Once Again on Passing by Zhaoling
In those dark beginnings a hero arose,
the imperial succession came with chants and songs.
A three-foot sword in dust of war,
altars of Earth and Grain, one man in armor.
To assist his glory, he entrusted men of civil virtue,
in grand continuation he withdrew war’s majesty.
Sagely planning as extensive as Heaven,
in ancestral sacrifice, the light of the sun.
The imperial tomb winds along a deserted bend,
troops like bears protect the mountain greenery.
Again I peer at the road through cypress and pine
and still see five-colored clouds flying.