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Tí Wū Jiāng TíngWritten at the Wujiang Pavilion 题乌江亭

Du Mu (杜牧, also known as Tu Mu)｜Late Tang｜seven-character quatrain

Du Mu asks what would have happened if Xiang Yu had not given up.

Original Chinese text with pinyin

胜败兵家事不期
shèng bài bīng jiā shì bù qī

包羞忍耻是男儿
bāo xiū rěn chǐ shì nán ér

江东子弟多才俊
jiāng dōng zǐ dì duō cái jùn

卷土重来未可知
juǎn tǔ chóng lái wèi kě zhī

Simplified characters; traditional title: 題烏江亭.

English translation

Victory and defeat in war cannot be foretold;

To bear shame and endure disgrace—that is a man.

East of the river the young men had many talents;

Had he returned in force, who knows what might have been?

Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.

Line by line

胜败兵家事不期 · shèng bài bīng jiā shì bù qī — Victory and defeat in war cannot be foretold;

包羞忍耻是男儿 · bāo xiū rěn chǐ shì nán ér — To bear shame and endure disgrace—that is a man.

江东子弟多才俊 · jiāng dōng zǐ dì duō cái jùn — East of the river the young men had many talents;

卷土重来未可知 · juǎn tǔ chóng lái wèi kě zhī — Had he returned in force, who knows what might have been?

Meaning and imagery

Traditional history admired Xiang Yu's heroic suicide. Du Mu disagrees: a real man swallows his pride and tries again. The last line imagines Xiang Yu returning with fresh troops from the east, "rolling up the earth" in a cloud of dust. The poem is a famous example of "historical commentary" verse, giving it a lively, argumentative tone.

Background

Written around 840 at the Wujiang river crossing, where in 202 BCE the defeated Xiang Yu refused to flee east and took his own life. The phrase "卷土重来" (a comeback) comes from this poem.

Key words

兵家 bīng jiā: military men
包羞忍耻 bāo xiū rěn chǐ: to bear shame and humiliation
卷土重来 juǎn tǔ chóng lái: to come back in force

About the poet: Du Mu

Du Mu, grandson of a chief minister, was an official and a stylish writer of quatrains. With Li Shangyin he is known as one of the "Little Li and Du" of the late Tang, prized for vivid scenes tinged with history and melancholy.

Lifetime: 803–852. Other famous works: Written at the Wujiang Pavilion (题乌江亭); Passing Huaqing Palace (过华清宫); Qingming (清明); Spring in Jiangnan (江南春); Mooring on the Qinhuai River (泊秦淮); Mountain Walk (山行); Autumn View in Chang'an (长安秋望); For Han Chuo in Yangzhou (寄扬州韩绰判官); The Pond Behind Qi'an (齐安郡后池绝句); Autumn Evening (秋夕).