“The Great Palace of Qin” is an essay written by the Tang poet Du Mu (803-852 AD) that c

“The Great Palace of Qin” is an essay written by the Tang poet Du Mu (803-852 AD) that contemplates on the rise and fall of the Qin Dynasty, how the Qin emperor conquered the Six Kingdoms and united China under his rule but then rapidly caused the downfall of the empire through his own tyranny, wild ambition and extravagence, and through cruelly trampling the will of the people and extorting wealth from his subjects for self-indulgence. Who’d have thought that this essay could be so relevant to today’s China…The translation below is by John Minford, but he omitted several lines in his translation so I added them back in, the lines translated by me are italicised:The Six Kingdoms came to an end, the Four Seas became One. The Hills of Shu were stripped bare, to build the Great Palace of Qin. Stretching over three hundred leagues, its bulk obscuring sun and sky, Northwards from Mount Li, west to the citadel of Xianyang, The Twin Rivers pouring their waters through the palace walls. Every five paces a storeyed mansion, every ten paces a pavilion. Covered walkways wind their way, pointed eaves curve like teeth, like beaks, high into the sky. Halls hug the power of Earth, linked together, rivalling one another in splendour, Dense as a beehive, convoluted as a whirlpool, countless roofs rear their heads, Bridges crouch on the waters like dragons, but without clouds how can there be dragons? Pathways soar aloft like rainbows, but with clear skies how can there be rainbows? In such confusion no direction can be discerned. From the terraces sung melodies are heard, stirring the warm harmony of Spring; In the halls, fluttering dancers’ sleeves bring a cool breath of breeze and rain. In a single day, within one palace, the four seasons unfold.Consorts and concubines, princes and princelings, Forsake their former fiefdoms, their palaces of old, To journey to Qin and wait upon new couches, to sing and make music at court. Seated before their mirrors, the ladies at their morning toilette, Arrayed like bright stars, comb their tumbling tresses massed like dark clouds, their rouge mingling with the River Wei, their incense coiling into heaven. Thunder sounds, ‘tis the emperor’s carriage rumbling who knows whither While the harem clad in its finery, gazes forlornly, Yearning for a dragon embrace, destined to wait thirty-six years.The jewels and treasures of the Six Kingdoms amassed over generationsWere looted from their people and piled up like mountains. When those kingdoms fell, all their wealth was transported to Qin.The people of Qin treated grails like common pots, jade like plain rocks, gold and pearl like lumps of dirt;They scattered the treasures mindlessly and didn’t know better to cherish them;How come they plundered all there was, but squandered it like sand? Pillars of the Palace more in number than peasants on the soil, Beams of the Palace roof more in number than weavers at their looms. Gleaming nails in the Palace qalls more in number than grains of rice in granaries of the needy, Tiles on the Palace roof more in number than threads in garments of the destitute. Lintels in Palace doorways more in number than walls of the town, Music in the Palace noisier than chatter in the market.The folk of all under heaven cannot voice their rage. The heart and mind of the one man grows ever more arrogant and proud. Until one day the troops bellow their rebellion, and a new pretender comes to the Valley of Han, Until the flaming torches of Xiang Yu, Lord of Chu, flatten the Palace to scorched earth, to ashes.The Six Kingdoms themselves caused their own downfall, not the might of Qin; Qin itself wiped out its own line, not all under heaven.Alas! If the Six Kingdoms had but loved their own folk, They would never have fallen to the might of Qin. If Qin in its turn had but loved its own subjects, taken from the Six Kingdoms, Qin could have prolonged its rule, and no one could have destroyed it! The rulers of Qin had not a moment to lament their fate, Those who came after lamented it. When those who come after lament but do not learn, Then they too will merely provide fresh cause for lamentation From those who come after them. -- source link
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