[Poem] BI CHENG (FIRST OF THREE) - A Brief Glimpse into Li He’s Ethereal Landscape

This poem is the first in a trio known as “碧城三首,” or “Three Poems of Bi Cheng.” Though “碧城” (Bicheng) literally suggests a ‘Jade-Green City,’ Li He often uses place names more as evocative backdrops than strictly geographical references. Here, he weaves together images of grandeur—‘twelve winding balustrades,’ ‘horn and jade’—with the sudden hush of wintery isolation.

In the first couplet, we see the poet’s characteristic juxtaposition of the refined and the protective: horn (traditionally believed in Chinese lore to repel miasma or dust) and jade (associated with purity and an almost magical ability to ‘ward off cold’). This imagery immediately elevates the setting into a domain of rare beauty and otherworldly atmosphere.

The second couplet shifts focus to a more remote, wintry scene. ‘Nine Sons Peak’ is a name that conveys a certain mythic resonance or local lore, while swirling snow intensifies the hush. The mention of oars—‘橹声’—in the distance counters the silence, yet that faint sound feels abruptly cut off (‘遥断’) by the icy sky of Chu. This interplay between distant sound and enveloping cold underscores a sense of isolation and longing, hallmarks of Li He’s verse.

Overall, the poem is at once stately and haunting. It transports us into a half-imagined realm where courts of jade and horn stand on the threshold of untamed mountain peaks. The hush of snow and the echo of boat oars remind us that beneath such finery and mythic grandeur lies the ever-present chill of separation—from warmth, from companionship, and from the more familiar comforts of the world below.