The Ancient Passageway
Xu Hui

Was it to find lost sheep in a dream
Or to seek that crimson cloud
Beyond the ravine
Where my indomitable forefathers
Chiseled out this passage with their bloody hands—
Half way up the steep cliff of a thousand feet
A slender rope afloat in mid-air?
Ah, within the Kui Gate the soil is rich.
Wild roses blooming white on the boughs
Tug at your sleeves,
The hill stream whispers:
O stop, please stop,
Don't go forward…

Seeds scattered by nature
Take root on every piece of soil,
But you have le a deep blue hope
Make its steep climb along this perilous passage,
—to the strange world
Ah, these vague longings are
Not merely for surviving.