Tang Dynasty
Stopping Below Mount Beigu
Wang Wan
客路青山外，行舟绿水前。
潮平两岸阔，风正一帆悬。
海日生残夜，江春入旧年。
乡书何处达？归雁洛阳边。
Translation
The traveler's road runs beyond the green mountains. My boat moves forward over the green water. The tide is level; both banks open wide. The wind is fair; one sail hangs high. The sun over the sea is born from the remaining night. Spring on the river enters the old year. Where can my letter home be sent and received? Returning wild geese, carry it toward Luoyang.
Analysis
"Stopping Below Mount Beigu" is Wang Wan's best-known poem. "Stopping" means lodging or mooring during a journey. The poem describes travel by water in Jiangnan, combining open river scenery, the turning of time, and homesickness. The opening couplet establishes the traveler's condition. The road extends beyond green mountains, and the boat moves along green water. Land route and water route appear together, making the sense of journey strong. The speaker is a "guest," someone away from home. The second couplet presents a broad and calm river scene. The tide is level, so the two banks appear wide apart. The wind is favorable, and the sail hangs high. The scene is not turbulent or dangerous. It is open, balanced, and full of forward movement. The third couplet is the heart of the poem: "The sun over the sea is born from the remaining night; spring on the river enters the old year." These lines describe natural transition, but also suggest a deeper sense of time. The new sun appears before night has fully ended; spring arrives before the old year is gone. New life emerges while the old world still remains. The verbs are especially powerful. The sun is "born," and spring "enters." Time is not static; it moves with energy and life. The final couplet turns to homesickness. The traveler wonders how his letter home can reach Luoyang. He imagines entrusting it to returning wild geese, a traditional poetic image for messages and return. The bright river scene does not erase longing; it quietly awakens it. The poem succeeds because it does not force emotion. The open tide, fair wind, rising sun, and early spring create a clear, expansive setting. Within that clarity, the longing for home appears naturally.
About the Author
Wang Wan was a Tang dynasty poet from Luoyang, active in the early High Tang period. Little is known about his life. He passed the imperial examination and served in official posts, but only a small number of his poems survive. His reputation rests mainly on "Stopping Below Mount Beigu," one of the classic five-character regulated poems of travel and homesickness. The couplet "The sun over the sea is born from the remaining night; spring on the river enters the old year" has long been admired for its elegant parallelism, expansive vision, and profound sense of temporal renewal.