Passing Through Huayin, Cui Hao (300 Tang Shi #171)

To lofty peaks of Great Mt. Hua, the capital bows down—
Three summits past the heavens that humans couldn’t carve.
The clouds desire to disperse before Wu Temple
And rain clears off where the Immortal’s Palm ascends.
Rivers and mountains to the north cushion the Qin Pass.
Road stations to the west connect the calm Han Altar.
I want to ask these travelers seeking fame and fortune
To linger here and study immortality.

行经华阴
岧嶢太华俯咸京，
天外三峰削不成。
武帝祠前云欲散，
仙人掌上雨初晴。
河山北枕秦关险，
驿树西连汉畤平。
借问路傍名利客，
无如此处学长生。

Huayin is a town east of Chang’an at the confluence of the Wei and Yellow Rivers, in the north foothills of Mt. Hua a.k.a. Taihua (“great Hua”), one of the five sacred mountains of Daoism. Said mountain has three peaks, the highest of which is Immortal’s Palm (Xianrenzhang). Wu Temple is where emperors made sacrifices to heaven and earth, and the Han Altar is the ancestral temple of the Han Dynasty rulers. The nearby Qin Pass is Hangu Gate, the frontier between the Warring States kingdom of Qin and the plains of the lower Yellow River. Lost in translation: he wants to ask passers-by “[from] beside the road.”

(Yeah, these 40% larger poems are taking me longer to translate—one a day isn’t sustainable atm.)

---L.