On Receiving an Official Post, Traveling to the Capital, and Sending Word from Jiangzhou to a Monk on Mount E and Yue - Han Yu
/除官赴阙至江州寄鄂岳僧 - 韩愈/
A Traveler’s Reflection for a Faraway Monk
青山满眼不可留，
Green mountains fill my eyes, yet I cannot remain.
白水无声自东流。
Silent waters slip away, ever flowing east.
此去长安千万里，
From here to Chang’an stretches a thousand thousand miles,
依然钟磬在林丘。
Yet bell and chime still echo through forested hills.
因过江州思鄂岳，
Passing through Jiangzhou, I recall the peaks of E and Yue,
遥寻石室问浮游。
From afar I seek your stony cloister, drifting through mind and prayer.
寄言同道应相忆，
I send these words to kindred spirits, who surely share my thoughts:
莫叹崎岖道路休。
Do not lament the rugged road, nor let your journey cease.
Green mountains fill my eyes, yet I cannot remain.
白水无声自东流。
Silent waters slip away, ever flowing east.
此去长安千万里，
From here to Chang’an stretches a thousand thousand miles,
依然钟磬在林丘。
Yet bell and chime still echo through forested hills.
因过江州思鄂岳，
Passing through Jiangzhou, I recall the peaks of E and Yue,
遥寻石室问浮游。
From afar I seek your stony cloister, drifting through mind and prayer.
寄言同道应相忆，
I send these words to kindred spirits, who surely share my thoughts:
莫叹崎岖道路休。
Do not lament the rugged road, nor let your journey cease.
In this poem, Han Yu captures both the physical and emotional distances that define a scholar-official’s life in the Tang dynasty. Having received a new appointment, he travels from the familiar landscapes of southern China toward the imperial capital, Chang’an. Along the way, he passes through Jiangzhou (in present-day Jiangxi Province) and sends heartfelt greetings to a monk residing in the distant mountains of E (鄂) and Yue (岳).
The poem’s opening lines juxtapose the stillness of the mountains with the unstoppable flow of the river. By personifying the mountains as ‘filling his gaze’ and the water as flowing ‘east’ in silence, Han Yu sets the tone of wistful longing. He cannot remain among the comforting scenery, tied as he is to the obligations of court and duty. The imagined bell and chime in the forested hills evoke the Buddhist or monastic environment—an echo of the tranquility he yearns for but cannot stay to enjoy.
The journey from south to north was no small feat in the Tang era, and distance is made palpable by referencing ‘a thousand thousand miles’ to Chang’an. Physical distance becomes a metaphor for the emotional and spiritual separation from the monk and the monastic life, with which Han Yu harbors a complex relationship. Despite being a firm Confucian who sometimes criticized Buddhism, he also appreciated the solitary purity that monastic existence could represent.
In the latter lines, Han Yu insists on perseverance: though the road is rugged, one must not give up. This line of encouragement speaks not only to the monk he addresses but also to himself and anyone bearing life’s burdens. In the end, the poem reads as both an introspective travel note and a philosophical meditation: even as we move forward in pursuit of worldly responsibilities, we keep our deeper spiritual or personal bonds alive through mindful remembrance and shared resolve.
By weaving natural images with personal sentiment, Han Yu offers a timeless reflection on duty, friendship, and the solace that comes from remembering—and being remembered by—those who reside in places of peaceful retreat. For modern readers, the poem resonates as a reminder that, while external journeys may pull us away, cherished connections and spiritual touchpoints remain vital refuges of the heart.
Key points
• Han Yu reflects on the tension between official duty and the desire for contemplative retreat.
• Natural imagery (mountains, rivers, chimes) conveys both comfort and the inevitability of forward motion.
• Despite his Confucian loyalty, Han Yu acknowledges the profound draw of monastic life.
• The poem encourages perseverance, even when distances—both physical and emotional—seem immense.
