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Wang Chih-huan (688–742) was born in Taiyuan, the provincial capital of Shansi, and later moved to Hsinfeng near the southern end of the same province. When a career in the civil service failed to yield anything but minor appointments, he returned home and spent his time visiting friends and traveling to scenic spots in the area. Wang wrote this poem on a visit to Yungchi, one hundred kilometers south of Hsinfeng. The tower he climbed rose three stories above the southwest corner of the city wall and looked out on the Chungtiao Mountains to the south (which are so high—and the sun’s trajectory sufficiently low—the noon sun disappears briefly behind their highest peaks). To the west was the Yellow River, which turned east just after it flowed past Yungchi and headed for the sea one thousand kilometers away. The tower was named for the oriental white storks (Ciconia boyciana) that roosted on its roof, and many poets commemorated the view. Although Wang was famous for his short poems, and many became standard fare for female entertainers during his lifetime, only six survive.

Climbing White Stork Tower

WANG CHIH-HUAN

The midday sun slips behind mountains

the Yellow River turns for the sea

trying to see for a thousand miles

I climb one more story