“Record of the Yueyang Tower” by Fan Zhongyan of Song Dynasty - Ink on Rice Paper Original (Ver. 2)

Original ink calligraphy by Ming Ge.

Edition of: 1

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Calligraphy (Semi-Cursive Script) of “Record of the Yueyang Tower” by Fan Zhongyan of Song Dynasty (989-1052)

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In the fourth year of Qingli, Teng Zijing was exiled to govern Baling. Within a year, affairs were ordered and the people at peace — all that had fallen into ruin was raised again. So the Yueyang Tower was rebuilt, grander than before, its walls inscribed with the verses of Tang masters and living poets. He asked me to set down these words in remembrance.

I have gazed upon the splendors of Baling, gathered in the great mirror of Dongting Lake — swallowing distant mountains, drinking the Yangtze whole, vast and boundless, stretching beyond all edges. Morning light and evening shadow shift across its face in ten thousand forms. This is the tower's great view, and those before me have described it well.

Yet to the north, the gorges of Wu; to the south, the rivers Xiao and Xiang. Exiled officials and wandering poets have long gathered here, and standing before such a scene — could their hearts remain unmoved?

When endless rains fall for months without relenting, when cold winds howl and turbid waves assault the sky, when sun and stars are swallowed by the dark, when mountains vanish and merchants dare not travel, when dusk descends like ink and tigers cry in the hills — to climb this tower then is to feel the grief of exile, of longing, of fear and desolation, until sorrow fills everything the eye can hold.

But when spring arrives and the waters lie still, when heaven and lake become a single blue expanse stretching ten thousand acres without a ripple, when gulls gather on the sand and bright fish glide below, when orchids crowd the banks and the fragrance rises, when evening mist clears and the full moon casts its light a thousand miles across the water — its reflection a sunken jade disc, perfectly still — when fishermen call to one another across the waves, what joy could ever reach its end? To climb this tower then is to feel the heart open wide, all honors and disgrace forgotten, a cup raised to the wind, utterly free.

Alas — I have searched among ancient writings for the mind of one who truly loved this place. Perhaps such a person would feel neither joy in fair weather nor sorrow in the storm — standing apart from personal gain, beyond the reach of flattery or slander, asking only: what is good for the people, what serves the realm.

To grieve before the people grieve. To rejoice only after the people rejoice.

Without such a person — whom shall I follow?

Written in the seventh month of the second year. Time: six in the evening. The fifteenth day. Recorded by Song Fan Zhongyan, Yueyang Tower.

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庆历四年春，滕子京谪守巴陵郡。越明年，政通人和，百废具兴，乃重修岳阳楼，增其旧制，刻唐贤今人诗赋于其上，属予作文以记之。

予观夫巴陵胜状，在洞庭一湖。衔远山，吞长江，浩浩汤汤，横无际涯，朝晖夕阴，气象万千，此则岳阳楼之大观也，前人之述备矣。然则北通巫峡，南极潇湘，迁客骚人，多会于此，览物之情，得无异乎？

若夫淫雨霏霏，连月不开，阴风怒号，浊浪排空，日星隐曜，山岳潜形，商旅不行，樯倾楫摧，薄暮冥冥，虎啸猿啼，登斯楼也，则有去国怀乡，忧谗畏讥，满目萧然，感极而悲者矣。

至若春和景明，波澜不惊，上下天光，一碧万顷，沙鸥翔集，锦鳞游泳，岸芷汀兰，郁郁青青，而或长烟一空，皓月千里，浮光跃金，静影沉璧，渔歌互答，此乐何极！登斯楼也，则有心旷神怡，宠辱偕忘，把酒临风，其喜洋洋者矣。

嗟夫！予尝求古仁人之心，或异二者之为，何哉？不以物喜，不以己悲，居庙堂之高则忧其民，处江湖之远则忧其君。是进亦忧，退亦忧。然则何时而乐耶？其必曰：先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐欤！微斯人，吾谁与归？

时六年九月十五日。宋范仲淹《岳阳楼记》。