Hujia Tu 16

Recording: 10.40 to 11.04 Da Hujia scroll title page <-- Scene 15 <-- --> Scene 17

Scene 16: The flat desert is everywhere one looks 平沙四顧

From 18 Songs of a Nomad Flute, here illustrating the qin melody Da Hujia (Nomad Reed Pipe, Long Version)
Scroll painting and calligraphy by Bai Yunli based on a Song dynasty original; poem by Liu Shang translated by Robert Rorex and Wen Fong

On my way here I noticed only the vast blue sky.
In the days of my return I realized how distant is the nomads' land.
In the overcast sky it is difficult to know where the sun sets,
But the direction in which the geese fly must be the south.
Looking in all directions, across the flat sands, one easily gets confused,
So we follow the geese, near and far away.
Long before the end of the journey no more horse tracks can be seen.
No other humans are in sight, only the yellow grass of the steppes.

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