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Què Qiáo XiānImmortals at the Magpie Bridge 鹊桥仙

Qin Guan (秦观, also known as Qin Shaoyou)｜Northern Song｜ci (song lyric)

Qin Guan on the Cowherd and Weaver meeting on Qixi.

Original Chinese text with pinyin

纤云弄巧
xiān yún nòng qiǎo

飞星传恨
fēi xīng chuán hèn

银汉迢迢暗度
yín hàn tiáo tiáo àn dù

金风玉露一相逢
jīn fēng yù lù yī xiāng féng

便胜却人间无数
biàn shèng què rén jiān wú shù

两情若是久长时
liǎng qíng ruò shì jiǔ cháng shí

又岂在朝朝暮暮
yòu qǐ zài cháo zhāo mù mù

Simplified characters; traditional title: 鵲橋仙. This is a long poem; only the best-known lines are shown, and “……” marks omitted passages.

Note on the text: This page presents a well-known excerpt; the full poem is longer in the traditional corpus.

Thin clouds make clever shapes,

shooting stars carry sorrow,

across the far, far Silver River they cross in secret.

One meeting in the golden wind and jade dew

outshines countless meetings in the human world.

If two hearts are true for a long, long time,

why must they be together morning and night?

Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.

纤云弄巧 · xiān yún nòng qiǎo — Thin clouds make clever shapes,

飞星传恨 · fēi xīng chuán hèn — shooting stars carry sorrow,

银汉迢迢暗度 · yín hàn tiáo tiáo àn dù — across the far, far Silver River they cross in secret.

金风玉露一相逢 · jīn fēng yù lù yī xiāng féng — One meeting in the golden wind and jade dew

便胜却人间无数 · biàn shèng què rén jiān wú shù — outshines countless meetings in the human world.

两情若是久长时 · liǎng qíng ruò shì jiǔ cháng shí — If two hearts are true for a long, long time,

又岂在朝朝暮暮 · yòu qǐ zài cháo zhāo mù mù — why must they be together morning and night?

Qin Guan on the Cowherd and Weaver meeting on Qixi. The scene stays with you.

Qin Guan on the Cowherd and Weaver meeting on Qixi.

Qin Guan is a master of delicate, lovelorn ci among Su Shi's circle.

Lifetime: 1049–1100. Other famous works: Immortals at the Magpie Bridge (鹊桥仙); Spring Day (春日).