Home › Poems › Climbing Feilai Peak
Dēng Fēi Lái FēngClimbing Feilai Peak 登飞来峰
The young Wang Anshi declares his confidence.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
飞来山上千寻塔
fēi lái shān shàng qiān xún tǎ
闻说鸡鸣见日升
wén shuō jī míng jiàn rì shēng
不畏浮云遮望眼
bù wèi fú yún zhē wàng yǎn
自缘身在最高层
zì yuán shēn zài zuì gāo céng
Simplified characters; traditional title: 登飛來峰.
English translation
On Feilai Peak a pagoda rises a thousand fathoms high;
At cockcrow, they say, you can watch the sun rise.
I do not fear floating clouds that block the view—
For I stand on the highest tier of all.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
The first half is description with a touch of wonder. The second half becomes a statement of attitude: floating clouds — a traditional image for slanderers or petty obstacles — cannot block the view of someone who has climbed high enough. Read in the light of Wang's later reforms, the poem is a manifesto of vision and self-belief.
Background
Written in 1050, when Wang Anshi, about thirty, passed through Shaoxing on his way home after a provincial post.
Key words
- 千寻 qiān xún
- a thousand xun — extremely tall
- 浮云 fú yún
- floating clouds; obstacles or slanderers
- 最高层 zuì gāo céng
- the topmost level
About the poet: Wang Anshi
Wang Anshi was a chief minister of the Northern Song who pushed through the sweeping "New Policies" reforms. Out of office he retired to Nanjing and wrote compact, finely polished quatrains. He is one of the "Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song."
Lifetime: 1021–1086. Other famous works: Mooring at Guazhou (泊船瓜洲); Plum Blossoms (梅花); Climbing Feilai Peak (登飞来峰).