Lines 81-90

~ Laurie Dennis ~ Leave a comment
(In this 9th installment of this blog’s Huangling Bei 皇陵碑 translation, Zhu Yuanzhang’s armies pacify China as he settled on Nanjing as his capital city. Click here to see the previous section.  Also – click on any line number to see complete annotations of each section.)
ChangYuchen2
Chang Yuchun, one of Zhu Yuanzhang’s “brave generals.”

Line 81: 親征荊楚，將平湖湘。I led a campaign into Jingchu and with my generals pacified the Huxiang region;

Line 82: 三苗盡服，廣海入疆。To the south the three tribes of the Miao obeyed and the coastal region became part of our territory.

Line 83: 命大將軍東平乎吳越，齊魯耀乎旌幢。I sent my leading general to pacify the regions of Wu and Yue, while the lands of Qi and Lu were decorated with my banners and streamers. Continue reading →

Annotations to Lines 81-90

~ Laurie Dennis ~ Leave a comment

Line 81 and 82: These two lines can be taken together as a statement of how Zhu pacified the south of China.  Wang Jianying (see Sources) points out that the sequence is a bit off and overlaps with the next few lines, but basically this refer to the battles, and ultimate victories over Chen Youliang to the west, over Fang Guozhen along the coast to the east, and against various other warlords to the south and west. “Jingchu,” is another name for the Three Kingdoms era State of Chu, which dominated southern China in ancient times. This region includes Lake Poyang 鄱陽湖 in Jiangxi, where Zhu defeated Chen (who was killed by an arrow) in a major naval battle in 1363.  “Huxiang” refers to the Xiang River 湘江 in Hunan Province.  Continue reading →

Lines 71-80

~ Laurie Dennis ~ Leave a comment
(In this 8th installment of this blog’s Huangling Bei 皇陵碑 translation, Zhu Yuanzhang leads his army across the Yangzi River and captures Nanjing, which will become the capital of the Ming Dynasty. Click here to see the previous section. Also – click on any line number to see complete annotations of each section.)soldier4

Line 71: 於是家有眷屬，外練兵港。From then on, my household had relatives in it.  Beyond us, my soldiers were well trained and ready

Line 72: 群雄並驅，飲食不遑。Our band of heroes galloped off, with no more leisure for dining and drinking.

Line 73: 暫戍和州，東渡大江。We briefly held Hezhou before heading east to cross the great river. Continue reading →

Annotations to Lines 71-80

~ Laurie Dennis ~ Leave a comment

Line 71: This line marks the transition from an extended description of being reunited with family to Zhu’s military exploits.  The second half of the phrase, “my soldiers were well trained and ready 外練兵港” is literally “exterior trained, weapons sharpened.”  The word “exterior 外” indicates the physical body being strong and ready for battle, but also refers to Zhu’s switch from talking about his interior family life to the external world his troops must now face. Continue reading →

Lines 61-70

~ Laurie Dennis ~ Leave a comment
(In this 7th installment of this blog’s Huangling Bei 皇陵碑 translation, Zhu Yuanzhang forms his own militia and gains fame, which leads to an unexpected family reunion. Click here to see the previous section.  Also – click on any line number to see complete annotations of each section.)

Line 61: 倡農夫以入,伍事業是匡。I convinced the locals to join my band for the cause of rectifying the state.

Chuzhou
The walled city of Chuyang, surrounded by a moat. The waterway through the city converges to the east with the Qingliu River.

Line 62: 不逾月而眾集,赤幟蔽野而盈岡。In less than a month I had gathered a multitude so that our red banners covered the countryside and spilled over the ridges.

Line 63: 率渡清流,戍守滁陽。I led my troops across the Qingliu River to defend the Chuyang Garrison.

Line 64: 思親詢舊,終日慨慷。I thought of my relatives and asked after them, all day sighing with emotion. Continue reading →

Annotations to Lines 61-70

~ Laurie Dennis ~ Leave a comment

rural-fengyang2-e1506555567999.jpgLine 61: I convinced the locals 倡農夫.  These locals were farmers in the Huai River valley, in today’s Anhui Province. Zhu Yuanzhang is calling on them to join a righteous cause (as opposed to what the ruling Mongols would have deemed a rebellion).  The recruits were joining Zhu’s original band of “24 heroes,” who have been named in several places and included companions like Tang He 汤和 and Xu Da 徐达, the future generals who would fight at his side straight through to the dynastic founding in 1368. Continue reading →

Why does this text matter? (Part 2 – The Monk Years)

~ Laurie Dennis ~ Leave a comment
LongXingStatute
Statue of Zhu Yuanzhang in the Anhui temple that claims him as a member of its fold.

Zhu Yuanzhang 朱元璋 is famous as the peasant-turned-rebel who defeated the Mongols and founded the Ming Dynasty in 1368.  However, prior to tying on a red turban and joining the rebellion, Zhu spent eight formative years as a Buddhist monk.  It is these years that are the focus of the middle third of the Imperial Tomb Tablet of the Great Ming 大明皇陵之碑.  Understanding how the Ming founder’s religious beliefs guided his path to the throne is another reason why this text matters.

To recap: after losing his entire family to a plague strike and its aftermath, the orphaned 16-year-old Zhu would have hardly looked like a future emperor.  In fact, he ranks as China’s most unlikely dynastic founder.  Continue reading →