望庐山瀑布望廬山瀑布
rì zhào日照xiāng lú香炉shēng生zǐ紫yān烟，
yáo遥kān看pù bù瀑布guà挂qián前chuān川。
fēi飞liú流zhí直xià下sān三qiān千chě尺，
yí疑shì是Yín hé银河là落jiǔ tiān九天。
Line by line
- 日照香炉生紫烟，日照香爐生紫煙， Sun on Incense-Burner Peak breeds purple mist;
- 遥看瀑布挂前川。遙看瀑布掛前川。 from afar the falls hang like a river before me.
- 飞流直下三千尺，飛流直下三千尺， The torrent plunges three thousand feet straight down —
- 疑是银河落九天。疑是銀河落九天。 could the Milky Way be falling from the ninth heaven?
The poet & the story
Li Bai visited Mount Lu in Jiangxi several times; this quatrain comes from his travels there around 725. Nobody in Chinese poetry exaggerates like Li Bai — “three thousand feet” and a waterfall mistaken for the Milky Way are his trademarks, and the poem made the Lushan falls a pilgrimage site.
Interpretation
Sunlight on Incense-Burner Peak raises violet mist; from afar the waterfall hangs like a bolt of silk before the river. It plunges three thousand feet straight down — could the Milky Way be falling from the ninth heaven? The poem teaches Chinese hyperbole at its most joyful: the impossible image that feels truer than measurement.