Hymns of Harmony: The Cowherd and the Weaving Maid
- Poetry of Shen Quanqi

《牛女》
Hymns of Harmony: The Cowherd and the Weaving Maid by Shen Quanqi
English Translation

The autumn festival comes slow;

The Weaving Maid’s heart full of woe.

The racing Dragon vies this day;

The bridging magpies vied the way.


Surprised, before the glass she’s shy;

Her silken robe she won’t untie.

But who can make the night longer last?

To weave with greater art next year as ’tis past.

This poem draws on the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Maid meeting on the Qixi Festival. On the seventh night of the seventh month, the two lovers separated by the Milky Way are reunited for a single night—a motif frequently used by classical poets to symbolize love, longing, and separation. Shen Quanqi, active in the early Tang court, was well-versed in the ornate tradition of occasional poetry but gradually infused it with genuine emotion. In this work, he uses the celestial lovers’ story, set against the Milky Way on Qixi, to express the yearning and sorrow of mortal women, while also reflecting his own lament on the impermanence of union and the fragility of deep affection.

中文原文( Chinese )

粉席秋期缓，针楼别怨多。

奔龙争度日，飞鹊乱填河。

失喜先临镜，含羞未解罗。

谁能留夜色，来夕倍还梭。

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Why Chinese poems is so special?
The most distinctive features of Chinese poetry are: concision- many poems are only four lines, and few are much longer than eight; ambiguity- number, tense and parts of speech are often undetermined, creating particularly rich interpretative possibilities; and structure- most poems follow quite strict formal patterns which have beauty in themselves as well as highlighting meaningful contrasts.
How to read a Chinese poem?
Like an English poem, but more so. Everything is there for a reason, so try to find that reason. Think about all the possible connotations, and be aware of the different possibilities of number and tense. Look for contrasts: within lines, between the lines of each couplet and between successive couplets. Above all, don't worry about what the poet meant- find your meaning.

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