“The Return of the Phoenix” poem by Lan Xin

Lan Xin (Lan Xin)

World Memory Heritage The Only Female Inheritor of Dongba Culture, International Renowned Writer & Poet. Internationally acclaimed bilingual writer, poet and translator, member of the Chinese Writers Association. The only female inheritor of UNESCO-listed Dongba Culture, International Disseminator of Dongba Culture and practitioner of Chinese culture’s global outreach. Winner of the Italian Francesco Giampietri International Literary Award, President of Lanxin Samei Academy and Dean of Yulong Wenbi Dongba Culture Academy.

Eva Lianou Petropoulou
Αποκλειστικη Eκπρόσωπος για την Ελλάδα για την προώθηση της πολιτιστικής κληρονομιάς – Dongba Culture Κίνα

The Return of the Phoenix

A thousand years ago

We took root together in this ancient temple

And grew into the most affectionate ancient trees on earth

We witnessed the rise and fall of the temple through millennia

Surviving repeated reconstructions across long ages

We dwelled upon the same pure sacred land

Sharing one single root and origin

Yet separated by a wall that divided us apart

Left to linger as lonely barren trees beyond the boundary

We stood silent upon grass-covered slopes

Hidden in neglected, secluded corners

Waiting faithfully amid tangled thorns

Watching the sacred trees inside admired by all mankind

At last, the golden phoenix traversed vicissitudes of time

Crossed vast deserts of soul to draw near us

She tore down the long-standing isolating barriers

Reclaimed wasteland, renewing the grand vision of Wenbi

Expanding the holy temple, building elegant wooden dwellings

Reviving us from desolation and decay

Dispelling endless loneliness to shine brightly

Standing side by side with ancient trees within the temple

Bathing in divine light, inheriting Dongba civilization

Cherished and praised by all the world

She restores eternal glory to the ancient temple

Awakens everlasting grace of the ancient woods

She is the golden phoenix we have awaited for a thousand years

Through endless reincarnations and long waiting

The phoenix returns at last, bound together forever

Should the world remember this sacred destiny
Call us henceforth —Ancient Trees of the Returning Phoenix