River Scenes on a Spring Evening Written to Accompany Two Pictures Drawn by Monk Huichong
- Poetry of Su Shi

《惠崇春江晚景二首》
River Scenes on a Spring Evening Written to Accompany Two Pictures Drawn by Monk Huichong by Su Shi
English Translation

Ⅰ

Behind bamboo two or three sprays of peach-tree grow,

When spring has warmed the stream,ducks are the first to know.

The land o'verrun by weeds and water studd'd with reeds,

It is time when globefish to swim upstream preceeds.

Ⅱ

Returning wild geese from the flock would break away,

North-going wayfarers are reluctant to go.

Knowing from afar the desert's still covered with snow,

For half a month more in the South they would fain stay.

Hui Chong（965- 1017）was a Song Dynasty monk, and a painter particularly famous for his landscape paintings with mountains and water features often enriched with geese, ducks and birds – an expression of everyday life in the country, or in an academic word, humanism. It could be a collector seeking for an inscription from Su Shi on the painting. Unfortunately, like many artistic works lost to the invasion of the Jin and the Liao, or later in history, the painting is no longer found. Fortunately, the picture has lived through this poem, and has been very well-known ever since.

中文原文( Chinese )

其一

竹外桃花三两枝，春江水暖鸭先知。

蒌蒿满地芦芽短，正是河豚欲上时。

其二

两两归鸿欲破群，依依还似北归人。

遥知朔漠多风雪，更待江南半月春。

- Last updated: 2025-04-23 10:50:59
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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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