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Tang Dynasty Jueju Cen Shen

Sunset in the Heyan Desert

日沒賀延磧作

Rì mò Hèyán qì zuò

Seeing both sunrise and sunset from the same sand makes Cen Shen question the distant pursuit of achievement and fame.

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About the text and pronunciation

The simplified view changes character forms, not the edition. Notes and sources retain the cited text.

The Chinese source is shown in traditional characters by default, with a simplified view available. Pinyin is modern standard Mandarin, a reading aid, not Tang or Song pronunciation.

Word by word, in the order of the line. A gloss is a crib. It is not the translation.

01

沙上見日出，

shā shàng jiàn rì chū

On the sand, I watch the sun rise;

Word meanings — Line 1
  1. 沙 shā sand
  2. 上 shàng on
  3. 見 jiàn see
  4. 日 rì sun
  5. 出 chū rise
02

沙上見日沒。

shā shàng jiàn rì mò

on the sand, I watch the sun go down.

Word meanings — Line 2
  1. 沙 shā sand
  2. 上 shàng on
  3. 見 jiàn see
  4. 日 rì sun
  5. 沒 mò sink
03

悔向萬里來，

huǐ xiàng wàn lǐ lái

I regret coming all this distance—

Word meanings — Line 3
  1. 悔 huǐ regret
  2. 向 xiàng toward
  3. 萬 wàn ten thousand
  4. 里 lǐ li
  5. 來 lái come
04

功名是何物。

gōng míng shì hé wù

what sort of thing is achievement and fame?

Word meanings — Line 4
  1. 功 gōng achievement
  2. 名 míng fame
  3. 是 shì is
  4. 何 hé what
  5. 物 wù thing

English translation by PoemWell.

Read the whole poem

Original

沙上見日出，

沙上見日沒。

悔向萬里來，

功名是何物。

Translation

On the sand, I watch the sun rise;

on the sand, I watch the sun go down.

I regret coming all this distance—

what sort of thing is achievement and fame?

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After reading, recall the underlined word or phrase in each line. Say its meaning before opening the answer. These prompts use the text edition printed above.

  1. Line 1 · What does the marked word mean?

    沙上見日出，

    Pronunciation hint

    jiàn

    Reveal meaning and translation

    見 — see

    On the sand, I watch the sun rise;

  2. Line 3 · What does the marked word mean?

    悔向萬里來，

    Pronunciation hint

    wàn

    Reveal meaning and translation

    萬 — ten thousand

    I regret coming all this distance—

  3. Line 4 · What does the marked word mean?

    功名是何物。

    Pronunciation hint

    shì

    Reveal meaning and translation

    是 — is

    what sort of thing is achievement and fame?

One more question: what changes?

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Line-by-line notes

Lines 1–2: a day passes at the same place

The exact return of 沙上 and 見 makes the sand the stationary point of the two lines. What changes is 出 to 沒. 日沒 uses mò for the sun sinking or disappearing. The English keeps the repeated “on the sand” so the journey of the sun is heard against the traveler’s unchanged footing.

Lines 3–4: the reason for the journey comes under question

悔 looks back on the decision to come so far. 萬里 magnifies the journey beyond the single day just described. 功名 names the achievements and reputation that could have made that distance worthwhile. 何物 asks what sort of thing they are in terms blunt enough to unsettle their value. The poem leaves the question on the sand with the speaker.

Form and tone

This five-character jueju has an oblique rhyme in 沒 and 物. The first pair repeats a syntax; the second refuses its seeming calm by asking a question. Modern Mandarin is supplied without turning its present tones into a historical grid.

Historical context

Cen Shen's frontier writing includes doubt about the values that motivate travel. Read The Vow at Qinghai for an opposed resolve to remain until victory, and In the Stony Desert for a question about shelter rather than achievement. Their different questions should remain distinct.

Sources

《全唐詩》, juan 201, Cen Shen; the Wikisource transcription's main reading is followed. Punctuation is editorial.

English translation, gloss, and notes by PoemWell. The translation is original to this site.

The Chinese source is shown in traditional characters by default, with a simplified view available. Pinyin is modern standard Mandarin, a reading aid, not Tang or Song pronunciation.

Updated .

Cite this reading

Cen Shen. “Sunset in the Heyan Desert” (日沒賀延磧作). PoemWell. English translation by PoemWell. Updated .

https://poemwell.org/poems/sunset-in-heyan-desert

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