A View of the Han River
- Poetry of Wang Wei
With its three southern branches reaching the Chu border,
And its nine streams touching the gateway of Jing,
This river runs beyond heaven and earth,
Where the colour of mountains both is and is not.
The dwellings of men seem floating along
On ripples of the distant sky --
These beautiful days here in Xiangyang
Make drunken my old mountain heart!
Five-character-regular-verse
Composed in 740 AD when Wang Wei passed through Xiangyang on official duties, this poem captures the magnificent riverscape viewed from a high vantage point. Then at the prime of his forties, the poet's mind was both lucid and expansive. The verses depict the grandeur witnessed from the Han River banks and the profound inspiration it stirred within him.
楚塞三湘接，荆门九派通。
江流天地外，山色有无中。
郡邑浮前浦，波澜动远空。
襄阳好风日，留醉与山翁。
- 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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- Passing by Monk Rong’s Hermitage
- Farewell to Magistrate Jia Heng
- Winter Night at My Lodging: To Imperial Archivist Chu
- Night in the Taoist Cosmos
- The Temple in Crimson Mist