Before the Great Beginning took form,
Chaos was boundless.
Heaven and Earth began their motion,
Qian and Kun found their places.
Sun and moon adorn the sky,
Mountains and rivers steady the earth.
All things still gather,
The Three Powers first become complete.
Then divine transformation arose,
And the common people were first born.
Above, virtue alone was established,
Below, none were distant or close kin.
The imperial influence vast and far-reaching,
The black-haired people pure and simple.
When the world follows the Way,
Who is not a sage?
Desires opened their source,
Frivolous customs flourished.
The worthy withdrew from the world,
True men cherished their fate.
The eight poles, divine homelands,
The ten isles, wondrous realms.
Verdant mounds and crimson hills,
Where numinous sages lie hidden.
Only that Mount Wuyi,
Is truly called a Grotto-Heaven.
Peaks and ridges dyed dark green,
Cliffs and caves bright with rosy clouds.
Golden chambers, jade rooms,
Feather canopies, cloud-borne chariots.
On burial days, wind and rain,
There will be immortals.
The state's course fraught with hardship,
The imperial order severed.
The four seas and nine provinces,
Divided and torn asunder.
Calamity ripened in remote corners,
Armed conflict blocked Ouyue.
The profound ethos fell silent,
The crimson palaces desolate.
Our glorious, mighty ancestors,
Re-established the great foundation.
With folded hands, they yielded nobly,
Gods and men gladly supported.
Brilliant is our sovereign,
Truly harmonizing with prosperous foundations.
Achievements lofty, surpassing martial prowess,
Virtue abundant, doubly radiant.
Wise and discerning, heroic in judgment,
With grand strategy and divine wisdom.
Expanding territory, opening borders,
Ordering heaven and earth.
The Five Ridges come to court,
The Three Xiangs clear and pure.
The four seas tremble at his might,
All living beings cherish his kindness.
Yet he toils day and night,
Yet chariots and horses are still mixed.
The greedy wolf awaits calm,
Harm is just being removed.
Tarrying with noble steeds,
Imagining the quail's humble dwelling.
His heart hangs on the true grotto,
His dreams reach Hua Xu.
Then he turns his gaze to famed mountains,
Recalling the traces of sages.
The inner treasury bestows gold,
Lords faithfully perform duties.
Seeking models from the three realms,
Taking rules from the five numina.
Spanning valleys, covering ridges,
Reaching to the sky, propping up the zenith.
Pearl palaces, treasure halls,
Jade terraces, jade chambers.
Phoenixes soar on high roofs,
Dragons coil through winding corridors.
Scattered gold and azure,
Exquisite jade pendants.
Clouds rise from woods and thickets,
Thunder circles the enclosing walls.
The Seven Sages are solemn here,
The Three Lords as if present.
The eight-scene numinous carriage,
The nine-flower divine canopy.
The clear heavens have no equal,
The bright frost has no match.
As if within a gourd,
Vaguely beyond the material world.
The abode of all the perfected,
Beyond compare when imagined.
The gathering of immortals,
Named anew for this.
High peaks become valleys,
Sectioned valleys become wilds.
The imperial offering, songs of praise,
Forever free from stain and flaw.