Starting off from the Qiangtang River in Hangzhou, passing through Shaoxing via the Jinghu Lake and upstream the Cao’e River and Shanxi River to the south, before arriving at Tiantai Mountain by way of Shicheng, Wozhou and Tianmu in Xinchang. This is an ancient cultural path that countless men of letters have treaded. Indeed, 1,300 years ago, numerous Tang poets set sail on the trail, wine freely flowing and in high spirits, leaving behind more than 1,500 classic poems along the way.

Befittingly, the route is now called “the Tang Poetry Road in East Zhejiang”. Such a “star-studded road” it is.

On top of the list of the Tang poets who took the journey along the same road are Du Fu (712-770), who came to Zhejiang at a young age and stayed for four years, and Li Bai (701-762), who visited Zhejiang four times, thrice to Yuezhong (present-day Shaoxing) and twice ascending the Tiantai Mountain. Followed by Lu Zhaolin (ca. 634-ca. 689) and Luo Binwang (ca. 626-ca. 684), two of the “Four Paragons of the Early Tang”, and He Zhizhang (658-744) and Cui Zongzhi (?-?), two of the “Eight Immortals Indulged in Wine”.  Then there are Yuan Zhen (779-831), Li Shen (772-846) and Li Deyu (787-850), the “Three Talents of Mid-Tang”, and Luo Yin (833-910), Luo Ye (825-?) and Luo Qiu (?-?), the “Three Luos of the Late Tang”...and many more.

According to statistics, over 400 of the 2,200-odd poets recorded in Quantangshi (Complete Tang Poems), and more than 170 of the 278 poets collected in Tang Caizi Zhuan (Biographies of Eminent Tang Poets) had set foot on the route, for different reasons.

Some of them were on a tour to enrich their life experience, some to escape from the humdrum of life, some to look for shelter in times of turmoil, and still some to survey the area’s economic development.

Why did the poets choose this particular route? One popular theory ascribes it all to Li Bai. Or more precisely, Li Bai following the footsteps of He Zhizhang.

Despite their great difference in age, Li and He regarded each other as one of their best friends. Indeed, it is He who first bestowed upon Li his now commonly referred to nickname, the “Banished Immortal”, and recommended Li to the Tang emperor.

At a young age, Li went to the capital Chang’an (present-day Xi’an) to seek his political fortune. Without any friends there, Li lived alone in a small tavern. One day, he chanced upon He, who was already a senior official. Unbeknownst to Li, He had already heard of Li and his fascinating poems. Delighted to meet Li in person, He decided to buy him some drinks. Unfortunately, He didn’t carry any money, but he was determined to treat Li. He then took off his gold-turtle baldric, a token for senior officials, and exchanged it for some wine. They boozed happily until both were drunk and their friendship was cemented.

In the year 745, He, already 86 years old and afflicted with illnesses, asked the Tang emperor to permit him to retire to his hometown Shanyin (present—day Shaoxing). In Zhejiang, He’s journey home—from Qiantang River to Jianhu Lake, Shanyin Road and Ruoye River—is considered the best part of the Tang poetry road.

During Li Bai’s second trip to East Zhejiang a couple of years later, he made a special effort to visit He and travelled the same route as He did, only to find his old friend had already passed away. Li paid tribute to He and lamented his death:

“A ‘Wild Fellow’ in Siming there is, by the name of He Jizhen [He Zhizhang’s courtesy name] he goes. The first time we met, a ‘Banished Immortal’ he called me. Alas, once a ‘Wine Immortal’, all you left is a mound of earth under the pine tree. Instead of ‘gold in exchange for wine’, now only tears I can see.”  

Li Bai’s fascination with East Zhejiang also came from his admiration for Xie Lingyun (385-433). One of the foremost poets in the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589), Xie was a native of Kuaiji (part of present-day Shaoxing) and a descendant of the Xie Family, a famous noble clan. He was also known as Kangle Gong or Duke of Kangle by succeeding to the family dukedom. Xie was widely lauded as the pioneer in developing the landscape poetry genre, which has later become one of the major literature schools in China. In fact, his landscape poems earned him the recognition as the trailblazer of the modern-day East Zhejiang tourist route, which Li Bai was determined to cover.

Inspired by Xie, Li travelled extensively in East Zhejiang, and wrote many poems about the area. At the age of 24, he told his friends: “Not for stewed perch I’m on this trip, but for great mountains I’m on my way to Shanzhong [in present-day Shengzhou city].” In 726, he spoke of the area’s sceneries longingly in Yangzhou: “Green are the bamboos and brooks, fragrant are the lotus flowers in mirror-like lakes.” And in 727, unable to suppress his wanderlust, Li Bai was on the way again, arriving in Lin’an (present-day Hangzhou) via the Grand Canal, before going on to Xiaoshan, Kuaiji and Shanzhong. When he finally ascended the Tiantai and Tianmu Mountains, one of the greatest poems was born, which was beautifully rendered into English by Xu Yuanchong, a renowned contemporary Chinese translator:

...

Mount Skyland threatens heaven, massed against the sky,

Surpassing the Five Peaks and dwarfing Mount Red Town.

Mount Heaven’s Terrace, five hundred thousand feet high.

Surpassing the Five Peaks and dwarfing Mount Red Town.

Mount Heaven’s Terrace, five hundred thousand feet high,

Nearby to the southeast, appears to crumble down.

Longing in dreams for Southern land, one night

I flew o'er Mirror Lake in moonlight.

My shadow’s followed by moonbeams

Until I reach Shimmering Streams,

Where Hermitage of Master Xie can still be seen,

And clearly gibbons wail o’er rippling water green.

I put Xie’s pegged boot

Each on one foot,

And scale the mountain ladder to blue cloud.

...

( “Mountain Skyland Ascended in a Dream: A Song of Farewell” or Mengyou Tianmu Yin Liubie, by Li Bai, translated by Xu Yuanchong)

Here “Mount Skyland” refers to Tianmu Mountain while “Mount Heaven” refers to Tiantai Mountain, and the poetic names just show their breathtaking grandeur. Located in present-day Shaoxing city, Shanxi River (“Shimmering Streams”), through which to get to the mountains, and Jinghu Lake, literally “Mirror Lake” and also known as Jianhu Lake, have attracted the admirations of many a poet, including Du Fu, who set his foot in this area just a few years later and praised the river and the lake effusively.

Unsurprisingly, Xie Lingyun, idolized by Li Bai, figures prominently in the poem. Xie is more than a poet; he is widely credited with inventing the “pegged boot”, as alluded to in the poem. The boots, commonly known as “Duke Xie’s Wooden Boots”, feature small pegs underneath which are removable depending on whether the wearer is on level ground or going up or down a slope, i.e. climbing a mountain. For Li Bai, he was eventually able to fulfil his dream of standing on top of Tianmu Mountain and Tiantai Mountain as Xie did; he was truly following Xie’s “bootsteps”.

More than a thousand years have passed since the Tang poets attempted to seek wisdom and inspiration from their predecessors whom they regarded as “immortals” and sages. They are now in turn being admired and appreciated. From Xixing Ancient Town, on the south bank of the Qiantang River in Hangzhou and the starting point of the East Zhejiang Poetry Road, to Tiantai Mountain, where it ends, their poems can be found everywhere. A rough estimate puts the number of Tang poems written about Xixing at over 400. To the southwest of Shangyu district in Shaoxing, stands Dongshan Mountain (literally “East Mountain”), about which Li Bai alone composed 37 poems. Not to mention Shanxi River, Jinghu Lake, and the other places along the way. This is a veritable Tang poetry road.