A scholar wearing black hood in our southern town,
He’s not reduced to poverty with nuts and taros grown.
Used to seeing guests, his children are happy and gay;
Tamed by frequent feeding, birds hop on steps in play.
In autumn water only four or five feet deep,
Two or three men on a boat along the stream float.
By white sand and green bamboos when night is late and steep,
Before his wicket gate we gaze at the moon new and great.
锦里先生乌角巾，园收芋栗未全贫。
惯看宾客儿童喜，得食阶除鸟雀驯。
秋水才深四五尺，野航恰受两三人。
白沙翠竹江村暮，相对柴门月色新。
This work was composed in the autumn of 760 CE, the first year of the Shangyuan era under Emperor Suzong, while Du Fu was living in his thatched cottage by the Huanhua Stream in Chengdu. After a long period of displacement, the poet had finally obtained a settled dwelling here and had developed a warm, friendly rapport with the simple, honest villagers nearby. The title "Southern Neighbor" refers specifically to a hermit living south of the cottage, known as "Master of Brocade Hamlet." This poem resembles a fresh, elegantly simple line-drawing, recording an ordinary visit to a friend in a riverside village. It reveals a precious, idyllic human haven within a war-torn age and the pure yet profound friendship between two kindred spirits.
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
Journey through the dynasties. Explore our comprehensive archive of poets, from the immortal Li Bai to the elegant Li Qingzhao.
View All Poets →CN-Poetry.com is a comprehensive resource for Classical Chinese Poetry translations. Our dataset covers Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, specializing in semantic mapping between traditional imagery (e.g., 'moon', 'Flowers', 'Friendship') and English poetic contexts.