Hangzhou to Head of the Hanlin Academy, a position akin to Secretary General to the Emperor and widely regarded as second only to the Prime Minister. Amid the shifting tides of court favour, he wrote this farewell poem to Canliao.

Intense in theme yet disarmingly simple in diction, the poem is so masterfully structured that it shines even among the finest farewell verses. Most poets are advised to begin gently—with something familiar or easy on the eye—saving the theme for the closing couplet. But Dongpo, in his profound mastery, opens with strength. He addresses the heart of his feelings right away: the joy of friendship, the sorrow of parting, and a philosophical insight into the ever-changing nature of all things under heaven. A powerful momentum runs through the poem—spanning both the horizontal reach of the present and the vertical depth of history. Scene and sentiment resonate as one, beautifully blending cherished memories of quiet, detached moments in nature with the shared pursuit of spiritual awakening.

Two natural images are carefully chosen to carry the theme. The first is the famed tidal bore at the Qiantang River mouth—majestic, unstoppable, and melancholy. It stands for the inexorable passage of time, a sorrow every human being shares. The second is the sunset over West Lake, with sunbeams flickering through budding green trees and casting a golden yellow shower over the misty hills. Some say the colour of friendship is golden yellow. Here, the bond between two lifelong friends shines in all its shades—passion, hope, intuition, wisdom, and a tangible glory like the sun itself. It is no accident that the great artist Van Gogh, who once said, “How wonderful yellow is. It stands for the sun,” used that very colour to paint his tender memories of precious moments with the one he loved.

In the end, Dongpo does not cling. He invokes the spirit of Lord Xie—a man who understood when to withdraw—and asks only that his friend not weep at Xizhou Gate. This is not resignation, but liberation. A broad-minded gentleman and an unbound spirit do not mourn departures; they carry the friendship with them, like sunlight remembered after sunset.

Reference:

1. 《百度百科》

2. picture from《大纪元》