維廿九年，皇帝春遊，覽省遠方。

​

​Now in his twenty-ninth year[1],

The Emperor undertook a spring tour,

To view his distant provinces.

​​

逮於海隅，遂登之罘，昭臨朝陽。

​

He paused when he reached the sea,

And climbed Mount Zhifu,

His radiance outshining the rising sun.

​

觀望廣麗，從臣咸念，原道至明。

​

Gazing out over the endless vista,

His entourage thus proceeded to discuss

And trace origins of such effulgence.

​

聖法初興，清理疆內，外誅暴彊。

​

Ever since he established his wise laws,

Stabilising and ordering the interior

And punishing the violent abroad.

​​​

武威旁暢，振動四極，禽滅六王。

 

Awe at his might spreading outwards,

The aftershocks reaching the four horizons,

He hunted down and dispatched six kings[2].

​​

闡幷天下，菑害絕息，永偃戎兵。

​

Uniting the states of All-Under-Heaven

Forestalling disaster,

That troops should never more be raised.

​

皇帝明德，經理宇內，視聽不怠。

​

His resplendent imperial honour,

Regulating all within our borders,

Always watching, always listening.

​

作立大義，昭設僃器，咸有章旗。

​

Establishing the fundamentals,

Firmly entrenching the proper procedures,

Each under his proper banner.

​

職臣遵分，各知所行，事無嫌疑。

​

His servants all recognise their duties,

Each knowing their proper role,

Unshakable in their tasks.

​

黔首改化，遠邇同度，臨古絕尤。

​

The common people joined the revolution,

One standard applying far and near,

Look down upon former ages from our elevation.

​

常職旣定，後嗣循業，長承聖治。

​

Thus are duties fixed,

To be followed by our successors,

Taking up the eternal yoke of sagely rule.

​

羣臣嘉德，祇誦聖烈，請刻之罘。

​

His ministers bask in reflected glory,

On this spot they chronicled his wisdom,

And begged to inscribe it on Zhifu.

​

[1] I.e. the twenty-ninth year since acceding to the Qin throne.

[2] The kings of Zhao, Han, Wei, Chu, Yan and Qi.