Yellow Crane Tower
(To the Tune of "Bodhisattva Barbarians") 2
(Spring 1927)

Endless and vast, the nine branches³ flow through the land,
Deeply etched, one thread cuts through from north to south.
In the blue haze of mist and rain,
Tortoise and Snake⁵ shackle the Great River.
The yellow crane has gone who knows where,
Only this travelers' resting place remains.⁶
A libation of wine I pour to the surging torrent,
The tide of my heart rising high as its waves.

This poem was first published in Shikan, January 1957. We have translated it from Shici
duilian, pp. 18-20.
1. Yellow Crane Tower is located near present-day Wuhan. Legend has it that an
immortal once flew over the spot on a yellow crane and stopped there to rest, and that a
tower was first built there during the Three Kingdoms period. Yellow Crane Tower has
been a favorite subject of classical Chinese poetry since the Tang dynasty.
2. On the convention of "tune title" (cipai), see the note to Mao's 1923 poem addressed to his wife.
3. This refers to the tributaries that run into the Yangzi River at this point. The word
Mao uses here for "branch" (pai) may also imply schools of thought, ideologies, contending forces.
4. This refers to the Beijing-Hankou Railway to the north and the Guangzhou-Hankou
Railway to the south. It may also imply the northern and southern warlord forces.
5. These are two hills that face each other on opposite banks of the Yangzi River. The
tortoise and the snake are both powerful creatures in Chinese lore. In addition, metal locks
in the shape of the tortoise and snake were traditionally used on gates to important places.
6. These two lines echo the opening lines of a poem (also entitled "Yellow Crane
Tower") by Cui Hao (d. 754) of the Tang dynasty: "Men of old rode off on the golden
crane/All that's left here is Yellow Crane Tower./The golden crane is gone, never to
return/White clouds drift in the void for a thousand years."