A Mortal Life, Born of One Thought · Stubborn and Foolish by Nature · 26 / 102
Xiaozhen Xi Fan: Drifting Snow
Bandits ride the passes at will; the spirit handed down from the old days reveals a heart true to another. On the city wall, grown old, the winter-enduring flower calls out. Going on to fight the Wolf Star again, the snow cools the steady dark eye. Rousing the ancient road, Liaodong is still a blur of white.
Lift the long sword, smear blood in oath before the Lord of Heaven, one cup shared through the treacherous ground and the smooth. To the end of what life is left, wash the violence and upheaval clean, and haul back the Central Plain by main strength, far into time. On the road of strangers we look once more: at the mound of the heroes, only the warmth of gunsmoke remains.
Glosses—
The wind handed down (liu feng): the customs passed down from earlier generations;
To reveal one's heart (jian dan): to meet another with complete sincerity.
Winter-enduring flower (ren dong): the honeysuckle; because when its old leaves wither and fall at the end of autumn new green has already sprouted in the axils of the leaves, and it does not wilt through the winter, it is also called "ren dong," the winter-enduring;
Wolf Star: also named the Dog Star; by old accounts it stands for invasion and plunder;
The dark eye: the black pupil held at the center of the socket. It signifies steadfastness;
A blur of white (mi man): describes smoke and dust, or wind and snow, filling the whole sky and covering the ground in one vast haze;
Treacherous ground and smooth: the perilous and the level.
*This work is original. If you repost it, please credit the original author Guang Zhi Shiyi; any infringement, once discovered, will be pursued to the full extent of the law. In addition, the accompanying image comes from the internet and belongs to the original artist Yichui Wuyue.