Man Jiang Hong

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Mǎn Jīang Hóng Traditional Chinese: 滿江紅; Simplified Chinese: 满江红) is the title of a set of lyrical poems sharing the same pattern. If unspecified, it most often refers to the one written by legendary Song Dynasty general and Chinese national hero Yue Fei (but some sources suggest this is not by Yue Fei actually, see talk). Written in 1133 at the age of 30 after the capture of Emperors Qinzong and Huizong by Jurchen invaders (known as the "Humiliation of Jingkang" as mentioned in the poem) alongside Emperor Gaozong's retreat to modern-day Hangzhou in 1127 which formed the Southern Song Dynasty. It is a testament to Yue Fei's unwavering patriotism to China, and a scathing full-on attack on the dynasty's cowardice in the face of the Jin Dynasty of the North (For this he would be executed in 1142 by the hanjian Qin Kuai).

[edit] The Poem

Traditional Chinese original	Hanyu Pinyin	English translation
怒髮衝冠，憑欄處，瀟瀟雨歇。	Nù fà chōng guān, píng lán chù, xiāoxiāo yǔ xiē.	My wrath bristles through my helmet, the rain stops as I stand by the rail;
抬望眼，仰天長嘯，壯懷激烈。	Tái wàng yǎn, yǎng Tiān cháng xiào, zhuàng huái jīliè.	I look up towards the sky and let loose a passionate roar.
三十功名塵與土，八千里路雲和月。	Sānshí gōngmíng chén yū tǔ, bāqīan lǐ lù yún hé yuè.	At age thirty my deeds are nothing but dust, my journey has taken me over eight thousand li¹
莫等閒白了少年頭，空悲切。	Mò děngxián bái liǎo (le) shàonián toú, kōng bēiqiè.	So do not sit by idly, for young men will grow old in regret.
靖康恥，猶未雪；	Jīngkāng chǐ, yóu wèi xuě;	The Humiliation of Jing Kang² still lingers,
臣子恨，何時滅？	Chéngzǐ hèn, hé shí miè?	When will the pain of his subjects ever end?
駕長車踏破賀蘭山缺！	Jià chángjū tà pò Hèlán shān quē!	Let us ride our chariots through the Helan Pass,
壯志飢餐胡虜肉，笑談渴飲匈奴血。	Zhuàngzhì jī cān Húlǔ ròu, xiào tán kě yǐn Xiōngnú xiě.	There we shall feast and drink barbarian flesh and blood.
待從頭收拾舊山河，朝天闕。	Daì cóngtóu shōushì jiù shānhé, cháo Tiān quē.	Let us begin anew to recover our old empire³, before paying tribute to Heaven.

[edit] Notes

Statue of Yue Fei at the Yue Fei Mausoleum in Hangzhou. The four characters on the banner above his head reads, "return my rivers and mountains", one of the themes espoused in his poem.

¹: a li (ancient Chinese measurement of distance) is about a half of a kilometre or a 1/3 of a mile.
²: this is in reference to the shame of the capture of Kaifeng and Emperor Qinzong in the Jingkang Incident in 1127.
³: In 1141 the Song signed the humiliating Treaty of Shaoxing that forced the Song Dynasty to renounce all claims to all lands north of the Huai river, along with Yue Fei's execution. In other words, the Chinese were humiliated into becoming a tributary of the Jurchens.