— Luo Yin
Don’t try to make the muddy Yellow River clean!
Could Heaven mirrored in the waves be clearly seen?
How could a winding stream go up the Milky Way?
Just out of Mount Kunlun, it is muddy like clay.
In vain the emperor swore to narrow it down;
Could a raft reach the Polar Star wearing a crown?
Who knows if it will clear up after three thousand years?
Why should you worry if clear or not it appears?
Note
Luo Yin (833–909 CE) was a late Tang Dynasty poet known for his incisive social critique, philosophical depth, and skeptical view of power, fate, and historical narratives. Unlike poets who celebrated natural wonders with admiration, Luo Yin often used landscapes – like the Yellow River – as metaphors to question morality, legitimacy, and the cyclical futility of human ambition.
His poem “The Yellow River” is a bold and unconventional take on China’s “Mother River.” Traditionally seen as a symbol of civilization and imperial glory, Luo Yin instead portrays it as murky, crooked, and inscrutable. He opens by warning: “Don’t pour Ejiao (a legendary clarifying agent made from donkey hide) into these waters – the will of Heaven here is inherently obscure.”
He then notes that the river only reaches the Milky Way (Yin Han) by winding deviously, and becomes muddy immediately after leaving its mythical source at Mount Kunlun – implying that corruption begins at the origin. The middle couplet alludes to history and myth: Emperor Gaozu of Han once swore his dynasty would last as long as the river remained narrow as a belt; meanwhile, celestial travelers sail lightly past constellations, untouched by earthly chaos.
The poem concludes with a devastating rhetorical question: “In three thousand years, who will even remember us? Why trouble yourself announcing ‘peace’ to such a world?” Here, Luo Yin rejects empty political slogans of harmony, suggesting that true peace is illusory in a system built on distortion and force.
黄河
— 罗隐
莫把阿胶向此倾，
此中天意固难明。
解通银汉应须曲，
才出昆仑便不清。
高祖誓功衣带小，
仙人占斗客槎轻。
三千年后知谁在，
何必劳君报太平？
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