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Li Ch’i (690–751) served mostly in provincial posts but enjoyed a close association with a number of major poets in the capital. Here, he finally resigns and leaves for his home in Szechuan. Standing atop Ch’ang-an’s north wall he sees the sun rising behind Lishan (a spur of the Chungnan Mountains to the east), the Wei River to the north (its watershed was also called the Valley of Ch’in, as the state of Ch’in once controlled this region), and the imperial grave mounds of Wuling to the northwest. He also hears the soughing of bamboo in the myriad palace gardens below. In the seventh line he recalls Confucius’s regret in not finding anyone to employ his teachings and his anxiety that his disciples would not be able to pass them on (Analects: 5.21). The last line paraphrases the Lichi (Book of Rites): “When a gentleman walks on frost, sadness fills his heart” (24).

Gazing at the Valley of Ch’in

LI CH’I

Gazing at the Valley of Ch’in at dawn

the rising sun behind the east peak

mountains and rivers near and far so clear

undulating wall upon palace wall

the sound of autumn from a world of bamboo

the look of winter among Wuling pines

let’s go home a traveler sighs

the frost and dew are so thick